Shutdown looms over ObamaCare  —  ObamaCare is at the center of a rapidly escalating fight that threatens to shut the government down this fall.  [WATCH VIDEO]  —  Senate Republicans, including two members of the leadership, are coalescing around a proposal to block any government funding resolution …

Poll: Obama's job approval plunges; Congress, especially GOP, still unpopular  —  WASHINGTON — Stung by Americans' persistent worries about the economy and a capital gripped by controversy and gridlock, President Barack Obama is suffering his lowest job approval numbers in nearly two years, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.

The NYPD: Guilty of Saving 7,383 Lives  —  Accusations of racial profiling ignore the fact that violent crime overwhelmingly occurs in minority neighborhoods.  —  Since 2002, the New York Police Department has taken tens of thousands of weapons off the street through proactive policing strategies.

Republicans wait as O'Donnell weighs another campaign  —  In the three years since her unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign nearly caused a schism in the state Republican Party, little has changed for Christine O'Donnell as she considers another race.  —  O'Donnell continues to be regarded …

Sacha Baron Cohen Exits Freddie Mercury Biopic Over Creative Differences With Queen  —  BREAKING... EXCLUSIVE... Sacha Baron Cohen is just not seeing eye to eye with the remaining members of Queen who have script and director approval over that biopic on iconic lead singer Freddie Mercury.

Cheney Senate bid looks like an uphill battle  —  PPP's new Wyoming poll finds that most voters in the state see Liz Cheney as an outsider...and as a result she starts out at a significant deficit in a primary contest with Mike Enzi.  —  Overall only 31% of Wyoming voters consider Cheney to be a ‘Wyomingite’ to 50% who do not.

North Carolina On Cusp Of Passing Worst Voter Suppression Bill In The Nation  —  Voting in North Carolina may soon change, much in the same way a wrecking ball changes a building.  —  The highly-conservative North Carolina legislature just released a new voter suppression bill that would enact …

Michelle Nunn declares herself a U.S. Senate candidate  —  Shortly after 1 p.m. Monday, Michelle Nunn declared herself a Democratic candidate in the 2014 race for U.S. Senate, the very seat once held by her father.  —  The formal announce will come Tuesday, when she files the official paperwork.

Getting Detroit Back on Its Feet  —  After suffering through decades of economic decline and official mismanagement, the city of Detroit sought bankruptcy protection last week, becoming the largest American municipality to take that extreme step.  The city's debts total a staggering $18 billion …

Ald.  Moore gets White House award same day he admits talking to FBI agents  —  Council watchdog outlines alleged aldermanic wrongdoing … In a case of only-in-Chicago political timing, the White House announced Monday it would honor Ald.  Joe Moore as a “pioneer for political reform,” …

New York Man Arrested After Threatening Two News Anchors On Twitter  —  PHOENIX (AP) — A New York man has been arrested on allegations that he made threats on Twitter against two national newscasters who angered him with their coverage of the Jodi Arias trial, Arizona authorities said Monday.

No Comment From Weiner Camp On New Alleged Sex Chats  —  The Dirty posts explicit Facebook and Formspring exchanges.  “I'm deeply flawed.”  —  Source: thedirty.com  —  Anthony Weiner's campaign did not respond Tuesday to repeated inquiries about a new set of unverified images suggesting …

OFA takes a page from the tea party  —  If Organizing for Action's plans come together, 2013 will be their turn to make trouble for members of Congress back home in their districts.  —  Four years after the tea party surprised Democrats at town halls that led to the Republican wave of 2010 …

Both Parties Need to Keep an Eye on Older Voters for 2014 Elections  —  The electorate has changed since the 2010 midterms, and this segment - which voted Republican in the last two elections - appears to be shifting in recent surveys.  —  This week, I had the opportunity to listen …

Zimmerman verdict poll: Stark reaction by race  —  The not-guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman has produced dramatically different reactions among blacks and whites, with African Americans overwhelmingly disapproving of the jury's decision and a bare majority of whites saying …

House GOP budget plan collapsing  —  Like an army that's outrun its supply line, the Republican budget strategy in Congress shows almost daily signs of coming apart.  —  The central premise, as sold by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, was that Washington could wipe out deficits …

House GOP August Plan: Hate on Washington  —  When House Republicans retreat to their districts for the August recess, they will each be armed with a detailed guide — an exceptionally detailed guide — on how to assure their already convinced constituents that Washington is broken.

The House will not pass the Senate immigration bill.  Here's why.  —  House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) isn't backing down from his position that the House will deal with the immigration issue piece-by-piece and won't vote on the Senate-passed bill.  —  And he's got good reason.

Radioactive wastewater from Fukushima power plant leaking into ocean, say officials  —  More than two years after a magnitude 9. earthquake and resulting tsunami devestated northeastern Japan, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced that contaminated groundwater appears to be leaking …

Former military head says it was quickly clear terrorists behind Benghazi consulate attack  —  The former head of U.S. forces in Africa, General Carter Ham, told the Aspen Security Forum that it quickly became clear the assault on the American consulate in Benghazi last year was a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration.

NSA's Keith Alexander Calls Emergency Private Briefing To Lobby Against Justin Amash Amendment Curtailing Its Power  —  WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency kicked its lobbying into high gear after an amendment from Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian Republican from Michigan …