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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Ninth Circuit Halts DADT Enforcement, Pentagon “Taking Immediate Steps” To Comply  —  In an order issued by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips's judgment halting the worldwide enforcement of “Don't Ask …

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 …

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.

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.

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.”

Mitt Romney's initial fundraising goal: $50 million  —  Mitt Romney disclosed today that he raised $18.25 million in his initial fundraising report, but his goal for the first half of 2011 was $50 million, according to an email sent by a Romney consultant to a potential state finance aide at the end of last year.

WHY CLIMATE CHANGE HAS BECOME THE “DEAD PARROT SKETCH” OF AMERICAN POLITICS  —  For years now the climate campaign and the politicized science community has been complaining that it has a “communications problem,” which can be solved if only they shout louder, or get the human car alarm former …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Q&A: Bill James on Crime  —  The father of sabermetrics on his new book and what makes a murderer  —  If you're interested in baseball, you're interested in Bill James — he's the inventor of sabermetrics, the ideological engine behind Michael Lewis' best-selling Moneyball …

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 …