Knee Capping Mitch McConnell: Lisa Murkowski Concedes to Joe Miller | RedState.

Obama’s Iraq Address: Afghan War Looms Large Over Speech - TIME.

For almost the entire speech, Obama remained impassive. He was not awesome.

He was very clear when it came to praising the troops. “At every turn, America’s men and women in uniform have served with courage and resolve,” he said, in a statement nobody would dispute.

Opinion: A grim speech for a grim war - Roger Simon - POLITICO.com.

Obama is still candidate Obama, never tiring of reminding us that he kept his campaign pledge and ever eager to push aside foreign policy challenges so he can get on with the business of remaking America. All in all, it was what we were promised it would not be — self-serving, disingenuous, ungracious, and unreassuring.

Commentary » Blog Archive » Obama from the Oval Office.

In another danger sign for Democrats, most Americans extremely concerned about 10 of the issues say they will vote for the Republican candidate in their local House race. Only those highly interested in the environment lean toward the Democrats.

RealClearPolitics - Politics - Aug 31, 2010 - AP-GfK Poll: Most attuned voters tilt toward GOP.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson awarded eight scholarships last year to her grandsons and a top aide’s children – bringing to 23 the number of awards she handed out since 2005 in violation of Congressional Black Caucus Foundation eligibility rules.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson says she’ll repay scholarship funds by week’s end | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News.

The 50 wealthiest lawmakers were worth almost $1.4 billion in 2009, about $85.1 million more than 12 months earlier, according to The Hill’s annual review of lawmakers’ financial disclosure forms.

Wealthy lawmakers increased their riches as U.S. economy sputtered in 2009 - TheHill.com.

This week’s Iraq moment means that Mr. Obama now has, to steal a term he used last year to refer to Russian relations, hit the reset button on all four important areas of American policy in the region: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iran.

Underlying Iraq Strategy, as So Many Others, Is Iran - WSJ.com.

While the recession has at least bottomed out and appears technically to have ended, the recovery, by historic standards, has been anemic. Within two years of the start of every one of the three previous recessions, GDP had rebounded significantly—to 4 percentage points above where it was when the downturn began. But 31 months after the start of the current recession, GDP was still below its starting point. The employment situation is even worse. In the nasty recession of 1981-82, the economy had regained the jobs it lost within just 26 months. This time around, we still have 5 percent fewer jobs than at the recession’s start in December 2007.

The Failure of the Liberal Economic Experiment?.

John Stossel has a good piece on how uncertainty is hindering the recovery.

Independent Women’s Forum - A Bigger Enemy of Growth than Big Government?.

Americans for Prosperity Foundation Launches New TV Ad: “Wasteful Government Spending Hurts Small Business” | Americans for Prosperity.

Local Government Bureaucrats Earn Nearly Twice Private Sector Per Hour | FreedomWorks.

John Boehner is Right; Obama’s Economic Policies Have Failed the American People.

Reporter Jeanne Sahidi bemoans lack of tax increases, ignores high government spending

Shocker: CNNMoney Criticizes Obama … From Left.

No - please - anything but that!

In policy debates, it’s commonplace to see two different interpretations of historical events as part of opposing arguments about what to do next.  The $787 billion stimulus package of 2009 is hardly old enough to be called a “historical event,” but already reports vary about its effects.

Independent Women’s Forum - Do we need a second stimulus?.

They call it the Beltway Blinders—a common disease that hits when so-called insiders to Washington politics lose sight of the priorities, challenges, and fears that matter in “real” America. Those inside the Capital Beltway, the roughly 60-mile interstate loop around the city, are vulnerable to the highly contagious disease, losing perspective on what the rest of America is saying even as they pretend to represent it.

WORLD Magazine | Working-class blues | Edward Lee Pitts | Sep 11, 10.

That’s why it’s great that an organization like the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence (ABCTE) has created an award to recognize the best teacher of the year. They have just announced that the inaugural National Teacher of the Year Award will go to Jeremiah Young, a science teacher from Beaufort High School in South Carolina. The award will be given this week in a ceremony in Washington D.C.

The high price of college textbooks is getting a lot of press. Legislators are considering bills to bring down costs, such as requiring professors to use the least expensive “educationally sound” option. As I have read articles about the burden of textbook costs, I have done some soul-searching about the cost of the books I choose for my students. I conclude that the textbooks I use are a good value compared to the alternatives.

Back to School, Back to the Books: The Value Behind Textbooks.

Last week our campaign embarked on a 23 county bus tour of Pennsylvania. Let me tell you, the response from supporters like you far exceeded all of our expectations. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve got great news for you - Tim Huelskamp has been endorsed in his race for Congress by the House Conservatives Fund. House Conservatives Fund is an organization that seeks to elect true conservatives to the U.S. House.  I can tell you that they look for men and women of conviction who will stand for the principles of our founding: limited government, strong national defense, and traditional values. Read the rest of this entry »

Michele Bachmann had finished her speech to our 2,500-plus activists on Friday night at AFP Foundation’s 4th annual Defending the American Dream Summit.  The crowd was still roaring. CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES AND FOOTAGE Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings Moran Fans!

Thank you all for your hard work and dedication in making Jerry the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate-but our work is far from finished.  We now have a general election campaign against yet another Democrat who supports the policies of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi, higher government spending, and more debt.  There are only 63 days until the general election and we need your help.  There are still community events across the state and many opportunities to continue to spread the word about Jerry’s positive message and his record working to create jobs, eliminate wasteful spending, and reduce our massive national debt.

Please see what lies ahead on the campaign trail below: Read the rest of this entry »

Give Pakistan cricket team a chance of redemption | Stephen Moss | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

Venus lone woman star to carry Stripes at U.S. Open - Tennis - CBSSports.com.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens pose Hall of Fame dilemma - Ann Killion - SI.com.

Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart questions reasons for demotion.

Yesterday WASHINGTON POST columnist Mike Wise Tweeted that a source had told him that Ben Roethlisberger had been suspended for five games by the NFL in response to the Pittsburgh quarterback’s off-field issues.

SPORTSbyBROOKS » Washington Post Columnist Suspended For Hoax.

Back in Football, Maurice Clarett Showing Burst in Wrong Direction — FanHouse.

It is true that typical professional tennis players are bigger, stronger and taller than in previous generations. But the ideal height for a men’s champion hasn’t changed much over the last 90 years, and throughout history champions have come in varying sizes.

RealClearSports - Height of Little Value for Top Tennis Pros.

Opinion: U.S. Open is do or die for Roddick, Clijsters - Tennis- nbcsports.msnbc.com.

Miller currently ranks as the 14th leading scorer of all time with 25,279 points. There are 15 NBA players who’ve scored 25,000 points or more, and every one — with the exception of Miller and current players Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant– is in the Hall of Fame.

Reggie Miller in the Hall of Fame? Of course | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star.

The mental toughness that was as much a part of the Woods’ personality, learned by repetition from a driven father, is still there. Maybe under a layer of doubt or the patina of uncertainty, but it’s there. As was verified in the first round of the Barclays.

RealClearSports - Tiger Woods Is Anything But Finished.

It would be difficult for any strong partisan to admit that such an accomplishment was so deeply unpopular. Yet the polling is pretty unequivocal on the relationship between the Democrats’ fortunes and the health care bill. It was during the health care debate that the essential building block of the Democratic majority - Independent voters - began to crumble. It was evident in the generic ballot. It was evident in the President’s job approval numbers. It was evident in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Health Care Reform Has Endangered the Democratic Majority.

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations needs to revise the way it manages its assessments of climate change, with the scientists involved more open to alternative views, more transparent about possible conflicts of interest and more careful to avoid making policy prescriptions, an independent review panel said Monday.

Review Finds Flaws in U.N. Climate Panel Structure - NYTimes.com.

Labor’s campaign in California has been an ambitious mix of trying to persuade swing voters while at the same time trying to mobilize those Democrats who don’t often vote in nonpresidential elections.

California, labor and get out the vote for Democratic candidates - latimes.com.

As we slept, as it were, our federal minders awarded themselves impressive pay/benefits increases that average out to $123,000 per year, compared with $61,000 in the private sector.

Government Pay: Now For The Really Bad News - Forbes.com.

“ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the ‘Reclaim the Dream’ rally and march,” began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.

Education secretary urged his employees to attend Sharpton’s rally | Washington Examiner.

Flawed science - Telegraph.

Cal Thomas | Washington Examiner.

Steve Schale, the state director of Obama’s 2008 campaign in Florida, writes that Charlie Crist can’t win.

Charlie Crist’s path to victory | Washington Examiner.