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 …

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 …

Axelrod: 'We're not in a negotiation' on Obama $447B jobs package  —  Obama's top political adviser David Axelrod said Tuesday that the administration was unwilling to break up the president's $447 billion jobs plan if Republicans were only receptive to passing certain elements.

Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010  —  Summary of Key Findings  —  The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2010, median household income declined, the poverty rate increased and the percentage without health insurance coverage was not statistically different from the previous year.

Weiner flees amid Dem panic over vote today  —  Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner did his fellow Democrats no favors yesterday — moving out of his district just as his panicking party struggled to hold on to his endangered congressional seat.  —  Winer took the last ramining items …

Iran to free US hikers jailed for spying  —  Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal were detained two years ago for walking across an unmarked border into Iran  —  Iran has moved to reduce tensions with the international community by pledging to release two Americans held in the country …

Some real Shock and Awe: Racially profiled and cuffed in Detroit  —  Silly me.  I thought flying on 9/11 would be easy.  I figured most people would choose not to fly that day so lines would be short, planes would be lightly filled and though security might be ratcheted up …

Rep. Issa hit with ethics allegations  —  A liberal advocacy group is filing an ethics complaint against Rep. Darrell Issa, alleging that the California Republican has repeatedly used his public office for personal gain.  —  The group, American Family Voices, is planning to file the complaint …

TPM2012  —  Tea Party Debate Audience Cheers Idea Of Letting Sick Man Without Insurance Die (VIDEO)  —  The last two Republican presidential debates have been some of the most macabre on record.  Last time around, at the Reagan Library, the crowd gave the biggest applause of the night …

Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney and OMB Director Jack Lew, 9/12/2011  —  MR. CARNEY: It's your lucky day.  Before I get started and tell you why I have Jack Lew here, I just wanted to give you a sense of where this week is headed for the President.

Stop and frisky  —  The NYPD has launched an investigation after a raunchy YouTube video surfaced featuring uniformed officers gyrating and rubbing their crotches against semi-nude women at the violence-racked West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.  —  The explicit footage shows the cops wildly bumping …

CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL  —  Full Transcript of CNN-Tea Party Republican Debate, 20:00- 22:00  —  THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.  THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.  —  ANNOUNCER: Tonight, eight Republicans, one goal: to win the White House and kick Barack Obama out.