Release the Returns  —  Mitt Romney is steadfastly resisting calls to release additional years of his personal tax returns, arguing — not without good reason — that this demand is part of a fishing expedition by the Obama campaign, which hopes to exploit Romney's personal wealth …

How The Romney Campaign Decided To Take The Gloves Off  —  Surrogates will bring up cocaine, Fast and Furious, and ties to Blagojevich, one aide says.  What Romneyland is thinking.  —  Romney's top aides in Florida in January.  —  Image by Joe Raedle / Getty Images  —  IRWIN, Penn.

Adelson to DCCC: Retract your “Chinese prostitution money” comments or I'll sue  —  In a scathing letter to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Sheldon Adelson's lawyer accused the organization of “maliciously branding Mr. Adelson as a pimp” and demanded the DCCC either retract and apologize or be sued.

Blast Kills Top Security Aides to Assad  —  BEIRUT, Lebanon — President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law and Syria's defense minister were killed on Wednesday when a suicide bomber attacked a crisis group of senior ministers and security chiefs meeting in central Damascus, according to state television and activists.

Laid Off Steelworker in Anti-Romney Ad Says He Is Not Voting for Obama  —  “We didn't know who the hell Mitt Romney was when all that stuff started,” says former GS Technologies steelworker Donnie Box of Kansas City, Missouri.  “It wasn't until later we found out who Romney was.

Wasserman Schultz Has Unreported Second Home in NH, Lives Large on the High Seas  —  DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and President Barack Obama's re-election campaign team have been waging a coordinated effort against Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney by repeatedly casting aspersion …

Obama jobs panel lays low  —  President Barack Obama's Jobs Council hasn't met publicly for six months, even as the issue of job creation dominates the 2012 election.  —  At this point, the hiatus — which reached the half-year mark Tuesday — might be less awkward than an official meeting …

Anthony Weiner Shares a Family Photo  —  What's next for former New York congressman Anthony Weiner?  Baby's first birthday, of course.  —  “I'm very happy in my present life,” Weiner, 47, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview.  “The only next dramatic steps I'm planning on are Jordan's first …

Schumer calls for “limits on First Amendment rights” during Senate debate  —  The Senate has gone 1,175 days without passing a budget.  Taxmageddon and sequestration are threatening the economic livelihood of millions of Americans.  And yet the top order of business for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …

Nancy Pelosi: Democrats should skip the convention  —  House minority leader Nancy Pelosi says that Democratic members should stay home and campaign in their districts rather than go to the party's national convention in North Carolina.  —  “I'm not encouraging anyone to go to the convention …

Christie keynote tip  —  The word is going out quietly to Republican activists across New Jersey: If you're going to the GOP convention in Tampa next month, be sure to be there by Tuesday night, Aug. 28, because Gov. Chris Christie is going to be giving the keynote speech that night.

The Batman Campaign?  —  RUSH: Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is.  That's right, Dark Knight Rises.  Lights Up, same thing.  Do you know the name of the villain in this movie?  Bane.  The villain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, B-a-n-e.

Obama Descends into Self-Parody  —  It's time for the president to give his hope-and-change act a rest.  —  After much soul searching, Barack Obama has figured out where his presidency has gone wrong—and he shared it with CBS's Charlie Rose and viewers across the fruited plain Sunday morning.

Senate Democrats Propose Letting All Tax Cuts Expire  —  WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats — holding firm against extending tax cuts for the rich — are proposing a novel way to circumvent the Republican pledge not to vote for any tax increase: Allow all the tax cuts to expire Jan. 1 …

Ethics Committee launches probe of Dem Rep. Robert Andrews  —  The House Ethics Committee announced on Tuesday it was probing allegations that Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.) violated House ethics rules.  —  The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) referred the case to the secretive ethics panel …