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Education of a President — On a busy afternoon in the West Wing late last month, President Barack Obama seemed relaxed and unhurried as he sat down in a newly reupholstered brown leather chair in the Oval Office. He had just returned from the East Room, where he signed the Small Business Jobs Act …
Discussion:
The Politico, Swampland, The Hill, AmSpecBlog, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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President Obama Looks Forward — and Back — President Obama said that he expected Republicans to offer him more cooperation after November's elections, no matter the outcome. — In an hour-long interview with the Times's White House correspondent, Peter Baker, Mr. Obama predicted …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News, Political Punch and doubleplusundead

‘Spirit of Political Disclosure’? White House Press Sec once part of group that refused to disclose donors — The White House plans to continue attacking groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative organizations for not disclosing the names of donors behind political ads.
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Hot Air, POWIP, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway and Liberty Pundits Blog


Robert Gibbs, hypocritical transparency crusader
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Last Tradition, The Daily Caller and The Plum Line

20 DAYS OUT - Obama to Peter Baker: 'There's no such thing …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and Outside the Beltway

Political Wisdom: The ‘Foreign Campaign Money’ Can of Worms
Discussion:
Politics Daily and Election Law


GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino cashed in on Buffalo gay clubs Cobalt, Buddies II — Carl Paladino says kids shouldn't be “brainwashed” into thinking it's okay to be gay or be taken to a “disgusting” gay pride parade. — But he had no problem when his son, William, ran Cobalt …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Rough Sketch, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Gothamist, Runnin' Scared and Gawker
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THE HILL POLL: Republicans are up in 8 of 10 open House districts — Republicans are winning eight out of 10 competitive open House seats surveyed in a groundbreaking new poll by The Hill. — Taken on top of 11 GOP leads out of 12 freshman Democratic districts polled last week …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Fix, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Ballot Box, Right Wing News, Prairie Weather, msnbc.com and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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Four Causes that Will Lead to a Democratic Election Nightmare — Locked in place. — The four causes of what's likely to be a landslide defeat for Democrats in the midterm election are now locked in place. All that's left for Democrats in the final three weeks of the campaign is to trash Republicans …
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog


Exclusive: Chamber Receives At Least $885,000 From Over 80 Foreign Companies In Disclosed Donations Alone — Last week, ThinkProgress published an exclusive story about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's foreign fundraising operation. We noted the Chamber raises money from foreign-owned businesses for its 501 …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, Latest Open Salon Blog, Fox News, Prairie Weather and ABCNEWS
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Chamber of Commerce: The White House Wants Our Donor Lists So Its Allies Can Intimidate Our Donors — Tuesday afternoon, I spoke with Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, about the White House pressing the Chamber to release its donors list …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Sunlight Foundation, The Daily Caller and Pundit & Pundette


GOP Groups Launch Massive Ad Blitz — Alliance Spends $50 Million on Competitive House Races Where Democrats Have More Money Now — An alliance of Republican groups is launching a $50 million advertising blitz this week in a final push to help the GOP win a majority in the House …
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, Mother Jones, FoxNews.com, Wake up America, The Spot, The Caucus and The Page
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Rove-backed group raised $13M since attacks from Obama
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool


Wage cuts hurt, but they may be the only way to get Americans back to work — Last week, General Motors and the United Auto Workers announced agreement on a new two-tier wage structure that would allow the automaker to produce its next-generation subcompact car in Michigan rather than in South Korea.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Prairie Weather and Grasping Reality …
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Obama's related to Palin — NEW YORK - President Barack Obama has family ties to none other than Sarah Palin, according to the genealogists at Ancestry.com, a discovery the family history site made when looking for connections between political foes. — And that's not all …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, AmSpecBlog and Weasel Zippers
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Michelle Rhee to announce resignation as D.C. schools chancellor on Wednesday — D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will announce Wednesday that she is resigning at the end of this month, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that drew national acclaim but that also became a central issue …


The enormous mortgage-bond scandal — You thought the foreclosure mess was bad? You're right about that. But it gets so much worse once you start adding in a whole bunch of parallel messes in the world of mortgage bonds. For instance, as Tracy Alloway says, mortgage-bond documentation generally …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Grasping Reality … and naked capitalism

Rand Paul's college letters: Asked whether gov't should combat discrimination, worshipped Ayn Rand — I've obtained several letters and Op eds that Rand Paul wrote to his school newspaper in the early 1980s, and they provide a glimpse into Paul's budding libertarian mind as he grappled with his early hostility towards government.
Discussion:
The New Republic, TPMDC and Hullabaloo


Truth Lies Here — How can Americans talk to one another—let alone engage in political debate—when the Web allows every side to invent its own facts? — THIS PAST AUGUST, the left-leaning San Francisco-based Web site AlterNet posted a remarkable scoop: members of a group calling itself …
Discussion:
Liberal Values and The Moderate Voice


MAINE: Nazi symbols spray-painted on Jewish Republican candidate's signs — Media Blackout! — From Eric Dondero: — Symbols of the National Socialist Party (NAZIs) such as the ones in the photo to the left, were recently spray-painted on signs of a Jewish Republican candidate for Maine State Senate.
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Right Wing News and Gateway Pundit


GOP Congressional Candidate Walberg Suggests Using Impeachment To Get Obama's Birth Certificate — As ThinkProgress previously noted, Tim Walberg — a former GOP congressman and current Republican nominee for the House of Representatives from Michigan's seventh congressional district …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Telegram News RSS, Washington Post, Mediaite and Wonkette


Whitman and Brown's final debate a contentious one — The rivals for California governor continue their attacks on each other and stick to their talking points without offering details on how they would fix the troubled state. — Meg Whitman called Jerry Brown “the same old same old,” …
Discussion:
Reuters, Gawker, TPMDC, The Awl, Left Coast Rebel, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, ImmigrationProf Blog and PolitiCal

Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex — Gay issues have been in the news a lot lately, from the debate over same-sex marriage in Congress to a sickening rash of gay-bashing here in New York City. We see a lot of emotion out there, instead of information, and we wanted to provide some data-based context …
Discussion:
Feministe, New York Magazine, Towleroad News #gay, The Daily Weekly, The Daily Dish, Gawker, Runnin' Scared and Marginal Revolution

Obama administration appeals gay marriage ruling — (Reuters) - The Obama administration decided on Tuesday to appeal a judge's rulings that prevented the U.S. government from banning same-sex marriages, a move that could undermine support among President Barack Obama's traditional liberal base ahead of a key election.

Rep. Castle won't make endorsement in Del. Senate race — Nine-term Delaware Rep. Mike Castle, who lost his state's Senate GOP primary, said Wednesday that he won't endorse a candidate in the general election. — Castle, who is a centrist, stunningly lost to Tea Party-backed candidate Christine O'Donnell …
Discussion:
The Politico and The Note

Gore vs. the Supreme Court: The justices and the ‘CSI effect’ — In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
Discussion:
New York Magazine


Dudley Says He “Was a Minority”; Black Lawmaker Disagrees — When Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Dudley addressed the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs' monthly “Coffee & Issues” breakfast on Sept. 24, he reprised a comment he'd made at an earlier interview with the Urban League of Portland.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Awl and Daily Kos

Majorities in U.S. View Gov't as Too Intrusive and Powerful — Independents largely side with Republicans in denouncing big government — PRINCETON, NJ — Record- or near-record-high percentages of Americans are critical of the size and scope of government, as measured by four Gallup trend questions updated in September.
Discussion:
CNSNews, Weasel Zippers, Top of the Ticket and GayPatriot

JPMorgan exits electronic mortgage tracking system — NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase's CEO says the bank has stopped using the electronic mortgage tracking system used by major financial institutions. — Lawyers have argued in court proceedings that the system is unable to accurately prove ownership of mortgages.
Discussion:
Foreclosure Fraud, Newshoggers.com and The Market Ticker