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 …

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.

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 …

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’

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 …

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 …

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.

Public Split Evenly on Urgency of Debt Limit Debate  —  OVERVIEW  —  While administration officials project an economic catastrophe if the debt limit is not raised by Aug. 2, many Americans do not see this deadline as a major problem.  Four-in-ten (40%) say that, from what they've read and heard …

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 …

Reddit Co-Founder Charged With Data Theft  —  Aaron Swartz, a 24-year-old programmer and online political activist, was indicted Tuesday in Boston on charges that he stole over four million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers.

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 …

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.

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.

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. …

ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Advantage on Aiding the Middle Class Helps Keep Obama's Approval Afloat  —  Analysis By ABC News' Pollster Gary Langer:  —  Most Americans think the Republicans in Congress have got Wall Street and large corporations' backs, while President Obama prevails …

What if the President Told a Joke and Nobody Laughed?  —  Not possible, you say—not for the funniest person alive.  But it's true.  President Obama was on the White House lawn today, introducing former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordary as the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Some federal workers more likely to die than lose jobs  —  Federal employees' job security is so great that workers in many agencies are more likely to die of natural causes than get laid off or fired, a USA TODAY analysis finds.  —  Death — rather than poor performance, misconduct or layoffs …

Conservative groups threaten GOP lawmakers who vote for McConnell's last-ditch plan - @OMBPress - Panetta's spokespair: George Little and Capt. John Kirby - NYC moguls entreat Christie to run  —  FIRST LOOK — Jason Furman, deputy director of the White House's National Economic Council, on …

Sen. Coburn Proposes Eliminating The Dollar Bill To Reduce The Deficit  —  Yesterday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) unveiled his dead-on-arrival plan to reduce the nation's debt by $9 trillion over the next 10 years.  Coburn, who stormed out of debt talks a few weeks ago in a temper tantrum …