CNN

CNN: Iraq's oil-fueled surplus could hit $80 billion, report says
Iraq is raking in more money from oil exports than it is spending, amassing a projected four-year budget surplus of up to $80 billion, U.S. auditors reported Tuesday.

CNN: Paris Hilton fires back at McCain's "Celeb" ad
Paris Hilton has fired back in response to presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's "Celeb" ad comparing the 27-year-old heiress to Barack Obama. The less-than-two-minute spot was paid for by the comedy video Web site funnyordie.com. It features Hilton sprawling in a lounge chair in a swimsuit. The socialite mocks McCain's ad, saying, "I want America to know that I'm, like, totally ready to lead."

LA Times: Obama pumped up over attack on his energy strategy
They've bickered over war and peace, taxes and healthcare. Now Barack Obama and John McCain are at odds over an issue not quite so weighty: the tire gauge.

WSJ Op-Ed: Sen. Hillary R. Clinton: No Crisis Is Immune From Exploitation Under Bush
Tucked away on the Cayman Islands sits Ugland House, an unassuming, nondescript building of modest scale and size. However, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), this five-story office building is home to more than 18,000 corporate entities, nearly half of which have U.S. ties.

NY Times: Big-Dollar Donors Are Major Force in Obama Campaign
In an effort to cast himself as independent of the influence of money on politics, Senator Barack Obama often highlights the campaign contributions of $200 or less that have amounted to fully half of the $340 million he has collected so far.

Washington Post: Bundler Collects From Unlikely Donors
The bundle of $2,300 and $4,600 checks that poured into Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign on March 12 came from an unlikely group of California donors: a mechanic from D&D Auto Repair in Whittier, the manager of Rite Aid Pharmacy No. 5727, the 30-something owners of the Twilight Hookah Lounge in Fullerton.

CNN Radio: The wheels on the election go round and round…
Inflation, not the fiscal kind, but of tires, is now part of the political landscape. And the majestic vista of nuclear cooling towers provided the scenic backdrop yesterday for Sen. John McCain. Bob Costantini has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

Pitckforkmedia.com: Rage to Play Twin Cities During Republican Convention
Days after Rage Against the Machine's Lollapalooza set threatened to become a riot, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune's website has reported [via Rolling Stone's Rock & Roll Daily] that the band will play Minneapolis' Target Center on September 3. Making this show more than just another tour date is the fact that it's happening during the Republican National Convention, which will take place in the Twin Cities from September 1-4:

Washington Post: McCain One-Ups Obama With Ad Buy
It appears that spending $5 million on advertising during the Olympics will get a presidential candidate only the silver medal.

Chicago Triune: John McCain: 'The original maverick'
With apologies, perhaps, to James Garner, who brought Bret Maverick to our black and white TV screens, John McCain is casting himself in a campaign TV ad now as "The Original Maverick.”

LA Times: Carly Fiorina tests her political mettle as McCain advisor
A self-described "change warrior," Carly Fiorina has been a law school dropout, a real estate broker, an English teacher, a telecommunications executive and the first woman to be hired, then fired, as chief executive of a Fortune 20 company.

WSJ: Lehrer, Brokaw Among Fall Debate Hosts
The Commission on Presidential Debates Tuesday announced the moderators for this fall's four general election debates, favoring veterans over TV news stars and ignoring Walt Disney Co.'s ABC network entirely.

Politico: A guide to 5 key campaign flip-flops
In the latest salvo in the war on inconsistency, Barack Obama is being accused of flip-flopping on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

WSJ: Cindy McCain, Beer and Politics
Sen. John McCain's wife could face an emotional choice come the fall: whether to sell her family's 53-year-old business.

Washington Times: Doubts weaken Obama, polls show
Growing doubts among white working-class and independent voters blunted the momentum of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run in recent days, leaving him in a tight contest with Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, pollsters say.

Financial Times: Politics and petrol
Forget Iraq, forget global warming. The soaring price of oil, and the cost of filling a car with petrol, has concentrated the minds of cash-strapped US voters. It has pushed energy to the front of an increasingly fractious debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, Republican and Democratic presidential contenders. Both men have tried to win support with populist gestures, be they petrol tax relief or a windfall levy on oil companies. A more rounded approach is needed.

AP: Obama, McCain diverge on solution for energy woes
Democrat Barack Obama blamed Republican energy policies for some of the nation's economic woes Tuesday as his GOP rival John McCain advocated a large expansion of nuclear power.

Financial Times: Obama running mate could come from ‘left field’
Fans of Evan Bayh, the clean-cut senator for Indiana, are hoping today will be the day he is selected as Barack Obama’s vice-presidential running mate. They are likely to be disappointed.

CNN: Borger: Candidate noise all in the background
In case you hadn't noticed, this is the summertime lull in the presidential race. It's also the time when candidates road-test messages, strategies, speeches and ads for the general election.

WSJ: Obama's Muslim-Outreach Adviser Resigns
The Muslim-outreach coordinator to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has resigned amid questions about his involvement in an Islamic investment fund and various Islamic groups.

USA Today: McCain ad pushes his independence, reformer status
Republican John McCain's presidential campaign released a TV ad Tuesday that says Washington is "broken" and that he knows "we're worse off than we were four years ago." It goes on to tout his credentials as a "maverick" — a claim that a spokesman for Democrat Barack Obama's campaign dismissed.

AP: Saying goodbye is hard for lawmakers
In the Senate, Democrats are refusing to adjourn for the August recess. Over in the House, Republicans are refusing to leave.

Politico: Protesting the protest
A protest planned by MoveOn.org against the ongoing House GOP floor protest became a surreal scene Tuesday when right-wing activists showed up outside the Capitol to protest the protest protest.

Politico: Boehner calls on Dems to buck Pelosi
House Republicans can't take this energy debate anywhere without the help of a few Democrats, so they're targeting the most vulnerable Democrats out there: the freshmen.

CNN: Bush praises South Korea, rebukes North
U.S. President George W. Bush praised the U.S. relationship with South Korea on Wednesday and said the two nations should continue to work together to eliminate threats from North Korea.

CNN: Protests greet Bush in Seoul
Thousands of protesters packed the streets of the South Korean capital Tuesday as President Bush arrived for the start of his Asian tour.

CNNMoney.com: Dow gets 331-point boost
Wall Street cheers falling oil prices with one of the biggest gains of the year – helped along by Fed's rate decision and comments about inflation.

Financial Times: Inflation fears persist as Fed holds rates
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday pushed back the horizon for possible rate increases by acknowledging continuing risks to growth, but emphasised that inflation risks were “also of significant concern”.

NY Times: Charities Ask Congress to Ease Gas Price Burden
Organizations, including the American Red Cross and Catholic Charities, have complained that the current tax deduction for use of a personal car while performing volunteer services for charities was too low at 14 cents a mile. That is compared with 58.5 cents a mile for corporate employees who use their cars for business purposes.

CNN: Commentary: Don't confuse immigrant victims with villains
Last week, I wrote about what appears to be a ghastly hate crime in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where teenagers allegedly beat to death a 25-year-old illegal immigrant named Luis Ramirez after spewing racial slurs and telling him to go back to Mexico.

AP: NRA accused of paying mole in gun-control groups
A gun-control activist who championed the cause for more than a decade and served on the boards of two antiviolence groups is suspected of working as a paid spy for the National Rifle Association, and now those organizations are expelling her and sweeping their offices for bugs.

Washington Post: A Junket That's Patently Enviable
Attention, Hill staffers: Washington summer getting to you? Thinking about how your boss has never taken you on a congressional delegation junket overseas? Beat the heat and conquer that lingering resentment! Sign up now for a fabulous staff delegation (staffdel) trip to lovely Copenhagen, Denmark, courtesy of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.