Old Tax Relief Seen as Anchor in Obama Plan  —  WASHINGTON — The centerpiece of the job creation package that President Obama plans to announce on Thursday — payroll tax relief for workers and perhaps their employers — is neither his first policy choice nor that of many economists.

Video Game Allows Players to Slaughter “Tea Party Zombies” Like Sarah Palin and Bill O'Reilly  —  Have you ever fantasized about beating Bill O'Reilly to death with a crowbar or shooting up the offices of Americans for Prosperity with an Uzi?  Well, the folks at StarvingEyes Advergaming apparently …

Palestinians deploy Obama speech in U.N. campaign  —  (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is an unlikely participant in a Palestinian campaign to drum up support for a bid to win U.N. recognition of their statehood — a diplomatic move opposed by both his administration and Israel.

Perry Heads Into Debate as Front-runner, Target … Keywords: - Texas Governor Rick Perry, - 2012 Presidential Race, - Rick Perry Issues, - Rick Perry Politics  —  Gov. Rick Perry heads into tonight's nationally televised Republican debate — his first on the presidential campaign circuit — as the front-runner.

Barbara Boxer: I hope greens sue President Obama  —  Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer said she hopes green groups sue President Barack Obama over his decision to punt a regulation curbing smog-creating emissions until at least 2013.

Message to nudists: At least be sanitary  —  The naked truth, it seems, is that San Francisco is once again going to emerge as a city ripe for ridicule — or a beacon of free expression — depending on your point of view.  The latest issue?  Public nudity.

Treasuries, TIPS, and Gold (Wonkish)  —  (Yes, it's 4:30 AM where I am.  I found myself wide awake, thinking about gold prices.  You got a problem with that?)  —  In assessing economic prospects since the financial crisis of 2008, there have been two kinds of people: inflationistas and deflationistas.

It's no longer Obama-land in the Hamptons  —  Barack Obama has lost the Hamptons.  —  That sentence is a fat target for ridicule, I know, since the Hamptons are often reviled as the playground of the ridiculously rich and the promiscuously silly — hardly the working-class Democratic base.

More Republicans skipping Obama's jobs speech  —  When President Obama delivers his address on a new job-creation plan to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, he won't be speaking to a sold-out crowd.  Several lawmakers are still determining whether it is worth their time to stay …

POLITICO-NBC News Republican Candidates Debate details  —  WHEN: Begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Sept. 7.  —  WHERE TO WATCH: POLITICO will be livestreaming the debate online - with a pre-debate show from the Library beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET and post-debate analysis immediately following.

Rummy: Bush Doctrine now Obama's  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says President Barack Obama has come to accept much of the Bush Doctrine out of necessity, despite what he campaigned on in 2008.  —  Rumsfeld said that Obama needed to keep the Guantanamo Bay detention center open …

Mitt Romney's 59 Economic Flavors  —  A jobs plan that shrinks from some of the biggest issues.  —  Mitt Romney rolled out a major chunk of his economic agenda yesterday, and we'll say this for it: His ideas are better than President Obama's.  Yet the 160 pages and 59 proposals also strike us …

Whoops!  ObamaCare Backers in Wisconsin Produce Report Showing That the Health Care Overhaul Will Make Health Insurance More Expensive  —  When Wisconsin's Department of Health Services, which manages health programs within the state, wanted to get a better sense of how last year's health care overhaul …

In Euro Zone, Banking Fear Feeds on Itself  —  Remember the collapse of Lehman Brothers?  Europeans certainly do.  —  As Europe struggles to contain its government debt crisis, the greatest fear is that one of the Continent's major banks may fail, setting off a financial panic like the one sparked …

Obama's Recovery A Flop Of Historical Proportions  —  As President Obama prepares to deliver yet another speech about stimulating the economy — this one to a joint-session of Congress (with or without the NFL game on the monitors) — it's worth reviewing the results of his efforts to date.

HOFFA: CORPORATE-FUNDED CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS OUT TO DESTROY MIDDLE CLASS  —  'This Fight Is About The Economy, It's About Jobs And It's About Rebuilding America'  —  Press Contact  —  dwhite@teamster.org  —  202-624-6911  —  (WASHINGTON) - Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa today …

Janet Napolitano: Drudge is ‘just wrong’ on privacy  —  Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is calling out web news aggregator Matt Drudge for suggesting that she's an ogre eager to invade the privacy of Americans and in particular those who travel by air.