Wonkbook: Boehner failed.  Now what?  —  Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill July 28.  (JOSHUA ROBERTS - REUTERS) The lengths John Boehner went to ensure his bill failed in the Senate rather than the House were impressive, but ultimately, insufficient.

National Income and Product Accounts  —  Gross Domestic Product: Second Quarter 2011 (Advance Estimate)  —  Revised Estimates: 2003 through First Quarter 2011  —  Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

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 …

Americans split on New York gay marriage law  —  As New York gears up for its second weekend of same-sex nuptials, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Americans split 50 to 46 percent over whether the state's law legalizing such unions is a positive or negative outcome.

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.

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.

Oh, by the way, the U.S. just accused Iran of working with Al Qaeda  —  A little something light to tide you over while we wait for the next chapter in the debt-ceiling saga.  I've been around blogs long enough to remember when claiming that Shiite nuts might collaborate with Sunni nuts …

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 …

U.S. balance now less than Apple cash  —  Steve Jobs is now more liquid than Uncle Sam.  —  While it's highly unlikely that President Barack Obama is looking to ask the founder and chief executive of Apple Inc. for a loan, it became a fact as of Thursday afternoon — the world's largest technology company …

The tea party's terrorist tactics  —  It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.”  But they have now become full-blown terrorists.  —  They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm …

Hoyer Backs Obama Using 14th Amendment To Resolve Debt Crisis … WASHINGTON — House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) on Wednesday night became the highest ranking Democratic leader to throw his support behind the idea of President Barack Obama using the 14th Amendment of the Constitution to raise the debt ceiling on his own.

The great divide  —  We're in the midst of a great four-year national debate on the size and reach of government, the future of the welfare state, indeed, the nature of the social contract between citizen and state.  The distinctive visions of the two parties — social-democratic vs. limited-government …

They've Lost That Lovin' Feeling  —  Obama still has supporters, but theirs is a grim support.  —  The Republican establishment reasserted itself this week, and good thing, too, because the establishment was right.  It said Republicans in the House should back and pass the Boehner bill …