Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Dem group launches ‘F*ck Tea’ campaign — Last summer, Democrats argued that the Tea Party movement was the astroturf creation of corporate groups. Now that the grassroots conservative resurgence has emerged as a clear force on the right, the left is making a different case: That tea parties are simply the enemy.
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Wall Street Journal:
Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer — Pessimism Rises on Economy and War; Bad Reviews for Both Democrats and GOP — Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Public favors Tea Party over top Dems — The American public has a more positive view of the Tea Party movement than both leaders of the majority party in Congress, according to a poll released Wednesday. — An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that 30 percent view the grassroots conservative groups …
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, NRSC, Weasel Zippers and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Congressman Rangel's Party a Display of Defiance — It was a dramatic but fitting start to an evening that brimmed with political defiance. About 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, as guests began strolling into the Plaza Hotel to celebrate Representative Charles B. Rangel's 80th birthday …
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Rangel attacks press over ethics woes, pledges silence on case
Discussion:
Ballot Box and NY Daily News
Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:
But It's Awesome Broccoli for the Rich! — Matt Bai writes about the Paul Ryan's budget plan ... without writing about Paul Ryan's budget plan: … Unless, of course, you're wealthy, because the plan cuts upper-income tax brackets by 10 percent, so that “households with incomes …
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage Appears to Shift at Accelerated Pace — In April, 2009, when we last took a survey of gay marriage polls, we found that support for it had converged somewhere into the area of 41 or 42 percent of the country. Now, it appears to have risen by several points …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, The Eye, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Hot Air and CNN
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Megan Carpentier / TPMMuckraker:
‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Imam Was A Bush-Era Partner For Mideast Peace — Tuesday, Reps. Peter King (R-NY) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) called Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf — best known for his work with multicultural Cordoba Initiative to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan …
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Clifford D. May / National Review:
The Taboo of the Intellectuals
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Commentary and Power Line
ABCNEWS:
Civil Unrest: The Death of Decorum in Washington? — Has Civility Reached an Historic Low in Congress? — There was an extraordinary moment during the final senate debate on Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation. While Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) delivered remarks, Senator Al Franken …
Discussion:
Stop The ACLU
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Timothy Egan / Opinionator:
The Mirthless Senate — Senator Al Franken at the hearing …
Discussion:
Althouse
Michelle Malkin:
The vulgarity of liberal female “comedians” — Left-wing female comedians are proving that they can be as crude and stupid as their male counterparts. Who knew that striving for gender equality meant pursuing the dream that one day, someday, liberal women would be able to mock …
Discussion:
The Radio Equalizer, Gateway Pundit and Wonkette
Paul Krugman:
In The Matter Of Robert L. Gibbs — There he goes again. What gets me is how unprofessional the whole thing is. — Look, if you're a public figure of any kind, you're going to face a lot of criticism. Much of it will seem unfair to you; some of the unfair criticism will come from people …
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Robert Gibbs keeps jabbing the left
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Firedoglake
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
Borrowers Refuse to Pay Billions in Home Equity Loans — PHOENIX — During the great housing boom, homeowners nationwide borrowed a trillion dollars from banks, using the soaring value of their houses as security. Now the money has been spent and struggling borrowers are unable or unwilling to pay it back.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Felix Salmon, Clusterstock and naked capitalism
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
GOP plan to extend tax cuts for rich adds $36 billion to deficit, panel finds — A Republican plan to extend tax cuts for the rich would add more than $36 billion to the federal deficit next year — and transfer the bulk of that cash into the pockets of the nation's millionaires …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, Guardian, AMERICAblog News and Beat the Press
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
George W. Bush makes surprise visit to U.S. troops — Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, made a surprise visit to U.S. troops this afternoon. — They showed up at the USO in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. There they mingled with the returning soldiers, thanked them …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Michelle Malkin, AMERICAN DIGEST, Political Byline, Power Line, Wizbang and Shakesville
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Senate passes $600M border bill — The Senate gave its final approval to a $600 million border security bill Thursday. AP — The Senate briefly suspended its monthlong summer recess to give final approval to a $600 million border security bill Thursday, fulfilling President Barack Obama's request …
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Senate approves $600M border security bill
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Note, Facing South and FrumForum
Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
The stunning decline of Barack Obama: 10 key reasons why the Obama presidency is in meltdown — The last few weeks have been a nightmare for President Obama, in a summer of discontent in the United States which has deeply unsettled the ruling liberal elites, so much so that even the Left has begun to turn against the White House.
Discussion:
Nice Deb, Scared Monkeys, Wizbang, Liberty Pundits Blog, NY Daily News, Macsmind and Conservatives4Palin.com
Stan Collender / NiemanWatchdog.org:
Six essential questions about the deficit, Wall Street and Washington — Fiscal expert Stan Collender points out that the bond market is not demanding deficit reduction — in fact, quite the opposite. So where is the Washington establishment's obsession with the deficit coming from?
Discussion:
Ezra Klein and Hullabaloo
Peter Baker / New York Times:
The First Wave of Weary Aides Heads for the Exits — WASHINGTON — Linda Douglass slept nearly 12 hours the day after she left her job as a communications aide at the White House. And the day after that and the day after that. It took two weeks until she finally felt rested.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, Outside the Beltway, National Review, Federal Eye and New York Times
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
Cohee at OneUnited, bank in Maxine Waters case, has checkered record — As chairman and chief executive of OneUnited Bank, Kevin L. Cohee has sought to build a company that is about more than just money. He promoted the bank, now at the center of a House ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters …
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, The BLT and The Page
RELATED:
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Waters set to launch defense against ethics charges in sit-down with reporters
Discussion:
CNN
Christopher S. Rugaber / Associated Press:
New claims for unemployment aid reach 484K — New applications for jobless benefits rise to highest since February as layoffs continue — Companies: — Related Quotes — SymbolPriceChange — CFN — 22.70 — WASHINGTON (AP) — The employment picture is looking bleaker …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, protein wisdom, Another Black Conservative, Weasel Zippers and Scared Monkeys
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Durbin undergoes surgery to remove stomach tumor — Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) underwent surgery on Thursday to remove a small mass from his stomach, his office announced. — Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, underwent surgery in Chicago to remove …
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Will its offbeat candidates hurt GOP? — A former professional wrestling executive, a libertarian ophthalmologist and a man who thinks bicycle use could empower the United Nations filed to run in elections. That's not the start of a joke: that's a sampling of the deeply unusual pool of candidates running …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Don Surber, New York Times, Washington Wire, msnbc.com and Ballot Box
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Marco Rubio hedges on Fla. immigration bill — Marco Rubio declined to take a firm stance on a bill that would require immigrants to carry ID. AP — Florida GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio on Thursday declined to take a firm stance on a newly proposed bill in the state that would require immigrants …
Brett Michael Dykes / Yahoo! News:
Cringe-inducing typo outside N.C. school — Well, here's something to make your old English teacher gasp in horror: A road contractor hired to paint the word “school” on a freshly paved stretch of road near Southern Guilford High School in North Carolina rendered the traffic area in question a “shcool” zone.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, theblogprof, The TrogloPundit and Pajamas Media
The Huffington Post:
Huckabee Opposes Changing 14th Amendment, Setting Himself Apart From GOP Again — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Distinguishing himself once more from his GOP rivals when it comes to immigration policy, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said on Wednesday that he didn't back efforts to rethink …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, TPMDC and FrumForum
Sarah Ostman / The Blago Blog:
Jury unanimous on only two counts; has not yet deliberated on 11 wire fraud counts — Reporting with Natasha Korecki, Dave McKinney and Abdon Pallash — The Blagojevich jury has reached a unanimous decision on only two of counts before them — and they have not yet started deliberating on what could be a big chunk of work for them.
Discussion:
TalkLeft and TPMMuckraker
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Netanyahu, the anti-Obama — Two photographs adorn the office of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Together they illuminate a portentous fact: No two leaders of democracies are less alike — in life experiences, temperaments and political philosophies — than Netanyahu …
Discussion:
Commentary, Soccer Dad and Israel Matzav
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