Perdue suggests suspending Congressional elections for two years — was she serious?  —  UPDATED: File this in the random-things-politicians-say file.  —  Speaking to a Cary rotary club today, N.C. Gov. Bev Perdue suggested suspending Congressional elections for two years so that Congress …

Gov. Chris Christie Keeps Political Fans Guessing  —  Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey failed to address intense speculation about his presidential ambitions Tuesday night as he delivered a foreign policy speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

Germany slams ‘stupid’ US plans to boost EU rescue fund  —  Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a “stupid idea” and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others.

Blacks leave Obama  —  Behind the president's whining to the Black Caucus, begging them to “quit grumbling,” is a decline in his personal popularity among African-American voters that could portend catastrophe for his fading reelection chances.  —  According to a Washington Post/ABC News survey …

Why Establishment Media & the Power Elite Loathe Occupy Wall Street  —  Straw Poll on Direct Action (photo: Collin David Anderson)  —  Over the past ten days, hundreds of people have occupied Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan in New York as part of Occupy Wall Street.

O-bummer!  MTV tunes out prez campaign  —  President Obama's re-election campaign wants to connect with young Americans and reached out recently to MTV for help — but the cable network turned them down, sources tell The Post.  —  The president's Get Out the Vote campaign, run by Buffy Wicks …

Split opens over Greek bail-out terms  —  By Peter Spiegel in Brussels and Quentin Peel in Berlin  —  A split has opened in the eurozone over the terms of Greece's second €109bn bail-out with as many as seven of the bloc's 17 members arguing for private creditors to swallow a bigger writedown …

Obama Jobs Plan May Prevent 2012 Recession  —  President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan would help avoid a return to recession by maintaining growth and pushing down the unemployment rate next year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.  —  The legislation …

Megyn Kelly Responds to ‘The View’ Co-Host Joy Behar's Interview With VP Joe Biden on “Boo-ing” in Fox News/Google Debate After Gay Soldier Asks Question  —  On Tuesday's episode of the talk show “The View,” co-host Joy Behar asked guest Vice President Joe Biden about “booing” …

Reid playing for leverage with jobs bill  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has made it clear that he will not schedule a vote on President Obama's jobs package until after the upper chamber moves a China currency bill that the administration does not support.

For David Plouffe, a top Obama adviser, a new strategy and old doubts  —  View Photo Gallery —  President Obama's reelection campaign and DNC together raised $86 million in the second quarter of 2011.  Outside of fundraising, the president is ramping up support for his reelection …

Perry's Not the Only GOP Star to Support Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants' Kids  —  GOP immigration debate shows rift between party establishment and conservative grassroots.  —  Ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush defended Texas Gov. Rick Perry's policy for children of illegal immigrants.

As Federal Crime List Grows, Threshold of Guilt Declines  —  For centuries, a bedrock principle of criminal law has held that people must know they are doing something wrong before they can be found guilty.  The concept is known as mens rea, Latin for a “guilty mind.”

CNN Poll: Trust in government at all time low  —  Washington (CNN) - The public's trust in the federal government has dropped to an all-time low, according to a new national survey.  —  A CNN/ORC International Poll released Wednesday morning indicates that only 15 percent of Americans …

Palin sends more mixed signals  —  Sarah Palin, as often, sent ambivalent signals in her interview on Fox News last night.  —  The clip that everyone is buzzing about last night and this morning as a sign that she's leaning against a run: … I say “ambivalent signals” because …

Even Those Cleared of Crimes Can Stay on F.B.I.'s Watch List  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation is permitted to include people on the government's terrorist watch list even if they have been acquitted of terrorism-related offenses or the charges are dropped, according to newly released documents.

House GOP wants to cash out dollar bill  —  Several House Republicans have introduced legislation to retire the dollar bill and replace it with a mandated dollar coin.  A couple of senators, however, have introduced a competing measure to protect the paper dollar from, as they say, the “unpopular one dollar coin.”

‘Nightmare’ in Libya: 20,000 Surface-to-Air Missiles Missing  —  U.S. officials had once thought there was little chance that terrorists could get their hands on many of the portable surface-to-air missiles that can bring down a commercial jet liner.  —  But now that calculation is out the window …

Cantaloupe Listeria Outbreak Is The Deadliest In A Decade; 16 Dead So Far … WASHINGTON — Health officials say as many as 16 people have died from possible listeria illnesses traced to Colorado cantaloupes, the deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade.

Rights Collide as Town Clerk Sidesteps Role in Gay Marriages  —  LEDYARD, N.Y. — Rose Marie Belforti is a 57-year-old cheese maker, the elected town clerk in this sprawling Finger Lakes farming community and a self-described Bible-believing Christian.  She believes that God has condemned homosexuality …

Protesters Greet Former Defense Secretary  —  1 Arrest Made At Old Meeting House Event  —  BOSTON — Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld got a rude welcome in Boston Monday night as he promoted his new book.  —  Several protesters tried to disrupt a forum with Rumsfeld …

Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control  —  Exclusive: A laboratory shows how an e-voting machine used by a third of all voters can be easily manipulated  —  It could be one of the most disturbing e-voting machine hacks to date.  —  Voting machines used by as many as a quarter …

Europe Nears Accord on Bailout That May Be Inadequate  —  PARIS — Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, finds herself once again in the politically perilous position of balancing the future of Europe and the common currency against a German public that is unhappy at the price their country will have to pay.