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 …

House panel approves healthcare reform bill  —  The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Friday night approved the Democrats' healthcare reform bill, setting up a floor vote this fall.  —  The passage of the legislation came after days of intense negotiations between Energy …

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%.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

Dealers Race to Get Their Clunkers Crushed  —  The White House and Congress may be giving the “cash for clunkers” program a reprieve, but one can't help wondering how many dealers and customers will have the confidence to go forward at this point.  Things sound like a total mess in the showrooms.

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.

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.

Gates sends flowers to woman who called the police  —  Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. has sent a bouquet of flowers and a note to the woman whose 911 call led to his arrest earlier this month.  —  Wendy Murphy, attorney and spokeswoman for Lucia Whalen, said today that Gates had sent …

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.

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 …

Obama's revealing body language (updated and expanded))  —  This picture truly is worth at least a thousand words.  —  I am stunned that the official White House Blog published this picture and that it is in the public domain.  The body language is most revealing.

Pulling No Punches  —  The maverick on Obamanomics, Sarah Palin, and the media.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  John McCain is red in the face and hopping mad.  I'm sitting in his office in the Senate Russell Office Building, and he's just rushed in after delivering a speech on the Senate floor …

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 …