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.”

Michele Bachmann's $4,700 Hair and Makeup Bill  —  Considering Rep. Michele Bachmann's crusade against government spending and her demand that America live within its means, you wouldn't figure her for a conspicuous spender.  But after launching her bid for the White House …

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.

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.

Public Wants a Debt Ceiling Compromise, Expects a Deal Before Deadline  —  GOP Widely Viewed as ‘More Extreme in Its Positions’  —  OVERVIEW  —  The public overwhelmingly favors a compromise in the debt ceiling standoff.  And even as negotiations aimed at resolving the issue show little progress …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Americans back mixed solution for debt crisis: Reuters/Ipsos poll  —  (Reuters) - Americans are overwhelmingly concerned about the U.S. debt crisis and a majority back the type of compromise pushed by President Barack Obama to end the impasse, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found on Tuesday.

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.

NARTH No Longer Providing Continuing Education  —  Lost amid the headlines that gay marriage has been legalized in New York, that Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been repealed, and that California has adopted SB 48 (which mandates that public schools include lessons on the societal contributions of gay people) …

‘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.”

Render Unto Caesar  —  Yesterday famed “Christian” pastor Rick Warren, wealthy author and megachurch leader, tweeted the following: … After a firestorm ignited decrying this egregious mix of selfishness and ignorance, Mr. Warren deleted his tweet.  But the screenshot is preserved for Internet eternity.

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 …

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 …