On Deficit, Americans Prefer Spending Cuts; Open to Tax Hikes  —  Twenty percent favor deficit reduction by cutting spending only  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' preferences for deficit reduction clearly favor spending cuts to tax increases, but most Americans favor a mix of the two approaches.

No yelling at Obama today  —  Carney reminded journalists, “I used to be where you are, and I used to ask questions.”  —  AP Photo  —  A long-running tiff between the White House press corps and the West Wing over presidential access flared anew today when press secretary Jay Carney faced off …

When there's no method to the madness  —  The New York Times' Ross Douthat argued this week that the congressional Republicans' debt-ceiling hostage strategy only seems crazy. … There's a fair amount to Douthat's pitch, but to summarize, GOP officials are really just shrewd negotiators, pushing for the best possible deal.

One by one, bars get tapped out  —  Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores across Minnesota are running out of beer and alcohol and others may soon run out of cigarettes — a subtle and largely unforeseen consequence of a state government shutdown.  —  In the days leading up to the shutdown …

Mitch McConnell: We Must Rewrite The Constitution Because ‘Elections’ Haven't ‘Worked’  —  Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered what may be the most concise summary of conservative constitutionalism ever spoken …

Austrian driver's religious headgear strains credulity  —  Having received his driving licence, Niko Alm now wants to get pastafarianism officially recognised  —  An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as “religious headgear”.

GOPer wants FBI probe of Rupert Murdoch  —  New York Republican Pete King is calling on the FBI to investigate whether Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation hacked into the voicemail accounts of Sept. 11 victims, calling the allegations of the scandal “disgraceful.”

Palin nemesis goes nude  —  GOP presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and her family are the subjects of a profile by George Gurley in the September issue of Playboy, according to sources.  Insiders say the story will run next to a four-page nude pictorial of Mercede Johnston, the sister of Bristol Palin's estranged baby daddy, Levi.

Mumbai: Explosions shake India's financial hub  —  Police told local media that eight people had been killed and more than 100 wounded.  —  One explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, another in the Opera House business district and a third in Dadar district.

US more unpopular in the Arab world than under Bush  —  I've written numerous times over the last year about rapidly worsening perceptions of the U.S. in the Muslim world, including a Pew poll from April finding that Egyptians view the U.S. more unfavorably now than they did during the Bush presidency.

Police charge mother in Nashville airport altercation  —  Woman refused to let officers screen daughter  —  A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers, refusing for her daughter to be patted down at a security checkpoint.

Rick Perry's Confederate past  —  Rick Perry made national headlines in 2009 when, during a speech to a Tea Party group, he floated the possibility that Texas could secede from the union.  But the governor's substantive ties to the neo-Confederate movement may be deeper than previously known.

Bill Galston Discovers The Balance Sheet Recession  —  I have genuinely no idea why William Galston thinks the point that the mortgage-debt overhang is playing a huge role in the recession constitutes a “new” theory of the recession.  But I'm not peevish, so I'll just say he's correct and we should talk about solutions:

Romney Campaign Slams ‘Undignified And Inappropriate’ Marriage Pledge From Iowa Group  —  Mitt Romney is further distancing himself from the GOP's religious right base in Iowa, by refusing to sign a social conservative group's controversial “Marriage Vow” pledge — with his campaign going the extra mile by excoriating the pledge itself.

Laughably bogus poll tries to ‘prove’ Obama is losing Jewish support  —  Republicans are touting yet another poll that purports to predict the end of the Jewish allegiance to the Democratic Party.  Citing a new poll by Republican John McLaughlin and Pat Caddell, the GOP's favorite “Democrat …

Body of Leiby Kletzky, missing 8-year-old boy, found dismembered; pieces in Dumpster, refrigerator  —  The body parts of a missing 8-year-old Brooklyn boy were found Wednesday in a Dumpster and the refrigerator of a man suspected in his disappearance, police said.

Michele Bachmann's Church Says the Pope is the Antichrist  —  The Iowa front-runner for the GOP nomination was a longstanding member of a strict Lutheran synod with controversial views of Catholicism  —  Michele Bachmann is practically synonymous with political controversy …

Pessimism deepens as economic concerns rise: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  (Reuters) - Americans are deeply pessimistic about the future as economic concerns rise and White House talks on raising the U.S. debt limit sputter, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

Prosecute News Corp.  —  The U.S. government should go after Murdoch's media company for its corrupt practices and revoke its TV licenses if it's found guilty.  —  Bribery, illegal wiretapping, interference in a murder investigation, political blackmail, and rampant disregard for both the truth and basic decency.

The Kenneth Gladney Charade Collapses  —  It took a St. Louis County jury less than 50 minutes to return a not guilty verdict in the assault trial featuring Kenneth Gladney and two union members who were charged with attacking him outside a two hall event during the tumultuous summer of 2009.

Tea party members tackle a new issue: manatees  —  Everybody knows what the tea party members oppose.  High taxes.  Big government.  Obama's health care plan.  High-speed rail.  —  Now, for at least some local tea party members, there's one more to add: manatee protection.