Payback may be coming for congressman's ‘disloyalty’  —  U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's open defiance of Speaker John Boehner's efforts to solve the debt-ceiling crisis could cost the Urbana Republican his safe seat in next year's election.  —  Two Republican sources deeply involved in configuring …

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism  —  NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing.

Congressional Freshmen - For Such A Time As This  —  Out here in proverbial politico flyover country, we little folk are watching the debt ceiling debate with great interest and concern.  Today I re-read the open letter I wrote to Republican Freshman Members of Congress in November 2010 …

Rand Paul: 'I'd rather be a hobbit than a troll'  —  The “Lord of the Rings” metaphors crept into the debt-limit fight on Thursday, as tea-party heroes fired back at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who mocked members of the conservative grassroots movement as “tea-party hobbits.”

3 ways Obama could bypass Congress  —  Editor's note: Jack M. Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School.  His latest book is “Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World” (Harvard University Press 2011).  —  New Haven, Connecticut (CNN) — Very soon, Congress will raise the debt ceiling.

Why Do Half of Americans Pay No Federal Income Tax?  —  You may have heard the claim that about half of Americans pay no federal income tax.  That's a true fact.  My Tax Policy Center colleagues estimate, for example, that 46% of households either will pay no federal income tax in 2011 …

NRSC blasts ‘lewd, violent, anti-Christian’ Dan Savage  —  With the Massachusetts Democratic Party attacking Senator Scott Brown for refusing to film a video for the “It Gets Better Project,” which offers moral support to gay teens, the National Republican Senatorial Committee came …

Rep. Joe Walsh Defends Not Paying $117,000 In Child Support: ‘This Is Where Real America Is’  —  Last night the Chicago Sun-Times broke the story that Tea Party freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), who has spent months lecturing President Obama and Democrats on fiscal responsibility …

Texas Gov. Rick Perry: “Obviously gay marriage is not fine with me...”  —  Last week in Aspen, Colorado, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas addressed New York's new same-sex marriage law by saying “That's New York, and that's their business, and that's fine with me...”

Obama Loses Ground in 2012 Reelection Bid  —  In GOP, Romney Leads, Attentive Like Perry, Bachmann Most Visible  —  OVERVIEW  —  The sizeable lead Barack Obama held over a generic Republican opponent in polls conducted earlier this year has vanished as his support among independent voters has fallen off.

Bachmann Defends Using Federal Loans She Denounced: 'It's Almost Impossible To Buy A Home' Without Them  —  GOP presidential contender Michele Bachmann (R) has been in hot water in recent weeks for personally taking advantage of hundreds of thousands of dollars in government aid while denouncing the very programs she benefited from.

New Hacking Case Outrages Britain  —  LONDON — Britain was awash in a new surge of outrage over the phone hacking scandal on Thursday, as news emerged that Scotland Yard had added to the list of probable victims a woman whose 8-year-old daughter was murdered by a repeat sex offender in 2000.

Surveying the Electoral Damage of the Debt Debate  —  Republicans may not have scored a knockout blow on the policy elements of the debt ceiling debate.  But since the remaining proposals consist of entirely of spending cuts while still reducing the debt significantly, the judges ought …