Top Items:
Michael Powell / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Shed 125,000 Jobs in June; Rate Is 9.5% — The United States added just 83,000 private-sector jobs in June, a dishearteningly low number that could add to the growing number of economists who warn that the economic recovery is stalling. — Multimedia
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
Economy lost 125,000 jobs and 652,000 workers in June — A brutal unemployment report this month. Payrolls dropped by 125,000. In another one of those unwanted lessons in how we calculate unemployment data, the unemployment rate dropped from 9.7 percent to 9.5 percent — but not because people got hired.
Discussion:
Off the Kuff
Christopher S. Rugaber / Associated Press:
Payrolls drop by 125K, jobless rate falls — WASHINGTON - A wave of census layoffs cut the nation's payrolls in June for the first time in six months, while private employers added a modest number of jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent, its lowest level in almost a year.
Neil Irwin / Washington Post:
Unemployment rate falls, but momentum weak in job market — The nation's unemployment rate fell in June, though hiring by the private sector remained soft, according to a government report Friday. The figures suggest the economic recovery is moving forward this summer, but with weak momentum in the job market.
USA Today:
What is the Tea Party? A growing state of mind — WASHINGTON — The “Tea Party” is less a classic political movement than a frustrated state of mind. — A year and a half after the idea of a Tea Party burst into view, three of 10 Americans describe themselves in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pundit & Pundette, Hot Air, Riehl World View and New York Times
RELATED:
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Tea Party Supporters Overlap Republican Base — Eight out of 10 Tea Party supporters are Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — There is significant overlap between Americans who identify as supporters of the Tea Party movement and those who identify as conservative Republicans.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Lindsey Graham spits out tea party — The tea party has no shortage of critics, especially among left-leaning folks who regard it with a mixture of anxiety and suspicion. — But deciphering what this movement stands for can be like nailing Jell-O to the wall.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Myths of Austerity — When I was young and naïve, I believed that important people took positions based on careful consideration of the options. Now I know better. Much of what Serious People believe rests on prejudices, not analysis. And these prejudices are subject to fads and fashions.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
The White House's economic message — “Today's employment report shows continued signs of gradual labor market recovery,” reads the first line of Christina Romer's analysis of the May jobs report. She emphasizes the 83,000 jobs created in the private sector (the 125,000 net job loss is due …
Discussion:
Grasping Reality …
RELATED:
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Factory Jobs Return, but Employers Find Skills Shortage — BEDFORD, Ohio — Factory owners have been adding jobs slowly but steadily since the beginning of the year, giving a lift to the fragile economic recovery. And because they laid off so many workers — more than two million since the end of 2007 …
CNN:
Top House Republicans quick to criticize Obama over jobs report — House Minority Leader John Boehner issued a statement following the release of Friday's job report. — Washington (CNN) - The top two Republicans in the House were quick to respond Friday to the June jobs report.
RELATED:
Bob Willis / Bloomberg:
Employment in U.S. Probably Dropped on Census Cutbacks — Employment fell in June for the first time this year, reflecting a drop in federal census workers as the decennial population count began to wind down, economists said before a report today. — Payrolls declined by 130,000 last month …
RELATED:
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 …
David Paul Kuhn / Real Clear Politics:
The Polarization of the Supreme Court — The Supreme Court has gradually come to act more like a political institution. The share of one-vote majority rulings has risen more than four-fold in the past six decades, compared to the half-century prior, based on a RealClearPolitics analysis of rulings from 1801 to the present.
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Democrats shaping battle plan against Republicans for November — Architects of President Obama's 2008 victory are braced for potentially sizable Democratic losses in November's midterm elections. But they say voters' unease about a GOP takeover will help their party maintain congressional majorities.
RELATED:
Moni Basu / CNN:
Death by stoning imminent for Iranian woman, attorney says — (CNN) — Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a mother of two, is waiting to die in Iran by a method of execution described by her lawyer as “barbaric” — stoning. — She will be buried up to her chest, deeper than a man would be …
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Steele Says We Shouldn't Be In Afghanistan; Calls It Obama's War Of Choice — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele may be misremembering exactly how and when the Afghanistan war began. — At a Republican Party fundraiser in Connecticut on Thursday, Steele declared …
Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Health law risks turning away sick — The Obama administration has not ruled out turning sick people away from an insurance program created by the new healthcare law to provide coverage for the uninsured. — Critics of the $5 billion high-risk pool program insist it will run out of money before Jan. 1, 2014.
Los Angeles Times:
Economic rebound may be losing ground, data show — Home and car sales fall. Manufacturing may be losing steam. But most experts don't see a double dip looming. — The construction sector remains weak. Spending on building fell 0.2% in May from April.
Discussion:
The Swamp
Associated Press:
21 killed in shootout between drug, migrant trafficking gangs near Arizona border — HERMOSILLO, Mexico (AP) — A massive gun battle between rival drug and migrant trafficking gangs near the U.S. border Thursday left 21 people dead and at least six others wounded, prosecutors said.
Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
Va. begins courtroom assault on federal health-care overhaul — RICHMOND — The legal challenge to the nation's new health-care law was launched Thursday in a courtroom in Richmond, where the office of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II argued that the measure is an unprecedented overreach …
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.
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
The Night Beat: Putting Lipstick on a Bad Jobs Number — Good evening. — JOBS: The White House is girding itself for the release of June employment figures, which will show a relative paucity of private sector jobs created. In a way, the impact of this number has been blunted …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla