Top Items:
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
McConnell: Medicare recess appointment is ‘truly outrageous’ — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blasted the White House for its plan to sidestep Congress in appointing Donald Berwick to lead Medicare. — “As if shoving a trillion-dollar government takeover …
Discussion:
The Politico, Pat Dollard, CNN, White House.gov Blog Feed, Liberty Pundits Blog, Wonk Room, theblogprof, Matthew Yglesias and Daily Kos
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Joseph Rago / Wall Street Journal:
The Massachusetts Health-Care ‘Train Wreck’ — The future of ObamaCare is unfolding here: runaway spending, price controls, even limits on care and medical licensing. — President Obama said earlier this year that the health-care bill that Congress passed three months ago is …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Wizbang, Questions and Observations, Betsy's Page, Grim's Hall, Moonbattery, Wake up America, Newsalert and Right Wing News
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Obama Bypassing Congress to Appoint Chief of Medicare and Medicaid — WASHINGTON — President Obama will bypass Congress and appoint Dr. Donald M. Berwick, a health policy expert, to run Medicare and Medicaid, the White House said Tuesday. — Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director …
Discussion:
The New Ledger, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Swampland, RedState, The Foundry, The Volokh Conspiracy, Political Punch, Hot Air, Verum Serum, PERRspectives, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reality-Based Community, Jules Crittenden, Moe Lane, Hit & Run, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Think Progress, Right Wing News, NewsBusters.org, Open Congress, Sister Toldjah, Adrienne's Corner, NewsReal Blog and New York Magazine
Ezra Klein:
The conservative case for Don Berwick — Let's get the obvious out of the way: If not for health-care reform, Don Berwick's nomination to head the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services would not be so controversial. As Thomas Scully, who headed CMS under George W. Bush, says …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama Job Approval Rating Down to 38% Among Independents — Overall job ratings for the president continue to be below majority level — PRINCETON, NJ — Thirty-eight percent of independents approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, the first time independent approval of Obama …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Retirement Age Follies — John Boehner wants to cut my Social Security benefits while leaving his benefits intact. — Brian Beutler has a good reported piece on growing enthusiasm on Capitol Hill for cutting Social Security via the mechanism of raising the retirement age for younger workers.
Discussion:
TPMDC
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Republicans And Democrats Lining Up Behind Major Changes To Social Security — Is there a new, bipartisan consensus forming on Capitol Hill about whether (and how) to scale back Social Security benefits? A surprising number of signs point to “yes” — and that has many progressives looking ahead …
Ed Pilkington / Guardian:
America's most unlikely politician — Last month, an unknown, unemployed former soldier astonished America by becoming the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's upcoming senate election. How on earth did he do it? — The journey to the home of one of the most enigmatic figures to emerge …
Louis Uchitelle / New York Times:
A New Generation, an Elusive American Dream — GRAFTON, Mass. — After breakfast, his parents left for their jobs, and Scott Nicholson, alone in the house in this comfortable suburb west of Boston, went to his laptop in the living room. He had placed it on a small table that his mother …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Villainous Company, Commentary, The Atlantic Online, Gawker and alicublog
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Something Is Happening In Palinland — From Mercede Johnston's blog: … That's a very good question. So is the question of how Palin finally put the screws on Levi. In Palinland, no one knows what's really going on. But I wonder if this is a somewhat panicked response …
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People.com:
Levi Johnston Apologizes to Palin Family for ‘Youthful Indiscretion’
Levi Johnston Apologizes to Palin Family for ‘Youthful Indiscretion’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The Other McCain, Little Green Footballs, The Powers That Be, Big Journalism, Tim Blair, The EM Network, Flopping Aces, Indecision Forever, No Sheeples Here, The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online, HillBuzz, Pajamas Media, Power Line, Riehl World View, Bookworm Room, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jules Crittenden, Hollywood Life, NewsReal Blog, Moonbattery, Politics Daily, CNN, Gawker, The Page, The Rhetorican, New York Magazine, The Greenroom, American Glob, protein wisdom and Don Surber
Kos / Daily Kos:
Why I am blacklisted by MSNBC — In case you were wondering why you haven't seen me on MSNBC recently, it seems that Joe Scarborough, he of the lowest rated morning show in cableland, has blackballed me. And Phil Griffin, the alleged president of MSNBC, is going along with it.
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Democrats digging harder than ever for dirt on Republicans — The Democratic Party is moving faster and more aggressively than in previous election years to dig up unflattering details about Republican challengers. In House races from New Jersey to Ohio to California …
Discussion:
Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Liberal Values, Pat Dollard, NewsBusters.org, National Review, Pundit & Pundette and The Eye
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
Tipper Gore Isn't Buying Masseuse's Story — According to the tabloids, the last straw in Al and Tipper Gore's 40-year marriage was massage therapist Molly Hagerty's claim the former Vice President demanded sexual favors during a 2006 massage in his Portland, Ore. hotel room.
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Mitt Romney's dumb critique of Obama's New START nuke treaty. — In 35 years of following debates over nuclear arms control, I have never seen anything quite as shabby, misleading and—let's not mince words—thoroughly ignorant as Mitt Romney's attack on the New START treaty in the July 6 Washington Post.
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Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
Darrell Issa Emerges as Obama's Annoyer-in-Chief — WASHINGTON — As a sign of the pride Representative Darrell Issa takes in annoying the Obama administration, consider his account of a recent exchange with Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman and now the White House chief of staff.
Discussion:
The Page
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Danette M. Watt / The Telegraph:
Mob shoots fireworks at police, firefighters — ALTON - First responders from the Alton Fire Department and five officers from the Alton Police Department were attacked by a crowd of several hundred people in the Oakwood Housing Complex who shot large bottle rockets at them.
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Terry Savage / Chicago Sun Times:
There is no ‘free’ lemonade — In giving drink away, girls ignore rules of economics — and sum up what's wrong with U.S. — This column is a true story — every word of it. And I think it very appropriate to consider around the Fourth of July, Independence Day spirit.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Wonkette, Stop The ACLU, First Draft, Gawker, Indecision Forever and AMERICAblog News
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Rep. Capito wants November special election for Byrd seat — Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) weighed in Wednesday on the succession process for the late-Sen. Robert Byrd's seat for the first time. — Capito called for a special election this November to fill the seat.
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Paul Krugman:
Why Isn't Investment Higher? — Truly, we live in a time of mass delusion — or maybe make that elite delusion — where there are lots of things that everyone believes, without a shred of evidence to back that belief. Here's one more: everywhere you go, you encounter the claim that businesses …
Colorado Pols:
Colorado Pols Responds to Newspaper Legal Threats — UPDATE: Check out this note we received from David Mastio, Deputy Editorial Page Editor at The Washington Times: … You might have noticed that the principal authors of Colorado Pols have not cited The Denver Post, or several other newspapers in the state, for some weeks.
theblogprof:
Good news: Michigan school district effectively bans white teachers from being hired — UPDATE: On second thought, it is interesting that liberals want to beat conservatives over the head with a legal shovel when it suits their purposes. But when the law is against their ideological goals, they flip it the finger.
Discussion:
The Rhetorican
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Head Of 'World's Largest Interactive Christian Website' Calls Out Beck's ‘Deception’ About His Mormonism — Glenn Beck often speaks about faith on his radio show and Fox News program, but he almost never mentions his own faith — Mormonism. Beck's audience largely consists of conservative Christians …
ABCNEWS:
Senator David Vitter Calls Case of Violent Aide Old News — Louisiana Senator Brushes Off Questions About His Decision to Retain Staffer After Arrest — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter today offered his first public response to questions about the behavior of his longtime aide …
John M. Broder / New York Times:
Obama Asks Court to Reinstate Ban on Deepwater Drilling — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has asked a federal court in Louisiana to reinstate the ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the moratorium was a rational response to the unprecedented emergency of the BP oil spill.
Discussion:
And So it Goes in Shreveport, Law Blog, American Thinker, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and The Daily Caller
Donald Douglas / American Power:
Rachel Maddow Reports From Kandahar; or, Just When You Thought DOD Got Beat Up on Rolling Stone and McChrystal... I caught a little coverage earlier of Rachel Maddow's reporting from Afghanistan. Yeah, you read that right: The fever swamp leftist with her own show on MSNBC is actually in Afghanistan to report on the war.
Jana Winter / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE: Number of Afghans Gone AWOL in U.S. Reaches 46 — LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas — A be-on-the-lookout alert issued last month for 17 Afghan military men who walked away from an Air Force base in Texas has turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
The NASA (non) feeding frenzy — From a Nexis search a few moments ago: — Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the New York Times: 0. — Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program in the Washington Post: 0. — Total words about the NASA Muslim outreach program on NBC Nightly News: 0.
Stephanie Vallejo / Boston Globe:
CBO report: Kerry's climate bill would cut deficit by $19b — WASHINGTON - Senator John F. Kerry's signature energy and climate change legislation would cut the deficit by $19 billion, according to a new estimate released today by the Congressional Budget Office.