Romney gets in heated exchange with hecklers at Iowa State Fair  —  Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) exchange with a few hecklers turned into somewhat of a shouting match while he was stumping Thursday in Iowa.  —  Romney faced aggressive inquiries with a liberal bent at the top …

Rick Perry Wants to Be President  —  Highlights here.  Subscribers can read Halperin's story on Perry in the latest issue of TIME.  —  Video highlight: Perry says he has decided he wants to be president.  —  Video highlight: Perry on 43's advice to him. Transcript of Mark Halperin's Interview with Rick Perry

Exclusive: Republican Camp won't rule out tax increases  —  (Reuters) - A leading Republican lawmaker would not rule out tax increases on Thursday if they could boost economic growth, adding that “everything is on the table” for a congressional panel charged with forging a deal to cut the deficit.

Attorney for Graves, Rogers: Bank is at fault  —  CALHOUN — While U.S. Rep. Tom Graves was calling for fiscal responsibility in Washington his attorney was arguing in a lawsuit that a North Georgia bank is at fault for issuing Graves a $2.2 million loan the bank knew he could not repay.

DeMint: Obama Administration The Most “Anti-American Administration In My Lifetime”  —  Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show yesterday to discuss his new book and his goals to elect more like-minded conservatives to the Senate.  DeMint told Mefferd that President Obama is promoting …

England Used to Be a Country of Men  —  With London succumbing to looters and muggers, it's time to ask what happened to the once-manly English people.  The August 9 issue of the Daily Mail, for example, includes a photo of a young man taking off his pants on the street as an impatient looter waits …

George Soros sued by ex-girlfriend for reneging on real estate promise  —  A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise …

Extremist T-shirt offers different message after the first wash  —  When the 250 T-shirts were donated to a right-wing concert in Germany, they looked perfect: A skull and crossbones, nationalist flags and the slogan “Hardcore rebels.”  —  But when the T-shirts were washed for the first time, the message changed.

Senators Call on McConnell to Put Jobs First in “Super Committee”  —  Merkley, 22 others urge Minority Leader to support job creating policies on Joint Select Committee  —  WASHINGTON - One day after Republicans in the House and Senate announced their picks for the Joint Select Committee …

Gas Fracking Poses Serious Environmental Risks, U.S. Panel Finds  —  Natural-gas companies risk causing serious environmental damage from hydraulic fracturing unless they commit to the best engineering practices, a task force named by Energy Secretary Steven Chu concluded.

Pa. judge gets 28 years in ‘kids for cash’ case  —  SCRANTON, Pa. — A longtime northeastern Pennsylvania judge was ordered to spend nearly three decades in prison for his role in a massive juvenile justice bribery scandal that prompted the state's high court to toss thousands of convictions.

Wisconsin's Warning to Union-Busters  —  Five months after Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin pushed through a law stripping public unions of their bargaining rights, the Republican Party has paid a price.  Two of the state senators who backed the law were thrown out of office by voters on Tuesday and replaced with Democrats.

Buffett: The lower stocks go, the more I buy  —  Warren Buffett discusses the lowered outlook for Berkshire Hathaway debt, why some of his businesses aren't hiring, and why U.S. debt remains triple-A rated in his mind.  —  By Andy Serwer, managing editor  —  Warren Buffett sees buying opportunities

D.C., Hawaii Most Democratic, Utah Most Republican State in '11  —  North Dakota and Louisiana tilt more Republican than they did in 2010  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Hawaii shows the largest advantage for the Democratic Party over the Republican Party among U.S. states, along with the District of Columbia, in the first half of 2011.

John Podhoretz Is Not A Very Intelligent Person  —  I don't normally read books that seem like they'd be terrible, but once upon a time I had a work-related assignment to read John Podhoretz's Bush Country: How George W. Bush Became the First Great Leader of the 21st Century—While Driving Liberals Insane.