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Charles Babington / Washington Post:
GOP Bid On Wages, Estate Tax Is Blocked — Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bid to combine a tax cut for the wealthy with a wage increase for the working poor last night, adding a volatile economic issue to this fall's congressional campaigns. — GOP leaders fell three votes short …
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E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
The End Of the Right? — Is conservatism finished? — What might have seemed an absurd question less than two years ago is now one of the most important issues in American politics. The question is being asked — mostly quietly but occasionally publicly — by conservatives themselves …
Discussion:
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Wage Bill Dies; Senate Backs Pension Shift — Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked legislation tying the first minimum wage increase in almost a decade to a decrease in the federal estate tax, denying Republicans a legislative victory as lawmakers head into a crucial month of campaigning before the November elections.
Reuters:
UPDATE 1-US Senate blocks minimum wage hike, estate tax cut — WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators blocked legislation on Thursday that would have raised the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, because it also would have permanently cut estate taxes paid by the rich.
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
Lieberman rival owns stock in Wal-Mart — Connecticut millionaire businessman Ned Lamont, who sharply criticized the employment practices of Wal-Mart this week in his campaign to unseat Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Democrat primary, owns stock in the company, Senate records reveal.
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Matt Stoller / MyDD:
Hail Mary Attempt #1: Lieberman's New Thug Strategy — So I just tracked this down with several sources, and something really strange is going on. Lieberman's campaign seems to arming his supporters with aggressive talking points in order to pick fights at Lamont events.
Discussion:
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Billmon / Whiskey Bar:
The War Party — It looks as if Ned Lamont is riding the anti-war wave to victory in the Connecticut Democratic primary — or so the latest polls suggest. — I'm sure this will be proclaimed a major breakthrough for the anti-war wing of the Democratic Party — tangible proof that Left Blogistan …
Jeff Greenfield / CNN:
It's more than just Iraq — Lieberman has long been on the outs with his party's base — NEW YORK (CNN) — If the latest Quinnipiac University Poll is right, three-term Sen. Joseph Lieberman is headed for defeat Tuesday in Connecticut's Democratic primary, and Iraq — more specifically …
Tim Tagaris / Ned Lamont for Senate:
"Paid-for Thuggery" [73] — I am just as astonished as anyone else watching reports from today's event in Meriden fly around the blogosphere at break-neck speed. I'll be honest, at first I was a bit skeptical. I had heard stories of behind-the-scenes desperation and frustration from the Lieberman camp …
Associated Press:
Ahmadinejad's call to destroy Israel draws French condemnation — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday the solution to the Middle East crisis was to destroy Israel, Iranian state media reported. — In a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim leaders in Malaysia …
David Stout / New York Times:
U.S. Generals See Growing Threat of Civil War in Iraq — Two senior American military commanders said today that the wave of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq has heightened the danger that the country will slide into all-out civil war. — "I believe that the sectarian violence is probably …
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Devlin Barrett / Associated Press: AP Interview: Sen. Clinton Rips Rumsfeld; Calls for His Resignation
Associated Press:
Court: DeLay must remain on the ballot — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court panel on Thursday refused to let Texas Republicans replace Tom DeLay's name on the November congressional ballot. — A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling …
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R.G. Ratcliffe / Houston Chronicle:
Court rules GOP can't replace DeLay on ballot
Court rules GOP can't replace DeLay on ballot
Discussion:
Swing State Project, Burnt Orange Report, The Left Coaster, Election Law, TPMmuckraker, The Stakeholder, AMERICAblog and Off the Kuff
Eli Lake / New York Sun:
Iran Is Racing To Resupply Hezbollah — TEL AVIV, Israel — Iran is racing to resupply Hezbollah across the Syrian border ahead of a possible cease-fire being ironed out this week at the United Nations. Meanwhile, Israeli jets have begun a new bombardment of Beirut's suburbs and Hezbollah …
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Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Israel's Lost Moment — Israel's war with Hezbollah is a war to secure its northern border, to defeat a terrorist militia bent on Israel's destruction, to restore Israeli deterrence in the age of the missile. But even more is at stake. Israel's leaders do not seem to understand how ruinous …
Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
More Frequent Heat Waves Linked to Global Warming — U.S. and European Researchers Call Long Hot Spells Likely — Heat waves like those that have scorched Europe and the United States in recent weeks are becoming more frequent because of global warming, say scientists who have studied decades …
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
There's Gotta Be Irony In Here Somewhere — Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has told an interviewer that he wants German troops in any international force protecting the Jewish state. I'm really not kidding: … So now we have the spectacle of another genocidal nutcase threatening to kill off millions …
Jerusalem Post:
Woman killed, 86 hurt in rocket attacks — A 27-year-old woman was killed and 86 more were wounded, one critically and three seriously, as rockets landed across the North on Friday afternoon. — A Hizbullah-fired rocket killed the woman in Mughar, making this the third time the Druze-Muslim-Christian village was struck by rockets.
Saul Friedman / NiemanWatchdog.org:
Bush's fundamentalism seen as a decisive, negative factor in his policies — Former White House reporter Saul Friedman says that, for the first time in modern American history, a president's religion is determining policies, and the press should do a better job reporting it. — saulfriedman@comcast.net