And what's right with Obama?  —  The British have a saying about the twin rules of journalism: first simplify, then exaggerate.  —  Perhaps Barack Obama can comfort himself with the reality that his current travails are both more complicated in their causes and less dire in their consequences …

An Open Letter from Howard Schultz, ceo of Starbucks Coffee Company  —  Posted by Howard Schultz, Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer  —  Few topics in America generate a more polarized and emotional debate than guns.  In recent months, Starbucks stores and our partners …

House to Vote on Defunding Obamacare  —  Leadership sources tell me the House GOP will soon vote on a continuing resolution that simultaneously funds the federal government and defunds Obamacare.  Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are expected to announce the decision at Wednesday's closed-door conference meeting.

Walgreen to Give Workers Payments to Buy Health Plans  —  Drugstore Chain's Move Underscores Shifting Burden on Insurance  —  Rising health-care costs and a climate of change brought about by the new federal health law are prompting American corporations to revisit the pact they've long had with employees over medical benefits.

Obama distress signal: President seeks help from first-term A-Team  —  A struggling President Obama is calling for help from members of his first-term A-Team, who have left the White House for other jobs.  —  With his poll numbers falling and his second-term floundering so far …

Buddhist community ponders apparent link between their faith and Navy Yard shooter  —  In the aftermath of the Washington Navy Yard shootings, gunman Aaron Alexis's interest in Buddhism seemed at odds with conventional Western stereotypes of serene, nonviolent meditators.

White House gets ready for shutdown  —  The White House told federal agencies on Tuesday to prepare for a government shutdown.  —  President Obama's budget director Sylvia Matthews Burwell in a memo to agencies said they should set their plans in case Congress fails to pass a funding measure by the end of the month.

Release Detail  —  September 18, 2013 - Virginia Voters Dislike Mcauliffe Less Than Cuccinelli, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Libertarian Could Be Key In Tight Race  —  With 7 percent of likely voters, Robert Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate in the too-close-to call Virginia governor's race …

IRS officials thought Obama wanted crackdown on tea party groups, worried about negative press  —  IRS employees were “acutely” aware in 2010 that President Obama wanted to crack down on conservative organizations and were egged into targeting tea party groups by press reports mocking the emerging movement …

The Money Behind the Shutdown Crisis  —  Representative Aaron Schock is a conservative Republican from Illinois, but not conservative enough for the hard-right activist group Club for Growth, which is seeking someone to run against him in next year's primary.  —  His crime?

Muslim beauty pageant challenges Miss World  —  Muslim women in headscarves and elaborately embroidered dresses took to the stage Wednesday for the finale of an Islamic beauty pageant in Indonesia, a riposte to the Miss World contest that has sparked hardline anger.

White House Shifts Debt-Ceiling Tone, Warning of Fiasco  —  In 2011, then-Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner repeatedly brushed off questions about whether Congress would raise the debt ceiling.  He wasn't worried, he would tell audiences.  Congress would raise it sooner or later.

Federal government to seize NYC skyscraper tied to Iran  —  A federal judge cleared the way for the government to seize a 36-story building owned by Iran.  —  CONNECT  —  It was once known as the Piaget Building because the Swiss jeweler used to have offices in the skyscraper near Rockefeller Center.

The Man With Pink Hair  —  I was at a conference in Bern, Switzerland, last week and struggling with my column.  News of Russia's proposal for Syria to surrender its poison gas was just breaking and changing every hour, forcing me to rewrite my column every hour.

Justin Amash Will Not Run for Senate in Michigan  —  Young libertarian feared losing the influence he has gained among House conservatives.  —  Rep. Justin Amash, the Michigan Republican who has established himself as the leading libertarian in the House of Representatives …

Undocumented LA County Parents On Pace To Receive $650M In Welfare Benefits  —  LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A projected $650 million in welfare benefits will be distributed to illegal alien parents in 2013, county officials said Monday.  —  Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich announced …

Appeals court rules in favor of ObamaCare birth control mandate  —  The decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals represents a victory for the Obama administration in a series of ongoing fights over the contraception policy, which critics see as a violation of religious freedom.