Top Items:
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 …
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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 …
Discussion:
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Amie Parnes / The Politico:
Barack Obama's gaffe: seeking greater inefficiencies — Would health care reform bring “greater inefficiencies” to the country's health care system? — That's exactly what Obama said Monday when he spoke about health care reform at the Childrens National Medical Center in Washington.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
D-Day for DeMint — Amy Kremer of the National Tea Party Patriots sends on the full audio recording of a conference call I wrote about Friday, on which Sen. Jim DeMint said health care reform could be Obama's “Waterloo.” The comments have attracted attention, and an attack from President Obama today.
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Liv Osby / Greenville News:
More South Carolina residents losing health insurance
More South Carolina residents losing health insurance
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Eamon Javers / The Politico:
Bailouts could cost U.S. $23 trillion — A series of bailouts, bank rescues and other economic lifelines could end up costing the federal government as much as $23 trillion, the U.S. government's watchdog over the effort says - a staggering amount that is nearly double the nation's entire economic output for a year.
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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:
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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.
Discussion:
Public Policy Polling, Weekly Standard, The Provocateur, Don Surber, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Conservatives4Palin.com, Say Anything, AIP Blog, Right Pundits, Hot Air, Townhall.com, PoliGazette, race42008.com, Wake up America, The Moderate Voice, The Washington Independent, Politics Nation and Democratic Strategist
Tracy Jan / Boston Globe:
Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home — Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among …
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.”
Discussion:
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P.J. Tobia / Afghan Desk:
Source: Bergdahl Deserted
Source: Bergdahl Deserted
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Right Wing News, Oregon at War, The Jawa Report, American Power, BLACKFIVE and Mudville Gazette
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Rep. Mike Castle Fends Off the Birthers — I got a little friendly fire from my friend and colleague Matt Welch over last week's article on the Obama birth certificate conspiracy. He took issue with my “contention that the movement ‘dogs Republicans’ (there being so very many other issues that have more bite than a few barkers).”
Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: Less faith in Obama's economic abilities — WASHINGTON — The public's confidence in President Obama's ability to handle the economy is eroding amid concern about higher federal spending and expanding government power, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — a development that could complicate …
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.
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David A. Patten / NewsMax.com:
Obama Health Plan to Cover 12 Million Illegals — On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation's estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev. …
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Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Obama Loves Mayo, But Mayo Does Not Love Him (Update: Gibbs Responds, Badly) — Throughout his push for health-care reform, President Obama has held up the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota as an example of great medicine at lower prices—something that could and should be emulated all over the country …
Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
Mitch McConnell Makes the Dems Look Good — Ah, there's nothing like a Mitch McConnell interview to put everything into perspective. — The Senate Minority Leader appeared on “Meet the Press” Sunday to discuss health reform. And he professed great concern for what President Obama and the Democrats had in mind.
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James H. Warner / Herald-Mail:
A different take on moon landing — marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing by astronaut Neil Armstrong. Almost everyone who was alive at the time will remember the day. They will remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.
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David Boies / Wall Street Journal:
Gay Marriage and the Constitution — Why Ted Olson and I are working to overturn California's Proposition 8. — Printer — Friendly — When I got married in California in 1959 there were almost 20 states where marriage was limited to two people of different sexes and the same race.
New York Post:
JENNA AND BARBARA BUSH GAVE SECRET SERVICE FITS — WHEN it came to protecting Jenna and Barbara Bush, the Secret Service truly had its hands full, with President George W. Bush's wild and crazy daughters doing everything in their power to escape them, a new book reveals.
Chris Matyszczyk / Technically Incorrect:
New iPhone app helps you score pot — States that are low on funds are steadily inhaling the idea of taxing the sale of a substance that gets you high. — Meanwhile, as if anticipating an uptick in demand, the folks at Apple have approved a new iPhone and iPod Touch app that will allow …
Associated Press:
Gates Says U.S. Army Will Grow by 22,000 — WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that the size of the Army will be increased temporarily by 22,000 soldiers to help meet the needs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other missions around the world.