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's Position on Gay Marriage Faces New Test  —  WASHINGTON — When President Obama's guests arrive at the White House on Wednesday for a Gay Pride reception — just days after New York became the largest state in the country to make same-sex marriage legal — they will no doubt be in a mood to celebrate.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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

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.

Tearful Glenn Beck Describes How He And His Family Were Attacked In New York Park  —  “These people were some of the most hateful people I have ever seen,” said a distraught Glenn Beck this morning as he described an altercation he and his family had last night while watching a screening …

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 …

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.

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.