People on twitter might be joking, but in all seriousness, we would see a bigger boost in spending and hence economic growth if the earthquake had done more damage.

Why Another Democrat Wouldn't Do Better Than Obama in 2012  —  You know that a president is having a rough time when you start to see speculation that his party would be better off if it replaced him on the ticket.  —  There has been more of this recently: the political scientist Matthew Dickinson argued …

Washington Monument cracked in quake  —  The earthquake didn't cause widespread damages or injuries, but it did put a crack in the Washington Monument.  —  After unconfirmed reports suggested the monument was tilting, park officials said Tuesday night that the 550-foot obelisk suffered …

Rick Perry: The God-Fearing, Know-Nothing, Pistol-Packing Embodiment of Liberals' Worst Nightmares  —  What Rick Perry has achieved in his inaugural strut on the political stage is unprecedented in the annals of modern conservative history from Barry Goldwater to Sarah Palin.

Earthquake?  It's Obama's fault.  —  When disaster strikes, the online commentariate...shows the worst of itself.  Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft has already made the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that rattled the East Coast a dumb partisan issue, writing: … Judging by the comments below Hoft's post …

Marco Rubio courts establishment Republicans  —  SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — It might look like tea party hero Marco Rubio waded into enemy territory with stops in San Francisco and Beverly Hills this week.  But rubbing shoulders with a different crowd is the point of the freshman senator's three-day swing through the Golden State.

The GOP will raise taxes — on the middle class and working poor  —  America's presumably anti-tax party wants to raise your taxes.  Come January, the Republicans plan to raise the taxes of anyone who earns $50,000 a year by $1,000, and anyone who makes $100,000 by $2,000.

PPP Poll: Perry Takes Double-Digit Lead Over Romney  —  More ways to share...  Mixx  —  Stumbled  —  LinkedIn  —  Vine  —  Buzzflash  —  Newstrust  —  Technocrati  —  Forward Article  —  A new poll shows Texas Gov. Rick Perry with a double-digit lead nationally …

With more than 10,000 millionaires, why is Israel still a charity case?  —  At what point should the Diaspora communities say to Israelis that enough is enough- we will give, but we will not allow those in your own society to shirk their responsibilities?  —  The past few years have seen …

Sarah Palin's Sept. 3 Speech Will Be ‘Major,’ but Will It Be the Big One?  —  ABC News' Shushannah Walshe (@shushwalshe) and Sheila Marikar (@sheilaym) report:  —  With Sarah Palin's next Iowa visit mere days away, the will-she-or-won't-she frenzy is at an all time high.

Michelle Obama shows up her husband in tiny purple bike shorts as the President lags behind in jeans  —  Michelle Obama showed off her enviably toned thighs as she powered past the President in tiny purple cycling shorts on the first family's bike ride on Martha's Vineyard today.

Jeb Bush warns 2012ers on hitting Obama  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned the Republican presidential hopefuls against ideological intransigence and knee-jerk opposition to President Barack Obama on Tuesday, saying they risk turning off middle-of-the-road voters.

Obama, Tiger, Golf and Politics  —  Despite the carping by critics, I'm glad the president went on vacation because one of the most useful things he could do right now is play golf — a lot of golf — but not that friendly foursome thing with his aides that he usually does.

Report: Majority of Congress with no education in business  —  Almost 80 percent of lawmakers have no academic background in business or economics, even as Congress grapples with deficits, unemployment and other economic issues of tremendous complexity, according to an independent analysis released Tuesday.

Publisher's ‘social’ ties pushed RedState toward Allen  —  A leading conservative blogger and commentator, Erick Erickson, said he shifted his stance in a key Senate race because the company that publishes his RedState.com is “socially connected” to former Virginia Senator George Allen.

Energy Obamanomics: No green jobs and plenty of red ink  —  It's time to end all forms of corporate welfare  —  It wasn't enough to preside over the first-ever downgrade of America's credit rating.  Now the Obama administration is downgrading America's energy supply as well.

Sprint to Get iPhone 5  —  Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the new version of the Apple iPhone in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, filling a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another sales channel for its popular gadget.

Defiant Gaddafi ‘vows to fight’  —  The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tripoli: “The city erupted in gunfire”  —  Col Muammar Gaddafi has vowed death or victory in the fight against “aggression”, reports say, after Libyan rebels seized his Tripoli compound.

Penn State climate-change researcher cleared of misconduct  —  A National Science Foundation investigation has cleared climate-change research Michael Mann, of Penn State University, of any research wrongdoing.  COURTESY OF PENN STATE UNIVERSITY — Provided photo Buy Photo  —  View the Inspector General's report

Inside A Huntsman Fundraiser  —  Put your checkbook away.  If you want a peak inside a Jon Huntsman fundraiser (and who doesn't, really) look no further.  —  During his quick visit to Utah recently, the former governor addressed a crowd of about five dozen for a little over 12 minutes - and here's the recording of the event.