Romney Support Up; Widens Advantage in 2012 Preferences  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans' support for Mitt Romney as their party's 2012 presidential nominee has increased significantly to 24%, compared with 17% in late May.  As a result, Romney has widened his advantage over Sarah Palin …

RNC chair struggles to defend double standard  —  NBC's “Meet the Press” hosted a discussion between the two major party chairs — the DNC's Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the RNC's Reince Priebus — and right off the bat, host David Gregory wanted to talk at length about Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.).

F.B.I. Agents Get Leeway to Push Privacy Bounds  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention.

Missing Iraq money may have been stolen, auditors say  —  U.S. Defense officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion, sent by the planeload in cash and intended for Iraq's reconstruction after the start of the war.  —  Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills, pictured last month, has held hearings on waste and fraud in Iraq.

GOP swings both ways on gay-marriage bill  —  Seven or more Senate Republicans have signaled Gov. Cuomo that they're ready to legalize same-sex marriage, more than enough to put the controversial and historic measure over the top this week, The Post has learned.

How to avoid a lost decade  —  Even with the massive 2008-09 policy effort that prevented financial collapse and depression, the United States is now halfway to a lost economic decade.  From the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2011, the U.S. economy's growth rate averaged less …

Medicare Saves Money  —  Every once in a while a politician comes up with an idea that's so bad, so wrongheaded, that you're almost grateful.  For really bad ideas can help illustrate the extent to which policy discourse has gone off the rails.  —  And so it was with Senator Joseph Lieberman's proposal …

Why We're Going Back to Single-Sex Dorms  —  Student housing has became a hotbed of reckless drinking and hooking up.  —  My wife and I have sent five children to college and our youngest just graduated.  Like many parents, we encouraged them to study hard and spend time in a country where people don't speak English.

‘A Gay Girl in Damascus’ comes clean  —  In recent days, the world has followed closely the saga of Amina Araff, the blogger who presented herself online as “A Gay Girl in Damascus” and who drew attention with her passionate writings about the Syrian government's crackdown on Arab Spring protesters.

Gov. Perry: Economic Crisis Is Part of God's Plan To Return Us To Biblical Principles  —  For the past week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has been roundly criticized by religious and LGBT groups alike for inviting other governors to join him at an anti-gay prayer event hosted by stridently bigoted American Family Association.

British fear ‘American-style’ healthcare system  —  As leaders debate ways to reform healthcare, politicians repeatedly tell a worried public that Britain will not turn the National Health Service into an ‘American-style’ private system.  —  British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks …

Rep. Anthony Weiner's Nissan Pathfinder is unregistered, DMV says  —  Lying about sexting apparently isn't Rep. Anthony Weiner's only gray area.  —  When Weiner (D-Queens, Brooklyn) was photographed by the Daily News fleeing the Capitol in his Nissan Pathfinder, it was clear …

U.S. pressuring Netanyahu to accept Obama's peace plan  —  Israeli source says Americans frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hampering U.S. efforts to stop Palestinians trying UN route to statehood in September.  —  Washington is pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …

How educated are state legislators?  —  The Chronicle has looked at where each of the 7,000-plus state legislators in America went to college - or whether they went at all.  In doing so, we got a glimpse of how the citizens who hold these seats reflect the average American experience.

Green jobs success eludes President Obama  —  President Barack Obama heads to an energy plant in North Carolina on Monday to talk once again about the job-creating power of a green economy.  —  The catch?  Nearly three years into Obama's presidency, the White House can't point …

‘The Sarah Palin I Know’  —  For more on Ziegler's Palin-related experiences and to read his pre-emptive rebuttal of his critics, go to: www.TheSarahPalinIKnow.com  —  For many reasons, the first week of January 2009 was clearly the longest and most difficult of my life.

Tim Pawlenty Attempts To Rebut Allegations Of Dullness With Lame Joke, Bad Timing  —  On paper, Tim Pawlenty seems like a formidable political candidate.  But he's been dogged since the beginning of the campaign with alleged dullness.  Asked about this yesterday on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace …

Affluent black county mired in mortgage mess  —  Prince George's leads Maryland with highest foreclosure rate  —  Below:  —  America's wealthiest black county is in trouble.  —  Prince George's County, Md., has gained prominence in recent years as the most affluent county in America with a majority African-American population.