Private Growth Is Tepid as U.S. Economy Sheds Jobs Overall  —  With the American economic recovery hanging in the balance, private employers added 71,000 jobs in July, up from a downwardly revised 31,000 in June but below the consensus forecast of 90,000.  The unemployment rate stayed steady at 9.5 percent.

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.

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.

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.

Scalia Was Right  —  Why the same-sex marriage ruling will stand.  —  For the first time, a federal judge has held that the Constitution mandates the legal redefinition of marriage.  The California Supreme Court had reached a similar conclusion in 2008, and voters responded by amending …

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 …

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.

IGNORING AN ALARM.... In light of the latest discouraging jobs report — the third consecutive month in which the job totals were disappointing — there's an obvious course ahead.  Heidi Shierholz, an economist from the Economic Policy Institute, said, “The economic case for more government action …

Charlie Rangel won't ‘plea bargain’  —  Charlie Rangel suggests he's being pressured into taking a plea deal.  AP  —  Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) suggested Thursday in an impassioned speech in Harlem that he was being pressured to take a plea deal to make other people “comfortable” …

Private Sector Adding Jobs, State Budget Crises Killing Economy  —  The new unemployment report highlights the fact that the economy remains lousy and John Boehner is going to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Ironically, it also demonstrates the bankruptcy of Boehner's way of thinking.

Hiroshima and the Art of Outrage  —  THE Futenma Marine Corps Air Station on Okinawa, one of the largest United States military bases in East Asia, is in the center of a crowded city.  The American and Japanese governments acknowledge the dangers of this situation, and they agreed nearly 15 years ago …

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 …

Bulletin: Porno Pete's ‘Truth Academy’ a Poorly Attended Dud  —  Earlier today, Peter LaBarbera opened his Truth Academy confernece, a three day gay bashing extravaganza in a Chicago exurb.  Despite weeks of flogging the event and several stories in right wing media, our spies tell us that the event was a major dud.

Nancy Pelosi's Fate Could Be Decided Here: The View From Oregon  —  WEST LINN, Oregon — Bullseye Coffee — a café, a yarn shop and a postal box rental center all in one homey room with local art (all for sale) on the walls — is a prime spot to chart how the economic doldrums are shaping this election year.

The RNC's least favorite reporter  —  One Times scribe has made the infighting within the Republican National Committee his beat.  Reuters  —  The Republican National Committee, embroiled in an internal squabble over the leadership of chairman Michael Steele, is leaking like a sieve.

2 Top Economists Differ Sharply on Risk of Deflation  —  When the latest unemployment figures are announced on Friday, all of Wall Street will be watching.  But for Richard Berner of Morgan Stanley and Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs, the results will be more than just another marker in an avalanche of data.

Current or Former Lawmakers Linked to Endowments Made by Corporations  —  WASHINGTON — Nearly a dozen current or former lawmakers have been honored by university endowments financed in part by corporations with business before Congress, posing some potential conflicts like that attributed …

Is Health Care Special?  —  Uwe E. Reinhardt is an economics professor at Princeton.  He has some financial interests in the health care field.  —  On a recent episode of the television talk show “Raw Nerve,” the host William Shatner, of “Star Trek” fame, had this exchange with Rush Limbaugh: