The Long-Term Budget Outlook  —  Today I had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Budget Committee about CBO's most recent analysis of the long-term budget outlook.  —  Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path, because federal debt will continue to grow much faster than the economy over the long run.

The Joy of Sachs  —  The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed.  Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it's preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis.  What does this contrast tell us?

Exclusive: Conservative group offers to sell endorsement for $2M  —  The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group's endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

Susan Roesgen Out at CNN  —  Breaking: TVNewser has learned CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen's contract will not be renewed and she will be leaving the network.  —  Roesgen, you'll recall, was criticized for her coverage at the tax day tea parties in April, when she said the event she was covering …

Sanford flies high on taxpayers' dime  —  Aside from the damage done to his standing as a social conservative, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's recent admission of an extramarital affair may end up tarnishing another of his political credentials—his carefully-honed reputation as a tight-fisted steward of taxpayer money.

Sen. Graham's Exchanges With Sotomayor Among Most Anticipated of Judiciary Panel  —  S.C. Conservative Is Considered Pivotal Character in Sotomayor Hearings  —  Perhaps it is because Sen. Lindsey O. Graham is the only Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee who said openly that he was considering supporting Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Pickering's wife sues alleged mistress  —  The estranged wife of former Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), who served 12 years in Congress before retiring in January, has filed a lawsuit against his alleged mistress, claiming their adulterous relationship ruined the Pickerings' marriage and his political career.

Democrats Drop Key Part of Bill to Assist Unions  —  A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.  —  The so-called card-check provision — which senators decided to scrap to help secure …

At NAACP Convention, Obama Speaks of Progress and Continued Struggle  —  In his first speech before the nation's oldest civil rights organization since taking office, President Obama paid tribute Thursday to the NAACP as it celebrated its centennial, delivering what the group's chief executive called his most …

Joe Biden: ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’  —  (CNSNews.com) - Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money.

RNC Web site promoting anti-Semitic, anti-Latino, and pornographic literature  —  (UPDATE: I understand the Latino book is not anti-Latino, but in fact debunks anti-Latino prejudice.  Fair enough.  But I'm still looking forward to the RNC's explanation for including “bondage,” “anal,” and “clitoris.” )

Let's Put Some Real Faces on the Casualties of Obamacare  —  On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the President and his Democratic allies in Congress intend to force small business with payrolls more than $250,000 per year to provide health insurance to their employees.

Sotomayor Hearing Escapes Gravity  —  They put a man on the moon, and a comedian in the Senate.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Everyone is noting the 40th anniversary, on July 20, of the moon landing.  Good.  It was an epic moment in history, though its memory is accompanied by an unsatisfied feeling …

A Hollywood Blogger Feared by Executives  —  Right now, there's a good chance a Hollywood executive is leaning into a colleague's office and quietly asking, “Did you see what Nikki just wrote?”  —  That would be Nikki Finke, a well-traveled newspaper reporter who has found her moment as a digital-age Walter Winchell.

Fatal blasts hit Jakarta hotels  —  At least nine people including some foreigners have been killed in two bomb blasts at luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, police say.  —  One explosion hit the Ritz-Carlton, ripping off its facade, and the other the Marriott Hotel.

40 Years After Apollo 11, America's Retreat From the Moon  —  Michael Crichton once wrote that if you told a physicist in 1899 that within a hundred years humankind would, among other wonders (nukes, commercial airlines), “travel to the moon, and then lose interest . . . the physicist would almost certainly pronounce you mad.”

Roubini: Views on Economy Unchanged Despite Reports  —  Nouriel Roubini, the economist whose dire forecasts earned him the nickname “Doctor Doom,” said after markets closed Thursday that earlier reports claiming he sees an end to the recession this year were “taken out of context.”