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Dana Priest / Washington Post:
A short video from PBS's FRONTLINE on The Post's two-year investigation. An hour-long documentary film will run in October. Watch the trailer » — Investigative reporter Dana Priest has been The Washington Post's intelligence, Pentagon and health-care reporter.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Politics Daily, Associated Press, Townhall.com, Blogs of War, Say Anything, NO QUARTER, The Enterprise Blog, Hot Air, This Just In, The Impolitic, msnbc.com, Pharyngula, AMERICAblog News, Sweetness & Light, George's Bottom Line, The Page, Truthdig and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
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Washington Post:
A hidden world, growing beyond control — The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within …
Think Progress:
Sen. Cornyn: 'I Think A Lot Of People Are Looking Back With More Fondness On President Bush's Administration' — When Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made an appearance on C-SPAN's “Newsmakers” yesterday, a host asked him whether Republicans plan to embrace the Bush legacy, and Cornyn suggested that they wholeheartedly would.
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Robert Gibbs / msnbc.com:
July 18: Cornyn, Menendez, Sessions, Van Hollen
July 18: Cornyn, Menendez, Sessions, Van Hollen
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Think Progress and The Gavel
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Pundit Delusion — The latest hot political topic is the “Obama paradox” — the supposedly mysterious disconnect between the president's achievements and his numbers. The line goes like this: The administration has had multiple big victories in Congress, most notably on health reform …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Paul Krugman, The Monkey Cage, Althouse, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice
Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Palin sparks Twitter fight on mosque — Sarah Palin, who waded into a New York political fight by endorsing Ann Marie Buerkle in NY-25, is drifting into a decidedly higher-charged battle: The fray over a planned mosque near Ground Zero. — “Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Wire, The Note, The Atlantic Online, ABCNEWS, Guardian, pandagon.net, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Gateway Pundit, American Power and Conservatives4Palin.com
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Ezra Klein:
Republicans now blaming Democrats for Bush tax cuts — The new Republican line is that there's a “Democrat tax hike” on the way. And it's a big 'un: “An unprecedented $3.8 trillion increase” that will affect — and this is their bold and underline, not mine — “every American who pays income taxes!”
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Annie Lowrey / The Washington Independent:
The ‘Democrat Ticking Tax Bomb’ Canard — Via Morning Money, Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, is blasting the majority party for the “Democrat tax hike” coming down the pike. Here's a screen shot of an email his office sent out this morning:
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Poll: D.C. elites a world apart — In their opinions on policy and politicians ranging from President Barack Obama to Sarah Palin, elites in Washington have a strikingly divergent outlook from the rest of the nation, according to a new POLITICO poll released Monday.
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Andrew Breitbart / Big Government:
Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism-2010 — Context is everything. — In this piece you will see video evidence of racism coming from a federal appointee and NAACP award recipient and in another clip from the same event a perfect rationalization for why the Tea Party needs to exist.
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Tea party federation boots Williams — The National Tea Party Federation has expelled activist Mark Williams over his attacks on the NAACP. — A spokesman for the federation, which is seeking to become a national umbrella organization, said Sunday on CBS's “Face the Nation” …
Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:
Warren vs. Geithner, Cont. — On Friday, we saw a brewing contretemps between Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and TARP watchdog Elizabeth Warren. Warren, the Harvard Law professor who is a central advocate of the financial-reform bill's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is seen as a likely nominee to lead the new agency.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
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Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Sees Path to Control of Senate — WASHINGTON—Democrats for the first time are acknowledging that Republicans could retake the Senate this November if everything falls into place for the GOP, less than two years after Democrats held a daunting 60-seat majority.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Charleston Daily Mail, Online NewsHour, Commentary, The Caucus and The Corner on National …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
GOP candidates stiff mainstream press — Some of the most conservative and combative Republicans running for Congress are convinced that the media have it in for them. — But these candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
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Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun:
How the race has turned sour for Sharron Angle
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Senate Forecast, 7/18: Republican Outlook Improves with Focus on Likely Voter Polls — Our latest Senate simulation has the chamber convening in 2011 with an average of 53.4 Democrats (counting Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders), 46.1 Republicans, and 0.5 Charlie Crists.
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama's Highest Half-Year Approval Ratings in D.C., Hawaii — Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia residents were least likely to approve — PRINCETON, NJ — During the first half of 2010, residents of Hawaii and the District of Columbia were most likely to approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president.
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Glenn Beck Tells Audience He Might Be Going Blind — During a tearful and passionate speech at his “American Revival” meeting in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Fox News host Glenn Beck revealed that he may be going blind. — During his speech (video below), Beck told the audience, “I can't focus my eyes.”
Andy Dolan / Daily Mail:
Muslim bus drivers refuse to let guide dogs on board — Blind passengers are being ordered off buses or refused taxi rides because Muslim drivers or passengers object to their ‘unclean’ guide dogs. — One pensioner, a cancer sufferer, told how had twice been confronted by drivers and asked …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Shocking True Tales of Austerity: Bleak Growth Outlook Leads to Loss of Investor Confidence in Irish Debt — As you can see from Ireland, budget austerity doesn't reassure financial markets if austerity doesn't lead to growth: … To be clear, I don't blame Irish policymakers.
Discussion:
Associated Press
Stanley Crouch / NY Daily News:
Is NAACP blind to Farrakhan & Co.? The Nation of Islam is built on racism and lies — I do not think that the NAACP was out of order in asking the Tea Party movement to separate itself from the racists in its midst, but the famous civil rights organization ought to start by following the same suggestion.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
San Francisco Chronicle:
I-580 shootout suspect mad at left-wing politics — (07-18) 17:59 PDT Oakland — A 45-year-old parolee, described by his mother as angry at left-wing politicians, opened fire on California Highway Patrol officers on an Oakland freeway early Sunday and was hit by return fire while wearing body armor, authorities said.
Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
If you want a preview of President Obama's health-care “reform,” take a look at Massachusetts. In 2006, it enacted a “reform” that became a model for Obama. What's happened since isn't encouraging. The state did the easy part: expanding state-subsidized insurance coverage.