Tea Party Support Dwindles to Near-Record Low  —  Republicans ambivalent about movement, while most Democrats oppose it  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As Washington braces for another budget showdown, this time with the threat of defunding the new healthcare law in the mix, the key political force pushing …

Americans Reject by 61% Obama Demand for Clean Debt Vote  —  Americans by a 2-to-1 ratio disagree with President Barack Obama's contention that Congress should raise the U.S. debt limit without conditions.  —  Instead, 61 percent say that it's “right to require spending cuts when the debt ceiling …

Democrat Manchin Breaks Ranks to Back Mandate Delay  —  U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia broke ranks with fellow Democrats and said he'd support a stopgap spending plan that delays the individual mandate in President Barack Obama's health-care law.  —  “There's no way I could not vote for it …

Another Obamacare delay  —  The Obama administration is delaying another piece of Obamacare - this time postponing online enrollment in some of the small-business exchanges scheduled to open Oct. 1, sources tell POLITICO.  —  Small businesses looking to enroll in coverage on so-called SHOP exchanges run …

Comedian Arrested After Punching Journalist Josh Rogin at D.C.'s Funniest Celebrity Competition  —  This year's D.C.'s Funniest Celebrity contest may go down as the most memorable and not for what was going on onstage.  Comedy headliner Dan Nainan — a professional comedian who in the past …

Now Revealed by Stripper: Booker's Twitter Messages  —  Mayor Cory A. Booker has a high schooler's affinity for Twitter, reveling in its ceaseless flow of affirmation and infinite space for self-promotion.  —  But the occasional perils of his reliance on the social media service became evident …

Italian pasta baron's anti-gay comment prompts boycott call  —  * Gay, lesbian groups call for consumer boycott  —  * Barilla apologises, emphasises women's “central role”  —  Guido Barilla, chairman of the world's leading pasta manufacturer, prompted calls for a consumer boycott on Thursday …

“If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't let these people run my bathwater”  —  In one of the more remarkable television interviews with a politician I have ever seen, ex-Rep. Shelley Berkley eviscerated her U.S. Senate campaign staff for bottling her up, not having a strategy and being too paranoid.

If John Boehner Knows What's Good For Him, He'll Shut Down the Government  —  What the hell is John Boehner thinking?  I don't mean that strictly in a rhetorical sense, though it's hard not to slap your head when you see the most powerful Republican in the country lurching from one cockamamie strategy to another.

Let ObamaCare Collapse  —  Congress can't kill the entitlement state.  Only the American people can.  —  What the GOP's Defund-ObamaCare Caucus is failing to see is that ObamaCare is no longer just ObamaCare.  It is about something that is beyond the reach of a congressional vote.

How Obamacare may be holding down costs  —  The historic slowdown in health-care costs is continuing.  Earlier this month, the government's actuaries found that total national health spending continues to grow at the lowest rate we've ever seen.  And our annual employer health benefits survey released …

Equivalency Formula Works Wonders  —  In using rather extreme language (I suppose “an evil child's wish list for Santa” is kind of extreme) for Boehner's debt limit bill, I somehow failed to account for the magic Equivalency Formula whereby all GOP demands are by definition no less unreasonable than Democratic demands.

IRS Watchdog: $67 Million Missing from Obamacare Slush Fund  —  The IRS is unable to account for $67 million spent from a slush fund established for Obamacare implementation, according to a TIGTA report released today.  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. - The IRS is unable to account for $67 million spent …

Worldwide Caution  —  The Department of State has issued this Worldwide Caution to update information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world.  U.S. citizens are reminded to maintain a high level of vigilance …