Asleep At The Wheel — House of Blue Lights.

This election year has seen a drop in enthusiasm from normal Democratic voting groups such as youthful voters — and a corresponding drop in voter turnout. The exception? Minnesota. The reason? Having actual choices.

According to a new Pew Research poll (PDF) of registered voters in the upcoming congressional election, 45 percent are leaning Democratic while 44 percent are leaning Republican. This does not bode well for Democrats, since they need to be have a significant lead in the generic ballot if they hope to hold onto their large majorities in the House and Senate. At the same time, these numbers don’t point to a massive Republican wave. By comparison, at about this same time in 2006, Democrats led Republicans 50 percent to 39 percent.

Best as I can tell, the fake plea bargain Omar Khadr was offered–in which he would be sentenced publicly, but in which there was a secret agreement that he would serve just a fraction of that time–is what happened to Osama bin Laden cook Ibrahim al Qosi today. After making great show of picking a jury and directing them they could sentence Qosi to between 12 and 15 years, the military commission sentenced al Qosi to 14 years.

But everyone knows that 14 year sentence doesn’t represent Qosi’s real sentence. Instead, he is reported to be serving 2 more years–though there is a bit of a dispute because his plea promised he’d serve his time in communal quarters even though DOD regulations prohibit that.

Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), the chair of the Social Security Subcommittee on the House Ways and Means Committee, said that any benefit cuts to the program, including raising the retirement age, are “completely unacceptable” and should be taken off the table, contrasting many Democrats and even the House Majority Leader on the topic.

Now is the time to rethink your position on the war in Afghanistan.

Everyone loves to pick on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and well they should, having been written by and for the health care industry. We must keep the pressure up on the health care industry as long as its fiduciary responsibility to investors requires finding ways to avoid caring for the sick while sucking billions out of taxpayers’ pockets.

Jorge Ramos, the anchor of Univision’s news program, and a trusted figure in the Hispanic community, has made a Cronkite-like statement about President Obama and his commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, and his sentiment is pretty universally held among Spanish-language media.

Gibbs, with his contempt for the “Canadian health care system,” is merely reflecting the attitude of a White House that marched into the health care debate committed to giving corporate “stakeholders” everything they wanted in exchange for campaign donations to Democrats.

The Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have announced a new foreclosure-prevention program, aimed to provide up to $3 billion dollars between the two agencies for targeted aid to unemployed borrowers.