memeorandum: House Passes Ban On Campaign Pay Going to Spouses (Elizabeth Williamson/Washington Post)

3:00 PM ET, July 24, 2007

Top Items:

Gonzales Contradicts Prior Statements, Confirms Existence Of Other Spying Programs — In his testimony today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was asked by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) to address inaccuracies in his 2006 testimony in relation …

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Carpetbagger Report, Brian Beutler, The Anonymous Liberal and Taylor Marsh

Faiz / Think Progress: Schumer Rips Gonzales Over Contradictory Reponses On Spying Program

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Alberto Gonzales Testimony, Part I

Discussion: Agence France Presse and TalkLeft

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Depends On What The Definition Of Program Is

Discussion: Firedoglake

David Stout / New York Times:
Gonzales Says No Pressure Put on Ashcroft

Discussion: CNN Political Ticker and TalkLeft

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Alberto Gonzales Testimony, Part II

Discussion: The Next Hurrah and TPMmuckraker

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Further politicization of the U.S. military's public statements — In light of the decision last week by Gen. David Petraeus to choose Hugh Hewitt, of all people, to interview him, and in light of the post I wrote concerning Gen. Petraeus' three-year history of dubious and seemingly partisan claims …

Discussion: TalkLeft, BLACKFIVE, Outside The Beltway and Sadly, No!

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
U.S. Is Seen in Iraq Until at Least '09

Robert Burns / Associated Press:
U.S. sets 2008 goal for Iraq security

Discussion: First Draft

David Brooks / New York Times:

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: A Reality-Based Economy — The neopopulist story line about skyrocketing inequality and the tides of globalization is incredibly simple-minded.

Discussion: Commentary, Grasping Reality …, Dohiyi Mir and Norwegianity

Dean Baker / American Prospect:

David Brooks Sets Record for Most Economic Errors in An Oped Column! — It looks like David Brooks is training for an Olympic event, he can really stuff a great volume of misinformation into a 750 word oped. — Let's see what we've got: — 1) Brooks says "after a lag, average wages are rising sharply.

Discussion: Open Left, Angry Bear, Ezra Klein and Norwegianity

Brendan Nyhan:
David Brooks omits context on economy

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Ezra Klein

Lydia Saad / Gallup Poll:

Most Top Seed Pairings in 2008 Presidential Election Are Too Close to Call — Obama versus Thompson produces only clear-cut lead, with Obama ahead — PRINCETON, NJ — A recent Gallup Poll assessed the 2008 general election with various pairings of the top two candidates for each party.

Discussion: Pollster.com and TIME

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:
Giuliani flays Dems in race as defeatists, pessimists

Discussion: Boston Globe, New York Times, MSNBC, NY Daily News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Rasmussen Reports:
Florida: Giuliani 22% Thompson 21%

Discussion: Townhall.com and Pollster.com

Blogcritics Comments:

Comment by Innocent Bystander on Should the DailyKos be Subject to the Federal Election Commission? — LOTS of democratic only speakers/candidates speaking this year. That is 'new ground' Like any Republican (well, maybe Ron Paul) would even consider showing up to that event?

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Volokh Conspiracy and Little Green Footballs

David Freddoso / The Corner:
Dangerous Attack on Free Speech

Discussion: QandO, Redstate, Outside The Beltway and Sister Toldjah

Opinion Journal:

Cheese Headcases — Wisconsin reveals the cost of "universal" health care. — When Louis Brandeis praised the 50 states as "laboratories of democracy," he didn't claim that every policy experiment would work. So we hope the eyes of America will turn to Wisconsin, and the effort …

Discussion: Democracy Project, BizzyBlog, QandO, SCSUScholars, Blue Crab Boulevard and The American Mind

The Atlantic Online:

In Soviet Russia, Line Waits You — That's part of an advertising campaign launched by an industry group Health Care America who's agenda is to convince you that government-run health care would be evil. And, of course, it's true — in systems with government-run health care systems you sometimes need to wait to see a doctor.

Discussion: Marginal Revolution, The Mahablog, Will Wilkinson and EconLog

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Diplomats Received Political Briefings — White House aides have conducted at least half a dozen political briefings for the Bush administration's top diplomats, including a PowerPoint presentation for ambassadors with senior adviser Karl Rove that named Democratic incumbents targeted …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TPMmuckraker, New Pairodimes, PoliBlog (TM), The Carpetbagger Report, The Columbus Dispatch, The Rude Pundit, Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots, MSNBC, Prairie Weather and DownWithTyranny!

New York Times:

Spitzer Aides Cited for Use of Police to Tarnish Bruno — Gov. Eliot Spitzer's aides, including one of his closest advisers, improperly used the State Police to gather information about the governor's chief rival, Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, in an effort to plant …

Discussion: New York Post, Attytood, The Agitator, Pajamas Media and Redstate

Keith L. Alexander / Washington Post:

Outsourcing the Picket Line — Carpenters Union Hires Homeless to Stage Protests — The picketers marching in a circle in front of a downtown Washington office building chanting about low wages do not seem fully focused on their message. — Many have arrived with large suitcases …

Discussion: Iowa Voice, Blue Crab Boulevard and Cato-at-liberty

Mickey Kaus / Slate:

SNAPS AT GUN-TOTING YOUTUBER. — Historic Historic CNN YouTube Historic Debate II: Ryan Sager has some afterthoughts. I agree that the Biden response to the gun-toting You-Tuber was revealing—it showed Biden lacks even moderately calibrated snap judgment—and it was revealing in a way that a) …

Discussion: Instapundit.com, The American Mind, Reason Magazine, TBogg and small dead animals

Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:

Dems crush GOP in money game — From almost any angle, Republicans are facing a Democratic financial tsunami in 2008. — In the first six months of this year, Democratic federal candidates and the party's three national committees raised $381 million compared with the $291 million their counterparts collected.

Discussion: QandO and theneweditor.com

Scott Brooks / New Hampshire Union Leader:

GOP fundraiser to feature machine gun shoot — MANCHESTER - City Republicans will be packing some serious firepower at their next party fundraiser. — Tired of the usual chicken dinners, the Manchester Republican Committee is planning to arm supporters next month with Uzis …

Telegraph:

Former Guantanamo detainee blows himself up — A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who took up arms alongside the Taliban after he was released from detention has blown himself up to avoid capture, Pakistani security forces said today. — Abdullah Mehsud killed himself with a hand grenade …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Gateway Pundit

Elizabeth Williamson / Washington Post:

House Passes Ban On Campaign Pay Going to Spouses — In the latest ripple of an ethics spat gripping Congress, the House yesterday passed a bipartisan bill that bans lawmakers from paying their spouses for campaign work. — The measure, passed on a voice vote, was sponsored by Reps. Adam B. Schiff …

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation blogs, DownWithTyranny! and Outside The Beltway