The Republican Wreckage  —  House Republicans have lost sight of the country's welfare.  It's hard to conclude anything else from their latest actions, including the House speaker's dismissal of President Obama's plea for compromise Monday night.  They have largely succeeded in their campaign …

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.”

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 …

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 …

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.

Krauthammer on Obama's Address: “I Thought I Was Cynical Until I Heard That Speech” (Video)  —  Charles Krauthammer unloaded on Obama tonight after his stale poll-driven speech to the nation.  Obama still has no plan.  —  “I thought I was cynical until I heard that speech.  It was purely partisan.

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.

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 …

‘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.”

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 …

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.

Wisconsin weird: Cops probe balloon popping  —  As if Wisconsin's politics couldn't get any wackier - the popping of a protestor's balloon at the state Capitol has left a trail of blood and is now the subject of a criminal investigation.  —  The latest bizarre incident …

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.

Initiative to Overturn CA FAIR Education Act OKed to Gather Signatures  —  The Capitol Resource Institute received the OK today from the California Sec. of State to begin circulating signatures-gathering petitions to place a ballot initiative on the June 2012 ballot to overturn SB 48, the California FAIR Education Act.