Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Lawmakers Reach Deal To Expand Surveillance — WASHINGTON — After more than a year of partisan acrimony over government surveillance powers, Democratic and Republican leaders have agreed to a bipartisan deal that would be the most sweeping rewrite of spy powers in three decades.
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ProPublica, Hot Air, Redstate, TPMMuckraker, Wake up America, Obsidian Wings, Emptywheel, War and Piece, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME.com and Macsmind
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama, telecoms and the Beltway system — (updated below - Update II) — As noted yesterday, Blue Dog Rep. John Barrow of Georgia has been one of the most enthusiastic enablers of the radical and lawless policies of the Bush administration. When running for re-election …
Discussion:
Emptywheel, TalkLeft, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, Redstate, Buck Naked Politics and SquareState.net
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
THAT'S SOME COMPROMISE — Who really thinks that the White House and the telecoms would go along with this so-called “conditional immunity” that congressional Democrats have agreed to if they didn't think they could satisfy the condition? — All they must do is provide a federal district court judge with …
TPM Election Central:
Obama Cuts Ad For Conservative Pro-War House Dem — Barack Obama has cut a radio spot for conservative Dem Rep. John Barrow of Georgia, who favors staying in Iraq and favors immunity for the telecom companies, and he's taking a beating from liberal bloggers over it.
ACLU:
ACLU Condemns FISA Deal, Declares Surveillance Bill Unconstitutional — Contact: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org — Washington, DC - With news that a surveillance bill may be voted on in the House of Representatives as early as tomorrow, the American Civil Liberties Union sternly warned members against voting for the legislation.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
George Bush's latest powers, courtesy of the Democratic Congress — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — CQ reports (sub. req.) that “a final deal has been reached” on FISA and telecom amnesty and “the House is likely to take up the legislation Friday.” I've now just read a copy of the final “compromise” bill.
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Firedoglake, CNN, Reuters, Think Progress, PointOfLaw Forum, Open Left and Daily Kos
Mcjoan / Daily Kos:FISA Fight: Capitulation Reached
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, CQ.com, Emptywheel, Daily Kos, ACLU Blog, The Seminal and unbossed.com
Ed OKeefe / Political Punch:
Obama to Break Promise, Opt Out of Public Financing for General Election — In a web video to supporters — “the people who built this movement from the bottom up” — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, announced this morning that he will not enter into the public financing system, despite a previous pledge to do so.
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New York Times:
Obama Opts Out of Public Financing for Campaign — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he would not participate in the public financing system for presidential campaigns. He argued that the system had collapsed, and would put him at a disadvantage running …
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, TIME.com, TalkLeft, Reason Magazine, Daily Kos, Below The Beltway, TPM Election Central and Democracy in America
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Obama aide blames McCain on public-financing — Obama spokesman Bill Burton is blaming Senator John McCain's campaign for failing, he says, to negotiate in good faith on a course to public financing. — “In the past couple of weeks, our campaign counsels met and it was immediately clear …
Discussion:
MSNBC, TIME.com, Political Punch, TPM Election Central, Donklephant, Salon, Macsmind, Spin Cycle and Outside The Beltway
Sam Graham-Felsen / Barack Obama:
Video: Important Announcement from Barack — The campaign sent out this email this morning... Friend — Barack Obama recorded a video message with an important announcement that he wanted you to hear first: — We have made a crucial decision that will impact how we compete in the general election …
Discussion:
The Fix, Opinion L.A., Taylor Marsh, Donklephant, Progress Illinois and Jack and Jill Politics
Kelly Moeller / Political Punch:McCain Campaign Counsel Denies Obama Campaign Account
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The Trail, Redstate, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Huffington Post, Patterico's Pontifications and Swampland
Jill Zuckman / The Swamp:McCain calls Obama's opt out “a big deal”
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Jonathan Martin's Blogs
Timothy P. Carney / Examiner:
Commentary - Bank of America PAC money behind Dodd's Countrywide loan — WASHINGTON (Map, News) - “We call it the ‘Bank of America bill on steroids.’” A House staffer told me that, demanding anonymity, but speaking on behalf of aides to GOP members of the House Financial Services Committee.
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Congress Reaches Deal on Wiretapping Bill — WASHINGTON — After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders reached a deal Thursday that would re-write the rules for the government's wiretapping powers, and would provide what amounts to limited immunity to the telephone companies …
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Obama: ‘Country I Love’ — This patriotic ad, in which Obama says he was raised with “values straight from the Kansas heartland,” is a reminder of the resources Obama will be able to put behind telling his own story his way, centered on the “deep and abiding faith in the country I love.”
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Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back — BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.
Discussion:
The Swamp, Matthew Yglesias, The Washington Independent, Managing Globalization, Wonk Room, Newshoggers.com, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, TPMMuckraker, Facing South, Needlenose, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, War in Context, A Tiny Revolution, Bang the Drum, Obsidian Wings, Attackerman, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report and The Daily Dish
Joe Klein / Time:
In with the Old — Barack Obama has never been shy about comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln. He did so when he announced his candidacy at the Illinois state capitol, where both he and Lincoln served in the legislature. “The life of a tall, gangly, self-made Springfield lawyer tells us …
Discussion:
The New Republic
Matthew Yglesias:
Contradictions — As the endless ANWR debate continues, George W. Bush said yesterday that allowing drilling would “bring enormous benefits to the American people.” Given how well-rehearsed this issue is, I know that to be false, but I didn't realize what Ben at ThinkProgress pointed out …
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Kathleen Kingsbury / Time:
Pregnancy Boom at Gloucester High — As summer vacation begins, 17 girls at Gloucester High School are expecting babies—more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1,200-student school had last year. Some adults dismissed the statistic as a blip. Others blamed hit movies like Juno …
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