McConnell: I Won't Agree To Raise The Debt Limit Without Medicare Cuts  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says substantial Medicare cuts must be part of a spending and deficit cut package to get his support to raise the debt limit.  —  In a Capitol briefing with reporters Friday …

Bachmann's Debacle  —  “This is a disaster,” said one prominent Polk County Republican.  An elected official called it “an embarrassment”.  The embarrassing disaster was the result of Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann's last minute cancellation of her appearance at the Polk County GOP's Robb Kelley Dinner.

Judge strikes down corporate donations ban  —  A federal court in Alexandria, Va. on Thursday struck down a federal ban on corporate campaign contributions, in a case with potentially dramatic ramifications for a campaign finance regulatory system under siege by legal and regulatory attacks.

CNN Poll: GOP 2012 field still up in the air  —  Washington (CNN) - Call it a sign of how unsettled the GOP presidential field remains: Two of the three people at the top of new national poll in the battle for the Republican nomination may not even run for the White House.

G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement  —  Diplomats say that Canada objected to a specific mention of the 1967 borders in statement issued by world leaders calling for resumption of Israel-Palestinian peace talks.  —  Group of Eight leaders had to soften …

This Time Lapse Video of the Very Large Telescope At Work is the Coolest Thing You'll See Today  —  Your Universe (As Seen From the Home Planet) ESO/Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado  —  There's very little we can write to preface the imagery below, so we'll just set the scene and get out of the way.

Mitt Romney Supports Ethanol Subsidies, Opposes Tim Pawlenty's ‘Hard Truth’  —  ABC News' Emily Friedman (@emilyabc) & Matthew Jaffe (@jaffematt) report:  —  Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty are at odds on one of the biggest issues to voters in Iowa, home of the nation's first presidential caucuses.

U.S. Adults Estimate That 25% of Americans Are Gay or Lesbian  —  Those with lower incomes, the less educated, women, and young people give the highest estimates  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. adults, on average, estimate that 25% of Americans are gay or lesbian.

Amazon.com Reveals the Most Well-Read Cities in America  —  Cambridge, Mass., tops the list with the most books, magazines and newspapers purchased per capita of any city in the United States  —  (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Just in time for the summer reading season, Amazon.com announced its list of the Top 20 Most Well-Read Cities in America.

Wikileaks: Speculators Helped Cause Oil Bubble  —  When oil prices surged to a ridiculous $147 a barrel in the summer of 2008, conventional wisdom held that normal supply and demand issues were the cause.  Both the Bush administration (in the form of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission) …

No Ideas  —  Ezra Klein points us to the House GOP's rather pitiful jobs manifesto.  Ezra describes it as “now more than ever”: the GOP's response to the employment crisis is to demand exactly the same things it demands when the economy is doing well.  —  Actually, the same is true of the Ryan plan …

Medicare Survival Guide  —  Sometime this summer, the Democrats and the Republicans will go toe-to-toe over whether to raise the debt ceiling.  At the height of the confrontation, President Obama may well address the country and say that even though he has offered the Republicans …

Perry says he will consider White House run  —  Gov. Rick Perry today gave his strongest indication yet that he may run for president.  —  “I'm going to think about it” after the legislative session ends Monday, Perry said.  —  For years, Perry has said that he would not run for president and that he had no interest.

Spotlight takes toll on first lady's staff  —  Less than three years into the job, first lady Michelle Obama is on her third chief of staff and third social secretary.  She is on her second communications director, the White House chief usher recently departed, and her press secretary's last day is Friday.

“The bottom line is Sarah Palin is not going to run for president... She's making money, she's moved on...”  —  “... she's kind of an entertainer rather than a politician.  She still has some sway with the grass roots, but she is not going to run.”  —  So says somebody close to Romney, according to Byron York.

Rolling Thunder Riders Praise Sarah Palin's Participation in Rally  —  ABC News' Sheila Marikar [@sheilaym] reports: For the riders of Rolling Thunder, the news that Sarah Palin will participate in their national rally on Sunday came as a surprise.  A welcome surprise.

Inside Meghan McCain's Bachelorette Pad  —  The famous daughter of the famous senator shows off her 1,100-square-foot bachelorette home in West Hollywood.  —  LEAST-REPUBLICAN PIECE OF CLOTHING: My black studded Christian Louboutin heels.  They are hard-core.  My friend nicknamed them my dominatrix heels.

Soquel High School Students Suspended for Wearing White T Shirts (They're Signs of “White Supremacy")  —  Soquel, California — on the Central Coast:  —  Several high school seniors wore white t shirts to their class's group picture last Wednesday and were suspended for doing so.