Romney avoids weighing in on Ohio union fight  —  Terrace Park, Ohio (CNN) -Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stepped into the middle of the charged battle over organized labor in Ohio on Tuesday, but he avoided weighing in on the contentious legislation that would dramatically limit …

New Poll Finds a Deep Distrust of Government  —  With Election Day just over a year away, a deep sense of economic anxiety and doubt about the future hangs over the nation, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, with Americans' distrust of government at its highest level ever.

The revenue and GDP impact of the Perry flat tax plan — now with actual numbers!  —  As I wrote in an earlier post, an outside consulting firm hired by the Rick Perry presidential campaign has analyzed the revenue and growth impacts of his flat tax plan as follows:

Obama: If We Lose in 2012, Government Will Tell People 'You're on Your Own'  —  At a million-dollar San Francisco fundraiser today, President Obama warned his recession-battered supporters that if he loses the 2012 election it could herald a new, painful era of self-reliance in America.

Gupta to Face Criminal Charges  —  For decades, Rajat K. Gupta was the face of business success, leading global consulting giant McKinsey & Co. and serving on the boards of several prestigious American companies, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.  —  Now, prosecutors say …

Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters in Oakland, Calif.  —  1:40 a.m. |  Updated Police officers shot several rounds of tear gas into a crowd of hundreds of protesters from the group Occupy Oakland on Tuesday night, as the protesters tried to re-enter an area outside of City Hall that the police …

Where are the anti-Semites of Occupy Wall Street?  —  Reckless Jew that I am, I muscled my way into the Occupy Wall Street encampment in Lower Manhattan despite multiple reports of virulent and conceivably lethal anti-Semitism.  Projecting an unvarnished Semitism, I circled the place …

Obama White House on press access: a Nixonian quality  —  The Obama White House's restrictions on media access to its fundraising events makes a mockery of its claim to be the most transparent administration in history.  —  If anything, there is almost a Nixonian quality to the level of control …

Perry's nightmare: WaPo's Rubin  —  The WaPo blogger has described the Texan as 'sleepy," 'hostile," and 'dreadful.

President to Ease Student-Loan Burden for Low-Income Graduates  —  President Obama will announce new programs Wednesday to lower monthly loan payments for some students graduating next year and thereafter and to let borrowers who have a mix of direct federal loans and loans under …

Occupy Atlanta |  Woodruff Park remains unoccupied  —  Woodruff Park remained unoccupied Wednesday morning.  —  The park remained quiet and empty the morning after Atlanta police arrested 53 Occupy Atlanta protesters after multiple warnings.  —  Organizers had urged protesters …

President Obama Holds Secret Meet-and-Greet With Hollywood Execs and Influencers (Exclusive) … Before he left Los Angeles for San Francisco on Tuesday, President Barack Obama stopped for an undisclosed meeting with some of the entertainment industry's high-level executives …

Failed Democrat Pol Sues Critics Over Election Loss  —  There's nothing quite like a politician scorned.  —  When voters in Ohio's 1st Congressional District threw Democrat Steve Driehaus out of office after only one term, he did not bow out gracefully.  No, he decided to get even.

Say Anything  —  Over the last couple of days, I've been getting mail accusing me of consorting with Nazis.  My immediate reaction was, what the heck?  Then it clicked: the right wing is mounting a full-court press to portray Occupy Wall Street as an anti-Semitic movement, based, as far as I can tell, on one guy with a sign.

Fears euro summit could miss final deal  —  By Peter Spiegel in Brussels, Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin and Matt Steinglass in Amsterdam  —  Eurozone leaders were struggling on Tuesday to reach agreement on a much-anticipated deal to reverse their spiralling debt crisis amid mounting signals …