Stress-related condition ‘incapacitates’ Bachmann; heavy pill use alleged  —  In late July 2010, Rep. Michele Bachmann's then-communications director, Dave Dziok, told his boss that he planned to take a new job with the public relations firm Edelman.  —  Dziok had worked for Bachmann …

Coburn rejoins Gang of Six, backs $3.7T deficit-reduction plan  —  Democratic and Republican senators are rallying behind a $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan announced Tuesday morning by the five remaining members of the Gang of Six.  —  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who pulled out of the Gang …

The Road Not Taken  —  Over the past months, Republicans enjoyed enormous advantages.  Opinion polls showed that voters are eager to reduce the federal debt, and they want to do it mostly but not entirely through spending cuts.  —  There was a Democratic president eager to move to the center.

Phone-hacking: Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks face MPs - live  —  • Rupert Murdoch attacked at select committee  —  • ‘This is the most humble day of my life,’ Murdoch tells MPs  —  • News Corp chair was ‘asked to enter No 10 by back door’  —  • Rupert ‘had no knowledge at all of Taylor settlement’

Bachmann continues to surge  —  Michele Bachmann's momentum continues to build and she's taken first place by the smallest of margins on PPP's newest national Presidential poll.  21% of Republican primary voters say she's their top choice to 20% for Mitt Romney, 12% for Rick Perry …

Obama Endorses Feinstein's Bill To Repeal The Defense Of Marriage Act  —  A day before the Senate Judiciary Committee prepares to hold hearing on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the Obama administration has endorsed Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) legislation to repeal it.

Exclusive Bill Clinton Interview: I Would Use Constitutional Option To Raise Debt Ceiling And “Force The Courts To Stop Me”  —  Former President Bill Clinton says that he would invoke the so-called constitutional option to raise the nation's debt ceiling “without hesitation …

NBC/WSJ poll: Majority says not raising debt ceiling would be problematic  —  A majority of Americans say that Congress failing to raise the debt ceiling would be a real and serious problem, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.  —  Fifty-five percent of all respondents …

Software Designer Reports Error in Anthony Trial  —  MIAMI — Assertions by the prosecution that Casey Anthony conducted extensive computer searches on the word “chloroform” were based on inaccurate data, a software designer who testified at the trial said Monday.

Man Attempts Attack on Murdoch During Hearing; Murdoch's Wife Lunges at Attacker  —  A Parliament hearing into hacking by News Corp. journalists erupted into chaos Tuesday as CEO Rupert Murdoch was attacked by a man with what appeared to be a pie.  —  Wendi Deng Murdoch, his wife …

Internet Activist Charged in M.I.T. Data Theft  —  Updated Added links to documents and comment from United States Attorney's office in Boston.  —  Updated Changed headline and post to remove reference to Mr. Swartz being a co-founder of Reddit, as this is disputed.  Added comment from Demand Progress.

FAMiLY LEADER's Bob Vander Plaats Erupts In Laughter At Faggot Joke: 'That's Pretty Good'  —  The FAMiLY LEADER's 14-point marriage fidelity pledge has divided the GOP's 2012 presidential field and raised concerns among GOP operatives that the group and its president — three …

GOP Balancing Act  —  A balanced budget amendment is the wrong debt solution.  —  Republicans this week plan to force votes in the House and Senate on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The last time Congress voted on a BBA was in 1997.  It failed.  The first unsuccessful BBA was proposed in 1936.

EXCLUSIVE: FBI Raids Homes of Suspected ‘Anonymous’ Hackers  —  The FBI executed search warrants at the New York homes of three suspected members of notorious hacking group Anonymous early Tuesday morning, FoxNews.com has learned.  —  More than 10 FBI agents arrived at the Baldwin, N.Y. …

Rick Perry Says He Has No Interest In VP Slot  —  Keywords:  —  Enlargephoto by: Bob Daemmrich  —  Gov. Rick Perry talks to the media about his possible presidential plans after a meeting of the Cash Management Commitee on July 19, 2011.  —  John Nance Garner, the colorful West Texas politician known as …

Scribblers and Madmen  —  Ezra Klein has a good column on the dangers of being wrong about Keynes.  As he says, it's very difficult to respond rationally to an economic crisis when politicians like Eric Cantor completely fail to understand what Keynesianism is all about:

Justice Department lawyers contradict FBI findings in anthrax case  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has called into question a key pillar of the FBI's case against Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist accused of mailing the anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and terrorized Congress a decade ago.

Harry Potter's Shylocky Goblins  —  I'm not a Harry Potter fan myself, but I did see the last movie this weekend and I was struck by how much J.K. Rowling's Goblins appear to be modeled after anti-Semitic stereotypes.  Aside from being small, miserly, and gifted with large schnozes, Goblins …