Barack Obama's Dangerous Embrace Of Economic Fatalism  —  Even as the Obama administration continues to defend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from its critics, the White House appears to have sincerely pivoted away from the idea that a higher level of aggregate demand …

Bachmann surging, signs of weakness for Romney  —  When PPP polled New Hampshire in April Michele Bachmann was stuck at 4%.  She's gained 14 points over the last three months and now finds herself within single digits of Mitt Romney.  Romney continues to lead the way in the state with 25% …

CNN Cancels ‘In the Arena’ With Eliot Spitzer  —  1:30 p.m. |  Updated CNN on Wednesday cancelled Eliot Spitzer's 8 p.m. political talk show, “In The Arena,” and said it would shift Anderson Cooper's 10 p.m. nightly newscast into the time slot.  —  The cable news channel also said that Erin Burnett …

Dem leader says he'll help GOP on debt-ceiling vote, but at a price  —  House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday said he's willing to help Republicans secure the votes they need to pass an increase in the debt ceiling, but not without conditions.

What became of ‘repeal and replace’?  —  When they took control of the House, Republicans could barely stop talking about their plans to “repeal and replace” the health care reform law.  —  Six months later, they hardly talk publicly about those plans at all.  And they're nowhere close to “replacing” the law.

Ninth Circuit Reinstates Court Order Striking Down Don't Ask, Don't Tell  —  Trans Veteran Autumn Sandeen joins others in protesting Don't Ask, Don't Tell at the White House  —  A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit just issued a brief order lifting its stay …

Jeff Sessions: Saying Millionaires Should Share Pain Is ‘Rather Pathetic’ … WASHINGTON — Having the Senate declare that millionaires should share more of the pain involved in putting America's financial house in order is “rather pathetic,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) declared Tuesday.

Better Lives for Mexicans Cut Allure of Going North  —  AGUA NEGRA, Mexico — The extraordinary Mexican migration that delivered millions of illegal immigrants to the United States over the past 30 years has sputtered to a trickle, and research points to a surprising cause …

Worse Than O.J.!  —  While the stunning Casey Anthony acquittal defied logic, O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark details how juries often delude themselves—and why this verdict trumps even her case.  —  Sick, shaken, in disbelief.  As I listened to the verdicts in the Casey Anthony case …

Watch a 50-Mile Wide Dust Storm Devour Phoenix  —  Now, we have a new reason to compare the Great Recession to the Great Depression: Steinbeck-style dust storms.  Tuesday evening, a massive cloud of darkness known as a “habub” overtook Phoenix.  The National Weather Service reports that the wall …

Former Tim Pawlenty Colleagues, Mentors Don't Recognize The Man Running For President … WASHINGTON - Those who have known Tim Pawlenty for a long time are stumped by a simple question: What happened to him?  —  It's not just his presidential campaign, which is at a low point.

White House uses Twitter to bully critics  —  President Obama's director of progressive media is obsessed with one particular conservative provocateur.  Jesse Lee's duties at the White House include “online response” — and there has been no shortage of responses to one person who routinely communicates with him on Twitter.

Policy shift in presidential condolence letters  —  PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO  —  NEW YORK - Most families who lose a loved one in the war zones receive a letter of condolence from the President of the United States.  But there are a few who do not receive this honor.

Michele Bachmann's husband shares her strong conservative values  —  Lake Elmo, Minn. — In an interview last year with a Christian-  —  radio talk show, Marcus Bachmann, a therapist who runs a faith-infused counseling center here, compared homosexuals to “barbarians” who “need to be educated, need to be disciplined.”

Our surreal debate over taxing the rich  —  So it's come to this.  Republican opposition to any kind of revenue increase as part of the deficit deal has grown so implacable that Dems will now hold a Senate vote tomorrow on the basic idea that millionaires and billionaires should help contribute to fixing our deficit.

ACORN continues to receive taxpayer cash, group says  —  In spite of a law aimed at de-funding the controversial organization, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is still receiving taxpayer money through an offshoot group.  —  Legal watchdog group Judicial Watch discovered …

The 2012 Horse Whisperers  —  Who's giving foreign-policy advice to the crop of GOP front-runners?  —  Michele Bachmann: The Tea Party's new hawk  —  Despite all of Bachmann's Tea Party credentials, she's not looking like an isolationist when it comes to foreign policy.

Investigation into APS cheating finds unethical behavior across every level  —  Across Atlanta Public Schools, staff worked feverishly in secret to transform testing failures into successes.  —  Teachers and principals erased and corrected mistakes on students' answer sheets.

Flynn calls looting, beatings in Riverwest barbaric  —  Shaina Perry remembers the punch to her face, blood streaming from a cut over her eye, her backpack with her asthma inhaler, debit card and cellphone stolen, and then the laughter.  —  “They just said 'Oh, white girl bleeds a lot …

How Effective Was The 2009 Stimulus Program?  —  So the stimulus — the so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or ARRA — is starting to wind down.  What are the results?  —  Depends on whom you ask, of course.  Conservatives will say unemployment is near double-digits and growth is slow, so clearly it didn't work.

Antitax Extremism in Minnesota  —  How far will Republican lawmakers go to protect millionaires?  Those who think a default on the federal government's credit seems implausible should take a sobering look at the “closed” signs dotting Minnesota.  The Republican Party there readily shut …

CHART OF THE DAY: The Stealth Social Security Cut In Debt Talks  —  For months, the high-stakes stand-off over raising the debt ceiling and cutting the deficit has proceeded from two basic premises — that Republicans would take their toys and go home the minute Democrats proposed significant …

Obama Warns Debt Ceiling Should Not Be ‘Used As A Gun’ To Extract Tax Breaks  —  ABC News' Mary Bruce (@marykbruce) Reports:  —  In some of his harshest language to date in the fight over the deficit, President Obama warned today that the debt ceiling should not be “used as a gun” …

Michele Bachmann's Foster Care Contradiction  —  Michele Bachmann's extended family of 23 former foster children have become the unexpected stars of the Republican primary even though few details are known about them individually.  The Minnesota Congresswoman brings them up frequently in debates …

The GOP's evolving case against taxes  —  There are two ways to increase taxes.  One is you just raise rates, particularly the top rates.  Economists in general — and Republican economists in particular — don't much like this approach because it raises taxes on the last dollars you've earned.

Bill Clinton likens GOP effort to Jim Crow laws  —  Former President Bill Clinton Wednesday compared GOP efforts to limit same-day voter registration and block some convicted felons from voting to Jim Crow laws and poll taxes.  —  In a speech to liberal youth activists Wednesday …

Romney Calls Dodd-Frank An Overreach, Then Admits He's Not Sure What's In It  —  ThinkProgress filed this report from a campaign event in Hampton, New Hampshire  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) continued leveling attacks on the Dodd-Frank financial reform law during two campaign stops in New Hampshire yesterday.