Panic at the White House?  Gloomy Goldman Sachs sees high unemployment, possible recession  —  Last night in a new report, Democrat-friendly Goldman Sachs dropped an economic bomb on President Obama's chances for reelection (bold is mine): … Alarms bells must be ringing all over Obamaland today.

The Journal Becomes Fox-ified  —  It's official.  The Wall Street Journal has been Fox-ified.  —  It took Rupert Murdoch only three and a half years to get there, starting with the moment he acquired the paper from the dysfunctional Bancroft family in December 2007, a purchase that was completed …

The Political Economy of the Lesser Depression  —  Everyone in the forecasting business is scrambling to mark down both their estimates of second-quarter growth and their forecasts for later in the year.  Goldman Sachs (no link) was pretty optimistic a few months ago; now they've grown quite pessimistic:

House Republicans brace for compromise on debt  —  GOP leaders turn to their most trusted budget expert, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), to explain to the rank and file what could happen if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.  —  Reporting from Washington— Republican leaders in the House …

Woman Gropes TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint  —  PHOENIX - We hear a lot of complaints about security screeners groping airline passengers.  —  But now, a Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

Was John F. Kennedy the flat-out absolute worst U.S. president of the 20th century?  —  As I studied the Vietnam war over the last 14 months, I began to think that John F. Kennedy probably was the worst American president of the previous century.  —  In retrospect, he spent his 35 months …

The Great Charade  —  There is something surreal and unnerving about the so-called “debt ceiling” negotiations staggering on in Washington.  In the real world, negotiations on an increase in one's debt limit are conducted between the borrower and the lender.

Obama Eliminates Warren as Consumer Head  —  President Barack Obama has chosen a candidate other than Elizabeth Warren as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a person briefed on the matter.  —  The president's choice is a person who already works at the consumer agency, the person said today.

Rupert Murdoch went too far  —  One of the few views Rupert Murdoch and I share is the importance of a free press.  —  I'm sure we would both agree that it is an unimpeachable right, especially in a day and age when few pure freedoms still exist in this country.

Carmageddon Shaping Up as Big Nothing  —  Rush hour traffic was light in Los Angeles Friday, in the final hours before closure of Interstate 405 for a few miles brought on a steel-and-rubber stampede of rich drivers that experts claim will destroy all intelligent life in California.

Michele Bachmann leaves church accused of anti-Catholic bias  —  Taking a page from President Obama's political playbook, Michele Bachmann has formally left a church in Minnesota accused of holding anti-Catholic views.  —  According to CNN, the church that Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus …