Cain leads nationally  —  Yesterday PPP released numbers showing Herman Cain leading Mitt Romney 30-22 in Iowa and our monthly look at the national picture finds the exact same numbers.  Cain is up 30-22 on Romney with Newt Gingrich sneaking past Rick Perry for 3rd place at 15% to Perry's 14% …

My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters  —  Hit bankers where it hurts  —  I've been down to “Occupy Wall Street” twice now, and I love it.  The protests building at Liberty Square and spreading over Lower Manhattan are a great thing, the logical answer to the Tea Party and a long-overdue middle finger to the financial elite.

A Modest Proposal: Call Obstruction What It Is  —  Here is the headline in the online home page of the NYT, about Obama's “pass this jobs bill, pass it now” proposal.  Note the word “fails”:  —  The subhead and the rest of the article make clear that more Senators voted for the bill than against it — 50 to 49.

N.H.'s Bill Gardner to Nevada: Drop dead  —  Bill Gardner just flipped the Republicans the bird.  Again.  —  In a three-page statement released Wednesday afternoon, the New Hampshire secretary of state reiterated his independence and said he'll move the primary up as far as necessary …

Conceding One to the Critics  —  As readers of this site have no doubt noticed, I'm not one who is greatly troubled by hostile criticism.  —  On the other hand, sometimes the critics make a valid point.  When they do, I'm not too obstinate to concede.  —  For years, I've shared …

DOJ: Feds Can Tell Church Who Its Ministers Will Be  —  In yet another stunning attack on freedom of religion, President Barack Obama's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court last week to give the federal government the power to tell a church who its ministers will be.

Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive  —  Andrew Langhoff resigns as European publishing chief after exposure of secret channels of cash to help boost sales figures  —  One of Rupert Murdoch's most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries …

Biden Warns of More Rapes and Murders If Jobs Bill Is Not Passed  —  In Flint, Michigan, Vice President Joe Biden suggested that more rapes and murders could occur if President Barack Obama's jobs bill is not passed.  —  “In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force …

All the Single Ladies  —  IN 2001, WHEN I was 28, I broke up with my boyfriend.  Allan and I had been together for three years, and there was no good reason to end things.  He was (and remains) an exceptional person, intelligent, good-looking, loyal, kind.

To the Barricades  —  Gail Collins: David, I was sorry to see you didn't have a little bit of sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street protesters.  —  David Brooks: The only survey I've seen on who these people are was conducted by New York magazine.  Three percent are mainstream liberals of the Barack Obama variety.

Holmes County: Two more arrests in Amish attacks  —  Eli M. Miller, 32, and Daniel S. Mullet, 37, surrendered in connection with the recent attack on a fellow Amish man, a 74-year-old who had his beard cut during the incident.  Both are charged with aggravated burglary and kidnapping.

Charles Schumer: ‘Impossible’ for Democrats to lose Senate in 2012  —  (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)  —  A top Democrat said it's “almost impossible” Republicans will take over the Senate majority in 2012.  —  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), his party's former campaign chairman …

Perry Botches U.S. Revolution Century  —  Texas Governor Rick Perry energetically bounded into the Beta Theta Pi fraternity on Dartmouth College's campus after Tuesday night's debate, but when he was asked a question about states' rights, he slipped up on the dates for when the American Revolution was fought.

Herman Cain consultant: 9-9-9 wouldn't be accepted  —  Herman Cain expressed confidence at Tuesday's debate that his much-touted “9-9-9” plan to revamp the tax code would pass Congress, but the paid campaign consultant who scored the plan for Cain said the idea was more of a theory …

Buffett made $62,855,038 last year  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett this week showed a little more leg in his campaign to get Congress to raise taxes on the uber-rich.  —  In a letter to Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp Tuesday, Buffett revealed that his adjusted gross income …

MR. ROSE: OK.  —  REP. PAUL: — they burst.  And when they do, you have to have corrections.  And that's what we're dealing with.  And we can do this by building coalitions —  MR. ROSE: Thank you.  —  REP. PAUL: — and not sacrificing any principles.  —  MR. ROSE: Julianna.

Apologies Not Accepted  —  Leadership: Leaked cables show Japan nixed a presidential apology to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for using nukes to end the overseas contingency operation known as World War II.  Will the next president apologize for the current one?  —  The obsessive need of this president …

Congress OKs 3 trade deals  —  Congress on Wednesday approved three long-stalled free-trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.  —  Advocates say the deals will result in the export of billions of dollars of U.S. goods and boost hundreds of thousands of American jobs.