President calls debt crisis ‘self-created’  —  Washington (CNN) - As President Barack Obama sat down with television stations from three key political states, he said he is still hopeful the White House and congressional leadership will come to an agreement to raise the nation's debt ceiling but said politics is interfering.

It Begins: Top Republicans Push Away From Gang Of Six Plan  —  As time goes on, and conservative interest groups and members of Congress rip into it, support among Republicans for the Gang of Six plan to reduce deficits will begin to wane.  In fact, that's already happening.

Allen West Says He Apologized to Wasserman Schultz  —  Freshman Rep. Allen West said Wednesday that he has apologized to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for calling her “vile, unprofessional and despicable” in an email.  —  “I just apologized,” West (R-Fla.) told a Huffington Post reporter.

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.

Bachmann Releases Doctor's Note on Migraines as Pawlenty Says Candidates Must Be Able ‘To Do All of the Job, All of the Time’  —  ABC News' Matthew Jaffe (@matthewbjaffe) reports from Indianola, Iowa:  —  When Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty descended on Iowa today …

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.

Anita Perry encourages husband to run for president  —  AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry will need money, organization, staff and stamina if he runs for president.  —  But he appears to already have the support that's most important for the race — his wife's.

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.

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.

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 …

Las Vegas resort sues tea party group over hotel bill  —  Some Tennessee tea partiers are in hot water with a Las Vegas gambling resort that's accusing them of skipping out on a big hotel bill.  —  On Monday Venetian Casino Resort, LLC., filed suit against Tea Party Nation Corporation of Franklin …

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.

My Country 'Tis Of Thee, Sweet Land of...Removing the Pledge of Allegiance?!  —  Hard to believe, right?  Well, it's true ... and it happened in Bowie County, Texas.  —  Just when I thought nothing could be as outrageous as my recent post “God Bless Our Military ... just not at the Houston National Cemetery …

Role reversal: Latin America taunts US on debt woes  —  * Worries about contagion; Brazil now a U.S. creditor  —  After three decades spent battling their own debt crises and getting constantly lectured about them by Uncle Sam, many Latin Americans are watching the countdown to a possible default …

Heat ‘dome’ covers 1 million square miles across US  —  ‘Draining, physically draining,’ says Weather Service spokesman as heat slowly moves East  —  Below:  —  msnbc.com staff and news service reports  —  updated 2011-07-20T19:45:42  —  Some 141 million Americans over nearly 1 million square miles …

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.

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.

Wall St. Makes Fallback Plans for Debt Crisis  —  Lawmakers in Washington are racing to reach a deal to save the country from defaulting on its debt, but on Wall Street, financial players are devising doomsday plans in case the clock runs out.  —  These companies are taking steps to reduce …

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 …