Exclusive Audio: Inside the Koch Brothers' Secret Seminar  —  Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of this report, on the GOP superstar who rocked the Koch seminar crowd.  —  “We have Saddam Hussein,” declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama …

Welcome, Union Brothers and Sisters  —  In my speech on Saturday in Iowa, I said: “Between bailouts for Wall Street cronies and stimulus projects for union bosses' security and ‘green energy’ giveaways, [Barack Obama] took care of his friends.  And now they're on course to raise a billion dollars …

Perry mum on GOP debate as Texas wildfires rage  —  PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO  —  Texas Gov. Rick Perry said on CBS' “The Early Show” Tuesday that he doesn't know whether he will participate in the first Republican debate since his entry for the party's nomination for president as his state continues to battle persistent wildfires.

Janet Napolitano: Shoes-on flight in sight  —  Air travelers will eventually be able to keep their shoes on to pass through security, but the restrictions on carrying liquids on board are likely to remain in place for some time, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a POLITICO Playbook breakfast Tuesday.

Obama ratings sink to new lows as hope fades  —  Public pessimism about the direction of the country has jumped to its highest level in nearly three years, erasing the sense of hope that followed President Obama's inauguration and pushing his approval ratings to a record low, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Europeans Talk of Sharp Change in Fiscal Affairs  —  As leaders in Europe try to contain a deepening financial crisis, they are also increasingly talking about making fundamental changes to the way their 17-nation economic union works.  —  The idea is to create a central financial authority …

GOP seeks pre-speech huddle  —  The two top House Republicans want President Barack Obama to huddle with congressional leadership before his Thursday jobs speech to discuss potential areas of bipartisan agreement.  —  In a letter to the president Tuesday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) …

Pelosi drops the word ‘stimulus’  —  Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Democrats have dropped the word stimulus from their vocabulary.  —  Though the House minority leader and her caucus are still pushing an economic stimulus agenda to save the economy, they've radically changed …

They like him  —  There's a deluge of terrible poll numbers for the White House today, but I think this one from our Battleground Poll is the most interesting:  —  Obama receives particularly low marks for his economic stewardship, with only 39 percent saying they approve and 59 percent saying they disapprove.

Sources: Obama Administration to Drop Troop Levels in Iraq to 3,000  —  The Obama administration has decided to drop the number of U.S. troops in Iraq at the end of the year down to 3,000, marking a major downgrade in force strength, multiple sources familiar with the inner workings and decisions …

The 2012 Election Will Come Down to Seven States  —  National polls are nice, but Electoral College math is what matters.  —  Straw polls, real polls, debates, caucuses, primaries—that's the public side of presidential campaigns 14 months before Election Day.

Texas and Mass. Still at Health Coverage Extremes in U.S.  —  Southern states still see highest uninsured rates in the country  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Texas residents continue to be the most likely in the United States to lack health coverage, with 27.2% reporting being uninsured in the first half of 2011.

New York 9th Congressional District Special Election Survey (9/6/11)  —  Baton Rouge, LA - Magellan Strategies BR today released the survey results of an automated survey of 2,055 likely voters in New York's 9th Congressional District.  The survey was conducted September 1st, 2011 and has a margin of error of 2.16%.

We Interview Vice President Joe Biden: He Owns a '67 Corvette and Loves Smoky Burnouts  —  America's vice president owns a '67 Corvette, and though he's not allowed to drive, he still enjoys the occasional smoky burnout.  —  C/D: You're the son of a car salesman?  —  JB: For 34 years, my dad managed dealerships in Delaware.

Grenades Case Hits Justice  —  Blunders After U.S. Arrest of Suspected Supplier Had a Part in High-Level Ousters  —  Federal authorities are probing why the U.S. in 2010 let go an Arizona man accused of supplying grenades to a Mexican drug cartel, a case that played a role in the ouster …

My Unfinished 9/11 Business  —  Ten years after the attacks, we memorialize the loss and we mark the heroism, but there is no organized remembrance of the other feelings that day aroused: the bewilderment, the vulnerability, the impotence.  It may be difficult to recall with our attention …

Where the Jobs Aren't  —  With the economy stagnating and unemployment high, where are the jobs of the future going to come from?  A few years ago, it seemed as though the Green Economy could be a big part of the answer.  —  New clean-energy sources could address environmental, economic and national security problems all at once.

Why are three free-trade deals languishing on Obama's desk?  —  According to the White House, President Obama has been huddling with advisers on a jobs plan he'll present to Congress this week.  One thing he could do immediately is finalize the free-trade deals with Colombia …

EXCLUSIVE: Palin's surprise visit delights bride and groom  —  On the eve of Sarah Palin's speech before the Tea Party Express in New Hampshire, the former Alaska Governor shocked diners and delighted wedding guests by making an unannounced visit to The Puritan Backroom restaurant for some of their famous chicken fingers.

Editorial Independence  —  There's confusion - way too much confusion - about my status at TechCrunch and TechCrunch's status at Aol after last week's announcement that I was launching a venture fund, partially backed by Aol.  —  The multiple conflicting statements made by Aol on Thursday …

Did A Top GOP Staffer For Sen. Grassley Cover Up Evidence Of News Corp Hacking In The U.S.?  —  A News Corp. whistleblower allegedly gave sensitive documents to Grassley's Senate Finance investigator Nick Podsiadly in 2006.  Above, Podisadly addresses a conference.

About Jeffrey Goldberg  —  Jeffrey Goldberg, a national correspondent for the Atlantic, is the author of “Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror.”  He was formerly a Washington correspondent and a Middle East correspondent for the New Yorker.  —  Robert Gates Says Israel Is an Ungrateful Ally: Jeffrey Goldberg

Three men were executed convicted of sodomy  —  Iran Human Rights, September 5: According to the reports from Iran, six people were hanged in the Karoun prison of Ahvaz (southwest of Iran) early Sunday morning September 4th.  —  The state run Iranian news agency ISNA reported that three …

How a Young Dick Cheney Fixed Prices for Millions  —  In the Nixon White House, he helped Donald Rumsfeld implement wage and price controls at the urging of their boss  —  Imagine if Barack Obama proposed, as an economic recovery measure, that all prices and wages in America be frozen …

Can Politico Win Again?  Blogger Ben Smith helped the site dominate the 2008 election cycle—but Twitter's encroaching on its turf By Dylan Byers  —  Ben Smith has a problem.  —  If there is such a thing as the prototypical political news blogger, then he's it.