Shifting the Economic Narrative  —  What is clear from this fresh look at public consciousness on the economy is how difficult this period has been for both non-college-educated and college-educated voters - and how vulnerable the prevailing narratives articulated by national Democratic leaders are.

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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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 …

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.

Obama: GOP campaign fits in a single tweet  —  OWINGS MILLS, Md. — President Obama accused the Republicans of running a campaign focused exclusively on blame.  —  “You can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare,” Obama said at a fundraiser outside of Baltimore.

Times Have Changed, It's OK to Lie  —  Last month David Corn noted that Mitt Romney was claiming that “government” would control half the economy once Obamacare was up and running.  He's still saying it, and today Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post gives it a score of four Pinocchios and says Romney should drop it.

Why I voted for Ron Paul  —  I operate on instinct.  So I should not have been surprised by my own gut reaction to the absentee ballot that lay before me on the kitchen table.  —  I scanned the list for Republican primary candidates and let instinct take over.  —  Mitt Romney?  Not on your life.

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” …

Public Worker Unions Back Controversial Barron In New York  —  AFSCME set to spend on behalf of the “revolutionary Pan-Africanist” and Mugabe, Qaddafi ally.  —  BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Powerful public workers' unions are throwing their weight — in public and behind the scenes …

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 …

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 …

Actor Kal Penn Meets With Young Obama Supporters in Arlington  —  Actor Kal Penn met with more than 100 young supporters of President Obama in Rosslyn and on Columbia Pike last night.  —  At Cafe Asia in Rosslyn, Penn spoke to a young professionals event about the importance of the upcoming presidential election.

Doctors Release Pictures Of Causeway Cannibal Victim  —  MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Doctors have released photographs of Ronald Poppo, more than two weeks after the homeless man had much of his face chewed off during an attack by so-called Causeway Cannibal Rudy Eugene over the Memorial Day weekend.

Does Mitt Romney need ‘Obamacare’?  —  Republicans are cheerleading for the Supreme Court to strike down President Barack Obama's health care law.  —  But there's one Republican who might be sorry: Mitt Romney.  —  There's fear in some GOP circles that if the court wipes the Affordable Care Act off …

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.

White House softball team smoked by pot lobby's bats  —  Anyone notice a cloud hanging over the Mall last week?  That might have been the White House softball team getting absolutely smoked by the team fielded by the marijuana lobby.  —  The One Hitters, the team of pro-pot activists, beat STOTUS (the Softball Team of the U.S.) 25-3.

Michelle Obama's book earns a ‘thumbs-up’ from her daughters  —  Michelle Obama signed copies of her book Tuesday, and revealed at the event that the hefty tome earned a hard-won “thumbs-up” from her daughters Malia and Sasha.  —  “The book ‘American Grown’ is everything I would have imagined …

First-Ever Trans Senate Witness: ‘To Be Unemployed Is Very Devastating, Demeaning, And Demoralizing’  —  This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend employment protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

U.S.: Russia is sending Syria attack helicopters  —  The Obama administration said Tuesday that Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and is warning about a dramatic escalation in the Arab country's 15-month conflict.

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.

Sherrod Brown: Government does create jobs, and we Democrats need to say so  —  It's good to see the two presidential campaigns squaring off over the real causes of the ongoing unemployment crisis, but let's face it: When it comes to whether we are actually going to do anything to create jobs …