Obama grants Holder request on ‘Furious’ documents as contempt vote looms  —  DEVELOPING ...  President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off …

Obama Leads In Poll As Voters View Romney As Out Of Touch  —  Barack Obama has opened a significant lead over Mitt Romney in a Bloomberg National Poll that reflects the presumed Republican nominee's weaknesses more than the president's strengths.  —  Obama leads Romney 53 percent …

The 2012 campaign is the smallest ever  —  For years, operatives, reporters and potential nominees envisioned the 2012 presidential campaign as a titanic clash of media-swarmed combatants with big ideas about the future.  In the Republican primaries, this was almost a mantra: this is the most important campaign in a generation.

Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds  —  The tax reform plan that House Republicans have advanced would sharply cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and could leave middle-class households facing much larger tax bills, according to a new analysis set to be released Wednesday.

For immediate release  —  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately this year.  However, growth in employment has slowed in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated.  Business fixed investment has continued to advance.

New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims  —  “I don't think the Bush administration would want to see these released,” an expert tells Salon  —  Over 120 CIA documents concerning 9/11, Osama bin Laden and counterterrorism were published today for the first time, having been newly declassified and released to the National Security Archive.

Food Stamp Vote In Senate Blocks Bid To Restore $4.5 Billion In Aid … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Video, 2012 Farm Bill, Farm Bill, Farm Bill 2012, Kirsten Gillibrand, Debbie Stabenow, Debbie Stabenow Food Stamps, Farm Bill Food Stamps, Food Stamp Cuts, Food Stamps, Kirsten Gillibrand Farm Bill, Politics News

Romney plans posh weekend donor retreat featuring Rove and V.P. hopefuls  —  Fresh off the best fundraising stretch of his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney plans to spend this weekend strategizing and fraternizing with his biggest bundlers at a posh resort in Park City, Utah.

E-mails show U.Va. board wanted a big online push  —  By  —  E-mail messages were flying among leaders of the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia in the weeks leading up to the ouster of Teresa A. Sullivan as president of the university.  The e-mail messages show …

Rep. Mark Critz, other Dems, to skip convention in favor of campaigning in Pennsylvania  —  U.S. Rep. Mark Critz said on Tuesday he will skip the Democratic National Convention in favor of campaigning in Pennsylvania, much like top elected Democrats in neighboring West Virginia who are disgruntled with President Obama.