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Tom Raum / Associated Press:
White House putting off release of budget update — WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape. — The administration's annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits …
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Pelosi: Make millionaires pay — Trying to sell a historic health bill to a balky caucus, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told POLITICO in an interview that she wants to soften a proposed surcharge on the wealthy so that it applies only to families that make $1 million or more.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Business Channel, Washington Monthly, Eye of Polyphemus, WSJ.com and The Page
Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Worry Over Rich Voters — A group of Democrats elected in recent years from some of the country's richest congressional districts have emerged as a stumbling block to raising taxes on the wealthy to pay for President Barack Obama's ambitious health-care overhaul just as the plan …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Feingold Hits Obama's Intel Chief: You're Wrong, CIA Officials May Have Broken Law
Feingold Hits Obama's Intel Chief: You're Wrong, CIA Officials May Have Broken Law
Washington Post:
Approval Ratings Drop for Obama on Health Care, Other Issues — Approval Rating on Health Care Falls Below 50 Percent — Obama's approval ratings on other front-burner issues, such as the economy and the federal budget deficit, have also slipped over the summer, as rising concern …
Discussion:
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Kristol: Kill It, and Start Over — With Obamacare on the ropes, there will be a temptation for opponents to let up on their criticism, and to try to appear constructive, or at least responsible. There will be a tendency to want to let the Democrats' plans sink of their own weight …
Rasmussen Reports:
2012 Match-ups: Obama, Romney Tied at 45%; Obama 48%, Palin 42% — If the 2012 presidential election were held today, President Obama and possible Republican nominee Mitt Romney would be all tied up at 45% each, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Fox News Guest Ralph Peters Suggests Taliban Should Kill U.S. Soldier If He Deserted — Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who has been captured by the Taliban and appears in a video released this weekend by his captors, “went missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan on June 30.”
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Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Race in 2028 — During last week's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Republican senators kept bringing the conversation back to 2001 — the year when Sonia Sotomayor delivered the most famous version of her line about how a “wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences” might outshine a white male judge.
Discussion:
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Binyamin Appelbaum / Washington Post:
Financial Rescue I.G. Says Banks Funneled TARP Aid to Various Expenses — Many of the banks that got federal aid to support increased lending have instead used some of the money to make investments, repay debts or buy other banks, according to a new report from the special inspector general overseeing …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, ProPublica, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Piece of Work In Progress, The Hill, The Page and Associated Press
Jonathan Tobin / Jerusalem Post:
A pause for serious self-reflection — When US President Barack Obama met with 15 representatives of American Jewish organizations on July 13, Haaretz reported that he told them that he wanted to help Israel achieve peace but that if they were to benefit from his well-intentioned counsel …
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Morning Fix: Jindal Rises Again — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) will wade into the national debate over health care this week by penning op-eds in Politico and the Wall Street Journal and appearing on a series of cable chat shows today and tomorrow. — “Governor Jindal has seen enough …
Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:
Subprime Brokers Resurface as Dubious Loan Fixers — LOS ANGELES — From the ninth floor of a downtown office building on Wilshire Boulevard, Jack Soussana delivered staggering numbers of mortgages to homeowners during the real estate boom, amassing a fortune. — By Mr. Soussana's own account, his customers fared less happily.
Wall Street Journal:
Afghan Villagers Attack Taliban — By ANAND GOPAL in Kabul and MATTHEW ROSENBERG in New Delhi — Villagers attacked the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan, a rare instance of locals turning on insurgents after being promised aid money and security by the government.
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S.logan / insert clever s.logan here:
God, Guns, Guts, and CNN's Idiot Reporters — Greetings, Instapundit readers! — “You don't have a problem with God, do ya?” — This is a question posed to CNN reporter Carol Costello during a recent interview with Mark Muller, a Missouri car dealer whose company is offering an unusual incentive …
Wall Street Journal:
The New Old ‘Card Check’ — Labor's top priority isn't dead yet. — Printer — Friendly — Politicians don't typically broadcast their defeat, and when they do it pays to watch for the blindside hit. That's surely the case with last week's reports that six liberal Senators …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
REJECTING THE IDEA OF AN OVERHAUL.... Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky was on “Meet the Press” yesterday, talking about his opposition to the health care reform proposal(s). That's fine; he's the opposition leader. Of course he's going to oppose the majority's agenda.
Bob Ingle / Daily Record:
Corzine campaign showing signs of obvious desperation — Gov. Jon S. Corzine's campaign continues to make even Democrats think the governor is desperate, the latest installment being his adding a “reality show” winner to his list of lieutenant governor candidates.
Discussion:
RedState
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Rachel Slajda / Talking Points Memo:
Steele On Health Care: What's Individual Requirement? — Michael Steele, chairman of the RNC, doesn't seem to know the basic terminology of the health care debate. — In a Q&A at the National Press Club just now, Steele was asked if Republicans support an individual requirement to get health care …
William Grimes / New York Times:
Frank McCourt, Whose Irish Childhood Illuminated His Prose, Is Dead at 78 — Frank McCourt, a former New York City schoolteacher who turned his miserable childhood in Limerick, Ireland, into a phenomenally popular, Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, “Angela's Ashes,” died in Manhattan on Sunday.
Discussion:
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