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 …

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.

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 …

Clinton Defends Byrd's KKK Ties: “He Was Trying To Get Elected”  —  “He once had a fleeting association with the Ku Klux Klan, what does that mean?  I'll tell you what it means.  He was a country boy from the hills and hollows from West Virginia.  He was trying to get elected,” former President Bill Clinton said of Sen. Robert Byrd.

Petraeus Assumes Command of Coalition Forces in Afghanistan  —  On Deadly Day in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus Arrives in Kabul to Take Control of War  —  As Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Kabul today to take control of the long Afghanistan war, a pre-dawn attack on an American aid organization …

BUY THAT SENATOR A NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTION.... I've noticed, from time to time, that Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) seems to be a little slow on the uptake.  As the New York Times' Gail Collins noted this week, after the senator tried to talk about Wall Street reform, and demonstrated …

Worse Than 1982?  —  If you've already lost your job, your prospects for finding a new one are looking dismal.  Especially if you lost your job a long time ago.  —  Private-sector job growth has slowed.  The workweek also shrunk in June, and wages fell.  —  The labor market is recovering …

Jefferson changed ‘subjects’ to ‘citizens’ in Declaration of Independence  —  “Subjects.”  —  That's what Thomas Jefferson first wrote in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence to describe the people of the 13 colonies.  —  But in a moment when history took a sharp turn …

Is BP rejecting skimmers to save money on Gulf oil cleanup?  —  BILOXI, Miss. — From Washington to the Gulf, politicians and residents wonder why so few skimming vessels have been put to work soaking up oil from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.  —  Investment banker Fred D. McCallister of Dallas believes he has the answer.

Byrd Tributes Go Overboard  —  It is a good rule of thumb not to speak ill of the dead.  But what to do when a man is celebrated beyond the limits of decorum or common sense?  Must we stay silent as others celebrate the beauty and splendor of the emperor's invisible clothes?

CNN: The feds are trying to block media coverage of how bad the oil spill is  —  Via Cubachi, a good one from last night's AC 360.  I don't think this is an “Obama problem” as much as it is a “government problem,” but of course the bold, fresh Hopenchange climate of transparency was supposed …

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 …

29% Say Stimulus Plan Helped the Economy, 43% Say It Hurt  —  Just 25% of voters nationwide believe the economic stimulus package created jobs and voters are counting on decisions made by business owners more than government officials to create the jobs needed by the nation.