Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said that, if the Republicans regain control over Congress, they “will reopen the broad Wall Street reform law and overhaul the newly created consumer protection bureau.â€

Yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) angrily insisted to reporters that the military does not “go out and seek to find out someone's sexual orientation.â€

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) introduced a political gimmick yesterday called the “Reins Act,â€

“Senate Democrats said Thursday that they would postpone a highly contentious floor fight over what to do about the expiring Bush-era tax cuts until after the November elections.â€

On Friday, the FBI “searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago,â€

“The income gap between the richest and poorest Americans grew last year to its widest amount on record as young adults and children in particular struggled to stay afloat in the recession,â€

President Obama issued a call to arms to progressives yesterday ahead of the midterm elections. Obama told a cheering crowd of 26,000 at the University of Wisconsin, “We cannot sit this one out. We cannot let this country fall back because the rest of us didn't stand up and fight.â€

McDonald's Corp. is threatening to drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new health care law requirement. Sending “one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers' health plans,â€

Following its $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, News Corporation — the parent company of Fox News — has donated $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the heaviest anti-Democratic advertisers in this year's elections. Spokesmen for News Corp. and Fox declined to comment.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) has fired his staff member who wrote an anti-gay slur on the gay rights blog Joe.My.God. Chambliss personally called blogger Joe Jervis to apologize yesterday, saying the “all faggots must dieâ€

Outside interest groups are spending five times as much on this year's elections as they did on the last midterms, and they are more secretive than ever about their donors, thanks in part to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision. Of the $80 million spent thus far, conservative groups are outspending progressive ones 7 to 1.

The Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman reports that White House officials are preparing plans for a scaled-back legislative agenda next year. The strategy would involve taking “a new, more incremental approach… to fulfilling campaign promises on energy, immigration and on closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.â€

[b]MSNBC is embracing a new “progressive political identity,â€

Politico reports that conservative activists are demanding that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney apologize for passing a health reform law in his state. “I would advise him to acknowledge he made a mistake,â€

A new Labor Department report released this morning states that unemployment remained unchanged last month, resting at 9.6 percent. Approximately 159,000 government jobs were lost, but the private sector adding 64,000 jobs. Steve Benen produces a chart to depict the trend.

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office announced that the federal [b]budget deficit is “slightly less than $1.3 trillionâ€

President Obama said in a statement Monday that he hopes Peter Diamond, who just recieved a Nobel Prize in economics, “will be confirmed by the Senate as quickly as possibleâ€

A News Corporation shareholder has written a letter to the company's board objecting to the company's political donations, like the recent $1 million contribution to the Republican Governor's Association, and demanding full disclosure of all the company's political spending by Friday. The shareholder warned in the letter against the use of “corporate treasury funds to further the personal political agendas of corporate management.â€

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) said this year's midterm elections may tip the balance to the Republican Party for the next decade. Barbour suggests this midterm election will be one of the most important in recent memory due to both the effect of the 2010 U.S. Census and the number of gubernatorial seats that are up this cycle.

The Texas-based attorney Harry Whittingon – most famously known as the man whom Dick Cheney shot while on a hunting trip – says that the former vice president has never apologized. The Washington Post reports, “Nearly five years on, he's still waiting for Dick Cheney to say he's sorry.â€

ThinkFast: October 18, 2010 » ~ By Think Progress at 9:00 am

In a Huffington Post op-ed yesterday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan argued that [b]“a national, blanket moratorium on all foreclosure sales would do far more harm than good.â€

ThinkFast: October 20, 2010 » ~ By Think Progress at 9:00 am

Late last night, California District Court Judge Virginia Phillips officially rejected the government's request to stay her injunction against enforcing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Phillips argued that the decision was in “public interest of safeguarding fundamental constitutional rights.â€

ThinkFast: October 21, 2010 » ~ By Think Progress at 9:00 am

“Skepticism and outright denial of global warming are among the articles of faith of the Tea Party movement,â€

ThinkFast: October 22, 2010 » ~ By Think Progress at 9:00 am

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) responded to the latest revelations about the millions of dollars behind the Chamber political attack ads. “They give new meaning to the term ‘Buy American'…they want to buy these elections,â€