The Beer Barrel

WASHINGTON—The leaders of a White House commission laid out a sweeping proposal to cut the federal budget deficit by hundreds of billions a year by targeting sacrosanct areas of U.S. tax and spending policy, such as Social Security benefits, middle-class tax breaks and defense spending.

The preliminary plan in its current form would end or cap...

Just one time, just one little time, could Sarah Palin finally launch a reality-based attack? The latest:

Sarah Palin used baked goods Tuesday night to attack the “nanny state.”

Palin brought dozens of cookies to a speech at the Plumstead Christian School in Plumsteadville, Pa., amid news reports — since retracted — that Pennsylvania’s State...

Lou Dobbs, the former CNN anchor who quit last November after 27 years with the cable-news network, is joining News Corp.’s Fox Business Network to start his own show.

Dobbs, 65, will develop and host a daily show that will start in the first quarter, New York-based Fox Business said today in a statement. He will also provide analysis and...

Meet Carolee Bildsten. The Illinois woman, 56, is facing an aggravated assault rap after she allegedly struck a cop with a sex toy.

An officer from the Gurnee Police Department went to Bildsten’s home last night to investigate a report that she had skipped out on a restaurant bill. While there, the officer was hit with a “rigid feminine...

Streetwise He Wasn't
Noel Lopez didn't stand a chance among downtown's Juggalos and street kids.

Noel Lopez wasn't typical of the street kids who hang around Westlake Park. He wasn't a runaway or a throwaway. He had a caring family who were eager to help him. He...