Bloomberg: ‘Plain and simple,’ Congress caused the mortgage crisis, not the banks  —  Photo via British Prime Minister's Office flickr stream.  — Owners of the park at the center of the Occupy Wall Street protests are losing patience, but what can they do?  —  11:03 am Nov. 1, 20111Add a comment

Herman Cain now recalls ‘couple of other’ items in accuser's complaint  —  Herman Cain once again revised his account of the sexual harassment allegations he battled in the 1990s, saying in a TV interview he recalled there were additional “ridiculous” items in his accuser's complaint, beyond the single incident he detailed Monday.

MF Global Acknowledged Diverting Customer Funds  —  MF Global Holdings Ltd. acknowledged to federal regulators that money had been diverted out of customer accounts in violation of futures rules and law, according to a federal official.  —  The Wall Street brokerage, which filed …

Europe Markets Drop on News of Greek Referendum  —  ATHENS — European markets slid dramatically on Tuesday after Prime Minister George A. Papandreou stunned the continent's leaders with a surprise announcement late Monday that his government would hold a referendum on a new aid package for Greece.

Democrats vow to block spending riders  —  House Democrats on Tuesday attacked “blatantly partisan” policy provisions Republicans are pushing in routine funding bills that would repeal health care reform and environmental regulations.  —  In a letter to Speaker John Boehner …

The Wrong Inequality  —  We live in a polarizing society, so perhaps it's inevitable that our experience of inequality should be polarized, too.  —  In the first place, there is what you might call Blue Inequality.  This is the kind experienced in New York City, Los Angeles, Boston …

BofA Calls Off Debit-Fee Plan  —  Bank of America Corp. is dropping its plan to charge customers $5 a month for making purchases with their debit cards, a person familiar with the situation said.  —  The move is a dramatic retreat following decisions by several rivals in recent days to drop customer tests of the new fees.

Rick Perry on Viral Video: ‘I Felt Good, Felt Great’  —  DES MOINES, IOWA - Texas Governor Rick Perry said he he “felt good, felt great” during a weekend event in New Hampshire.  Video of Perry giving the freewheeling speech went viral this week and was parodied on late night TV …

Chick-Fil-A Donated Nearly $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups In 2009  —  Earlier this year, Chick-fil-A became embroiled in a controversy surrounding its donations to anti-gay groups.  Though Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy denied having an “agenda against anyone,” an Equality Matters investigation discovered …

Bullet train project nearly triples in cost — $98.5 billion — from earlier projections  —  Faster than a speeding bullet train, the cost of the state's massive high-speed rail project has zoomed to nearly $100 billion — triple the estimate given to voters and more than enough to run the entire state government for a year.

Exclusive: Romney Family Investment Group Partnered With Alleged Perpetrators Of $8 Billion Ponzi Scheme  —  Mitt Romney and his son Tagg Romney.  Tagg is the managing partner to Solamere Capital, a firm that invested in a new company employing brokers accused of taking part in the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme.

Did Tim Pawlenty Blow It?  —  November has begun.  The first voting in Iowa starts in almost exactly two months.  Mitt Romney is the front-runner, but he can't crack 25% in the polls.  (It's hard to remember a front-runner with any comparable ceiling).  Rick Perry has a lot of money …

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CITIZENS OF OAKLAND FROM THE OAKLAND POLICE OFFICERS' ASSOCIATION  —  Oakland, Ca.  —  We represent the 645 police officers who work hard every day to protect the citizens of Oakland.  We, too, are the 99% fighting for better working conditions, fair treatment …

Brooklyn Detective Convicted of Planting Drugs on Innocent People  —  The New York Police Department, already saddled with corruption scandals, saw its image further tainted on Tuesday with the conviction of a police detective for planting drugs on a woman and her boyfriend.