Palin Bus Tour Takes Extended Pit Stop  —  Less than a month after she appeared poised to shake up the Republican presidential campaign, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has once again receded from the 2012 limelight.  —  When Palin launched her “One Nation” bus tour on Memorial Day amid …

Climate of Denial  —  Can science and the truth withstand the merchants of poison?  —  AL GORE  —  The first time I remember hearing the question “is it real?” was when I went as a young boy to see a traveling show put on by “professional wrestlers” one summer evening in the gym …

My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant  —  One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab.  She handed me a jacket.  “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said.  ("It might be cold there.")  When I arrived at the Philippines' Ninoy Aquino International Airport …

Michele Bachmann's Holy War  —  The Tea Party contender may seem like a goofball, but be warned: Her presidential campaign is no laughing matter  —  Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and, as you consider the career and future presidential prospects of an incredible American phenomenon named Michele Bachmann, do one more thing.

Obama Opts for Faster Afghan Pullout  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to announce Wednesday evening that he will order the withdrawal of 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year, and another 20,000 troops, the remainder of the 2009 “surge,” by the end of next summer …

CBO: We'll only have giant deficits if Congress wants giant deficits  —  The Congressional Budget Office just released the latest edition of its long-term budget outlook (pdf), and it shows the same thing as always: If Congress lets the Bush tax cuts expire or offsets their extension …

NY leaders say no obstacles to gay marriage vote  —  ALBANY, N.Y. - State legislative leaders said Wednesday afternoon there are no major obstacles to a vote on whether to legalize gay marriage.  —  Democrats and Republicans emerged from meetings with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo …

Huntsman's family gave nearly $25,000 to Reid last cycle  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said this week he prefers Jon Huntsman to Mitt Romney in the GOP Mormon presidential primary, has taken a lot of money from the Huntsman family, and the former Utah governor appointed Reid's son, Josh, to Utah's Board of Regents.

CAIR Loses IRS Status  —  Donations to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) no longer are tax deductible after the organization was among 275,000 tax-exempt organizations purged earlier this month by the Internal Revenue Service.  —  The groups failed to file required annual reports …

Nobody's Candidate  —  The media might love Jon Huntsman, but it's less clear that Republicans do.  —  The media create and the media destroy.  Jon Huntsman announced his presidential bid to the kind of hype once reserved for a Pink Floyd reunion or a LeBron James signing …

Tobey Maguire Sued Over Multi-Million Dollar Illegal Poker Game; DiCaprio, Affleck & Damon Involved  —  Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire is among more than a dozen high-profile Hollywood celebrities being sued in connection with a mega-millions illegal gambling ring that ran high-stakes underground poker games …

Staff quit because “I'm different,” Gingrich says  —  (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on Wednesday attributed the mass resignations among his campaign staff to the fact that he is “very different” from mainstream politicians.  —  “Philosophically …

Americans Worse Now Than When Obama Inaugurated by 44%-34% Margin in Poll  —  Two years after the official start of the recovery, the American people remain pessimistic about their current economic circumstances and longer-term prospects.  —  Fewer than a quarter of people see signs …

Left Party  —  Related articles, background features and opinions about this topic.  —  A Map without Israel  —  Germany's Left Party Faces Charges of Anti-Semitism  —  Left Party floor leader Gregor Gysi is concerned that the term “anti-Semitism” is used too often.

Sen. Corker warns debt-ceiling deal could be too modest for GOP  —  Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned Wednesday that a debt ceiling deal being negotiated in closed-door talks may be too modest and draw little support in the Senate.  —  Corker, a voice with clout on financial issues …

Jon Stewart 1, Politifact 0: Fox News Viewers Are The Most Misinformed  —  I have a lot of respect for political fact checking sites.  I think they play a critical role, especially in our misinformation-saturated political and media environment.  —  However, sometimes these sites fall for the allure of phony bipartisanship.

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected.  Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated.

NBC gives Donald a Trump-sized raise to $160M  —  Playing the presidential card has paid off for Donald Trump.  —  The real-estate mogul and reality-TV host — who kept viewers and the NBC network guessing until the last minute whether he would make a serious run at the Oval Office …

Dems lost the argument over the deficit, because they never engaged it  —  In case you need further evidence that the Dem decision to effectively endorse the right's austerity/cut-cut-cut frame is only harming themselves, check out the internals of the new Bloomberg News poll.

Six GLAAD board members resign amid AT&T flap  —  Six board members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have resigned amid the fallout over the organization's letter in support of AT&T's proposed bid for wireless rival T-Mobile, a person familiar with the matter told POLITICO.