Top Items:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
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.
Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
Elmendorf: More Cost Control; Orszag: We're Already On It. — Doug Elmendorf, director of the Congresional Budget Office, sent tremors through Washington when he gave congressional tesitmony on Thursday. Appearing first before the Senate Finance Committee and then the House Ways and Means Committee …
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Political Punch:
President Obama Continues Questionable “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Promise
President Obama Continues Questionable “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Promise
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House
Ezra Klein:
Rules For Commenting On The CBO's Judgments
Rules For Commenting On The CBO's Judgments
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Moderate Voice, Obsidian Wings, Democratic Strategist, Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, Fox News, Kausfiles, Stop The ACLU, The New Ledger, The Right Coast, NewsBusters.org, Commentary, msnbc.com, Wake up America, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, EconLog, Politics Nation, Hullabaloo and Wonkette
Robert Pear / New York Times:
House Committee Approves Health Care Bill
House Committee Approves Health Care Bill
Discussion:
The Hill, msnbc.com, The Politico, Congress Matters, Campaign Silo, WSJ.com, The Page, The Moderate Voice, Time, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Swampland
Jonathan Allen / Notepad:
Another Alleged Affair Tied to Christian House on Capitol Hill — A Capitol Hill townhouse that serves as a dormitory and meeting place for a band of conservative Christian lawmakers has been linked to a third episode of marital infidelity, this time in a Mississippi court filing by a former lawmaker's estranged wife.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Gawker, TBogg, Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's … and TPMMuckraker
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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?
Chris / TVNewser:
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 …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Heart-ache: Tea-party-hating superhack out at CNN
Heart-ache: Tea-party-hating superhack out at CNN
Discussion:
No Sheeples Here!
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Say Anything, QandO, Wizbang, The Strata-Sphere, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Classical Values and Gateway Pundit
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Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
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.
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David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
A mechanic in a black robe — Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is embraced by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) after completing her testimony. One law professor said the hearing was “less than useless. If Judge Sotomayor won't meaningfully discuss any legal topics in front of the Senate, then what's the point?”
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Washington Post:
Sen. Graham's Exchanges With Sotomayor Among Most Anticipated of Judiciary Panel
Sen. Graham's Exchanges With Sotomayor Among Most Anticipated of Judiciary Panel
Discussion:
New York Times
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
How Republicans missed their chance with Sotomayor
How Republicans missed their chance with Sotomayor
Discussion:
Rasmussen Reports, The Campaign Spot, Power Line, Commentary, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Hot Air
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
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 …
Hilzoy / Obsidian Wings:
Read It And Weep — Fester at Newhoggers links to a set of right-wing bloggers' predictions for 2003. It's pretty stunning. For instance: … More from another pre-war interview with Tim Blair: … If only. — Except for Rachel Lucas', those are some pretty embarrassing predictions.
David Carr / New York Times:
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.
New York Times:
Explosions at 2 Hotels in Indonesia Kill at Least 8 — JAKARTA, Indonesia — Two suicide bombers detonated explosives in nearly simultaneous attacks at neighboring American luxury hotels in central Jakarta on Friday morning, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 50, according to security officials.
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BBC:
Fatal blasts hit Jakarta hotels
Fatal blasts hit Jakarta hotels
Discussion:
CNN, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Mashable!, Atlas Shrugs, Scared Monkeys and TalkLeft
Penny Starr / CNSNews:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, American Spectator, Classical Values, Pundit & Pundette, Gateway Pundit, Stop The ACLU, theblogprof, Scared Monkeys, Wizbang, Latest Open Salon Blog, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, No Sheeples Here!, Flopping Aces, RedState, Commentary, Don Surber, Right Pundits, NewsBusters.org, race42008.com, Vox Popoli, Below The Beltway, Say Anything, Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers and Townhall.com
Jimmie Bise / AIP Blog:
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.
Wall Street Journal:
The Grassley Test — An Iowa Republican may decide the fate of ObamaCare. — Printer — Friendly — Forget Max Baucus, Henry Waxman and Rahm Emanuel. If there's one guy who may hold the whole health-care world in his hands, it's Sen. Chuck Grassley. That ought to have President Barack Obama worried.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
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.” )
Discussion:
The Politico, Right Wing News, 24Ahead, The Raw Story, The Political Carnival and The Impolitic
Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Opinionator, No More Mister Nice Blog, THE WEEK News & Opinion and Mediaite
Duane R. Patterson / Townhall.com:
Barbara Boxer Race Relations — For about a week, Californians had hope. Minnesota had elected, unbelievably, Al Franken to represent them in the United States Senate. Finally, the long time mantle of dimmest senator in the Upper Chamber would pass from Barbara Boxer to the new junior senator from the Gopher State.
Discussion:
Moe_Lane's blog
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Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
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.”
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Clinton: “100 Percent Committed” — “The president, and certainly I and our entire administration, are 100 percent committed to the closure of Guantanamo and to proceeding with the transfer of those who can be transferred, the trial of those who can be tried, and the continuing detention …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
No Pity for the Rich — When considering the alleged plight of the very rich groaning under the socialist yoke of Charlie Rangel's tax proposals, it's worth keeping in mind that the super-rich's share of the overall income pie is been skyrocketing: — The reasons behind this trend are complicated.