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This week, the Senate blocked the confirmation of Richard Cordray, the former Ohio attorney general chosen by President Obama to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It boils down to yet another partisan fight: Republicans say the agency has too much power, and the White House says they won't weaken an agency that is supposed to protect consumers. Host Scott Simon talks with Joe Nocera, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

Tea Party voters were expected to play a key role in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, but with movement hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry low in the polls, and Herman Cain now out of the race, the Tea Party vote remains very much in play. New Hampshire Public Radio's Josh Rogers reports.

The debate may be remembered for Mitt Romney's $10,000 gaffe and Newt Gingrich's failure to implode. Gingrich, the front-runner in national and many state polls, didn't make any obvious errors. He also weathered the criticisms that came his way because of his current role as pace-setter in the polls.

Spandex may make you think of disco or workout gear. But because this wonder fiber can stretch more than a 100 percent and snap right back to shape, its claim to fame may just be that it has clothed Americans as obesity rates have soared.

Until the last week or so, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has made himself scarce to the media, delivering only tightly honed messages. He now has a newfound eagerness to talk to reporters — some of them, at least.

All 17 nations that use the Euro have agreed to integrate their fiscal policies and give the European Union more control over their national budgets. Germany was the prime mover behind this push for greater fiscal discipline. Some are saying the agreement, in effect, unites Europe under German control. Host Audie Cornish speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli in Rome.

Last week, a 16-year-old British schoolgirl became the youngest person to ski to the South Pole. Amelia Hempleman-Adams was part of a nine-person party that slogged 97 miles to the bottom of the world. Host Audie Cornish takes note of Hempleman-Adams' feat.

In June, Newt Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler left the campaign for fear that the former House speaker didn't have the tenacity to win the Republican presidential nomination. Tyler reflects on his decision and assess the GOP front-runner's campaign.

Robert Griffin III is the first Baylor player to ever win the Heisman. In a year full of scandals in college sports, the win for Griffin — a dean's list student and son of two retired Army sergeants — delivers a much-needed shot in the arm to the public image of the NCAA, says Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation.

It's not unusual for awful traffic conditions or incompetent driving to make some people really angry behind the wheel. But researchers say there may be a biological component to road rage — one that can be tempered with medication and, yes, time outs.