Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt  —  To understand the furor over the decision by Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, to downgrade U.S. government debt, you have to hold in your mind two seemingly (but not actually) contradictory ideas.  The first is that America is indeed no longer the stable, reliable country it once was.

A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis?  (Wonkish)  —  There will probably be big action in the euro zone tomorrow; so, some quick analytical notes.  —  The big question, I believe, is whether the Italian and maybe Spanish crises are the kind of thing that might be brought under control by ECB bond purchases.

No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan  —  Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P's decision to downgrade America's credit rating.  —  “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that.

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Explosive Jackie O tapes ‘reveal how she believed Johnson killed JFK and had affair with movie star’  —  Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal.

Wis. Dem memo: Victory predictions “dangerous”  —  MADISON Wis. — Democrats on the ground here are increasingly confident they will pick-up two state Senate seats, but are warning that winning the third necessary for a takeover is a tenuous prospect.  —  Despite hype from some in the party apparatus …

Second Recession in U.S. Could Be Worse Than First  —  If the economy falls back into recession, as many economists are now warning, the bloodletting could be a lot more painful than the last time around.  —  Given the tumult of the Great Recession, this may be hard to believe.

Sharia execution urged for Mubarak  —  THE spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which portrays itself as a moderate Islamic movement, has called for execution and hand amputations if the Mubaraks are found guilty of murder and corruption.  —  “If a man has stolen millions of the state's money …

Mark O. Hatfield, Republican Champion of Liberal Causes, Dies at 89  —  Mark O. Hatfield, a liberal Republican who challenged his party's positions on the Vietnam War and on a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution during his 30 years as a Senator from Oregon, died on Sunday.  He was 89.

Romney knocks Obama's S&P ‘failure’  —  (CNN) - Mitt Romney will continue his attacks on President Barack Obama at events Monday, hitting him over the recent U.S. downgrade from Standard & Poor's.  —  Campaigning in New Hampshire, the Republican presidential frontrunner will tout his own history …

Pawlenty changes his approach on health care  —  He favored exchanges and was ‘open to’ mandates.  Then he ran for president.  —  WASHINGTON - In his presidential campaign autobiography, “Courage to Stand,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recalls a man in a wheelchair who approached him at an airport in Mankato.

Palestinians and the U.N.  —  In little more than a month, the Palestinians are expected to ask the United Nations to recognize their state.  We have sympathy for their yearning and their frustration.  For years, they have been promised a negotiated solution — President Obama called …

Duncan to issue ‘No Child’ waivers  —  Seeing “no clear path” toward reauthorizing the “No Child Left Behind” education law, the Obama administration will unilaterally issue waivers to states, exempting them from some of the law's regulations.  —  “Today we're less than a month from the start …

Geithner tells Obama he will remain as Treasury secretary  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has told President Obama he plans to remain in his job through the fall of 2012, keeping in place Obama's longest-serving economic adviser after the first-ever U.S. credit downgrade and renewed fears of a second recession.