Top Items:
Robert Draper / New York Times:
This Year's Maverick — Lindsey Graham was sitting in a sedan early one morning and contentedly discussing the various fellow South Carolina conservatives who dislike him — Tea Partiers, Constitutionalists, immigration hardliners — when Van Cato, his upstate regional director …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Left Coast Rebel, Wonkette, Washington Monthly, Politics Daily, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's …, Indecision Forever, Pat Dollard, The Impolitic, New York Magazine, CNN, The Corner on National …, Riehl World View, Ben Smith's Blog, The Page and The Other McCain
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People-Press.org:
Voting Intentions Even, Turnout Indicators Favor GOP — Older Americans Eager to Vote... Republican, That Is — With four months to go before Election Day, voting intentions for the House remain closely divided, and neither party has gained or lost much ground over the course of 2010.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Washington Wire, Liberty Pundits Blog, Taylor Marsh and The Atlantic Online
Fox News:
Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill June 24. (AP Photo) — Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Sister Toldjah, theblogprof, Republican Ways and Means and The Classless Society
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Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:
1.3 million unemployed won't get benefits restored — WASHINGTON - More than 1.3 million laid-off workers won't get their unemployment benefits reinstated before Congress goes on a weeklong vacation for Independence Day. — And hundreds of thousands more will lose their benefits in the coming weeks.
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Boehner doesn't refute the notion that he's drinking at bars every night. — During a press conference earlier today, House Republican leader John Boehner was asked about MSNBC host Joe Scarborough's accusation that “every Republican I talk to says John Boehner, by 5 or 6 o'clock at night, you can see him at bars.”
Corky Siemaszko / NY Daily News:
Barack Obama is among best presidents ever - George W. Bush not so much, say scholars in Siena poll — George W. Bush was no FDR, but Barack Obama could be. — That's the verdict of 238 of the nation's leading presidential scholars, who - for a fifth time - rated Franklin Delano Roosevelt …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Confederate Yankee, JammieWearingFool, Weasel Zippers and Sister Toldjah
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
First look at Daily Kos's lawsuit: Charges Research 2000 with “fraudulently manufacturing phony results” — I've obtained a copy of the lawsuit that Daily Kos just filed against Research 2000, and this going to get nastier than you thought. — The suit contains striking new details …
Discussion:
The Politico, FiveThirtyEight, Polling Matters, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMMuckraker, New York Magazine and Babalú Blog
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Patrick Ruffini / The Next Right:
Another R2K Smoking Gun: Bargain Basement Pricing — In my previous post on Kos and Research 2000 I noted how weird it was that Kos could afford to commission dozens of campaign polls given that by (his own admission) he runs a low seven-figure operation and the polls are likely far …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Gaffetastic. Obama Blows Line From Statue of Liberty in Immigration Address — It's Even Wrong on the White House Website! — Your huddled masses yearning to be free..." … Umm... It's “yearning to breathe free”, Barack. — Barack Obama blew a line from Emma Lazarus' poem …
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin.com
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The White House:
Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform …
Remarks by the President on Comprehensive Immigration Reform …
Discussion:
White House.gov Blog Feed, New York Times, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Hot Air, Mother Jones, Cato @ Liberty and Democracy in America
Chris Frates / The Politico:
Cantwell a ‘yes’ on Wall St. reform — Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington announced Thursday that she'll support a sweeping Wall Street reform bill, bringing Democrats one vote closer to securing Senate passage. — Cantwell, who voted against similar legislation on the Senate floor …
Discussion:
The Note
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Vicki Needham / The Hill:
House passes unemployment benefits but it is stalled until after recess
House passes unemployment benefits but it is stalled until after recess
Discussion:
Think Progress
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
House Democrats pass ‘budget enforcement resolution’ by 215-210 — House Democrats passed a budget document Thursday that sets discretionary spending at levels below those proposed by President Barack Obama but doesn't address how Congress should cut deficits.
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LoriC / RADAR:
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Mel Gibson's Racist Rant Caught On Tape - Tells Oksana She Would Get ‘Raped By N***ers’ — In one of the most explosive, racist and vile outbursts by a celebrity ever caught on tape, Mel Gibson told the mother of his love child that the way she was dressed would get her …
Rasmussen Reports:
Partisan Trends — Partisan Trends: 35.4% Democrat 33.0% Republican — During the month of June, the number of Republicans across the nation inched up by a full percentage point while the number of Democrats increased fractionally. It is normal for the number unaffiliated with each party …
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New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Objectivity of spill probe panel is questioned — WASHINGTON — On the same day the White House commission investigating the Gulf oil spill announced its first meetings — July 12-13 in New Orleans — a Senate committee cast what amounted to a no-confidence vote on the commission's objectivity.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Tara Siegel Bernard / New York Times:
Google to Add Pay to Cover a Tax for Same-Sex Benefits — Working for a company as rich as Google comes with an incredible number of fringe benefits: the free food, the free laundry, the doctor on duty at company headquarters and the impressive five months of maternity leave with full pay and benefits, to mention a few.
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, The Official Google Blog, Mashable!, Pat Dollard, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay, TaxProf Blog and AMERICAblog Gay
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The Politico:
Gov. Chris Christie calls for Republican Party rebranding — At the heart of Christie's appeal, both within the state and outside its border, is an unfiltered, straightforward approach that is startlingly different from many of his gubernatorial colleagues.
Austin Frakt / The Incidental Economist:
Short-term insurance buyers in Massachusetts — Kay Lazar reports on the increase in part-year insurance buyers described in a new Massachusetts Division of Insurance report in today's Boston Globe. … Part of the problem is that individuals can jump in and out of coverage anytime during the year.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
BREAKING: Pelosi Sneaked Approval of Vote on Debt Commission Recommendations into Rule Regarding War Funding, Vote Happening Tonight — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (photo by Orin) — FDL has learned that in a last minute move, Nancy Pelosi sneaked language into the rule that the House is voting on tonight regarding war funding.
Washington Post:
Pentagon recommends Medal of Honor for a living soldier — The Pentagon has recommended that the White House consider awarding the Medal of Honor to a living soldier for the first time since the Vietnam War, according to U.S. officials. — The soldier, whose nomination must be reviewed by the White House …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Big Government, iOwnTheWorld.com, BLACKFIVE, The Moderate Voice, Jules Crittenden, Mudville Gazette and Balloon Juice
Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
NRA Now Leans Toward Endorsing Harry Reid — Multiple sources tell me the National Rifle Association is planning to endorse liberal Harry Reid against pro-gun champion Sharron Angle. — Two weeks ago, I told you about the carveout the NRA received in exchange for their support for the DISCLOSE ACT deal.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, NRA-ILA, NO QUARTER, National Review, Don Surber, The Atlantic Online, Wonkette, Hot Air, Say Anything, Babalú Blog, FrumForum and Riehl World View
Yahoo! News:
Study: Newspapers stopped describing waterboarding as ‘torture’ during Bush years — Is waterboarding torture? If you picked up a major U.S. newspaper before 2004, the answer would likely be yes, according to a new Harvard University study. — But in the post-9/11 world …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, Philly.com, Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Obsidian Wings, FAIR Blog, Mediaite and Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
In Which I Describe, But Do Not Knock, The Hustle. — Yesterday I went on The Ed Show, which is being guest hosted this week by The Nation's Chris Hayes (who is doing a really incredible job) opposite the terribly smart Reihan Salam of National Review, discussing financial reform and Social Security.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online