My Faith-Based Retirement  —  My 60th birthday is less than a week and a half away, and if there is one thing I can say with certainty it's that 60 is not the new 50.  —  My body creaks and groans.  My eyes aren't what they used to be.  I don't sleep as soundly as I did just a few years ago.

American Enterprise Institute And Brookings Must-Read: ‘The Republicans Are The Problem’ … Two leading political scholars — representing the conservative American Enterprise Institute and the centrist Brookings Institution - have published a must-read article, “Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem.”

City to pay man $250,000 after police mistake him as a tagger  —  Police left Dan Halsted badly bruised after they tackled and stunned him four years ago, thinking he was a tagger.  —  PORTLAND, Ore. - The City Council approved a $250,000 settlement Wednesday to a man mistaken by police …

Anti-bullying hero bullies conference of school children  —  Barack Obama and Joe Biden may be having second thoughts about assigning Dan Savage as their de facto “Anti-Bullying Czar” this year.  According to Fox News, the sex advice columnist - Savage Love - and gay rights activist who founded …

Cantor-allied Young Guns Network urges non-Republicans to vote in Lugar race  —  I reported the other day that the Young Guns Network, a group led by two former top aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is spending $100,000 in the primary between Sen. Richard Lugar and state treasurer Richard Mourdock …

Food Stamps In Crosshairs Of Republicans' Plan To Save Military … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Budget Cuts, Republican Party, Video, Temporary Assistance For Needy Families, Budget Reconciliation, Food Stamp Cuts, Food Stamps, Snap, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Tanf, War On Food Stamps, Politics News

One dead, 100 injured when wind hits beer garden  —  ST. LOUIS  • Strong, sudden winds blew over a tent Saturday afternoon outside Busch Stadium, injuring about 100 people, at least four critically.  One man who was under the tent suffered a heart attack and has died, officials said.

U.S. signals major shift on Iran nuclear program  —  The Obama administration might support letting Iran continue enriching uranium up to 5% purity if it agrees to other U.N. restrictions.  —  Gary Samore, the top White House official on nuclear nonproliferation, in recent comments has left open the door to Iranian enrichment.

Romney Holds Big-Money Fundraiser at N.Y. Billionaire's Townhouse  —  The Republican candidate has accepted donations from controversial hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson, but Thursday night he made their association more explicit by allowing Paulson to host a fundraiser, Ben Jacobs reports.

FEC Disclosure Loophole Closes On Secret Donors As Court Won't Stay Ruling … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Elections 2012, Campaign Finance, Karl Rove, Elections 2012, Transparency, Video, Chamber Of Commerce, Chris Van Hollen, Citizens United, Crossroads GPS, Koch Brothers, Disclosure, Politics News

Cuisines from My Stepfather  —  A couple of days ago, Obama-campaign top dog David Axelrod threw in the towel on the dog war.  “I thought it was a little absurd to talk about what the president had done as a ten-year-old boy,” he sniffed to MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, which is as near …

Romney Aides: Obama Is Too Cool  —  In Washington, Romney's top advisers gird for the late-night wars.  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mitt Romney likes a good late-night laugh as much as the next presidential candidate — but he draws the line at slow-jamming the news.

What Do Israelis Know About Obama that American Jews Are Missing?  —  The Obama administration has been conducting an all-out charm offensive in recent months aimed at convincing American Jews that the president is Israel's best friend.  Polls have shown that the effort has not been enough …