GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan  —  You've heard them on television and read them on POLITICO — cheerful, defiant statements from Republican political professionals about Mitt Romney's bold masterstroke in tapping Paul Ryan as his running mate, and turning the 2012 presidential race into a serious …

Romney camp blasts Biden for ‘chains’ remark, calls it a ‘new low’  —  Mitt Romney's campaign issued a scathing statement Tuesday, blasting the Obama campaign for hitting a “new low” after Vice President Biden's suggestion to voters that the Republican ticket's economic policies would “put y'all back in chains.”

Obama hits Romney on Seamus  —  OSKALOOSA, Iowa — President Obama strayed from his prepared remarks here Tuesday to get in a jab at Mitt Romney's famous dog-on-top-of-car moment.  —  Noting that the Republican candidate has criticized wind energy, saying a windmill can't be put on top of a car to power it, Obama had a zinger.

More questions raised about Fareed Zakaria's work  —  Columnist and TV host Fareed Zakaria, who acknowledged plagiarizing parts of a magazine article last week, appears to have also published without attribution a passage from a 2005 book.  —  Zakaria's 2008 book, “The Post-American World …

Congress Approval Ties All-Time Low at 10%  —  Americans' approval of Congress has been below 20% since June 2011  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Ten percent of Americans in August approve of the job Congress is doing, tying last February's reading as the lowest in Gallup's 38-year history of this measure.

My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance to Defend Her Killer In Court  —  I've been sending out some impertinent tweets about Progressive Insurance lately, but I haven't explained how they pissed me off.  So I will do that here as succinctly as possible.  There's a general understanding that says …

Rep. Dennis Cardoza announces resignation  —  Citing sensitive family needs, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, has tendered his immediate resignation from the House of Representatives.  The surprisingly timed departure takes effect at midnight Wednesday.  —  A veteran San Joaquin Valley politician …

Euro Zone Economy Declines, Putting Pressure on Leaders  —  FRANKFURT — The economy in the euro zone officially shifted from stagnation to decline in the second quarter of 2012, portending a recession later in the year that will put even more pressure on beleaguered political leaders struggling to keep the common currency intact.

McCain rebuts Reid on Romney, says “nothing in his tax returns shows he did not pay taxes”  —  Arizona Sen. John McCain said today that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is wrong about his assertion that Mitt Romney did not pay taxes for 10 years, saying his team that vetted the presumptive GOP nominee in 2008 found no such thing.