Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefits  —  GOP Divided Over Benefit Reductions  —  OVERVIEW  —  As policymakers at the state and national level struggle with rising entitlement costs, overwhelming numbers of Americans agree that, over the years, Social Security …

Boehner: ‘Maybe 50-50’ Chance of a Debt Deal Reached Within 48 Hours  —  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks with reporters after a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday.  —  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, informed fellow House Republicans on Thursday …

News of the World to close amid hacking scandal  —  Police are investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World  —  This Sunday's issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.

Chase Gets Man Thrown In Jail For Fraudulent Check.  Except The Check Is Legit.  —  Ikenna, a 28-year old construction worker, went to deposit a $8,463.21 Chase cashier's check at his local Chase branch, only for the teller to decide that neither he nor his check looked right and he got tossed in jail for forgery, KING5 reports.

Why the Republicans Resist Compromise  —  The chart that I'm going to show you is one of the more important ones that we've presented at FiveThirtyEight in some time.  It helps explain a lot of what's going on in American politics today, from the negotiations over the federal debt ceiling to the Republican presidential primaries.

Letter to Senator Patty Murray, Chair Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee  —  Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee  —  Dear Senator Murray:  —  For many months now, your colleagues in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leadership have engaged in a series of disparagements …

Father spoke of having Obama adopted  —  US immigration files from '61 reveal Kenyan student's plan  —  President Obama as a young boy, with his father, who left when his son was 2.  (Obama for America via Associated Press)  —  In the spring of 1961, President Obama's father revealed …

Why Jamie Leigh Jones Could Lose Her KBR Rape Case  —  Her story of a brutal attack in Iraq sparked a national outcry—but how much of it is true?  —  Post Comment  —  The allegations were explosive when they first hit in 2007: A 20-year-old woman named Jamie Leigh Jones alleged that four days …

Elizabeth Smart, Network Pundit?  —  Amid the Casey Anthony frenzy, ABC News is close to unveiling its latest contributor.  Howard Kurtz reports exclusively on the kidnap victim's new career.  —  Elizabeth Smart first came into our consciousness nearly a decade ago as a 14-year-old girl kidnapped from her Salt Lake City bedroom.

How Republicans and Tea Partiers Alike Used the Heritage Foundation's #AskObama Script  —  Yesterday, President Obama held a live chat session on Twitter.  Billed as a “townhall,” the President spent an hour fielding questions from Twitter users about the state of the nation.

SCOTUS refuses to delay Leal execution; Leal's last hope with Governor of Texas  —  ABC News' Ariane de Vogue (@arianedevogue) reports:  —  A divided Supreme Court refused tonight to delay the execution of a Mexican national on death row, despite pleas from top officials of the Obama administration.

Brody File Exclusive: GOP Presidential Candidates Will be Asked to Sign a Marriage Vow  —  The Brody File has learned that The Family Leader, an influential pro-family group in Iowa will ask each of the 2012 presidential candidates to sign a marriage pledge that professes everything …

Exclusive: Treasury secretly weighs options to avert default  —  (Reuters) - A small team of Treasury officials is discussing options to stave off default if Congress fails to raise the debt limit by the August 2 deadline, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

‘Fast & Furious’ gets hotter for Holder  —  Don't look now, but the real action in Washington this week isn't the parti san wrangling over the debt ceiling but something — literally — even more incendiary: Operation Fast and Furious, which seems about to explode right in the face …

Orrin Hatch: The ‘Poor’ Should Do More To Shrink Debt, Not The Rich (VIDEO) … WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted against beginning debate on a measure that would have the Senate declare the rich should share the pain of debt reduction Thursday, a day after arguing that it's the poor and middle class who need to do more.

House to vote on repealing light bulb efficiency standards  —  House Republicans introduced legislation that would repeal a light bulb efficiency law.  —  House Republicans introduced legislation Wednesday they hope to bring to the floor next week that would repeal a light bulb efficiency law.

Political Turns Personal: Mayor Will Officiate at Gay Advisers' Wedding  —  Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg summoned his chief policy adviser, John Feinblatt, to his desk at City Hall a few days ago for what seemed like a routine conversation with the boss.  “Let's get a cup of coffee,” the mayor told him, motioning to the office kitchen.

How to Fix USAID  —  A broken aid agency helps no one.  Instead of throwing development projects at the military, the US should put effort into fixing the aid agency's problems.  —  Glenn Zorpette, the executive editor of I.E.E.E. Spectrum, wrote a powerful op-ed in the New York Times yesterday …

Reason.tv: D.C. Taxi Heist  —  Washington, D.C. is considering a bill that would require every cab driver in the city to own a special permit called a medallion.  The total number of medallions would be capped at 4,000, which would reduce the current number of cabs by more than one-third and put thousands of drivers out of business.

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011  —  Adult obesity rates increased in 16 states in the past year and did not decline in any state, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, a report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

LulzSec doc drop: Arizona Officials Say Hezbollah Operating in Mexico  —  A document drop by LulzSec has revealed an ominous bulletin from police officials in Tucson, Arizona.  In short, law enforcement is advised to be on the lookout for Hezbollah terrorists operating in the traditional smuggling corridors …