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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

US drones target white jihadis  —  ISLAMABAD - The July 5 killing of yet another white jihadi commander in an American drone strike in the North Waziristan tribal agency of Pakistan - an Australian national this time - has given credence to earlier reports by Western intelligence agencies …

FBI arrests Pakistani agent for making political contributions in US  —  Law enforcement sources say the FBI has arrested an agent of Pakistan's official state intelligence service, accusing him of making thousands of dollars in political contributions in the United States without disclosing his connections to the Pakistani government.

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:

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 tempter tantrum …

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.