Romney still the best at this, Perry not as bad, and the loser?  Anderson Cooper  —  Well, it was the feistiest debate — Rick Perry even stayed awake for the whole thing, which was a nice change — and we had the welcome (at least for entertainment purposes) return of the Crazy GOP Audience thing …

U.S. Capital Now Richer Than Silicon Valley  —  Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation's greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.

Washington Post-Pew Research Center Poll  —  This poll was conducted for The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center by telephone October 13 to 16, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,007 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular phones.

West counters Obama: MLK would not have backed Wall Street protests  —  Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) rejected President Obama's comparison between Martin Luther King Jr. and what he called the “Occupy Wall Street gangs.”  —  “Martin Luther King Jr. would not have backed these types of protesters …

Transcript: ABC News' Jake Tapper's Exclusive Interview With President Obama  —  President Obama sits down with ABC News' senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview in Jamestown, N.C. (Courtesy the White House)  —  The following is a transcript …

Student loan debt hits record levels  —  Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal loan programs, potentially putting a huge burden on the backs of young people looking for jobs and trying to start careers.

GOP debate crowd cheers idea that jobless are to blame for their plight  —  This caused a dust up on Twitter last night.  But it deserves more attention today.  This moment from last night's debate, in which the audience cheered the idea that the unemployed are solely to blame for not having a job …

What Percent Are You?  —  To get the full experience of this page, please upgrade your Flash Plugin  —  The Occupy Wall Street movement seeks to speak for the bottom 99% of the population by income, which includes pretty much everyone who makes less than $500,000 a year.

Heard on the Hill: Breaking the Code of Ethics  —  One major commandment of journalism: If thou art a hack, thou mustn't flack.  —  So imagine our surprise when we realized the spokeswoman for October 2011, the group occupying Freedom Plaza, is Lisa Simeone, host of the radio program …

Animals Loose in Ohio: Town Under Lockdown  —  An Ohio town is under lockdown as dozens of wild animals including bears, wolves and tigers have escaped from a private preserve are and are on the loose after the owner of the preserve has been found dead.  —  Terry Thompson of Zanesville …

Rick Santorum Pledges To Defund Contraception: 'It's Not Okay, It's A License To Do Things'  —  Rick Santorum pledged to repeal all federal funding for contraception, during a recent interview with CaffeinatedThoughts.com editor Shane Vander Hart, arguing that birth control devalues the act of procreation.

Gov. Christie calls teacher's anti-gay Facebook remarks ‘disturbing’  —  TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie said he is concerned about statements made by Viki Knox, a high school teacher whose anti-gay Facebook comments set off a debate about free speech and gay rights.

GOP Senator Pushes Radical Bill To Restrict Discussion Of Abortion Over The Internet  —  Instead of focusing on job creation, congressional Republicans have spent their time passing socially conservative legislation like the “Let Women Die” bill that would allow hospitals that receive federal funds …

Man living as an ‘adult baby’ is cleared of Social Security fraud  —  The California man who lives part of his life as an “adult baby” and collects Social Security disability payments says the federal agency has cleared him of wrongdoing and will continue sending checks.

CNN Poll: Mormon candidate not a problem for most Americans  —  (CNN) - Americans overwhelmingly say a presidential candidate being Mormon wouldn't affect their vote, according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday.  —  The survey, which was taken after a controversial pastor …

GOP Rep. Asked Paper To Keep Town Hall Secret, Selected Residents Who Were Invited  —  Freshman Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) told a town hall gathering Monday that “the whole purpose” of the meeting “is to hear from you.”  But apparently Herrera Beutler isn't interested in hearing from everyone.

Getting Nominal  —  “Market monetarists” like Scott Sumner and David Beckworth are crowing about the new respectability of nominal GDP targeting.  And they have a right to be happy.  —  My beef with market monetarism early on was that its proponents seemed to be saying that the Fed …

David Graeber: On Playing By The Rules - The Strange Success Of #OccupyWallStreet  —  Yves here.  I have to note that David DeGraw of Amped Status is widely credited as the originator of “We are the 99%.” … Just a few months ago, I wrote a piece for Adbusters that started with a conversation …