TRENDING: ‘Idiot’ jab lobbed at Perry  —  (CNN) - Former Treasury official Bruce Bartlett labeled newly-minted Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry “an idiot” Friday.  —  Bartlett, who served at Treasury under former President George H.W. Bush and as a domestic policy adviser …

Michelle's Separate Travel Costs Taxpayers Thousands  —  Michelle Obama and President Obama traveled to Martha's Vineyard just hours apart, costing taxpayers thousands in additional expenses so she could have just a bit of extra vacation time.  —  Mrs. Obama and her daughters arrived …

Bank of America's Dead Drop To Rick Perry: “We Will Help You Out”  —  Should we be surprised, frightened, disgusted or simply say “we knew it”, that in the informal mixer just after Texas Governor and Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry spoke at a Politics and Eggs breakfast in Bedford …

Number of Green Jobs Fails to Live Up to Promises  —  Flanked by a cadre of local political leaders, Mayor Chuck Reed of San Jose used a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a solar power company last week to talk up the promise of the green economy.  —  Mr. Reed called the opening of the new headquarters …

Parking ‘squat’  —  Eleven years ago, Charles Mysak snagged a primo parking spot on the corner of Columbus Avenue and 68th Street — and he hasn't budged since.  —  The sidewalk bookseller keeps his inventory piled up in the beat up green '94 Civic, held partially together with duct tape …

West Memphis Three  — WEST MEMPHIS 3 - TITANS TRAINING CAMP - OVERTON SQUARE - THE EARLY YEARS - BASTED DAYS AND PASTED NIGHTS  —  All members of the West Memphis Three will be released today after pleading guilty to first-degree murder charges in the 1993 deaths of three West Memphis 8-year-olds.

Feingold says he won't run for office in 2012  —  He'll continue teaching law, working on book  —  By Craig Gilbert of the Journal Sentinel  —  Democrat Russ Feingold has decided he will not be a candidate for political office next year, taking himself out of the running in 2012 …

Obama's Base Problem  —  There's been plenty of bad news for Barack Obama this month in the form of his approval numbers, but our polling finds that his problems go deeper than that.  Democratic enthusiasm about voting in next year's election has hit a record low this month.

Burger King freshens fast-food image, kicks King to the curb  —  In the first of many steps to reinvent itself over the next year, the struggling fast-feeder Friday will announce that it's dethroning the creepy King character — and other wacky, teen-targeting stuff — and refocusing on a customer it had all but forgotten: Mom.

Bad luck?  Bad faith?  —  “We had reversed the recession, avoided a depression, got the economy moving again. .   . .  But over the last six months, we've had a run of bad luck.”  —  Decorah, Iowa, Aug. 15  —  A troubled nation wonders: How did we get mired in 9.1 percent unemployment …

The 50 Richest Members of Congress (2011)  —  To determine the richest lawmakers, Roll Call adds up the minimum value of total assets reported by each Member on their annual financial disclosures and subtracts the minimum liabilities.  Percent change refers to the change since last year's disclosure forms.

Paul Ryan's Office Calls Cops On Jobless Protesters … Staffers for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called police on Thursday evening to disperse unemployed protesters staging a sit-in at his Kenosha, Wis., office, according to the protesters and police.  —  Two protesters told HuffPost they're unhappy …

Thousands Camp Out for Job Fair as Jobless Rate Rises  —  Thousands of unemployed waited overnight, camping out in their business suits and office heels and braving the tormenting heat in Atlanta to stand in line for a job fair Thursday.  Authorities treated 20 people for heat exhaustion …

Iowa Politics Insider: Palin event switches site to handle crowd  —  Sarah Palin's Sept. 3 event has been relocated from Waukee to Indianola to better accommodate a larger crowd, organizers said.  —  Palin is the keynote speaker at the Tea Party of America's “Restoring America” event, which is free and open to the public.

Why Bam's doomed  —  Unless something extraordinarily dramatic comes along to change the course of the US economy and the sentiments of the American people in the next six months, Barack Obama is finished.  —  That conclusion is inescapable from the history of US presidential politics since 1945.

Team Pawlenty awaits decision from Chris Christie  —  Since Tim Pawlenty ended his bid for the presidency last Sunday, his former staffers and key fundraisers have held off from endorsing another candidate or moving to another campaign.  There's a reason.  —  Team Pawlenty is waiting …

Teen girl gang assaults woman in brazen daylight attack outside Philadelphia City Hall  —  An astonishing video has emerged of a vicious gang of teenage girls assaulting a female pedestrian as she walks outside a city hall in broad daylight.  —  The woman, who has not been named …

DeFazio says Obama lacks will to fight, may lose Oregon  —  EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon Congressman Peter Defazio is traveling around his district and leveling verbal body blows at President Obama.  —  In his Eugene office Wednesday, Defazio accused the President of lacking the will to fight for the promises he made to get elected.

Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary  —  Technical information:  —  Employment: (202) 691-6559 * sminfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/sae  —  Unemployment: (202) 691-6392 * lausinfo@bls.gov * www.bls.gov/lau  —  Media contact: (202) 691-5902 * PressOffice@bls.gov

Woman disables anti-Islam websites  —  DAMMAM: An Alkhobar woman studying in the United States is taking credit for destroying 23 Danish websites that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Al-Madinah newspaper reported on Thursday.  —  Nouf Rashid told the Arabic newspaper …