New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles  —  With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said:  —  “I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.”

Bachmann walks away from WQAD  —  Davenport, Iowa— Michele Bachmann made a visit to the Quad Cities last night to speak with supporters and give interviews to the local television media, that is, with one exception.  Despite promises to WQAD for a one-on-one interview the Congresswoman's managers openly …

Congressman Resigns in Sex Scandal  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Rep. David Wu of Oregon announced Tuesday that he will resign amid political fallout from an 18-year-old woman's allegations she had an unwanted sexual encounter with him.  —  Within days of the allegation …

Congress In the Lead  —  Some of us like to think big.  We thought at the beginning of this debt crisis that it might be possible to reach a Grand Bargain.  This deal would make a serious dent in the country's awful debt problem.  It would begin to reform entitlements.

A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns  —  Soon after Seemona Sumasar started dating Jerry Ramrattan, she had an inkling that something might be wrong.  —  He said he was a police detective, but never seemed to go to work.  He seemed obsessed with “C.S.I.,” “Law & Order” and other television police dramas.

Republican Leaders Voted for Drivers of U.S. Debt They Now Blame on Obama  —  House Speaker John Boehner often attacks the spendthrift ways of Washington.  —  “In Washington, more spending and more debt is business as usual,” the Republican leader from Ohio said in a televised address yesterday amid debate over the U.S. debt.

Pat Buchanan: Norwegian Right-Wing Terrorist ‘Breivik May Be Right’  —  Today, in a World Net Daily op-ed, failed presidential candidate and conservative pundit Pat Buchanan offers an example of the ethnic bigotry and racial insensitivity that has come to define him.

The Help-Wanted Sign Comes With a Frustrating Asterisk  —  The unemployed need not apply.  —  That is the message being broadcast by many of the nation's employers, making it even more difficult for 14 million jobless Americans to get back to work.  —  A recent review of job vacancy postings …

O'Reilly Shreds Media for Calling Norway Terrorist ‘Christian’  —  BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: “Impact” segment tonight: mass murder in Norway.  A vicious killer, Anders Breivik, has murdered at least 76 people in the Scandinavian nation of Norway.  Breivik is a brutal fanatic …

RSS Government And Politics Police investigate bloody incident with red heart balloon at Capitol  —  Capitol police are investigating a bloody incident involving a state worker, a protester and a red heart balloon at the state Capitol.  —  The incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Monday …

An Open Letter to the GOP  —  As someone who understands the pressures and difficulties you have been going through, I want to say, “Congratulations.”  You won, and so did the country.  —  Absent some major miscalculations, within the next few days there will be official acknowledgement of what has already happened.

Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics  —  Twenty-to-One  —  By Rakesh Kochhar, Richard Fry and Paul Taylor, Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends  —  The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times …

The U.S. Issues Nearly 60 Percent Of AAA-Rated Sovereign Debt  —  America's AAA-rating on our sovereign debt is useful to the American people.  But it also plays a crucial role in the global economy as a whole.  People and firms want access to safe sovereign debt for a variety of purposes.

Jerry Brown nominates Goodwin Liu to California Supreme Court [Updated]  —  Gov. Jerry Brown nominated UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court Tuesday, giving the state high court a fourth Asian justice and a collegial liberal who is likely to be strongly supportive of civil rights.

Sugar in the Tank  —  Transportation spending, like pretty much everything else, is totally screwed.  —  When Representative John Mica, a Republican from Florida and chair of the House Transportation Committee released his proposal for the overdue Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill earlier …

‘Off the hook’: Calls Pour Into Capitol Hill  —  ABC News' Sunlen Miller (@sunlenmiller) reports:  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has received over 600 calls between 8-10 this morning.  His office has six people now working the phones, and they continue to be “inundated.”

Palin Filmmaker Spreads His Bets to Bachmann  —  Before Sarah Palin, Steve Bannon made a movie about Michele Bachmann.  Could it push her over the top in Iowa?  —  One could make a fairly convincing case that Steve Bannon, the filmmaker who brought us the Sarah Palin bio pic “The Undefeated …

Troy clerk resigns after plea offer  —  McInerney's resignation may signal that he's accepted a plea offer  —  Troy City Councilman Michael LoPorto, left, and Troy City Clerk William McInerney, right, watch proceedings during a hearing in Albany last September regarding a prosecutor's request …

Soros to End Hedge-Fund Career, Return Money  —  George Soros, the billionaire best known for breaking the Bank of England, is returning money to outside investors in his $25.5 billion firm, ending a career as hedge-fund manager that spanned more than four decades.