In Beer Summit “Spoof” Milbank Suggests Hillary Drink “Mad Bitch” Beer  —  If I were on the board of directors of the Kaplan test prep company, and discovered that the people running a money-losing Kaplan subsidiary affiliate (better known as the Washington Post) had greenlighted a feature called …

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER.... A new Research 2000 poll conducted for Daily Kos asked respondents a rather straightforward question: “Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?”  Since the president was born in the U.S., ideally, the results would be around 100%.

Win for Dems as panel passes health bill  —  Democrats moved one step closer to their long-sought goal of providing health care to millions of uninsured Americans on Friday after their bill cleared a critical House committee.  —  The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved the legislation …

Forged letters to congressman anger local groups  —  As U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello was considering how to vote on an important piece of climate change legislation in June, the freshman congressman's office received at least six letters from two Charlottesville-based minority organizations voicing opposition to the measure.

Right-Wing Harassment Strategy Against Dems Detailed In Memo: ‘Yell,’ ‘Stand Up And Shout Out,’ ‘Rattle Him’  —  This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by “angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior” at local town halls.

Franken feuds with T. Boone Pickens  —  Five years after he put his money behind the Swift Boat ads that helped tank John Kerry's presidential campaign, Senate Democrats gave T. Boone Pickens a warm welcome at their weekly policy lunch Thursday.  —  Or at least most of them did.

McCain to filibuster “Cash for Clunkers” bill; Trouble for Reid with Dems, too  —  When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, tries to take up the House-passed “Cash for Clunkers” bill next week, he will hit a series of bipartisan road blocks.  —  Fox has learned that Sen. John McCain …

Rudy: ‘Shut Up’  —  Rudy Giuliani, who has returned as a leading Republican spokesman, condemned Obama's health care plan in an interview with Sean Hannity.  —  He also offered, in response to the president's hope that the Gates arrest would be a “teachable moment,” this:  —  “He's actually right.

Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud  —  It was a media cage fight, televised every weeknight at 8 p.m. But the match was halted when the blood started to spray executives in the high-priced seats.  —  For years Keith Olbermann of MSNBC had savaged his prime-time nemesis Bill O'Reilly …

What I Saw at the Beer Summit  —  Blogs and Stories  —  The Daily Beast's Elizabeth Gates joined her father, Skip, Sgt. Crowley, and the president to raise a beer and bury the hatchet.  An inside report from the peace talks.  —  In a world in which the conversation on race has traditionally taken …

More than 500 days of recession  —  The Commerce Department reported today that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at a 1% annual rate in the second quarter of 2009, following a 6.4% decline in the previous quarter.  GDP is the total market value of goods and services produced in the U.S. economy …

Cash-For-Clunkers Goes Haywire  —  Politico is reporting that the government's “cash-for-clunkers” program has already run out of the $1 billion it was given after only a week in operation.  It's a bit crazy: All told, in just five days, some 300,000 people traded in their older …

Dodd Diagnosed With Early-Stage Prostate Cancer  —  U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer.  —  Dodd is scheduled to undergo surgery during the Senate's August recess and said he expects to be back at work after a “brief recuperation” at home.

House Approves Limits on Executive Pay  —  WASHINGTON — The House approved a measure Friday that would put new constraints on executive pay, capitalizing on outrage over multimillion-dollar bonuses to Wall Street executives whose firms were bailed out by taxpayers.

Media Matters Running Ads Attacking Lou Dobbs' Birther Obsession — On CNN!  —  Okay, this is an intriguing new frontier in political media criticism.  Media Matters, which has been attacking CNN for not reining in Lou Dobbs' birther obsession, has now purchased air time to run a TV ad attacking …

Rep. Taylor calls anti-tax group ‘scum’  —  Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) has called Grover Norquist's anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform “lying sacks of scum” for lumping him in with other moderate Democrats who support the House health reform bill.  —  “Americans for Tax Reform …

Barack Obama's aunt at home in Southie digs  —  With her deportation hearing still six months away, the controversial Kenyan aunt of President Obama has quietly resurfaced in public housing in South Boston, the Herald has learned.  —  “Beggars can't be choosers,” Obama's “Auntie Zeituni” …