Pileup at the White House  —  It has been a Junius Horribilis for President Obama.  —  Job growth has stalled, the Democrats have been humiliated in Wisconsin, the attorney general is facing a contempt-of-Congress citation, talks with Pakistan have broken down, Bill Clinton is contradicting Obama …

Romney holds small lead in NC  —  PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 48-46.  It's a small lead but still significant in that it's the first time we've found Romney ahead in our monthly polling of the state since October.

Fed Says U.S. Wealth Fell 38.8% In 2007-2010 On Housing  —  The financial crisis wiped out 18 years of gains for the median U.S. household net worth, with a 38.8 percent plunge from 2007 to 2010 that was led by the collapse in home prices, a Federal Reserve study showed.

Dems call for fresh message, warn of ‘impossible headwind’  —  President Barack Obama and his party may face an “impossible headwind in November” unless it shifts to a more forward-looking economic message aimed squarely at the middle class, three Democratic strategists warn in a memo out this week.

The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush  —  Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.  He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform - Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

The Follower Problem  —  If you go to the Lincoln or Jefferson memorials in Washington, you are invited to look up in admiration.  Lincoln and Jefferson are presented as the embodiments of just authority.  They are strong and powerful but also humanized.  Jefferson is a graceful aristocratic democrat.

Jeb Bush comments have blogs in uproar  —  Conservatives in the blogosphere lashed out at Jeb Bush for saying that Ronald Reagan and his father, George H.W. Bush, would not have fit well in the modern Republican Party, ripping the former Florida governor as a “RINO” and dismissing his “steaming pile of nonsense.”

HUGE!  Neal Rauhauser's Vicious Lies Exposed by Yet Another Leaked E-Mail  —  Last night, I published an e-mail showing that Democrat political operative Neal Rauhauser, representing himself as an agent of Brett Kimberlin's Velvet Revolution, had used his connections to the “Anonymous” …

IU community mourns passing of Distinguished Professor and Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  —  BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The entire Indiana University community mourns the passing today of Distinguished Professor Elinor Ostrom, who received the 2009 Nobel Prize …

Are Gay Parents Really Worse For Children?  How a New Study Gets Everything Wrong  —  Question: What do the following all have in common? … Give up?  The answer—assuming that they all have biological or adopted adult children between the ages of 18 and 39—is that they would all be counted as …

North Dakota Considers Eliminating Property Tax  —  BISMARCK, N.D. — Since Californians shrank their property taxes more than three decades ago by passing Proposition 13, people around the nation have echoed their dismay over such levies, putting forth plans to even them, simplify them, cap them, slash them.

House Of Dimon Marred By CEO Complacency Over Unit'S Risk  —  JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) could have spotted trouble at its chief investment office long before traders there racked up at least $2 billion in losses.  One reason it didn't: Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.

Top conservative says read my lips: Don't sign ‘no new tax’ pledge  —  Spinners and Winners  —  As a conservative Republican, Lindsey Graham has never had a problem promising not to raise taxes.  Like almost every other Republican member of Congress, during his last re-election campaign …

Mass. stalled antibullying guide under Romney  —  Objections to writing ‘transgender,’ ‘bisexual’  —  In July 2006, former governor Mitt Romney vetoed a $158,000 budget line item that was earmarked for counseling violence victims in the “LGBT community.”  —  Former governor Mitt Romney's …

THE ACADEMIC SCANDAL ELIZABETH WARREN AND HARVARD DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT  —  In 1990, Rutgers Professor Philip Shuchman charged Elizabeth Warren, along with Teresa A. Sullivan (above), the President of University of Virginia who resigned unexpectedly yesterday, and Jay Westbrook …

Holder: ‘I Stuck by My Guns’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Embattled Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he has “stuck by my guns” during his time in office.  —  “I've enjoyed my time as attorney general,” he told the panel.  “It's been a tough job.

Fines for foul mouths in Mass. town  —  A Massachusetts town is crying foul on residents with dirty mouths.  —  Middleborough, a town of about 20,000 residents in the southeastern corner of the state, voted 183-50 on Monday to empower police officers to issue a $20 fine for cursing in public, The Associated Press reported.

Obama Sees Sharpest Drop In Donors From Western States  —  Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho are home to the highest percentage of 2008 Obama donors who have yet to contribute $200 or more this year.  Analysts cite the issues, from climate change to the war in Iraq, and the economy.

Minnesota Priest Argues Catholics Can (And Should) Vote ‘No’ on MN Marriage Inequality Amendment  —  Minnesota priest Bob Pierson spoke out passionately on Sunday against Minnesota's proposed marriage inequality amendment.  Pierson argued that Catholics must be free to vote their conscience.

Sheriff: Father kills man sexually abusing his daughter  —  (CNN) — A Texas father caught a man sexually assaulting his 4-year-old daughter and punched him in the head repeatedly, killing him, authorities said.  —  The father was casually acquainted with the alleged abuser, said Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon.

Freezer failure at brain bank hampers autism research  —  A freezer malfunction at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital has severely damaged one-third of the world's largest collection of autism brain samples, potentially setting back research on the disorder by years, scientists say.

Laffer and Moore: Obama's Real Spending Record  —  There's no way around the facts.  Under Presidents Bush and Obama, government exploded as a share of the economy.  —  President Obama shocked us the other day when he said, “Since I've been president, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years.”