Bachmann: Gardasil causes “mental retardation”  —  Earlier today, I noted that Michele Bachmann finally scored points on Rick Perry by hitting him on his ties to Merck and linking that to the Gardasil mandate Perry imposed through executive order in Texas.  This is a fair point on Perry's record …

Rush: Bachmann jumped the shark over Gardasil causing mental retardation  —  Rush had high praise for Bachmann's performance last night, but in the clip below he says she's gone too far today, jumping the shark over repeating the anecdote she heard last night after the debate that suggested that Garadasil might cause mental retardation:

HPV, Perry, and Bachmann  —  HPV is an acronym for human papillomavirus, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “the most common sexually transmitted infection.”  Some twenty million Americans carry the virus and there are about six million new cases each year.

The Gardasil Flap  —  I can't make up my mind over this whole controversy.  I think I'm torn because both sides are making good and bad arguments.  I think the charge of crony capitalism against Perry is valid generally and looks on target in this case in particular.  The issue isn't just that he got $5,000 from Merck.

The frontrunner has no clothes  —  The applause identified Rick Perry as the crowd favorite when he took the stage in Tampa for Monday night's Tea Party debate, greeting his lesser rivals as “fellas.”  —  But two hours later, those fellas - and a gal from Minnesota - had made some serious …

Census: US poverty rate swells to nearly 1 in 6  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of America's poor swelled to almost 1 in 6 people last year, reaching a new high as long-term unemployment left millions of Americans struggling and out of work.  The number of uninsured edged up to 49.9 million, the biggest in more than two decades.