Former Senator Judd Gregg Says Shutdown Needed Before House Will Agree To Debt Limit Deal  —  Former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) says Social Security checks will need to be halted before House Republicans will agree to a deal to raise the debt limit.  —  A deficit hawk and former Chairman …

Franken Destoys Focus On The Family Witness, Exposes Misuse Of HHS Study  —  During this morning's Senate DOMA hearings, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) destroyed Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery's argument that children are better off with opposite-sex parents by demonstrating how Minnery misrepresented an HHS study.

Larry Summers calls Winklevoss twins ‘A**holes’  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — What did Larry Summers really think of the Winklevoss twins?  —  “Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind,” the former president of Harvard said in an interview at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference.

Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job  —  Tim Pawlenty moved closer Wednesday to raising doubts about Michele Bachmann's fitness for office.  —  While repeating his previous comments that he'd defer to doctors on Bachmann's particular health situation, Pawlenty said broadly …

Wasserman Schultz brushes off West email  —  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is dismissing Tuesday's personal attack by Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) as political bluster, not a hatchet job on the congresswoman, her office said Tuesday.  —  “I don't think that Congressman West is upset …

Never Before Seen: The ‘Inside Scoop’ on Some 2012 Presidential Contenders  —  On this week's edition of The Brody File show, some never before seen footage from my interviews with Sarah Palin, Speaker John Boehner, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as we get the 'scoop" on some of their “personal preferences.

Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped organize Rick Perry's foreign policy and national security briefing in Austin last Wednesday, Rumsfeld's staff confirmed today.  —  Perry's aides have been tight-lipped about the gathering …

Obama in perilous shape  —  For the first time since last July Barack Obama does not lead Mitt Romney in PPP's monthly national poll on the 2012 Presidential race.  Romney has now pulled into a tie with the President at 45%.  —  Obama's approval rating this month is 46% with 48% of voters disapproving of him.

TWITTER WARS: Who's Battling Who on Twitter?  —  Social media ventures like Twitter and Facebook have given leaders a new platform to campaign, complain and — best of all — fight.  In light of Karl Rove and Claire McCaskill's recent Twitter tiff, we break down some recent Twitter feuds from Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

Sarah Palin is going to be a grandmother again.  Eldest child Track Palin married high school sweetheart Britta Hanson two months ago, and now we hear that Britta is pregnant.  The picture above of “Britta Pie,” which was posted on a Wasilla friend's Facebook wall, confirms the news she's expecting.

Numbers Don't Lie: “The Undefeated” Had a Remarkable Box Office Debut  —  Box Office Mojo is a universally accepted and respected source for box-office numbers, mainly because they've always done a very professional job of sticking to numbers and avoiding the business and political nonsense that tarnishes so many others.

Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate  —  President Barack Obama intends on Wednesday to nominate the fourth openly gay judicial candidate of his administration to U.S. district court, according to a White House official.  —  The White House plans to announce the nomination …

Exclusive: Fed planning for potential default  —  (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default as a deadline for raising the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit looms, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday.

Why I foam-pied Rupert Murdoch |  Jonnie Marbles  —  Some people might think my action played into Murdoch's hands, but I did it for all the people who couldn't  —  First things first: I don't hate octogenarians.  I don't have a vendetta against anyone over 80 who likes to begrudgingly give evidence to parliamentary committees.

NOM Rabbi Blames Gay Marriage For 8 Year Old's Murder  —  The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) recently invited Rabbi Yehuda Levin to join them at a rally protesting New York's same sex marriage bill, despite Levin's long history of offensive comments.

Report: Private sector job creation ground to a halt almost instantly after Obamacare passed  —  A new report out yesterday from The Heritage Foundation shows private sector job creation dropped dramatically almost immediately after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) into law.

Martin Sheen: Time for President Bartlet to March Down Pennsylvania Avenue Again  —  ABC News' Sherisse Pham (@sherisse) reports: Martin Sheen was on Capitol Hill Tuesday, just in time to witness the partisan gridlock over the country's debt and budget.  In an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl …

Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt  —  Tea party activist, attorney are winners in Republican primaries  —  By Tom Tolan, Lee Bergquist and Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel  —  Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay was the first of nine state senators …

For immediate release  —  The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday issued a consent cease and desist order and assessed an $85 million civil money penalty against Wells Fargo & Company of San Francisco, a registered bank holding company, and Wells Fargo Financial, Inc., of Des Moines.

State Dept. contract officer steers $52 million to secret husband, daughter  —  A special investigation by The Daily Caller has discovered that a State Department contract specialist participated in awarding more than $52 million in taxpayer-funded contracts to a company owned and operated by her husband and daughter.