July panic for Obama — for good reason  —  Why has the Obama team been publicly wailing about losing out to Mitt Romney in the money race?  Why would the president accuse his opponent of not merely being wrong or unqualified but criminal?  After all, the polls are tied, so why so much worry in Obamaland?

Treasury probe cites officials for soliciting prostitutes, accepting industry gifts, FOIA docs reveal  —  Treasury Department officials have been cited for soliciting prostitutes, breaking conflict-of-interest rules and accepting gifts from corporate executives, according to the findings of official government investigations.

Pawlenty Looked at as Romney Running Mate  —  EAGAN, Minn. — It was four years ago this summer, when Tim Pawlenty ranked high on the list of John McCain's potential running mates, and Mr. Pawlenty and his wife, Mary, were plowing through a voluminous questionnaire probing deep into their finances …

Obama wedding registry fund-raising strategy not a hit with brides  —  President Obama's bizarre marriage-theme fund-raising scheme — where he asks couples to request campaign donations from their guests in lieu of wedding gifts — has been a total flop.  —  The desperate initiative …

Democrats threaten to go over ‘fiscal cliff’ if GOP fails to raise taxes  —  Democrats are making increasingly explicit threats about their willingness to let nearly $600 billion worth of tax hikes and spending cuts take effect in January unless Republicans drop their opposition to higher taxes for the nation's wealthiest households.

Latest Word on the Trail?  I Take It Back  —  The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.  —  They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under …

Deputies shoot, kill man after knocking on wrong door  —  FDLE looking into deputy-involved shooting  —  Lake County Sheriff's Office deputies shot and killed a man they assumed was an attempted murder suspect on Sunday, but they now know they shot the wrong man.

Saudi Arabia considers law against insulting Islam  —  (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is studying new regulations to criminalise insulting Islam, including in social media, and the law could carry heavy penalties, a Saudi paper said on Sunday.  —  The potential regulations come five months …

CNN on the Iran threat  —  The news network's Pentagon reporter reasons that “Iran already has a missile that could reach the U.S”  —  A surface-to-surface missile is launched during the Iranian Revolutionary Guards maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran July 3.

2012 Drought Rivals Dust Bowl … This year's drought ranks among the 10 largest drought areas of the past century, the National Climatic Data Center is expected to announce today.  —  Preliminary data computed from the Palmer Drought Severity Index shows that 54.6 percent of the contiguous 48 states …

Microsoft and NBC Complete Web Divorce  —  On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself.  —  The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web.

Employees of NY Times, HuffPo, other news outlets dish out money to re-elect Obama  —  Employees of news outlets including the New York Times and the Huffington Post have donated money to President Obama's re-election campaign, according to records reviewed by The Daily Caller.