Romney ad blitz focuses on economic trust

Mitt Romney and his presidential campaign are invading living rooms in key states across the country through a barrage of television ads that aim to convince voters that their economic well-being hinges on a change in the White House.

Romney's July cash haul brightens GOP mood

Erasing all doubts about his fundraising abilities, Mitt Romney on Monday announced that he and his allies raked in $100 million for the second straight month, again topping President Obama and handing the Republican a much-needed public relations boost as he prepares to accept his party's presidential nomination this month.

Assad regime crumbling down to core

Syria's prime minister Monday became the latest and highest-ranking official to defect to the opposition, a sign that divisions within the country are hardening further along sectarian lines.

Drone industry eager to road-test science fiction

Man may not rule the road for much longer. Already set to fill the heavens within a few years, the drone industry is looking beyond the sky to opportunities on land and under water.

Former Olympians look back with pride

Tom Dolan inspired young athletes to dream in gold. Cara Heads pushed herself to look beyond a medal. Derek Brown wondered what was next.

Obama taps Hollywood for campaign cash to match Romney's haul

Beaten in the money chase by Republican challenger Mitt Romney for the third straight month, President Obama on Monday turned again to one of the Democratic Party's most lucrative and reliable sources of campaign cash — Hollywood.

Tax-reform panel aims to untie D.C. code's 'knot'

A newly seated edition of the D.C. Tax Revision Commission began wading through layers of the city's Byzantine tax structure on Monday and brainstorming ways to keep the city's finances in step with its flourishing population.

Carney: GOP criticism of Plouffe's $100K speaking fee purely 'political'

The White House is brushing aside a report that one of President Obama's top aides and a key member of his inner circle was paid $100,000 in speaking fees from an affiliate with a company doing business with Iran's government.

Inside the Beltway: Not in the script

"The president's top celebrity supporters have benefited from outsourcing, Hollywood-style," says ABC News political correspondent Jon Karl, who points out that President Obama's uber-fundraisers in Tinseltown regularly shoot movies that are supposedly set in the U.S. in overseas locations, rather than on American soil.

Curious follow Curiosity at the Smithsonian

The rover Curiosity's safe landing on Martian soil sparked a wave of interest Monday from space enthusiasts and casual observers who stopped for project updates at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

South Africa relations on Clinton's radar

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet Tuesday with South African leaders in the capital, Pretoria, amid somewhat strained relations between the two democratic nations.

Obama backs bill to exempt taxes on Olympians

The White House says President Obama supports a measure that would exempt U.S. Olympians from taxes on their prizes.

Aide: Syrian PM's break months in planning

Syria's prime minister began planning his break from the regime two months ago when Bashar Assad offered him the post and an ultimatum: Take the job or die.

Olympics 2012: Aliya Mustafina wins gold; Gabby Douglas finishes last

Aliya Mustafina stood atop the podium, proudly cradling her medal and watching the Russian flag rise.

Loughner change of plea hearing set

The judge overseeing the deadly Tucson, Ariz., mass shooting case on Monday scheduled competency and change of plea hearings for defendant Jared Lee Loughner.

U.S. stocks rise; Knight Capital gets lifeline

U.S. stocks are ending higher on a day marked by uncharacteristic quiet following a turbulent week.

Commentary

KENNEALLY: Technocratic maternalism: Latching on to the government teat

Now that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has dispensed with poor, fat people and smokers, it only makes sense that he would declare open warfare on mothers. The city government has unveiled its latest exercise in bureaucratic maternalism, Latch on NYC, which aggressively promotes breast-feeding to new mothers by restricting their hospital access to formula and exposing them to schoolmarmish lectures by nurses when they have the audacity to request the breast milk alternative.

DRIESSEN: Wind-energy tax credits fund bird murder

Clean-energy devotees are proposing that the $2,200-per-megawatt wind energy production tax credit be extended as part of "all of the above" energy policies. The slogan falls flat, even when it's expanded to "all of the above and below ground."

NUGENT: Whacky Harry Reid talks trash about Romney

You have to know that times are desperate in the Obama campaign when Sen. Harry Reid is trotted out to contend that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes for a decade.

MILLER: Mommy Bloomberg

Michael R. Bloomberg thinks he knows better what to feed a newborn baby than the baby's mother. The New York City mayor, who is on a tear to dictate everything New Yorkers put in their mouths, is now playing doctor with diets for newborns. This is an unwelcome intrusion of the nanny state into the nursery.

EDITORIAL: Angry man Obama

The latest headline in the 2012 race is that President Obama hates Mitt Romney. The subtext of the story is that the president is in fact afraid of his challenger.