US election: Mitt Romney may have breached ethics laws through company linked to Paul Ryan's brother  —  Mitt Romney may have breached state ethics laws as Governor of Massachusetts by holding a stake in a company that did lucrative work for his administration and was linked to the family of Paul Ryan …

Mitt Romney's tax returns: the ‘voter fraud’ theory |  MS Bellows Jr  —  There has been much speculation about why Romney refuses to disclose earlier tax returns.  Could it be as simple as an address?  —  Friday's exchange of letters between the election campaigns of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney …

How Management Killed “The Village Voice”  —  Mike Lacey figured out sex ads on the Internet, but little else.  The paper edges toward collapse.  —  Alt-weeklies are always dying.  But the news Friday that four editorial staffers were laid off or had their hours cut to part-time at The Village Voice …

GOP advice on Medicare: Attack  —  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan say that they welcome a debate about the federal budget and their plans to reform Medicare.  —  But Republican strategists believe that there is really only one way to win the Medicare message wars: mount a bruising offense …

August Unemployment Not Looking Good  —  New Gallup unemployment data suggest an increase in the government's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August when it is reported on Friday, Sept. 7.  During recent months, Gallup's measurements have been more optimistic than those of the BLS.

A Measure of Change: Obama Lags on Filling Seats in the Judiciary  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama is set to end his term with dozens fewer lower-court appointments than both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush achieved in their first four years, and probably with less …

GOP convention's focus: Romney the professional  —  BOSTON — Mitt Romney's advisers are orchestrating a four-day Republican National Convention that is not so much designed to make Americans fall in love with the nominee, but rather to fall in like with the idea of him as the nation's leader …

Rep. Hartzler: Dems politicizing drought-relief measures  —  Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) slammed Senate Democrats Saturday, saying their failure to pass drought-relief or stop tax hikes set to take effect next year had harmed small businesses and farmers.  —  In the GOP weekly address …

Protester spits on Romney supporter in Wisconsin  —  POLITICAL SPAT: Romney protester spits on supporte...: AUG. 17, 2012: During a Mitt Romney rally near Appleton, Wis., a protester, Mary Hoglund, 83, confronts Wisconsin state Sen. Alberta Darling.  A supporter challenges her and Hoglund spits in her face.

Kerry defends Obama against vets attack  —  Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) — himself a victim of a shadowy group attacking his military record — is coming to President Obama's defense in a new campaign email to supporters.  —  “Seeing the new outrageous attacks made against President Obama …

Oakland: Six arrested as protest at Obama campaign headquarters ends peacefully  —  OAKLAND — A protest at the Barack Obama campaign headquarters in downtown Oakland ended peacefully late Thursday, with a handful of arrests but no reports of violence.  —  At least 60 protesters rallied …

The Charts That Doom Obama  —  News out this afternoon is that Obama is looking into opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a means to relieve pressure at the gas pump.  Someone at the White House woke up and realized that the welcome springtime fall in gasoline prices has reversed course …

Pussy Riot release new single Putin Lights Up the Fires - video  —  Exclusive: Pussy Riot, the feminist Russian punk band from which three members were found guilty of hooliganism driven by religious hatred and sentenced to two years in jail, have released a new single called Putin Lights Up the Fires.