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 …

Reid: The House is ‘having trouble’ conducting its work  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) tweaked his House counterparts for failing to send the upper chamber the material it needs to work before he adjourned the Senate just before 11 p.m. Thursday.

The Centrist Cop-Out  —  The facts of the crisis over the debt ceiling aren't complicated.  Republicans have, in effect, taken America hostage, threatening to undermine the economy and disrupt the essential business of government unless they get policy concessions they would never have been able to enact through legislation.

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 …

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 …

Atheists Sue to Block Display of Cross-Shaped Beam in 9/11 Museum  —  In the days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, some workers and mourners at the World Trade Center site seized upon a cross-shaped steel beam found amid the rubble as a symbol of faith and hope.

The Platinum Coin Option  —  I keep hesitating to write about this because it sounds insane, but Jack Balkin's a professor at Yale Law School so I'll let him say it: … It's right here in 31 USC  § 5112 “Denominations, specifications, and design of coins.”

Culture Clash  —  Sen. Jim DeMint wants to change the way Washington does business and then “go home and rock on my front porch.”  —  Two-termer: Jim DeMint  —  In his new book, The Great American Awakening, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., recalls how he was ostracized for two years by fellow Republicans for his unbending conservatism.

U.N. Busy Deciding How to Slam Israel  —  Member states of the U.N. General Assembly are busy hammering out how to slam Israel and restrict human rights like free speech at “Durban III” - the racist “anti-racism” event to be held in New York on Sept. 22.  —  With the recent pull-outs …

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.

Will the Norway Massacre Deflate Europe's Right Wing?  —  A Blogosphere of Bigots  —  IT is tempting to view Anders Behring Breivik, the self-described Christian crusader behind the July 22 massacre in Norway, as an isolated case of pure evil.  Yet history has taught us that such acts …

LGBT Leaders Slam Sen. Brown For Refusing To Participate In ‘It Gets Better’ Video  —  On a conference call today, prominent LGBT leaders from Massachusetts roundly condemned Sen. Scott Brown's (R-MA) decision not to participate in a video for the It Gets Better project.