Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
Liberal Suicide March — It was interesting to watch the Republican Party lose touch with America. You had a party led by conservative Southerners who neither understood nor sympathized with moderates or representatives from swing districts. — They brought in pollsters to their party conferences …
Discussion:
Clive Crook, The New Republic, The Atlantic Politics Channel, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Althouse, National Review, Right Wing News, The Treatment, Riehl World View, Bloomberg, AMERICAN DIGEST, D-Day, The Mahablog, Commentary, Wake up America, Balloon Juice, Politics Daily, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Shakesville, The TrogloPundit, Political Byline, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press and No More Mister Nice Blog
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The Huffington Post:
Internal RNC Memo: “Engage In Every Activity” To Slow Down Health Care Reform — A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama's health care proposals by delaying its consideration.
Gloria Borger / CNN:
Borger: Democrats messing up on health care — CNN Senior Political Analyst — Editor's note: Gloria Borger is a senior political analyst for CNN, appearing regularly on CNN's “The Situation Room,” “Campbell Brown,” “AC360°” and “State of the Union With John King,” as well as special event coverage.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Poll: Public losing trust in Obama — Trust in President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies to identify the right solutions to problems facing the country has dropped off significantly since March, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Washington Sketch: GOP's Steele Couldn't Have Said It Better Himself
Washington Sketch: GOP's Steele Couldn't Have Said It Better Himself
Rachel D'Oro / Associated Press:
AP NewsBreak: Palin implicated in ethics probe — ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts. — The report obtained by The Associated Press says Palin …
The Black Sphere:
DEMOCRAT CARNAHAN DISMISSES BLACK MAN AT TOWNHALL — Yesterday, I attended a townhall meeting on healthcare with Representative Russ Carnahan, where he dissed this black constituent. For those of you unfamiliar with Missouri politics, the new breed of Carnahans are those who are riding …
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah
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Michelle Malkin:
Politician claims Obamacare saves. Voters laugh out loud — Best video of the day: Rep. Russ Carnahan meets the government health care takeover resistance. — My favorite parts? Well, all of it. But especially when Carnahan tries to tell the audience that Obamacare will create …
Christopher Drew / New York Times:
Bowing to Veto Threat, Senate Blocks Money for Warplanes — WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 58-40 on Tuesday to strip $1.75 billion for seven more F-22 fighters from a military spending bill, handing President Obama a crucial victory in his efforts to reshape the military's priorities.
Discussion:
RealClearWorld, Political Insider, James Fallows, Bookworm Room, The Caucus and Israel Matzav
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Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Senate Strips F-22 Funding
Senate Strips F-22 Funding
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Political Punch, Danger Room, Cato @ Liberty, Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Taylor Marsh
Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:
Gates Says He Is Outraged by Arrest at Cambridge Home — Prominent Black Professor Says He Will Use Experience to Further Academic Work — Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's most prominent scholars of African-American history, cast his recent arrest in his home in Cambridge …
Discussion:
New York Times, Boing Boing, Politics Daily, American Power, On Deadline, theroot.com and distributedrepublic …
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Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Should The GOP Take The Birther Threat Seriously? Rush Does.... That's the thesis of the First Readers of NBC News, after viewing this astonishing clip from a town hall meeting that Rep. Mike Castle held in Delaware for his constituents. What's most notable, to me, at least …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, WorldNetDaily, Think Progress, Zandar Versus The Stupid, No More Mister Nice Blog and Balloon Juice
Susan Donaldson James / ABCNEWS:
Benjamin: Too Heavy to Be Nation's Top Doc? — Leading Experts Say Dr. Benjamin, Though Stellar Nominee, Gives Wrong Message — Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, Obama's pick for the next surgeon general, was hailed as a MacArthur Grant genius who had championed the poor at a medical clinic she set up in Katrina-ravaged Alabama.
Anill / Think Progress:
Dobbs wonders whether President Obama is undocumented. — Today, Political Wire posted a clip of an episode of Lou Dobbs' radio show in which he not only questions President Obama's citizenship and promotes the bizarre right-wing “birther” theory, but also insinuates that Obama might be undocumented:
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Health-Care Firms Have Supported Lawmakers Debating Reform — Key Senator Baucus Is a Leading Recipient — As liberal protesters marched outside, Sen. Max Baucus sat down inside a San Francisco mansion for a dinner of chicken cordon bleu and a discussion of landmark health-care legislation …
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Shlomo Shamir / Haaretz:
‘Huckabee to air Fox News show from disputed East Jerusalem site’ — Former U.S. presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee plans to broadcast his weekend show on Fox News from the site of a disputed Israeli construction project in East Jerusalem, a New York politician has told Haaretz.
Michael Rothfeld / Los Angeles Times:
State budget deal reduces prison inmates by 27,000 — The plan accomplishes this with a combination of measures, including having some prisoners complete sentences at home and shortening terms for those who finish rehabilitation programs. — Reporting from Sacramento …
Discussion:
Raw Story, D-Day, Wall Street Journal, Don Surber, On Deadline, The Moderate Voice and L.A. Now
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
More Disapprove Than Approve of Obama on Healthcare — President is rated higher on international than on domestic issues — PRINCETON, NJ — As the debate over healthcare reform intensifies, the latest USA Today/Gallup poll finds that more Americans disapprove (50%) than approve (44%) …
Rick Karlin / Albany Times Union:
Waterless urinals miss the mark? — State workers say new devices leading to splashes, stink — ALBANY — The Department of Environmental Conservation's effort to maintain eco-friendly bathrooms at its downtown headquarters has made quite a splash but not in the way the state intended.
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Scarborough And Steele Spar In Heated Debate Over Health Care: Steele Tells MSNBC Host, ‘Spare Me’ — Fresh off his comedic performance at the National Press Club yesterday, RNC Chairman Michael Steele again demonstrated this morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe that he doesn't “do policy.”
Associated Press:
Senior Democrat says no consensus on health bill … WASHINGTON (AP) - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says House Democrats are struggling to reach consensus on overhauling health care, a divide that could delay House approval of a plan beyond lawmakers' scheduled vacation in August.
Discussion:
RedState
Aaron Blake / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Huckabee event left candidate in the red — One of the most curious fundraising reports of the second quarter came from Republican Les Phillip, who is looking to challenge Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.) in a top national race. — If you've heard of Phillip, it's probably …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
Kaiser Health News:
Blue Dog Ross's Conundrum: Should He Battle Health Bill That Could Benefit His Depressed Town? — PRESCOTT, Ark. - Rep. Mike Ross, who grew up in this tiny town of 3,600, represents residents like 62-year-old Sandy Barham, a restaurant owner with a heart ailment who can't afford health insurance for herself or her employees.
Jeff Sharlet / Salon:
Sex and power inside “the C Street House” — Sanford, Ensign, and other regulars receive guidance from the invisible fundamentalist group known as the Family — Editor's note: Sharlet is the author of the bestselling “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.”
Dr. Helen:
“Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the pain killer..” — He didn't really say that, did he? I must say I was appalled when watching this ABC news clip of Obama making this ludicrous statement to the daughter of a now 105-year-old woman who needed a pacemaker (she needed the surgery at 99).
Discussion:
Hot Air
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
VPOTUS, overheard: ‘Many beautiful women’ — From Peter Spiegel's pool report from Kiev: — VPOTUS and Yushchenko were seated a table in the back of the pub with their two translators, the mayor and vice mayor of Kiev, and the head of the presidential secretariat.... Yushchenko was talking about Ukrainian churches.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Rachel Slajda / Talking Points Memo:
DeMint: Obama ‘Played Right Into My Hands’ — Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) stands by his comment that health care will be President Obama's Waterloo, a comment Obama derided in a health care speech yesterday. — “I think he played right into my hands,” DeMint told Neil Cavuto on Fox News this afternoon …
Discussion:
D-Day
Simon Johnson / The Baseline Scenario:
Three Myths about the Consumer Financial Product Agency — This guest post was contributed by Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard University. (Update: more on the case for a CFPA in her YouTube video, released yesterday.)
Ellen E. Schultz / Wall Street Journal:
Top Earners' Pay Erodes Social Security — Fund Expected to Be Exhausted in 2037 — The nation's wealth gap is widening amid an uproar about lofty pay packages in the financial world. — Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the U.S. …
NY Daily News:
President Barack Obama authorizes extended Secret Service guard for former VP Dick Cheney — WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney's Secret Service protection has been extended for at least another six months, beginning Tuesday. — Normally, ex-veeps only get six months of protection at taxpayer expense.
Discussion:
Emptywheel
The Live Feed:
Most will carry Obama press conference; time shifted after NBC balked — UPDATED: After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference. — The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles …
Discussion:
Salon, TIME.com, AMERICAN DIGEST, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Media Matters for America and FishBowlDC
Tom Vanderbilt / Slate:
Why American drivers should learn to love the roundabout. — Here is a narrative that has been playing out over the last several years in any number of American towns: Traffic engineers notice that a particular intersection has a crash problem or is moving traffic inefficiently.
Wall Street Journal:
The Fed's Exit Strategy — The depth and breadth of the global recession has required a highly accommodative monetary policy. Since the onset of the financial crisis nearly two years ago, the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest-rate target for overnight lending between banks (the federal-funds rate) nearly to zero.