Another politician forced to resign after sending naked pictures to woman he had online relationship with  —  A politician who emailed a woman nude photos of himself that were posted on a GOP activist's website has resigned and said he will consider all legal options to have the pictures taken down.

Where's Your Budget, Mr. President?  —  Ever since they fudged the numbers to pass ObamaCare, Democrats have abandoned credible spending plans.  —  During the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, President Obama reportedly warned Republican leaders not to call his bluff by sending him a bill without tax increases.

'Maybe He Hasn't Noticed or Doesn't Care, But the Country is Giving Up On Him'  —  I'm not of the mind that Barack Obama doesn't care about his fortunes in the wake of the debt deal hammered out this week.  He obviously cares since he's now jetting off for his biggest fundraisers of his re-election campaign.

D.B. Cooper Mystery: Alleged Niece Comes Forward  —  A woman claiming to be the niece of infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper has spoken to ABC News in an exclusive interview about her role in the recently re-ignited 40-year-old cold case that has haunted the FBI for years.

Exclusive: Operation Shady rat—Unprecedented Cyber-espionage Campaign and Intellectual-Property Bonanza  —  For at least five years, a high-level hacking campaign—dubbed Operation Shady rat—has infiltrated the computer systems of national governments, global corporations, nonprofits …

Republicans Attack Obama For Having A Birthday Party  —  Apparently, you're not allowed to do anything other than create jobs, if you're Barack Obama (Mr. Boehner, where are the jobs?).  The right wing is going apoplectic because there is a star-studded Chicago fund-raiser in conjunction with his 50th birthday.

Private sector added 114,000 jobs in July  —  (Reuters) - Private employers added more jobs than expected in July, though less than in June, but planned layoffs rose to a 16-month high, according to separate surveys on Wednesday.  —  The data comes ahead of the U.S. government's key jobs report on Friday …

McConnell: ‘The debt ceiling will not be clean anymore’  —  (GETTY IMAGES) The most honest man in Washington did some more truth-telling on CNBC last night.  Speaking to Larry Kudlow, Mitch McConnell made perfectly clear that the hostage situation we just went through wasn't a one-shot deal.

Palin says she has no respect for Romney's debt-ceiling stance  —  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) joined the attacks against Mitt Romney's handling of the debt-ceiling debate, saying she has no respect for how the GOP presidential front-runner handled the issue.

Hosni Mubarak trial: as it happened  —  Live coverage of the trial in Cairo of Hosni Mubarak, the former Egyptian president, who is accused of conspiring to kill protesters.  —  Hosni Mubarak is wheeled into court on a bed  —  12.46 Since the day's events seem to have come to a halt, we'll tie this up here.

Stalemate in Senate Leaves 4,000 Out of Work at F.A.A.  —  WASHINGTON — After dealing with the debt crisis, Senate negotiators tried and failed on Tuesday to end a stalemate over temporary financing for the Federal Aviation Administration, leaving 4,000 agency employees out of work and relying …

Romney Advisor Robert Bork: Civil Rights Act Is ‘Unsurpassed Ugliness,’ But Contraception And Porn Bans Are Fine  —  Yesterday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announced his presidential campaign's “Justice Advisory Committee,” along with its co-chair Robert Bork.

How John Boehner escaped disaster  —  In the midst of a rebellion from his own colleagues, John Boehner faced a big decision.  —  It was 10 p.m. last Thursday, the most stressful moment of his Speakership.  —  Boehner's debt-limit bill was short on votes, and the GOP leadership was forced …

Senate blocking recess appointments  —  Following the House, the Senate will hold a series of “pro forma” sessions over the next month, effectively blocking President Barack Obama from making any appointments during Congress' August recess.  —  That means Obama won't be able to seat his pick …

Just 22% Approve of Debt Ceiling Deal, Most Doubt It Will Cut Spending  —  Most voters disapprove of the debt ceiling agreement reached by the president and Congress earlier this week and most doubt it will actually reduce government spending.  —  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds …

Washington Chain Saw Massacre  —  Even before Emanuel Cleaver, the Democratic congressman from Missouri, called the debt deal “a sugar-coated Satan sandwich” and Nancy Pelosi tossed in a side of “Satan fries,” the whiff of sulfur was rising from the Capitol.

Memo to the Super Committee  —  I know you haven't been established yet.  Neither you, nor I, know who you really are.  Still, it's possible you'll be pretty important between now and Thanksgiving so I thought I'd drop you this note.  —  I heard through the grapevine (OK, it was the internet) …

GOP Rep. Steve King: Free Birth Control Will Make America ‘A Dying Civilization’  —  Conservatives are lashing out at the Obama administration's decision to listen to the experts at the Institute of Medicine and approve their recommendation to require new health insurance plans to cover birth control with no co-pays.

Just Watch This of the Day: Why the Internet Exists, Reason #143,106: “Mariachi Connecticut performing for a beluga whale at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium.”  —  [thanks tracey!]

The Scariest 4 Economic Graphs I've Seen This Year  —  This is a remarkable sequence of pictures from Calculated Risk showing that no major economic indicator has returned to its pre-crisis level.  In other words, after two years of recovery, not a single key broad measure of the economy has actually recovered.

Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity endorses Sen. Hatch  —  Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity endorsed Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) on his radio show Tuesday, giving a boost to the lawmaker, who could face a primary challenge from the right next year.

One shot on taxes: Don't blow it, Democrats  —  There are now two sides in the American tax debate: the Republican Party, which refuses to have a serious conversation about taxes, and the Democratic Party, which . . . refuses to have a serious conversation about taxes.