Mitt Romney raises $18.25 million  —  Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney talks with reporters outside Allentown Metal Works in Allentown, Pa., last week.  (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million …

Invoke the 14th — and end the debt standoff  —  On its current course, the United States is four weeks away from defaulting on its debt for the first time in its history.  If that happens, businesses will fail.  Financial institutions will fail.  Home values will decline.  Mortgage rates will skyrocket.

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.

N.Y.C civil terror trial for Somali  —  In a move that has angered some congressional Republicans, a Somali man accused of having ties to two terrorist groups - who was secretly interrogated for months aboard a U.S. Navy ship - will be prosecuted in civilian court in New York by the Justice Department, the Obama administration said.

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 …

Obama plays small ball on policy  —  President Barack Obama swept into office as the anti-Bill Clinton, even saying at one point that he wasn't sent to Washington to “do school uniforms” — political shorthand for the former president's downsized ambitions against a Republican Congress.

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.

Casey Anthony not guilty of murder  —  Casey Anthony could be a free woman Thursday after being found not guilty of murder, manslaughter and aggravated child abuse  —  Casey Anthony, center, is overcome with emotion along with her defense team following her acquittal of murder charges …

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 …

Families of 7/7 victims ‘were targets of phone hacking’  —  New revelation deepens crisis at News of the World after it emerges that officers will review child murder cases  —  The phone-hacking crisis enveloping the News of the World intensified on Tuesday night after it emerged …

Supreme Court to decide on Mexican's execution  —  The U.S. Supreme Court has until Thursday to intervene before Texas is scheduled to put to death a convicted murderer and rapist from Mexico whose execution could place the U.S. in violation of a 38-year international treaty.

GOP Rep. McCotter's union ties to be tested  —  Labor is keeping a close eye on Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) to see whether he disavows his pro-union record as he campaigns for the White House.  —  McCotter is among a small group of Republicans on Capitol Hill who have a history of supporting the labor movement.

'That's racist' as a punch line  —  A phrase once considered one of the most serious accusations possible has become a gag line.  —  A scene from “30 Rock.”  Hannibal Buress, a comedian and writer for NBC's television program says “That's racist” works in comedy because it pushes buttons.  (NBC)

Brawl Erupts During Impeachment Talks in Afghan Parliament  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — Members of the Afghan Parliament came to blows Tuesday as a majority for the first time began to discuss impeaching President Hamid Karzai, signaling the near-total breakdown of relations between the Parliament …

Treasury announces $10 billion in TARP profit from banks  —  The federal government has reaped a $10 billion profit on bank loans made under the controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  —  The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that the government had pulled in another $1.7 billion in proceeds stemming from TARP loans.

For Film Graduates, an Altered Job Picture  —  LOS ANGELES — One after another, touring groups of prospective students and their parents stopped late last month to pose for pictures around a bronze Douglas Fairbanks, who wields his sword in a courtyard fountain here at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts.

Police, firefighters shot with fireworks at Taft Homes ‘riot’  —  PEORIA — A large-scale illegal fireworks display in a housing complex adjacent to the state's largest Fourth of July celebration turned into what police termed a near-riot Monday as tens of thousands of revelers tried to filter out of Downtown.

Advice for a Young Blogger: How to get a million or less hits on your blog over some unspecified period of time, maybe  —  Received: … Oh.  I'm sorry.  Wrong email. … C, here are my top 10 rules on the delicate topic of blogging.  —  10. Always link to stories on blogs around …

DNC boss, president at odds on Cuba policy  —  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), tapped by President Obama to head the Democratic National Committee, is a hard-liner on Cuba, which means the chairwoman of the organization intent on reelecting the president disagrees with Obama …