'C'mon, Man!'  Exclaims VP in Deficit Meeting.  'Let's Get Real!'  —  Officials familiar with the negotiations say today's meeting began with President Obama asking House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., to lay out what was agreed upon in the deficit reduction talks led by Vice President Biden.

Half Brother of Afghan President Is Killed in Kandahar  —  By ALISSA J. RUBIN, CARLOTTA GALL and RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — The powerful half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead on Tuesday by a close family associate, according to Karzai family friends who were nearby.

Michelle Obama orders 1,556-calorie meal at Shake Shack  —  First lady Michelle Obama ordered a whopper of a meal at the newly opened Washington diner Shake Shack during lunch on Monday.  —  A Washington Post journalist on the scene confirmed the first lady, who's made a cause out of child nutrition …

Fresh doubt cast on Obama's health care story  —  During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama often discussed his mother's struggle with cancer.  Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995, Obama said, fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment.

Darrell Issa questions White House's 2012 actions  —  House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is probing what he sees as signs of an unseemly overlap between President Barack Obama's official and political activities.  —  In what could be considered the committee's sharpest probe …

Huntsman's two pledges  —  Jon Huntsman explains why he won't sign any of the growing number of pledges. … DeMint has been one of the most rigid of all drafters, averring that he won't support any candidate who doesn't sign his Cut, Cap, and Balance pledge.  —  [Hat tip: Daniel Strauss]

CIA organised fake vaccination drive to get Osama bin Laden's family DNA  —  Senior Pakistani doctor who organised vaccine programme in Abbottabad arrested by ISI for working with US agents  —  The CIA organised a fake vaccination programme in the town where it believed Osama bin Laden …

Obama: Job Losses Prove Stimulus Worked  —  (CNSNews.com) - Three days after the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the national unemployment rate had ticked up from 9.1 percent in May to 9.2 percent in June, President Barack Obama said that the loss of jobs in the public sector is …

U.S. Jobless Numbers Dragging Obama Down in Florida  —  Romney beats president in hypothetical match-up as independents swing toward GOP  —  A slipping economy has Floridians moving away from President Barack Obama and warming up to Republican Mitt Romney, a Sunshine State News Poll shows.

Israel parliament passes anti-boycott bill  —  Israel's parliament has passed a controversial bill making it illegal for any citizen advocating a boycott of Israel or West Bank settlements.  —  The Knesset voted 47-38 in favour after a stormy debate, during which opposition members accusing …

Michele Bachmann Clinic: Where You Can Pray Away the Gay?  —  A former patient who sought help from the Christian counseling clinic owned by GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, told ABC News he was advised that prayer could rid him of his homosexual urges and he could eventually be “re-oriented.”

The ‘randy’ rabbi  —  A prominent Long Island Jewish leader was caught with his dreidel out in a string of sordid sex tapes, according to sensational Manhattan court records.  —  Rabbi Avraham Rabinowich — who leads the wealthy, Conservative Bellmore Jewish Center and is vice president …

Alan Grayson To Run For Office Again  —  ORLANDO, Fla. — WFTV learned on Monday that former U.S. Congressman Alan Grayson is running for office again.  —  On Monday, Grayson said he doesn't plan to do anything different.  He said he's running again because of all the people who have reached out and asked him to.

Senator Marco Rubio's Brother in Law: A Convicted Drug Trafficker  —  Senator Marco Rubio has provided generous details about his family, expressing time and again during his successful 2009 U.S. senate campaign that he was proud of his parents' efforts to build a better future for their four children in this country.

Ex-Aide's Lawsuit Claims Rep. Jackson Lee Mocked, Disregarded Her Disability  —  Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's former legislative director is suing the Democratic congresswoman, claiming she made “humiliating” comments about her vision disability while refusing to do anything to accommodate her.

Pawlenty: The answer is not more government spending  —  Democrats are saying we have no choice but to spend more and raise taxes, and they are willing to shut down government if they don't get their way.  That's the scene in both our nation's and Minnesota's capitals, where Republicans …

Supreme Court Picks One EPA Enforcement Case Over Another and Attorneys Ask Why  —  When the Supreme Court decided last week to take up a case over whether U.S. EPA enforcement of the Clean Water Act can lead to constitutional violations, many veteran environmental lawyers scratched their heads.

GOP looks for special election upset  —  Republicans are hopeful they can pick off a Los Angeles-based House seat long held by Democrats in Tuesday's special election.  —  The odds are against their candidate, businessman Craig Huey, but he's surprised observers on both sides of the aisle by making the race closer than expected.

Polygamist, Under Scrutiny in Utah, Plans Suit to Challenge Law  —  Kody Brown is a proud polygamist, and a relatively famous one.  Now Mr. Brown, his four wives and 16 children and stepchildren are going to court to keep from being punished for it.  —  The family is the focus of a reality TV show …

Video: President Obama promises ‘massive job killing taxes’ if re-elected  —  From today's presser on the debt ceiling debate.  Check out how the prez frames the debate over taxes.  —  Click here to view the embedded video. … Re-elect me to get massive job killing tax hikes when I'm a lame duck and you can't do a thing about it.

Michele Bachmann's unlikely model: Howard Dean  —  The party's grassroots are radicalized.  A blunt-talking, anti-establishment presidential candidate draws big summer crowds by pledging to confront the opposition party president.  The political pros, fearing a general election disaster, grow more anxious by the day.

Six months in, handful of House freshmen haven't offered a bill  —  More than six months after being sworn in to office, a handful of Republican freshman lawmakers have yet to introduce a single piece of legislation.  —  The three House Republicans and a GOP senator were swept into office …

EXCLUSIVE: Mila Kunis Says She'll Accompany U.S. Marine to Corps Ball  —  Most men will spend their lives dreaming about going on a date with Mila Kunis - but for one U.S. Marine, that fantasy may very well turn into a reality.  —  Sgt. Scott Moore, of the 3rd Battalion 2nd Marines in Musa Qala …

Lawmaker points loaded gun at reporter in the Senate  —  A state lawmaker known for championing the rights of gun-owners pointed a loaded firearm at the chest of a reporter during a recent interview at the Capitol.  —  Republican Sen. Lori Klein was showing off her raspberry-pink handgun …

Public Now Divided on Debt Limit Debate  —  Default Concerns Rise among Independents  —  As the debate over the nation's debt and deficit continues, the public has grown more concerned that failing to raise the debt limit would force the government into default and hurt the economy.

Obama's response to attack on US embassy in Damascus: He's going to file a lawsuit  —  In an earlier post, I reported on attacks on the American and French embassies in Damascus by pro-Assad ‘demonstrators.’ I now have some updates on that post. … So what does the world's only superpower do?

Debt Contagion Threatens Italy  —  Throughout Europe's debt crisis, Italy has largely managed to steer clear of the troubles that have engulfed its profligate Mediterranean neighbors.  —  But the contagion that started in the euro zone's smaller countries is suddenly moving to some of its largest.

Romney Silent Over Debt Talks  —  Republican presidential candidates have used the debate over raising the nation's borrowing limit to score points with conservative voters and insert their views into Washington's thorniest political dispute.  —  But Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner …