Sarah Palin's Unlikely Supporter  —  ABC News' Sheila Marikar (@SheilaYM) reports from Pella, Iowa:  —  There's the stereotype of the Sarah Palin supporter, and then there's Sonnie Johnson.  —  The 30-year-old African-American mother and wife is featured in “The Undefeated” …

Obama Gay Marriage Stance a Nod to 2012 Battlegrounds  —  Gay pride month celebrations hit the White House today as President Obama welcomes some of his gay and lesbian supporters and renews his commitment to helping them “win the future.”  —  But don't expect the president to flash …

Taliban hotel attack kills at least nine, rattles Afghan capital  —  KABUL — Kamel Khan, 32, a businessman, was chatting with two friends on the poolside terrace of the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel Tuesday night when he heard a burst of gunfire and looked up.

No holiday recess this week  —  President Barack Obama won't be able to make any recess appointments next week because GOP maneuvering has blocked the Senate from adjourning over the Fourth of July break.  —  Under the Constitution, each house of Congress must approve of the other adjourning for more than three days at a time.

Christie Loses Support for Second Term as Residents Oppose Cuts  —  More than half of New Jersey residents say they wouldn't back Governor Chris Christie for a second term, disapproving of his choices on a range of policy and personal issues, from killing a commuter tunnel to using …

Price of U.S. wars: $4.4 trillion?  —  The final bill for U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan could be as high as $4.4 trillion, according to a comprehensive new report Tuesday.  —  In the 10 years since American troops were sent into Afghanistan …

Bank of America Near $8.5 Billion Deal on Mortgage Securities  —  Bank of America is near to a deal to pay $8.5 billion to settle a suit by investors who purchased mortgage securities that soured, handing a victory to a group of money managers including Pimco and BlackRock as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Dem ‘Super PAC’ launches ad campaign  —  Priorities USA Action, a Democratic so-called “Super PAC,” launched ads on Wednesday meant to counteract new ads by a conservative counterpart.  —  The ads, which will air for two weeks in a series of swing states, directly respond …

Kucinich has language problem in Syria  —  Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) gave a press conference in Syria this week and appeared to heap praise upon Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is being widely criticized for the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in that country.

Surprise: HHS drops plan to snoop on doctors  —  A follow-up to Ed's post from yesterday.  No worries: The program's not really dead, it's just ... resting.  It'll be back in a few years, once ObamaCare goes into effect and millions more Boomers have landed on the Medicare rolls.

Rudy breaks vows  —  The gay car dealer who opened his home to Rudy Giuliani in 2001 during his humiliating divorce battle says the former mayor offered to preside at his wedding if same-sex marriage were ever legalized — but is now ducking his calls to make good on the offer.

Ethics watchdog calls for FBI to investigate Rep. Richardson  —  Allegations of ethics violations within the office of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) are worthy of a criminal investigation, a leading ethics watchdog group charged Tuesday.  —  Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics …

VIDEO: Do Women Need Planned Parenthood?  —  Medicaid Misinformation: Planned Parenthood Caught on Tape Lying About Indiana Healthcare  —  Live Action Launches “Standing with Indiana” Petition  —  June 29, 2011 - Undercover phone calls released today show Planned Parenthood …

It's So Obvious  —  Believe it or not, Jason is the smartest of the trio.  —  My career in developing large scale systems that allow people to express themselves and communicate started in 1999 with Xanga.  I left after a couple years and got more academic about the democratization of information on the web.

Should Justices Keep Their Opinions to Themselves?  —  ARE there really only nine Supreme Court justices?  —  It seems that everywhere you look, you see one popping up: giving speeches, signing books, leading workshops, posing for pictures at charity functions.

Jewish Dems losing faith in Obama  —  David Ainsman really began to get worried about President Barack Obama's standing with his fellow Jewish Democrats when a recent dinner with his wife and two other couples — all Obama voters in 2008 — nearly turned into a screaming match.

Debt-limit delay would jeopardize Social Security payments  —  WASHINGTON — Social Security payments to millions of retirees and people with disabilities could be threatened if President Obama and Congress can't agree to increase the government's debt limit by Aug. 2, a new analysis shows.

The joke of ‘secure Britain’: Vile banned militant extremist strolls through Heathrow immigration as 200 Somalian criminals are allowed to stay due to human rights  — European Court ruling stems from appeals by two asylum seekers convicted of offences including burglary, making threats to kill and drug dealing

Obama Won't Declare ‘Mission Accomplished’ on the Recovery.  Should He Defend It at All?  —  Stanley Greenberg, the Democratic pollster who helped elect President Bill Clinton, South Africa's Nelson Mandela and Israel's Ehud Barak, says all of his clients have had the same, sometimes terrible …

Catholic New Yorkers Approve Of Cuomo 3-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Cuomo Tops Other Governors, Over Christie By 20 Points  —  New York State voters approve 64 - 19 percent of the job Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing, 20 points better than New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie and leading governors …

In N.H. visit, Bachmann praises moratorium on US income tax  —  GOP hopeful says 1-year halt would boost economy  —  Michele Bachmann, greeting supporters in Raymond, N.H., yesterday, cited the tax moratorium in reply to a question.  (Jim Cole/Associated Press)

14th Amendment: Democratic Senators See Debt Ceiling As Unconstitutional … WASHINGTON — Growing increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for a deal that would raise the debt ceiling, Democratic senators are revisiting a solution to the crisis that rests on a simple proposition: The debt ceiling itself is unconstitutional.