Democrats Set Drop-Dead Date For Debt Ceiling Backup Plan  —  President Obama's quest to reach a historic budget agreement with House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) fell into deep doubt Thursday, after a noisy rebellion by Senate Democrats over reports that Obama might hand Republicans the farm …

Oslo Explosion: One of Two Blasts Result of Massive Vehicle Bomb, Sources Say  —  At least one of two explosions that rocked a Norwegian government building in Oslo today was result of a massive vehicle bomb, according to U.S. government sources on the scene.

Justice Department Prepares Subpoenas in News Corp. Inquiry  —  The U.S. Justice Department is preparing subpoenas as part of preliminary investigations into News Corp. relating to alleged foreign bribery and alleged hacking of voicemail of Sept. 11 victims, according to a government official.

Read My Lips: No New Taxes  —  THE Taxpayer Protection Pledge has received increased attention as the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches.  My organization, Americans for Tax Reform, created the pledge in 1986 as a simple, written commitment by a candidate or elected official …

Tim Pawlenty: Jesus Christ Is One Of My ‘Heroes’ … WEBSTER CITY, IOWA — When George W. Bush came to Iowa in 1999 and named Jesus as his favorite philosopher, that statement helped boost him to a decisive win in this first-in-the-nation caucus state.  —  GOP 2012 candidate Tim Pawlenty is following Bush's playbook.

CNN Poll: Perry near the top in GOP nomination race  —  Washington (CNN) - As Texas Gov. Rick Perry comes closer and closer to jumping into the race for the White House, he's also close to the top of a new national survey in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination.

The Lesser Depression  —  These are interesting times — and I mean that in the worst way.  Right now we're looking at not one but two looming crises, either of which could produce a global disaster.  In the United States, right-wing fanatics in Congress may block a necessary rise in the debt ceiling …

Weiner in therapy; says hard part will be convincing Hillary Clinton he's recovered  —  Forget his wife — Anthony Weiner has an even bigger problem on his hands: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  —  The horndog ex-House member from Queens is telling friends that while he's finally started therapy …

A Goodbye To Borders  —  When I was growing up, the kind of people who today are lamenting the decline of physical books in the face of e-reading were busy bemoaning the decline of independent bookstores in the face of ruthless national chains.  As it happens, where I grew …

Return of Mass Layoffs a Grim Sign for U.S. Workers  —  Putting pressure on an already lousy job market, the mass layoff is making a comeback.  In the past week, Cisco, Lockheed Martin and Borders announced a combined 23,000 in job cuts.  (See: Another Retailer Bites the Dust: Borders Doomed by Amazon Deal, Davidowitz Says)

Obama could be comeback kid if he mimics Clinton  —  Here's a scary exercise for Republicans.  First, make a graph of Bill Clinton's job approval ratings for the nine months following November 1994, when Republicans dealt him a crushing defeat in midterm elections.

Senate rejects ‘Cut, Cap, Balance’  —  The Democratic-controlled Senate on Friday narrowly voted to block a Republican measure that would force Congress to pass a stringent balanced budget amendment and cap spending before increasing the debt ceiling.  —  The legislation, a conservative priority …

Rove: Palin advisers push non-traditional campaign  —  Karl Rove, on whether Sarah Palin can wage a non-conventional campaign. … Rove then said she was ignoring the “niceties” at “her own peril”.  —  Again, I link to Scott Conroy's piece on Iowa today, where he notes that the old niceties might not mean as much in Iowa anymore.