Pawlenty clarifies Bachmann jab  —  (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty walked back earlier criticism of rival Michele Bachmann's migraines on Wednesday, calling the attention over her headaches “a sideshow.”  —  “I think it's mostly a sideshow,” Pawlenty said on Fox News.

Opposition to a deal with Obama creates problems for GOP  —  House Republicans' resistance to compromise on budget reforms has turned a significant bloc of voters against them and has frustrated members of their leadership and the party establishment.  —  Reporting from Washington …

Out from under the anti-tax pledge  —  WITH A HANDFUL of exceptions, every Republican member of Congress has signed a pledge against increasing taxes.  Would allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire as scheduled in 2012 violate this vow?  We posed this question to Grover Norquist …

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 …

How Things Have Changed: A Video Review Of The Vile Attacks Against LGBT Americans During The 1996 DOMA Debate  —  Yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act highlighted the nation's evolution towards LGBT equality …

Home Depot Co-Founder: Obama Is Choking Recovery  —  Bernie Marcus co-founded Home Depot (HD) in 1978 and brought it public in 1981 as the U.S. was suffering from the worst recession and unemployment in 40 years.  The company thrived, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and redefining home improvement retailing.

Jobless Claims Jump  —  New claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week following two declines, a setback for a sector that hasn't been producing many jobs.  —  Claims increased by 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 418,000 in the week ended July 16, the Labor Department said Thursday.

One Big, Happy Polygamous Family  —  SINCE the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas, Americans have enjoyed unprecedented freedom in their lifestyles and private relationships.  The decision held that states could no longer use the criminal code for social engineering …

Sharpton Appears to Win Anchor Spot on MSNBC  —  After giving a nearly six-month tryout for the Internet talk show host Cenk Uygur, the cable news channel MSNBC is preparing to instead hand its 6 p.m. time slot to the Rev. Al Sharpton.  —  Mr. Sharpton's imminent hiring …

How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans  —  An insider's six-step plan to fix Congress  —  ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED, American voters went to the polls in November 2010 to “take back” their country.  Just as they had done in 2008.  And 2006.  And repeatedly for decades …

FEC rules Edwards should pay $2.3M  —  Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) must repay the federal government millions of dollars in matching funds, the Federal Election Commission unanimously ruled Thursday.  —  In a 6- vote, the commission determined the former presidential candidate accepted excessive funds …

Understanding the Gang of Six plan  —  In this post I will try to describe and explain the Gang of Six plan.  In a separate post (coming soon) I will describe my views on the plan.  I can't explain the plan without incorporating some judgment, but I'll try to separate most of my personal policy views into the follow-up post.

Al Qaeda magazine pokes fun at fall of sexting pol Anthony Weiner  —  WASHINGTON - Even terrorists are making Weiner jokes.  —  In Al Qaeda's latest edition of its chilling e-magazine, “Inspire,” the terror network's Arabian Peninsula syndicate settles a score with former Queens Rep. Anthony Weiner …

The Shuttle Ends Its Final Voyage and an Era in Space  —  The last space shuttle flight rolled to a stop at 5:58 a.m. on Thursday, closing an era of the nation's space program.  —  It was the 19th night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to end the 135th space shuttle mission.

Barack Obama's 2008 bundlers flee political ‘machine’  —  When Senator Barack Obama began running for president in 2007, a small handful of determined, inspired supporters found a new political calling.  A new group of professionals - from a San Juan jewelry story owner to a West Coast biotech executive …

Michael Eric Dyson: GOP Refuse Raising Debt Ceiling ‘Because The Economy Is In The Hands Of The Black’  —  There are plenty of theories as to why the current Congressional debt talks appear on the outside to be something of a complete failure.  Most Americans have probably concluded that Congress …

Cathie Black smashes car into trees after Hamptons bash  —  Ousted Schools Chancellor Cathie Black found a Hampton's driveway tougher to navigate than the city's education system — she smashed her brand-new SUV into tree after tree following a boozy Bastille Day bash.

U.S. Consumers Relying on Credit for Basic Necessities  —  Consumers in the U.S. are increasingly using credit cards to pay for basic necessities as income gains fail to keep pace with rising food and fuel prices.  —  The dollar volume of purchases charged grew 10.7 percent in June from a year ago …

West: Apology to Wasserman Schultz ‘not happening’  —  Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said he had no plans to apologize to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) for a strongly-worded email he sent to the congresswoman.  —  “That is not happening.  This is a pattern I referred to in that email …

Politico reporter who covered Palin quits for Democratic Party job  —  A Politico reporter who often penned stories about Sarah Palin and other Republicans has quit journalism to work with the Democratic Party in Arizona, sources tell The Daily Caller.  —  That reporter, Andy Barr …

Fracking at Drinking Water Source for 80,000 Pennsylvanians Raises Alarms  —  Cynthia Walter, an ecologist at St. Vincent College outside Pittsburgh, gets a lot of emails from local wildlife enthusiasts asking about “this bird” or “that amphibian.”  —  But one day last year she got …

Rent vs buy datapoint of the day  —  It's never possible to know for sure, at any given time, whether it's a better idea to rent or to buy.  If rents and prices both go up in the future, then buying's likely to have been a good idea.  And if they both go down, then renting is sure to have been the better idea.