FOX News owns 1-10 in Top 10 Nielson Ratings

As MSNBC and CNN battle for second place, second-quarter Nielsen numbers show the network's programs now rank one through 10 in total viewers on cable news.

Since Obama came into office, Fox has continued not only winning, but doing so at unprecedented levels. As the Hollywood Reporter noted last week, the network is having its"best year yet," with the competition in the ratings shifting from not only the news networks but all of basic cable. Indeed, Fox came in 3rd this quarter, behind only USA and TNT.

Across the board, already top-rated shows are up by percentages in the 30s and 40s. But Glenn Beck, who takes aim at the administration repeatedly, is proving an even bigger draw since coming over from HLN: His 5 p.m. slot is up 110 percent from last year. Such a trend shows commentators like Beck can thrive in the opposition.

From TVNewser:

8pm - O'Reilly Factor — 3,188,000
9pm - Hannity — 2,341,000
5pm - Glenn Beck — 2,053,000
10pm - On the Record — 1,950,000
6pm - Special Report — 1,889,000
7pm - Fox Report — 1,757,000
11pm - O'Reilly Factor — 1,579,000
9am - America's Newsroom — 1,399,000
4pm - Your World — 1,389,000
3pm - Studio B — 1,169,000

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann came close to cracking the top t, having attracted 1,159,000 viewers during the second quarter. - Politico

What Now? Democrats reach 60 Votes

(CNN) -- The metric system is the kind of thing that you can expect from the 60-vote filibuster-proof majority Democrats now have in the United States Senate.

After the Watergate scandal in 1974, Democrats trounced Republicans in the mid-term elections, getting 61 seats in the Senate and 291 in the House.

In the Senate, they adjusted the rules to make it harder for Republicans to filibuster (reducing the magic number from 67 to 60 to invoke cloture, which ends debate). In the House, they passed all kinds of reforms to take power away from senior members and give it to junior members. And Congress mandated that the American people embrace the metric system.

The metric system idea never really caught on, and although the pain of Watergate afflicted Republicans for another two elections, they eventually pulled themselves out of their deep hole, with some good ideas and a charismatic leader, who promised to restore America to greatness.

Democrats have once again reached the magic number of 60, as Norm Coleman finally threw in the towel against the one-time joke writer for Saturday Night Live, Al Franken. - CNN Story

Is Obama's Plan really Working?

WASHINGTON -- Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over.

The Commerce Department says construction spending dropped 0.9 percent in May, nearly double the 0.5 percent drop that economists expected. Adding to the signs of weakness, activity in the past two months was revised lower.

Construction rose 0.6 percent in April, lower than the 0.8 percent originally reported. A March increase of 0.4 percent was replaced with a decline of the same amount. That left the April gain as the only increase in the past eight months. - FOX News

Can Politics get anymore Childish than New York Politics?

One state senator's urge for a Coca Cola led to the latest fracas inside the New York State Capitol building in Albany on Tuesday.

As state Democrats convened around noon to hold a one-party session, Republican Sen. Frank Padavan of Queens walked through the chamber on a hunt for the soda machine -- a caffeine quest that would later result with him being tallied as voting with the Democrats.

Padavan reportedly claimed he was taking a short-cut to the members' lounge, but the 31 Democrats seized the opportunity to count him as their 32nd vote and unanimously passed 125 bills in three hours with Republicans absent -- the latest attempt to break the 3-week-old stalemate that has caused a power struggle in Albany.

Democrats won a majority in New York's state legislature in January following years of Republican control over the state Senate. But in an effort to toss power back to the GOP, two rebellious Democrats -- Sen. Pedro Espada of the Bronx and Sen. Hiram Monserrate of Queens -- switched parties June 8 to join the Republicans. Monserrate, however, has since rejoined the Democrats, creating a 31-31 stalemate in the Senate.

Among the bills passed Tuesday were a measure to permit Nassau County to use bonds to pay termination payments instead of laying off county workers and a proposal to increase Suffolk County's hotel-motel tax.

Republicans blasted the Democrats' inclusion of Padavan as fraudulent, while Democrats insisted the bills had been lawfully passed.

"They stooped to new lows today by conducting a mock session that they had no authority to call," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. "They resorted to fraud to justify their legitimacy and in the process impugned the reputation of a member who has served 37 years. And they have kept us from doing the people's business these last three weeks because they refuse to accept what happened on June 8th."

New York Gov. Paterson has said he will not sign any of the bills into law -- citing Padavan's seemingly unintentional presence in the chamber on Tuesday. Padavan, who has been in the state Senate for 36 years, reportedly claims he left the chamber before any bills were voted on.

"My only motive was to get in the lounge and get a Coke or cup of coffee," Padavan said in interview with Newsday. "I was not in there when the session began. To say otherwise is totally untrue." - FOX News

New York Democrats - Grow up!

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, May be the Most Ineffectual Governor in the Country

With the possible exception of Mark Sanford, it's difficult to imagine a governor in the United States who has become more ineffectual than Jim Doyle.

I'm not talking about "ineffectual" as it applies to getting his cronies in the State legislature to give him what he wants in terms of the monsterous budget that he's signing today. I'm talking about ineffecutal when it comes to things that matter to everyday people - like saving their jobs!

The statewide unemployment rate is 8.7 percent. The unemployment rate is 9 percent in the Milwaukee area, 9.2 percent in Wausau, 9.5 percent in Sheboygan and a staggering 12.9 percent in Janesville. Even in Madison, an area where employment is propped up by government jobs that almost never go away, the unemployment rate is 6.2 percent.

To put this in perspective, the Milwaukee area alone lost nearly 45,000 jobs in the last year!

The biggest problem though is that Doyle seems completely and totally unable to stop the job losses.

First, there was the decision by Thomas Industries to move 400 good paying jobs from Sheboygan for Louisianna. In this case, it appeared that Doyle couldn't even be bothered to intervene personally - choosing instead to watch high speed trains in Spain and high end golf at the Masters.

Second, there was the decision by General Motors to bail on Janesville once and for all. In contrast to the Thomas Industries debacle, Doyle did make an effort to save 1500 jobs in Janesville. Unfortunately for Janesville, it seems that Doyle was used mostly as a bargaining chip by GM to extract more concessions from Michigan.

Now comes the battle for Fond du Lac's largest employer, Mercury Marine. - 620WTMJ's Jeff Wagner

Why Pass something into Law, When you Haven't Read it?

Michael Jackson's Will

FOX News has Obtained a Copy of Michael Jackson's Will.

Click Here

Republicans Take a 2 Point Lead in Generic Balloting

Republican congressional candidates rebounded this week and pulled ahead again of Democrats in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot. The last time the GOP held a lead was in early May.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 41% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 39% would choose the Democratic candidate - Rasmussen Story

Supreme Court Nominee Losing Support

A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court decision, finds that 37% now believe Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagree.

Two weeks ago, the numbers were much brighter for the nominee. At that time, 42% favored confirmation, and 34% were opposed. - Rasmussen Story