Obama blinks  —  What if Congress says no to a Syria attack? … President Barack Obama bought himself some time Saturday to drum up support, at home and internationally, for a strike against Syria.  He did what he needed to do, at considerable risk to his credibility.

Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.'s  —  For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans' phone calls …

Love for Labor Lost  —  It wasn't always about the hot dogs.  Originally, believe it or not, Labor Day actually had something to do with showing respect for labor.  —  Here's how it happened: In 1894 Pullman workers, facing wage cuts in the wake of a financial crisis, went on strike …

Hill briefing: Uphill battle for Obama on Syria  —  President Barack Obama faces a clear uphill battle in swaying skeptical lawmakers of the merits of military action in Syria, as top officials were dispatched to Capitol Hill Sunday to make the administration's case.

Why are major media outlets ignoring bestselling writer Mark R. Levin?  —  Conservative host Mark Levin rules the radio and the bestseller charts because he speaks for people who feel left out of the debate.  So, what does the media do?  Ignore him.  —  To read the book reviews in The New York Times …

Climate science alarming, irrefutable: Kerry  —  US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the evidence for climate change was beyond dispute but it was not too late for international action to prevent its worst impacts.  —  “The science is clear.  It is irrefutable and it is alarming …

White House Spins Article About 34% Increase in Ohio Healthcare Premiums As Good News  —  David Simas, a White House staffer, tweets (and the White House retweets) a link to an article and adds, “More good ACA [Obamacare] news.  21% savings on premiums for Ohioans who buy their own health insurance because of the ACA.”

CITING OBAMACARE, 40,000 LONGSHOREMEN QUIT THE AFL-CIO  —  In what is being reported as a surprise move, the 40,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that they have formally ended their association with the AFL-CIO, one of the nation's largest private sector unions.

Labor union frustration boils over with president on ObamaCare  —  Unions are frustrated the Obama administration hasn't responded to their calls for changes to ObamaCare.  —  Labor has watched with growing annoyance as the White House has backed ObamaCare changes in response to concerns …

Surprising Friend of Gay Rights in a High Place  —  The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus sang “Give 'Em Hope” for a revered and in some ways surprising guest who shared a California stage with them last month: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.  —  Justice Kennedy was in San Francisco …

Not Really Labor's Day  —  Nancy Folbre is professor emerita of economics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  —  The annual holiday supposedly celebrating labor has long lacked much celebratory feel.  Over the last 30 years, employment has become more precarious and real wages for most workers have stagnated.