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.

GOP has no backup plan after vote  —  There's a narrative gaining traction in Washington as a debt crisis looms: House Republican hard-liners might soften their stance once they've gotten a vote on their Cut, Cap and Balance proposal.  —  But if that's the case, the conservatives aren't in on the plan.

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 …

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 …

Phone-hacking: Murdochs and Rebekah Brooks face MPs - live  —  • Rupert and James Murdoch at select committee  —  • ‘This is the most humble day of my life,’ says Rupert Murdoch  —  • 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 …

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.

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 …

Wynn CEO Goes On Epic Anti-Obama Rant On Company Conference Call  —  Who doesn't love a good rant?  —  We certainly do, and as usual, Steve Wynn, the CEO of casino company Wynn Resorts, delivered on his company's quarterly conference call today.  —  Via Seeking Alpha, here's the crux of it:

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. …

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.

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.

Borders Forced to Liquidate, Close All Stores  —  Above, the exterior of a closed store in San Rafael, Calif.  —  Borders Group Inc. said it would liquidate after the second-largest U.S. bookstore chain failed to receive any offers to save it.  —  Borders, which employs about 10,700 people …

City to Hold Lottery for Gay Marriage Sunday … Fearing demand for same-sex weddings will be too great for the City Clerk's Office to handle this Sunday, city officials have announced a lottery for weddings on the first day that gay couples can legally wed in the state.

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 …

APNewsBreak: New Montana oil spill went unreported for a month, EPA looking at sanctions  —  HELENA, Mont. — A newly discovered oil spill in northwestern Montana went unreported for a month before a neighboring landowner complained to the Blackfeet Indian Tribe, federal regulators said Monday.

Coburn is back, rejoins Gang of Six  —  Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn has rejoined the Senate's Gang of Six, a move that could revive the struggling group and give it a chance to shape the debt ceiling debate.  —  Coburn told a room of 43 senators Tuesday morning that he was “back,” and the crowd erupted in applause.

Space shuttle leaves space station for last time … CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. A space shuttle left the International Space Station for the very last time Tuesday, heading home to end the 30-year run of a vessel that kept U.S. astronauts flying to and from orbit longer than any other rocketship.