By SARAH PALIN

The publication of the findings of the president's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform was indeed, as the report was titled, "A Moment of Truth." The report shows we're much closer to the budgetary breaking point than previously assumed. The Medicare Trust Fund will be insolvent by 2017. As early as 2025, federal revenue will barely be enough to pay for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on our national debt. With spending structurally outpacing revenue, something clearly needs to be done to avert national bankruptcy.

Jimmy Carter said Sunday that Fox News commentators including Glenn Beck have "deliberately distorted" the news.

Speaking on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday, the former Democratic president took aim at the cable news channel climate, often a target for President Obama as well who says he tries to avoid the cable chatter.

"The talk shows with Glenn Beck and others on Fox News, I think, have deliberately distorted the news. And it's become highly competitive," Carter said. "And my Republican friends say that MSNBC might be just as biased on the other side in supporting the Democratic Party, the liberal element."

"THE perception I had, anyway, was that we were on top of the world," Sarah Palin said at the climax of last Sunday's premiere of her new television series, "Sarah Palin's Alaska." At that point our fearless heroine had just completed a perilous rock climb, and if she looked as if she'd just stepped out of a spa instead, don't expect her fans to question the reality. For them, Palin's perception is the only reality that counts.

WASHINGTON – With just six weeks to avoid a possible election catastrophe, Democrats are trying to limit the damage with a closing argument that's more plea than platform: We know you voters are furious with us, but just let us explain why the Republicans would be worse.

Two top Democratic strategists said Sunday that President Barack Obama has the nation moving in the right direction, downplaying polls that suggest Republicans have an edge heading into November's midterm election.

White House adviser David Axelrod and David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager, headlined Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin's 33rd annual steak fry, one of the most prominent Democratic events each year. It drew hundreds of party activists to a county fairgrounds.

"For the last 20 months the Republican Party has made a choice to sit on the sidelines and give us the entire responsibility and root for failure, because they though that was a prescription for a successful election," Axelrod said Sunday. "I think they'll be disabused of that."