Too many coincidences in Weiner's tale  —  In the New York of the late 1800s, Boss Tweed famously complained about Thomas Nast cartoons: Though many immigrants in the city couldn't read, even the illiterate could understand “those damn pictures.”  Rep. Anthony Weiner and his staff now face a similar problem.

Sarah Palin's bus tour treats reporters like paparazzi  —  Sarah Palin and her advisers are refusing to tell members of the media where she is going on her current bus tour - and the former Alaska governor seems to be enjoying the cat and mouse game that's resulted.

Hoyer urges House Dems to vote no on clean debt-ceiling hike  —  The House Democrats' top vote-counter is advising rank-and-file members to vote against an unconditional increase in the federal debt limit to avoid political attacks from Republicans.  —  Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.) …

Sarah Palin, Donald Trump Meet In New York City Tuesday Night, Eat Pizza  —  ABC News' Michael Falcone (@michaelpfalcone) reports:  —  UPDATED Sarah Palin sat down with Donald Trump in New York City on Tuesday night for just over a half hour at the former Alaska governor continued her roadtrip up the Eastern seaboard.

Issa blasts Commerce nominee as ‘green evangelist’  —  House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) blasted President Obama Tuesday for nominating John Bryson to be the next Commerce secretary, calling the decision “deeply out-of-touch with our current energy challenge.”

Panel OKs recall elections against 3 more Republicans  —  By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel  —  Madison - State election officials on Tuesday approved recall elections against three Republican senators but put off decisions on certifying recall petitions against three Democrats.

‘Birther’ book soars  —  (CNN) - A new book, now number six on the New York Times' Best Sellers list, is putting the so-called “birther” issue back on the national stage.  —  “Where's the Birth Certificate?” by Jerome Corsi, which debuted on the list out Sunday, argues President Obama …

Are Taxes in the U.S. High or Low?  —  Bruce Bartlett has served as an economic adviser in the White House, the Treasury Department and Congress.  —  Historically, the term “tax rate” has meant the average or effective tax rate — that is, taxes as a share of income.

Egyptian general admits ‘virginity checks’ conducted on protesters  —  Cairo (CNN) — A senior Egyptian general admits that “virginity checks” were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

Kloppenburg concedes election to Prosser  —  Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg said Tuesday that she was conceding the Supreme Court race to Justice David Prosser, ending what had been a contentious campaign that culminated in a rare statewide recount.

Newt Gingrich's Image Slides Among Republicans  —  Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann continue to lead in positive intensity  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich's Positive Intensity Score dropped to 6 in the two weeks spanning May 16-29, down from 11 for May 9-22.

Book by Mayor's Daughter Is Fiction, With Tell-All References  —  Those who inhabit the rarefied world of Michael R. Bloomberg, with all its perks and payouts, have long adhered to a strict code of silence about his personal life: jaunts to Bermuda are cloaked in secrecy …

‘Double-Dip’ in Housing Prices Even Worse Than Expected  —  U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by inventory and weak demand, a closely watched survey said Tuesday.  —  The S&P/Case Shiller composite index …

One Year After Debunking Breitbart's “Slander,” CNN Welcomes Him Back As Newsmaker  —  Proving once again that there's no standard by which many mainstream media outlets are willing to hold sloppy propagandist Andrew Breitbart, CNN this afternoon invited the discredited blogger on the air …

PSST: The end of economics as we know it  —  (Note: I wrote this post quite a while ago, and never published it.  Since I'll be mostly too busy to blog for a few weeks, I've decided to publish some of these old “backup posts”...)  —  Since the recession began, Arnold Kling has been trumpeting …

‘Mediscare’ Works Because The Consequences of Privatizing Medicare Are Scary  —  Ruth Marcus has many virtues as a political pundit, but her weekend remarks on Medicare (flagged by Steve Benen) reveal that the right is having some success in its plan to cry “mediscare” in an effort …

Sociology and Other ‘Meathead’ Majors  —  Archie Bunker was right to be skeptical of his son-in-law's opinions.  —  In this happy season of college graduations, students and parents will probably not be reflecting on the poor choices those students made in selecting their courses and majors.