memeorandum: Ailing, Banks Still Field Strong Lobby at Capitol (Stephen Labaton/New York Times)

4:40 PM ET, June 5, 2009

Top Items:

Job Losses Slow; Unemployment at 9.4% — The United States economy lost 345,000 jobs in May, the government reported on Friday, a sharp slowing in the pace of job losses that fueled hopes that the economy was on its way toward a recovery. — The recession continued to take a toll …

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, Economix, Los Angeles Times, FP Passport, Gawker, Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Page, Politics Nation, The Agonist, Donklephant, Newsweek Blogs and Truthdig

Felix Salmon:

Unemployment datapoint of the day — Remember the stress tests? The baseline scenario had unemployment in 2009 at 8.4%, rising to 8.9% under the more adverse scenario. Well, we're only up to May, and already it's at 9.4%. — Bloomberg tries to find a silver lining to today's gut-wrenchingly atrocious unemployment figure:

Discussion: Bloomberg, Hullabaloo, The Bellows, Ezra Klein and MoJo Blog Posts

Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Employment Situation Summary

Discussion: Calculated Risk, Hot Air, DailyFinance, TIME.com, Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, BizzyBlog, Salon, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Real Clear Politics

Geoff / Innocent Bystanders:
The May Unemployment Numbers are Here, and Worse Than Predicted

Discussion: BizzyBlog and Cold Fury

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:
Jobless rate hits 9.4 percent in May; layoffs slow

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, MSNBC, Don Surber, Fox News, Gateway Pundit, Moonbattery and Donklephant

CNBC.com:
Job Losses at 345,000, Less Than Forecast; Rate at 9.4%

Discussion: CNBC Guest Blog and The Reaction

Jared Allen / The Hill:

Intel firestorm: GOP reveals briefing info — Republicans ignited a firestorm of controversy on Thursday by revealing some of what they had been told at a closed-door Intelligence Committee hearing on the interrogation of terrorism suspects. — Democrats immediately blasted the GOP lawmakers …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Emptywheel, American Street, YID With LID, TPMMuckraker, PERRspectives, protein wisdom, Raw Story and Wake up America

The Corner:

The End of America's Strategic Alliance with Israel? — From an Israeli perspective, Pres. Barack Obama's speech today in Cairo was deeply disturbing. Both rhetorically and programmatically, Obama's speech was a renunciation of America's strategic alliance with Israel.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, PoliGazette, The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh and Newshoggers.com

Joe Klein / Swampland:

The Settlements — Charles Krauthammer has a misleading and evasive column about the Israeli settlements issue. He does not deal with the legality of these towns—he can't, of course, because they are illegal under the fourth Geneva Convention, which provides rules for occupying powers.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Barack Obama's Israeli Settlements Canard

The Independent:
Robert Fisk: Words that could heal wounds of centuries

Discussion: Middle East Strategy …, South Jerusalem, Guardian, PoliGazette and The Opinionator

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Inhofe Rips Obama As ‘Un-American,’ Suggests He's On The Side Of Terrorists — Reacting to President Obama's outreach to the Muslim world yesterday, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) decried the president's speech as “un-American” and even suggested Obama might be on the side of terrorists:

Discussion: NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Blogs and Stories, Wall Street Journal, TPMDC, D-Day, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Salon and Raw Story

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama takes aim at Osama

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly and PoliticalBase.com Blog

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Keeping Them Honest — “I appreciate your efforts, and look forward to working with you so that the Congress can complete health care reform by October.” So declared President Obama in a letter this week to Senators Max Baucus and Edward Kennedy. The big health care push is officially on.

Discussion: Washington Post, Commentary, Incertus, Prairie Weather, Blog entry, The Washington Independent, AMERICAblog News, The Caucus and Ezra Klein

Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:

What's the point of a public option? — In the national debate over health insurance reform, a key issue is whether the government should offer a “public plan” to compete with private insurers. For example, in today's NY Times, Paul Krugman writes,

Discussion: Obsidian Wings and Marginal Revolution

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Blue Dog Public Plan Ideas Are Not What Deficit Control Looks Like

Discussion: Left in the West, TPMDC, Ezra Klein, Hullabaloo, Dynamist Blog, Open Left and Wonk Room

Wall Street Journal:

Nominee's Criminal Rulings Tilt to Right of Souter — WASHINGTON — While Judge Sonia Sotomayor stands in the liberal mainstream on many issues, her record suggests that the Supreme Court nominee could sometimes rule with the top court's conservatives on questions of criminal justice.

Discussion: National Journal Online, New York Times, Washington Times, USA Today, The Caucus, CBS News, The Note and The Washington Independent

Wendy E. Long / The Judicial Confirmation Network:
Sotomayor Questionnaire Omits Memo on Death Penalty and Racism

Discussion: Think Progress, MoJo Blog Posts and Bench Memos

Seth Stern / Legal Beat:
Sotomayor Repeatedly Referenced ‘Wise Woman’ in Speeches

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, Washington Post, CBS News, The Campaign Spot, Omaha World-Herald, Commentary, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, Roll Call and Outside The Beltway

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

MSNBC Shrugs About Liz Cheney's Over-Exposure: “Liz Is A Great Guest” — MSNBC is shrugging off the growing criticism of the extensive airtime the network has granted Liz Cheney to mount a political defense of her father and a political offensive against the Obama administration …

Discussion: Raw Story and Daily Kos

Media Matters / Media Matters for America:
At least 22 TV appearances for Liz Cheney — in less than a month

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and The Plum Line

Victor Zapanta / Think Progress:

McHugh on DADT: I have no interest in excluding people ‘otherwise qualified to serve.’ — After President Obama named Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) as his nominee for Secretary of the Army, progressives have been working to better understand McHugh's current position on “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” the ban on gays serving openly in the military.

Discussion: Law Dork, 2.0

Jennifer Bendery / Roll Call: McHugh Says View Has Changed on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Cheney and Pelosi Have Poor Ratings in Common — Pelosi's ratings down, while Cheney's improved from record low — PRINCETON, NJ — Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Dick Cheney have little in common politically, but they receive almost identical image ratings from the American public.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Fox News, Brendan Nyhan, Weekly Standard, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, NewsBusters.org, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Scared Monkeys, Commentary and The New Argument

Michael Andrews / DailyTech:

NASA Study Acknowledges Solar Cycle, Not Man, Responsible for Past Warming — Report indicates solar cycle has been impacting Earth since the Industrial Revolution — Some researchers believe that the solar cycle influences global climate changes. They attribute recent warming trends to cyclic variation.

Discussion: Cold Fury and Watts Up With That?

P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org blogs:
NASA Study Makes ‘Amazing’ Discovery: Sun Heats Earth

Discussion: protein wisdom

Jerusalem Post:

Settlers build ‘Oz Yehonatan’ outpost — Article's topics: Barack Obama, Settlements — A day after US President Barack Obama reiterated his call to stop settlement activity during a speech in Cairo, defiant settlers continued to erect illegal structures in the West Bank …

Discussion: Don Surber

Wall Street Journal:

FDIC Pushes Purge at Citi — Bair Wants to Shake Up Management, Sought to Cut Rating of Bank's Health — WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is pushing for a shake-up of Citigroup Inc.'s top management, imperiling Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, people familiar with the matter said.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, New York Times, The New Republic, DailyFinance, The Foundry, Felix Salmon, Wonk Room and naked capitalism

Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:

White House Set to Appoint a Pay Czar — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to appoint a “Special Master for Compensation” to ensure that companies receiving federal bailout funds are abiding by executive-pay guidelines, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Blog entry, Hot Air, Fox News, Dealbreaker, Scared Monkeys, Salon, PoliBlog, QandO, The Page, ScrappleFace and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Republican senator seeks to outlaw tobacco — A Republican senator who is also a doctor is calling for a new era of Prohibition — outlawing cigarette smoking and other tobacco use. — The unlikely demand comes from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), one of the staunchest free-market conservatives in the Senate.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Washington Independent

Jeff Stein / SpyTalk:

Exclusive: Mudd Withdraws as DHS Intelligence Chief (Updated) — The White House confirmed this afternoon it was withdrawing Phil Mudd from Senate consideration to be the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence chief. — Mudd, a career CIA employee who is currently the head of FBI counterterrorism, said the choice was his.

Discussion: The Cable and Associated Press

Mike Hale / ArtsBeat:

Review: Glenn Beck, Simulcasting Discontent — Before starting his performance Thursday night at the Midland Theater in Kansas City, Mo., which was simulcast to more than 440 movie houses around the country, Glenn Beck walked over to the camera, waved, and acknowledged the critic for The New York Times.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org blogs and TVNewser

John / Power Line:

It Could Be Worse — Much has been made of President Obama's “on the other hand” transition, in his speech yesterday, from the Holocaust to the travails of the Palestinians. Some thought that he implied a kind of equivalence. But the appalling Tom Brokaw reminded us that it could have been worse …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Hot Air

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:

Coleman: GOP Needs To Compete On “The Ethernet” — Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) spoke to a friendly conservative video-blogger yesterday at the at the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference in St. Louis, and said Republicans need to more effectively organize around the newer modes of communication — like the “ethernet”:

Discussion: Think Progress, Minnesota Independent, City Pages, Talking Points Memo, Minnesota Public Radio and Raw Story

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Racist Knows the Pain of Being Called Racist — This is pretty rich — both for Sen. Sessions (R-AL) and CNN for taking his line at face value. Sessions is saying he can feel Sonia Sotomayor's pain over being called a ‘racist’ since he was called a ‘racist’ too.

Discussion: CNN and Washington Monthly

Sarah Posner / American Prospect:

ABORTION FOE TO LEAD HHS FAITH-BASED OFFICE. — President Obama has appointed Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG), to head the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, Feministing and Feministe