Filibuster reform is short of needed votes  —  Senate Democrats do not have the votes to lower the 60-vote threshold to cut off filibusters.  —  The lack of support among a handful of Senate Democratic incumbents is a major blow to the effort to change the upper chamber's rules.

WikiLeaks Reportedly Outs 100s of Afghan Informants  —  Hundreds of Afghan civilians who worked as informants for the U.S. military have been put at risk by WikiLeaks' publication of more than 90,000 classified intelligence reports which name and in many cases locate the individuals, The Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

On the Surface, Gulf Oil Spill Is Vanishing Fast; Concerns Stay  —  The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Our Divisive President  —  Barack Obama promised a new era of post-partisanship.  In office, he's played racial politics and further split the country along class and party lines.  —  During the election campaign, Barack Obama sought to appeal to the best instincts of the electorate …

50 Most Beautiful People 2010  —  Who made the cut this year?  Take a look at the most beautiful people on Capitol Hill.

SEC Says New FinReg Law Exempts It From Public Disclosure  —  So much for transparency.  —  Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases …

In Speech to Turkey, PM David Cameron Goes Full Idiot  —  Cameron gives a begging, blubbering pander of a speech to the Islamist goons in Turkey.  (Also read Claudia Rosett: “Prime Minister, It's Not a ‘Prison Camp’”  —  British Prime Minister David Cameron's July 27 speech in Turkey will not live on in history.

Mass. Legislature approves plan to bypass Electoral College  —  The Massachusetts Legislature has approved a new law intended to bypass the Electoral College system and ensure that the winner of the presidential election is determined by the national popular vote.

Will federal judge rule soon on Arizona immigration law?  —  Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) — With scant hours to go before a controversial Arizona immigration law goes into effect, questions remained Wednesday about when a federal judge will rule on seven suits seeking to block its implementation.

Journolist veers out of bounds  —  This may be the most embarrassing thing I have ever written — and looking back on my writing, there is a lot of competition for that dubious distinction — but when I became a reporter, it was almost a holy calling.  —  We really believed we were doing good.

The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers  —  How much do your kindergarten teacher and classmates affect the rest of your life?  —  Economists have generally thought that the answer was not much.  Great teachers and early childhood programs can have a big short-term effect.  But the impact tends to fade.

Image Boost: What Is The President Doing On Daytime Talk Show?  —  President Obama to Take in a Different ‘View’ With Talk Show Visit  —  Unlike most guests who come to ABC's “The View,” President Obama does not have a new movie, album or reality show to promote.

In Study, 2 Economists Say Intervention Helped Avert a 2nd Depression  —  WASHINGTON — Like a mantra, officials from both the Bush and Obama administrations have trumpeted how the government's sweeping interventions to prop up the economy since 2008 helped avert a second Depression.

House Democrats head for a thumping at the polls  —  Democratic spin doctors have set out how their side is going to hold onto a majority in the House.  They'll capture four at-risk Republican seats, hold half of the next 30 or so Democratic at-risk seats, and avoid significant losses on target seats lower on the list.

Lawyer: Blago's not ‘sharpest knife’  —  Rod Blagojevich's own lawyer said Tuesday that his client is “foolish” and not the “sharpest knife in the drawer,” but said that is no reason to convict the former Democratic governor of Illinois of corruption.  —  In his closing argument …

New Calculator Shows How Much More Taxes Will You Pay Next Year  —  We are on the precipice of the largest tax increase in United States history.  On January 1, 2011, the 2001/2003 tax relief will expire.  All Americans who earn income will see their taxes go up as a result …

Two women to face off in Oklahoma  —  Republican Rep. Mary Fallin and Democratic Lt. Gov. Jari Askins won their gubernatorial primaries Tuesday evening, ensuring that Oklahoma will elect its first female governor in November.  —  Fallin enters the fall campaign as the favorite …

Dear Dems: Stop reading from Rove's playbook on Afghanistan  —  It's sad that this needs to be said, but Democrats need to stop reading from Karl Rove's playbook when talking about the Afghanistan war.  —  GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah is one of only a dozen Republicans who voted …

GM Volt's price induces some sticker shock  —  The long-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, General Motors' electric car, will cost $41,000, the company announced Tuesday, leaving consumers to decide whether its environmental appeal is worth a price far above that of similarly sized conventional autos.

Dem senators want congressional approval for Afghan engagement  —  Two Democratic senators wrote President Obama on Wednesday requesting that future agreements between the U.S. and Afghan governments be subject to Senate approval.  —  Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), a staunch critic of the Afghan war …

John Callahan, Cartoonist, Dies at 59  —  John Callahan, a quadriplegic, alcoholic cartoonist whose work in newspapers and magazines made irreverent, impolitic sport of people with disabilities and diseases and those who would pity and condescend to them, died Saturday in Portland, Ore. He was 59 and lived in Portland.

My Apology to Shirley Sherrod — Withdrawn  —  Last week, I jumped the gun (as did many others) in taking what was a complex story and boiling it down to an video clip without its proper context.  I apologized to my readers and to Shirley Sherrod.  —  I hereby withdraw the apology to Mrs. Sherrod.

Democrats Confirm More House Seats in Play  —  Democrats added another 20 House seats to their list of targeted districts, officials confirmed Tuesday evening, raising the party's commitment in television advertising for the final weeks of the campaign to more than $49 million.

Why Some Republicans Want to ‘Restore’ the 13th Amendment  —  No, it's not about slavery; like so much of our politics these days, it's about Barack Obama.  —  If there is an aspect of the human condition that is unaddressed by the platform of the Republican Party of Iowa …

Updated Governor and Senate ratings!  —  The Fix and Post senior political reporter — and all-around good guy — Dan Balz sat down last night to mull over our ratings of the top Senate and governors races around the country.  —  With the election now less than 100 days away …

Sherrod Critic: She Used ‘Lynching’ To Gin Up Democratic Voters  —  On Monday, former Reagan administration official Jeffrey Lord astonished the left and the right by penning an article in the conservative American Spectator attacking former-USDA official Shirley Sherrod for using the term …