Top Items:
The Politico:
Why President Obama loses by winning — The imminent passage of financial reform, just a couple months after the passage of comprehensive health care, should decisively end the narrative that President Obama represents a Jimmy Carter-style case of naïve hope crushed by the inability to master Washington.
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Politico's theory: Liberal bloggers don't care if Dems sustain large losses this fall — I'm probably a sucker for biting on this attack on the liberal blogosphere from Poiltico top-dog editors John Harris and Jim VandeHei, but this is so divorced from reality that it really shouldn't go unanswered:
Jia Lynn Yang / Washington Post:
Companies pile up cash but remain hesitant to add jobs — Corporate America is hoarding a massive pile of cash. It just doesn't want to spend it hiring anyone. — Nonfinancial companies are sitting on $1.8 trillion in cash, roughly one-quarter more than at the beginning of the recession.
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
House Democrats hit boiling point over perceived lack of White House support — House Democrats are lashing out at the White House, venting long-suppressed anger over what they see as President Obama's lukewarm efforts to help them win reelection — and accusing administration officials …
Wall Street Journal:
Three Million Imaginary Jobs — The White House says the stimulus worked beyond even its hopes. Seriously. — It may be that the last people in America who believe that the $862 billion economic stimulus of February 2009 created millions of net new jobs are Vice President Joe Biden and the staff economists in the White House.
Conservative Generation / Left Coast Rebel:
(Bumped) Think Progress proves the Tea Party is not racist by posting video of racists not in the Tea Party — The claims of racism in the Tea Party movement are so overblown and unsubstantiated that the best Think Progress could do to prove racism was post a video of four supposed racist Tea Partiers.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Ad Astrum, Big Government, Confederate Yankee and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Boehner: Wall Street Reform Should Be Repealed — They're not campaigning on it in earnest — at least not yet — but Republican leaders say that, given the power, they would like to do away with Wall Street reform much like they have already discussed repealing health care reform.
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Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi blames Senate delays for bleak election year landscape
Pelosi blames Senate delays for bleak election year landscape
Discussion:
The Politico
Alexei Barrionuevo / New York Times:
Argentina Approves Gay Marriage — BUENOS AIRES — Argentina's Senate narrowly approved a measure early on Thursday authorizing same-sex marriages, making Argentina the first country in Latin America to allow gay couples to wed. — After 15 hours of debate, the Senate voted 33 to 27 …
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David W. Dunlap / City Room:
18th-Century Ship Found at Trade Center Site — In the middle of tomorrow, a great ribbed ghost has emerged from a distant yesterday. — On Tuesday morning, workers excavating the site of the underground vehicle security center for the future World Trade Center hit a row of sturdy …
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
My Biggest Mistake in the White House — Failing to refute charges that Bush lied us into war has hurt our country. — Seven years ago today, in a speech on the Iraq war, Sen. Ted Kennedy fired the first shot in an all-out assault on President George W. Bush's integrity.
Discussion:
Emptywheel, New York Magazine, Democrats.com, The Corner on National … and JustOneMinute
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Pretty Bad 2012 numbers for Obama — With his approval numbers hitting new lows it's no surprise that Barack Obama's numbers in our monthly look ahead to the 2012 Presidential race are their worst ever this month. He trails Mitt Romney 46-43, Mike Huckabee 47-45, Newt Gingrich 46-45, and is even tied with Sarah Palin at 46.
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's …, The New Republic and GayPatriot
John R. Emshwiller / Wall Street Journal:
Senate VIP Loans Mount — Countrywide Dealt With More Lawmakers and Staffers Than Previously Known — Angelo Mozilo, former Countrywide Financial chairman — U.S. senators or Senate employees received 30 loans—far more than had previously been known—under a controversial lending program …
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New York Times:
Fund-Raising Before House Vote Draws Scrutiny — WASHINGTON — Lawmakers take contributions every day from corporate executives and lobbyists hoping for their votes. The question of whether that represents business as usual in Washington or an ethics breach is at the heart …
Discussion:
Gawker, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Wonk Room, Truthdig, Prairie Weather, The BLT and Balloon Juice
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The Daily Caller:
The Daily Caller acquires KeithOlbermann.com — The Daily Caller, one of the fastest-growing online media properties, announced today its acquisition of KeithOlbermann.com, expanding the company's global reach into a new segment of the online political market.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Moonbattery, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Mediaite and NewsBusters.org, more at Mediagazer »
Annie Lowrey / The Washington Independent:
In Dodging a Budget Vote, Dems Take Reconciliation Off the Table — Decision Could Preclude a Jobs Bill Next Year … On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced that the country's deficit had hit the $1 trillion mark just nine months into the fiscal year.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, The Corner on National …, Alas, a blog, The Politico and The New Republic
Mark Halperin / Time:
Sarah Palin in '12? Why She's for Real — The music swells and then picks up tempo. Sarah Palin is talking about how 2010 will be the year that “commonsense conservative women get things done for our country.” She's worried about “these policies coming out of D.C. right now …
Ezra Klein:
Do conservatives care about the deficit? Do Democrats? — Matt Yglesias asks the question and assembles some evidence. The two modern conservative presidents, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, “both presided over massive increases in both present and projected deficits.”
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, American Prospect, AmSpecBlog, RedState, Guardian and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
CNBC:
Economic Recovery Showing New Signs of Losing Steam — Investors got a strong dose of sobering economic news Thursday as several key manufacturing indexes show that the recovery is losing steam. — The few bright spots: New claims for jobless benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly two years …
New York Times:
Economics Behaving Badly — IT seems that every week a new book or major newspaper article appears showing that irrational decision-making helped cause the housing bubble or the rise in health care costs. — Such insights draw on behavioral economics, an increasingly popular field …
Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:
2008 voter-intimidation case against New Black Panthers a political bombshell — A 2008 voter-intimidation case has become a political controversy for the Obama administration as conservative lawyers, politicians and commentators raise concerns that the Department of Justice has failed to protect the civil rights of white voters.
First Read / msnbc.com:
First thoughts: Super freak (out) — When the going gets tough, Democrats, well, freak out... But is the freak-out over Gibbs' comment over?... Why the expectations game may be out of control for Republicans... Obama to deliver speech on the economy/stimulus in Michigan at 1:30 pm ET …
Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
MSNBC Host Calls Reid ‘Ball-less’ — ANOTHER MELTDOWN — Libtalker: ‘Shove Those (GOP) Bastards Into The Dirthole’ — All week, the big question has been whether Democrats are truly imploding, or simply projecting that image to reduce electoral expectations and create complacent Republicans.
Discussion:
No Sheeples Here, Weasel Zippers, Left Coast Rebel, NewsBusters.org, Gateway Pundit and Moonbattery
TheDenverChannel.com:
Researcher Says Scott McInnis Lied — Rolly Fischer: I Didn't Know He Was Making Money On Articles — Tom Burke and Arthur Kane and John Ferrugia , CALL7 Investigators — GLENWOOD SPRINGS — The man Scott McInnis blamed for the plagiarized material in an article on water rights told …
Discussion:
Denver Post, The Latest Word, The Spot, Hotline On Call, ColoradoPols.com, Colorado Independent and TalkLeft
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Economic Confidence Heading Further Down in July — Americans' outlook for the economy has grown progressively worse since April — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Daily tracking finds Americans' confidence in the economy significantly lower so far in July than in June. And confidence in June was, in turn, down from May.
Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Wisconsin Senate — Wisconsin Senate: Johnson (R) 47%, Feingold (D) 46% — Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold and his chief Republican challenger Ron Johnson remain locked in a neck-and-neck battle for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …
New York Times:
The Google Algorithm — Google handles nearly two-thirds of Internet search queries worldwide. Analysts reckon that most Web sites rely on the search engine for half of their traffic. When Google engineers tweak its supersecret algorithm — as they do hundreds of times a year …
Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
DGA-funded group called Branstad ‘liberal’ during GOP primary — The Democratic Governors Association was so concerned about Iowa Gov. Chet Culver's (D) prospects in a contest against Terry Branstad (R) that it tried to scuttle his gubernatorial campaign in the primary.