Michele Bachmann rally draws over 1,000 in Sarasota, but some prefer Rick Perry  —  SARASOTA — Hurricane Irene bypassed the state and spared Michele Bachmann's first campaign foray in Florida this weekend, but now she has to contend with Hurricane Perry.  —  Even as the Minnesota congresswoman …

Is Rick Perry dumb?  —  Another Texas governor who drops his “g's” and scorns elites is running for president and the whispers are the same: Lightweight, incurious, instinctual.  —  Strip away the euphemisms, and Rick Perry is confronting an unavoidable question: is he dumb - or just misunderestimated?

Memo On Upcoming Jobs Agenda  —  MEMORANDUM  —  As you know, we released The House Republican Plan for America's Job Creators earlier this year.  While the debt crisis has demanded much of our attention, our new majority has passed over a dozen pro-growth measures to address …

Republicans Against Science  —  Jon Huntsman Jr., a former Utah governor and ambassador to China, isn't a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination.  And that's too bad, because Mr. Hunstman has been willing to say the unsayable about the G.O.P. — namely, that it is becoming the “anti-science party.”

Labor Economist to Fill Key Post  —  President Barack Obama on Monday plans to nominate Princeton University's Alan Krueger to be chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, a White House official said.  —  If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Krueger, a labor economist …

Postal Service paying fewer workers to do nothing  —  The U.S. Postal Service, expecting $7 billion in losses this year amid slumping mail volume, is still paying thousands of its workers millions of dollars each year to do nothing.  —  But it's paying tens of millions of dollars less for …

American Theocracy Revisited  —  During George W. Bush's presidency, many liberal and secular Americans came to regard religious conservatives not merely as their political opponents, but as a kind of existential threat.  The religious right, they decided, wasn't a normal political movement.

Perry Says Social Security Is No Longer A ‘Retirement Program’ But Simply A ‘Tax’  —  ThinkProgress filed this report from Ottumwa, Iowa.  —  During a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa this past weekend, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) continued his assault on Social Security, saying it was no longer a …

Mayor Making It No Secret: He'll Endorse Quinn in 2013  —  It is the worst-kept secret in City Hall.  Michael R. Bloomberg has told almost everyone who asks — but only privately, so far — that he hopes the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, will succeed him as mayor in 2013.

Ugly?  You May Have a Case  —  Daniel S. Hamermesh, a professor of economics at the University of Texas, Austin, is the author of “Beauty Pays,” published this month.  —  BEING good-looking is useful in so many ways.  —  In addition to whatever personal pleasure it gives you …

Barack Obama's uncle has been arrested and held as illegal immigrant  —  President Barack Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, at a closed immigration hearing last year.  Onyango, half-sister of Obama's late father, moved to the United States in 2000 and she was ordered deported in 2004.  Source: AP

Americans Rate Computer Industry Best, Federal Gov't Worst  —  Image of federal government is at an all-time low  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans view the computer industry the most positively and the federal government the least positively when asked to rate 25 business and industry sectors.

Battlegrounds of Resentment  —  STAUNTON, Va. - Whether it is called General Lee Highway, as in Virginia, or Molly Pitcher Highway, as in Pennsylvania, the lives and economic strain along U.S. Route 11 tell of a country's disappointment with Washington - specifically, with President Obama.

Teachers Get Little Say in a Book About Them  —  Can an education reform movement that demeans and trivializes teachers succeed?  It's hard to imagine, but that is what is going on in parts of America today.  —  In Steven Brill's new book celebrating the movement, “Class Warfare …

President Obama arrived back in Washington after his August vacation to deal with a hurricane, but Irene was only the first of many tests awaiting the embattled commander-in-chief.  —  With his approval ratings at the lowest point in his presidency, Obama returns to face a restless Congress …