A Letter to Michael Steele  —  You are, I know, a patriot.  So I ask you to consider, over this July 4 weekend, doing an act of service for the country you love: Resign as chairman of the Republican party.  —  Your tenure has of course been marked by gaffes and embarrassments …

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

Hurricane GOP On The Way  —  MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT: THERE IS A WAVE OUT THERE, AND FOR DEMOCRATS, THE HOUSE IS, AT BEST, TEETERING ON THE EDGE.  —  Imagine sitting in Washington's Verizon Center, listening blissfully to Carole King and James Taylor, thanks to a fast-thinking friend who managed to score four floor seats.

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 …

Kagan Reminds Senators: Legislation Is Your Job  —  WASHINGTON — Supreme Court confirmation hearings are usually designed to probe a nominee's conception of the role of the justices.  But this week's questioning of Elena Kagan turned into a tutorial on Congressional responsibility.

Jim McDermott: Unemployment Standoff ‘A Class Warfare Issue’  —  WHAT'S YOUR REACTION?  —  The House of Representatives approved a bill to reauthorize expired unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless on Thursday, after a similar measure failed for the fourth time in the Senate the previous night due to a Republican filibuster.

We were permanently banned from the Miami-Dade Metrorail for taking photos  —  Update: The National Press Photographers Association is protesting the way authorities handled the situation.  The Society of Professional Journalists is also looking into the situation.  —  By Carlos Miller

Congressional Report Claims Administration Misled About Efforts on Oil Spill  —  (CNSNews.com) - Billy Nungesser, president of New Orleans' Plaquemines Parish, sensed that a chart showing 140 oil skimmers at work — a chart given to him by BP and the Coast Guard — was “somewhat inaccurate.”

Are Democrats setting themselves up for failure in 2011 by not passing a budget?  —  The most important job news of the days was not the June jobs numbers.  It was a mostly ignored vote in the House of Representatives last night.  By a vote of 215 to 210, the House passed a …

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 …

7/2: Don't Know Much About History?  —  There's good news for American education.  About three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776.  The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not.  This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure …

Sharron Angle: I am not a Birther  —  Earlier today, I spoke exclusively to Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee to challenge Harry Reid for the Senate seat in Nevada.  In the past few days, rumors have swirled that Angle is a crypto-Birther.  I asked her “flat out” whether she believed Barack Obama …

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.