Top Items:
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: LOSING THE MESSAGE WAR? — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Losing the message war? Perhaps the biggest thing that stood out to us at President Obama's AARP town hall yesterday was that the White House appears to be losing the message war on health care.
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Washington Post:
Bipartisan Senate Panel Nearing Agreement on Health-Care Bill — Panel May Vote On Bipartisan Bill Before Recess — An emerging consensus among a bipartisan group of senators is poised to shift the dynamic in the congressional debate over health-care reform and could lead to a final product …
Reuters:
U.S. Senate May Drop Public Healthcare Option — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers on both sides of the U.S. Capitol struggled to reach a healthcare deal on Tuesday, with Senate Democrats near agreement with three Republicans on a plan that would not include a government-run insurance option backed by President Barack Obama.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Ezra Klein Plays His Part in the “Co-Op Squeeze Play” … I know many were delighted with President Obama's defense of a “public option” yesterday. But coming on the heels of Robert Gibbs' statement that the President doesn't prefer a public option over co-ops, I listened carefully …
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Health Care Reform and the Unpopular T-Word
Health Care Reform and the Unpopular T-Word
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Salon, Washington Post, The Nation, The New Republic, The Politico, Multi Medium and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
The Hill:
Waters warns Blue Dogs to beware 2010 — Liberal frustration started to boil over in the House on Tuesday as negotiations over healthcare reform with centrist Blue Dog Democrats dragged into a second week. — The delay prompted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to lash out at the Blue Dogs …
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Jared Allen / The Hill:
Blue Dogs strike deal: No health vote before recess — Blue Dogs and House leaders have struck a deal to guarantee that the House will not vote on a healthcare bill before August, a leading Blue Dog said on Wednesday. — In exchange for putting off a floor vote until after Labor Day …
The Hill:
Dem healthcare infighting intensifies — A House fight among Democrats on overhauling the nation's healthcare system has spread to the Senate, where centrists and liberals are clashing over the direction the legislation should take. — Trouble is brewing now that a bipartisan group of senators …
Niall O'Dowd / ABCNEWS:
Harvard Prof Gates Is Half-Irish, Related to Cop Who Arrested Him — Two Men at Center of Controversy Linked by Irish Heritage — Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black professor at the center of the racial story involving his arrest outside his Harvard University-owned house, has spoken proudly of his Irish roots.
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NPR:
NPR Poll Finds Tough Sledding For Obama … text sizeAAA — President Obama has hit a rough patch this summer, squeezed between a lingering recession and rising questions about the health care overhaul he has made the centerpiece of his first-year agenda.
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Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Landrieu: Trying to Find the “Center” of Health Care Reform — Seventy-six percent of the country wants a public plan, Landrieu doesn't. Center of what — her own ego? — Democrats control the House, the White House, and the Senate — with a 60 vote majority.
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Karen Tumulty / Time:
Obama Health-Care Interview: On His Push for Reform
Obama Health-Care Interview: On His Push for Reform
Discussion:
The Caucus, Washington Monthly, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Fortune, TPMDC and American Prospect
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Politico announces again: GOP is resurgent! — (updated below - Update II) — On Monday, I espoused my theory on Twitter about the birth of Politico, which led The Columbia Journalism Review to compare that thesis to the much different Politico-birth mythology created by its Editor-in-Chief, John Harris.
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Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Debunking The GOP's Phony Euthanasia Myth — Since Politico Won't
Debunking The GOP's Phony Euthanasia Myth — Since Politico Won't
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Plum Line, The Politico, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Firedoglake
Gateway Pundit:
Dorothy D. Hoft... August 1925 - July 2009 — Dorothy Hoft loved God and her nine children. She loved the magnolia tree in the backyard. — My dear friend and mother passed away this evening at 10:16 PM. — She suffered a devastating heart attack 17 days ago. We put her on hospice late last week.
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Sarah Grabs the Grievance Grab Bag From Hillary — The woman who was prematurely counted in is out. And the woman who was prematurely counted out is in. — Goodbye, Sarah. Hello, Hillary. — In their vivid twin performances Sunday — Hillary on “Meet the Press” …
Christopher Neefus / CNSNews:
White House Science Adviser Advocated ‘De-Development’ of the United States — (CNSNews.com) - President Obama's top science adviser, John P. Holdren, advocated the “de-development” of the United States in books he published in the 1970s. — “A massive campaign must be launched to restore …
Discussion:
Right Wing News
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John Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
It's Crunch Time for Israel on Iran — After years of failed diplomacy no one will be able to call an attack precipitous. — Printer — Friendly — Legions of senior American officials have descended on Jerusalem recently, but the most important of them has been Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
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Sarah Netter / ABCNEWS:
Intern, BF Entangle State Sen. in Sex Scandal — Intern's Boyfriend Arrested for Extortion After Discovering Photos From Senator's Affair — What began as a government internship for a one-time honors student with a questionable past has become a full-blown sex scandal that ensnared …
Discussion:
Roger Ailes
Rick Hadley / WBAP News/Talk 820:
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Explains Plan for Gubernatorial Bid — ARLINGTON (WBAP) - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on Wednesday told WBAP's Mark Davis she plans to officially launch her bid for Texas governor in August. She added that she will step down from the U.S. Senate sometime …
Media Matters Action Network:
Rep. Foxx Says Health Care Reform Will Cause Seniors To Be “Put To Death By Their Government” … REP. FOXX: REPUBLICANS ARE PRO-LIFE BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT SENIORS PUT TO DEATH … THE DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION ACTUALLY PROVIDES PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE FOR SENIORS' DIFFICULT DECISIONS - NOT TO ENCOURAGE EUTHANASIA
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, Washington Monthly, Don Surber, Zandar Versus The Stupid, NOW! Blog and Shakesville
Julie Bosman / New York Times:
City Aids Homeless With One-Way Tickets Home — They are flown to Paris ($6,332), Orlando ($858.40), Johannesburg ($2,550.70), or most frequently, San Juan ($484.20). — They are not executives on business trips or couples on honeymoons. Rather, all are families who have ended up homeless …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Exclusive: Michael Steele Blasts Birtherism As “Unnecessary Distraction,” Says Obama Is “U.S. Citizen” — For the first time, RNC chair Michael Steele is sharply criticizing the birthers, condemning the movement as an “unnecessary distraction,” reaffirming that the president is a “U.S. citizen …