WASHINGTON (AP) - The economy grew slightly faster last summer
as Americans spent a little more freely. Yet it remains too weak to
reduce high unemployment just as Democrats face deep losses in
Tuesday's elections.
The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy expanded at
a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. It marked an
improvement from the feeble 1.7 percent growth in the April-June
quarter.
Consumers helped boost last quarter's economic growth with 2.6
percent growth in spending. That was better than the second
quarter's 2.2 percent growth rate and marked the biggest quarterly
increase since a 4.1 percent gain at the end of 2006 before the
recession hit.
A stock-market rebound made people feel better about spending.
Bargains, on everything from cars to home furnishings, also drew
them out. Consumer spending accounts for roughly 70 percent of
national economic activity, and thus plays a major role in
determining the vigor of the economic rebound.
But to have any impact on the 9.6 percent unemployment rate,
consumers need to spend even more and the economy would need to
rack up growth of 5 percent for a full year.

With just six days until the Midterm Elections, what will decide your vote?
Is it jobs? The economy? Anger at Obama? GOP Pride?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Juan Williams says he thinks NPR had been
looking for an excuse to fire him.
He tells ABC that NPR didn't like his appearances on Fox News
programs. He'd been working as a commentator for both.
It was on Fox News that Williams said he gets nervous if he gets
on a plane and sees people in Muslim attire -- comments that
promoted NPR to fire him.
NPR CEO Vivian Schiller said yesterday that controversial
opinions should not come from NPR reporters or news analysts. She
also said that whatever feelings Williams has about Muslims should
be between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist - take your
pick." She later apologized for the comment on NPR's website.
Williams says Schiller resorted to a personal attack because she
was having trouble defending the decision to fire him.

SEATTLE (AP) - As he continues a five-state campaign swing,
President Barack Obama is pleading with supporters to reach back
for the enthusiasm they felt two years ago. He urged a Seattle
crowd to go to the polls to help avert big Republican victories in
less than two weeks. Meanwhile, a White House official says Obama
will headline a Democratic rally in Chicago on the final weekend
before Election Day.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the Obama administration "strongly opposes" a California ballot measure to legalize marijuana, warning that federal drug-enforcement efforts would be "greatly complicated" if the measure passes.

What do you think? Should marijuana remain on the list of controlled substances like cocaine, or does it merit decriminalization? How can state law change in light of federal statutes?

LAS VEGAS (AP) - In a crackling campaign debate, Republican
challenger Sharron Angle attacked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
as a career politician Thursday night who lives in a fashionable
Washington condominium and has voted to raise taxes 300 times. The
four-term veteran called his tea party-backed rival extreme and an
ally of special interests.
Angle played the aggressor from the opening moments of the
hour-long debate, at one point taunting the Democratic leader to
"man up, Harry Reid" as she urged him to concede that Social
Security faces financial difficulty.
Is she right? Do democrats need to "man up" and get more agressive?

NEW YORK (AP) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino
says he does not discriminate against gays in his business or
personal life, but opposes gay marriage.
He also says children shouldn't be exposed to gay culture,
singling out pride parades with a description of marchers wearing
"Speedos and grinding against each other."
Paladino says he thinks that's disgusting.
He made the remarks Monday on NBC's "Today" show.
He says he would have no problem hiring gays in his
administration. Mentioning his gay nephew, Paladino says the
discrimination he and others face is a "very ugly experience."
His comments came a day after he told Orthodox Jewish leaders he
doesn't want children "brainwashed into thinking that
homosexuality" is acceptable.

Two very different cases involving online cruelty are sparking debate about personal responsibility and what should be legal on the internet. A detailed list of a Duke alumna's sexual encounters has gone viral.

The 42-slide PowerPoint that has drawn widespread attention was meant to be shared between friends. In it, Karen Owen, Trinity ’10, vividly describes the sexual performance of 13 current and former Duke students, all of them varsity athletes and many of them lacrosse players.

After Owen sent the PowerPoint to a few friends, it eventually made its way across listservs at Duke and then onto sites such as Jezebel, The Huffington Post and CNN. At one point Thursday night, “Karen Owen Powerpoint” was the second most-searched term in the United States on Google. “Duke Powerpoint” was 10th.

Then, there is the case out of Rutgers University in New Jersey. 18-year old student Tyler Clementi commited suicide after his roommate used a webcam to stream video online of Clementi's sexual experiences with a guy. Clementi's roomate and another student now face charges.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court justices on Wednesday pondered
the vexing question of whether the father of a dead Marine should
win his lawsuit against a fundamentalist church group that picketed
his son's funeral.
The complexity and weightiness of the First Amendment issue were
palpable in the courtroom as justices heard arguments in the case
of Albert Snyder. His son died in Iraq in 2006, and members of the
Westboro Baptist Church protested the funeral to make their point
that U.S. deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq are punishment for
Americans' immorality, including tolerance of homosexuality and
abortion.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the question is whether the
First Amendment must tolerate "exploiting this bereaved family."
There was no clear answer from the court.
Snyder is asking the court to reinstate a $5 million verdict
against the Westboro members who held signs outside the funeral of
Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, including ones that read "Thank God for
Dead Soldiers, "You're Going to Hell" and "God Hates the USA."
The Marine was killed in a Humvee accident in 2006.

Is your tea getting cold? A new poll suggests the Tea Party movement may be losing some of its steam in the run-up to Election Day.

The ABC/Washington Post survey found that only 18 percent of registered voters now say they are more likely to vote for a Tea Party affiliated candidate. That’s down from 30 percent in July. Those less likely to vote for a Tea Party candidate remains at 28 percent.

Overall, 47 percent of the 1,002 Americans polled Sept. 30-Oct. 3 oppose the Tea Party, vs. 40 percent who support it. The split was even among likely voters, according to results that have a 3.5 percentage point margin of error.

Tea Party leader Ginni Thomas dismissed the findings in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.

“The real poll will be on Nov. 2,” said Thomas, founder of the nonprofit group Liberty Central and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

For more:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/tea-partys-popularity-slipping-11801498