Top Items:
Manu Raju / The Politico:
McConnell to Franken: This isn't ‘SNL’ — When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell laid out his opposition to Elena Kagan's Supreme Court nomination, someone in the chamber appeared to be moving around in his chair, gasping and rolling his eyes. — It was Sen. Al Franken.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, The Note, New York Magazine and Don Surber
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell scolds Franken for making faces from dais during his speech — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) scolded Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on the Senate floor Thursday for allegedly mocking him while he delivered a solemn speech on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
Discussion:
The Politico
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Senate Votes to Confirm Elena Kagan for U.S. Supreme Court — WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan to a seat on the Supreme Court on Thursday, giving President Obama his second appointment to the high court in a year, and a political victory as the Senate neared the end of its business for the summer.
Discussion:
The TrogloPundit, The Reaction, ACS Blog, msnbc.com, Open Congress, Indecision Forever, The Impolitic and MyDD
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE.... Time will tell what the Senate …
HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE.... Time will tell what the Senate …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Plum Line and The New Republic
Jill Lawrence / Politics Daily:
GOP's McConnell on Birthright Citizenship: No One Wants to Alter 14th Amendment
GOP's McConnell on Birthright Citizenship: No One Wants to Alter 14th Amendment
Discussion:
GRITtv, The Moderate Voice, The Washington Independent, TPMDC and Indecision Forever
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Senate confirms Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court
Senate confirms Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court
Discussion:
RHRealityCheck.org, Firedoglake, The Awl, JOSHUAPUNDIT and Hit & Run
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Scott Brown will vote against confirming Kagan
Sen. Scott Brown will vote against confirming Kagan
Discussion:
The Politico and Hot Air
Kirk Victor / Hotline On Call:
Romer To Leave White House — Christina Romer, chairwoman of Pres. Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, has decided to resign, according to a source familiar with her plans. — Romer, an economics professor at the University of California (Berkeley) before taking the key admin post, did not respond to repeated calls to her office.
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Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Top Obama Adviser on Economics to Step Down
Top Obama Adviser on Economics to Step Down
Discussion:
National Review
Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Gay Marriage Ruling a Challenge for Both Parties — SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge's decision on Wednesday overturning Proposition 8 — California's ban on same-sex marriage — has tossed a largely unwanted issue into the middle of the November midterm elections.
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James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Scalia Was Right — Why the same-sex marriage ruling will stand.
Scalia Was Right — Why the same-sex marriage ruling will stand.
Discussion:
American Spectator, neo-neocon, RedState and The BLT
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Axelrod: President remains opposed to same-sex marriage
Axelrod: President remains opposed to same-sex marriage
Discussion:
MyDD, No More Mister Nice Blog, Opinion L.A., Wonkette, The Daily Dish, TalkLeft, Good As You, The Confluence, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Fox News
Oleoleolson / AlterNet Blogs:
Massive Censorship Of Digg Uncovered — A group of influential conservative members of the behemoth social media site Digg.com have just been caught red-handed in a widespread campaign of censorship, having multiple accounts, upvote padding, and deliberately trying to ban progressives.
Discussion:
Guardian, Firedoglake, The BRAD BLOG, ReadWriteWeb and Newshoggers.com, more at Techmeme »
Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
Rep. Wamp loses gov. primary to Mayor Haslam — Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (R) defeated Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R) to claim the GOP gubernatorial nod Thursday. — Boosted by his support during early voting, Haslam was declared the winner by the Associated Press close …
Discussion:
MyDD and The Politico
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Aaron Blake / The Fix:
Bill Haslam wins GOP nomination for governor in Tennessee — Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam ran away with the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee on Thursday, beating a field that included Rep. Zach Wamp and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey. — With 6 percent of precincts reporting, Haslam led second-place Wamp 52 percent to 27 percent.
Discussion:
CNN, Scared Monkeys and The Page
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Flimflam Man — One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans. You might have thought, given past experience, that D.C. insiders would be on their guard against conservatives with grandiose plans.
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather, Hullabaloo, Economist's View and Balloon Juice
Media Matters for America:
Ben Dimiero & Eric Hananoki: Meet Breitbart's Sherrod writer: Racist sexual “expert” and inventor (who cured cancer) — In two posts on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment website, Dr. Kevin Pezzi smears Shirley Sherrod as a racist, claiming that “if someone deserves to be put on a pedestal for overcoming racism, it isn't Sherrod.”
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Eschaton, Washington Monthly, The Poor Man Institute, Little Green Footballs and The Impolitic
Paul Krugman:
Bending The Curve — The new Medicare Trustees Report is out. Comparing Table IIIA-2 in this year's report and last year's report, we get this: — Medicare Trustees — In other words, the Medicare actuaries believe that the cost-saving provisions in the Obama health reform …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute and Grasping Reality …
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The Huffington Post:
Medicare Gets New Lease On Life; Social Security Remains Healthy
Medicare Gets New Lease On Life; Social Security Remains Healthy
Discussion:
ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Timothy F. Geithner / ssa.gov:
A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC: — Each year the Trustees …
A MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC: — Each year the Trustees …
Discussion:
CNBC, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Foundry, Washington Times, The TrogloPundit, CNNMoney.com and Washington Post
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Old Washington hands break with GOP leaders on Bush-era tax cuts — A number of old Republican hands warning of a deficit crisis have split with the GOP leadership over extending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts. — Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), President Reagan's budget chief David Stockman …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:
Exotic Deals Put Denver Schools Deeper in Debt — In the spring of 2008, the Denver public school system needed to plug a $400 million hole in its pension fund. Bankers at JPMorgan Chase offered what seemed to be a perfect solution. — The bankers said that the school system …
Discussion:
The Fix, Open Left, Hotline On Call and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
Dems accused of tea party tampering — The charges of dirty tricks are being leveled in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Jersey and Florida. AP Photo — Nationally, Democrats say they intend to campaign against the tea party movement. But locally, Democratic officials and activists …
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel and Riehl World View
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David Weigel / Slate:
African-American conservatives explain that the only racists …
African-American conservatives explain that the only racists …
Discussion:
sisu, Riehl World View and Hot Air
Larry J. Sabato / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
The Record-Setting Midterm of 2010 — Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics — Everyone already knows the 2010 elections are significant and competitive. Let's add record-setting to that description. Why? — 2010 features the most U.S. Senate seats on the November ballot (37) since 1962.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and The Moderate Voice
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama admin skewers GOP attack on stimulus cocaine monkeys — Are your stimulus dollars really being wasted on getting monkeys high on crack and cocaine? — In recent days, select Republicans and conservatives have taken to bashing the Obama administration over this claim.
Discussion:
Wonkette, RedState, Washington Monthly and The Other McCain
Martin Chulov / Guardian:
Saddam deputy wants US to stay — Exclusive: In his first interview since the fall of Baghdad, Tariq Aziz accuses Barack Obama of ‘leaving Iraq to the wolves’ — • Read Martin Chulov's full interview with Tariq Aziz here — Saddam Hussein's most loyal deputy, Tariq Aziz …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, FP Passport and The Moderate Voice
Richard E. Cohen / The Politico:
State aid bill a gamble for Dems — Vunerable House members worry about voting for more spending but they don't want to cross Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly. John Shinkle — When the House returns next week to rubber-stamp the Senate's $26 billion state-aid package, Democrats will take a political crapshoot.
Discussion:
The Page and protein wisdom