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 …

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.

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.

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 …

State Law Prevented Sale of Assault Rifle to Suspect Last Week, Officials Say  —  WASHINGTON — The gunman who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday test-fired an AR-15 assault rifle at a Virginia gun store last week but was stopped from buying one because state law there prohibits …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Cops: Man Hit Girl To Beat Of “Blurred Lines”  —  Floridian facing child abuse rap for striking victim with metal rod  —  A Florida man arrested for child abuse struck his underage female victim with a metal rod to the beat of “Blurred Lines,” the hit song by Robin Thicke, according to a police report.

Photos: Raising the Costa Concordia  —  After spending more than 600 days partially submerged near Isola del Giglio, Italy, the wreck of the Costa Concordia was successfully rolled upright last night.  The cruise ship capsized after striking a reef on January 13, 2012, killing 32 passengers and crew members.