Top Items:
Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:
Bombing the Moon — Following up on my GOP mind games post, Ezra Klein makes a smart observation in this morning's Wonkbook on how the GOP transformed tax increases from a important, necessary option in the deficit debate into something evil and extremist. To prove his point …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Eschaton and The Hill
RELATED:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Top Dems Provide Fresh Detail On High-Income Tax Proposal That Led GOP To Abandon Debt Talks — Two of the top Democrats in Congress are calling out their Republican counterparts for abandoning high-stakes debt talks, and have provided new details about the tax proposals that sent the GOP packing.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Eschaton
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: How could taxes blow up debt talks? — (Susan Walsh - AP) It is remarkable to watch how Republicans have taken tax increases, which have long been present in deficit-reduction deals and generally considered the equivalent of spending cuts, and turned them into something vastly more extreme and unthinkable.
New York Times:
Their Temper Tantrum
Their Temper Tantrum
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Swampland, Washington Post, The Politico, The Mahablog, The Caucus and Washington Monthly
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Speaker Boehner: Debt-ceiling deal with tax increases ‘cannot pass’ the House
Speaker Boehner: Debt-ceiling deal with tax increases ‘cannot pass’ the House
Discussion:
The Note
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Republicans: Walkout from Biden-led negotiations was long planned
Republicans: Walkout from Biden-led negotiations was long planned
Discussion:
The Politico, The Caucus, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and New York Times
The Politico:
Pair of votes shows House divided on Libya — The House delivered a surprising split decision on Libya Friday: Voting against authorizing the use of American forces there and then, an hour later, refusing to limit funding for the mission. — In essence, the House decided …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Comments from Left Field, The Heritage Foundation, AmSpecBlog and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
President ‘becoming an absolute monarch’ on war powers, Dem says — A House Democrat warned Friday that the U.S. president is becoming an “absolute monarch” on matters related to the authority to start a war. — Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Congress must act to limit funding …
Discussion:
Don Surber
Jennifer Steinhauer / The Caucus:
House Deals Obama Symbolic Blow With Libya Votes — Updated The House of Representatives dealt a symbolic blow to President Obama Friday by resoundingly failing to approve a bill authorizing the contentious military operations in Libya. But, the body stopped short of a total desertion …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, TPMDC, Reuters, Gawker, New York Magazine, TalkLeft and Weigel
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Plurality of Americans love Gadaffi — Hillary Clinton, yesterday, when asked about those questioning the Libya War: … Gallup, yesterday (click image to enlarge): — It's not only a plurality of Americans who are “on Gaddafi's side,” but also the head of the Arab League …
Discussion:
TalkLeft and Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
Hillary Clinton, to Libya War Critics: “Whose side are you on?”
Hillary Clinton, to Libya War Critics: “Whose side are you on?”
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Pajamas Media
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans Shift to More Negative View of Libya Military Action
Americans Shift to More Negative View of Libya Military Action
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, Top of the Ticket and HotAirPundit
Hillary Rodham Clinton / US Department of State:
Remarks With Jamaican Foreign Minister Kenneth Baugh and St. Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor
Remarks With Jamaican Foreign Minister Kenneth Baugh and St. Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister Sam Condor
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain and Salon
New York Times:
Seized Phone Offers Clues to Bin Laden's Pakistani Links — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The cellphone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier, which was recovered in the raid that killed both men in Pakistan last month, contained contacts to a militant group that is a longtime asset …
Discussion:
BBC, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, The Heritage Foundation, FP Passport, Guardian, The CenterLine, The Long War Journal, The Politico, The Moderate Voice, Connecting.the.Dots, Lawfare, The Page, News Desk, Washington Post, Global Public Square, New York Magazine, Verum Serum and HotAirPundit
New York Times:
Politicians Who Fear the Public Light — As we wrote this editorial on Thursday evening, we were still waiting for the New York State Senate to do what it should have done long ago — end a basic inequality under the law by allowing same-sex couples the full right to marry.
Discussion:
GLAADBlog.org, Politics on the Hudson, The Gist, Capital Tonight, AMERICAblog Gay and Good As You
RELATED:
City Room:
Frustration Rising in Albany With No Vote on Marriage
Frustration Rising in Albany With No Vote on Marriage
Discussion:
WGRZ-TV, Salon, ThinkProgress, Gawker, Capitol Confidential, PolitickerNY, Towleroad News #gay, New York Times and The Caucus
Katherine M. Franke / New York Times:
Marriage Is a Mixed Blessing
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Fighting Words: DeMint Warns Republicans They May Be ‘Gone’ if They Support Debt Ceiling Increase — Conservative firebrand Sen. Jim DeMint has a message to fellow Republicans in Congress: If you support increasing the debt ceiling without first passing a balanced budget amendment …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Little Green Footballs, TPMDC, The Politico, The Lonely Conservative, RedState and HotAirPundit
Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:
New Jersey Lawmakers Approve Benefits Rollback for Work Force — TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday approved a broad rollback of benefits for 750,000 government workers and retirees, the deepest cut in state and local costs in memory, in a major victory for Gov. Chris Christie …
Discussion:
Salon, Hot Air, The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blog, Hotline On Call, Truthdig, Big Government, Sweetness & Light, NewsBusters.org blogs, JSOnline and The Other McCain
RELATED:
Dana Ritter / White House Wrap:
Commander In Chief Misspeaks About Soldier Killed in Afghanistan — During his remarks to troops at Fort Drum today, the President was reminiscing about the times he has spent with the US Army's 10th Mountain Division, when he got something wrong. … The problem is, Jared Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006.
RELATED:
Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:
President Obama's Terrible Mistake
President Obama's Terrible Mistake
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, JustOneMinute, Verum Serum and American Power
David Weigel / Weigel:
Romney Goes Classic — Clicking around on In These Times (!), I noticed this ad directing me to Mitt Romney's campaign site. — Those people aren't dressed like Americans in the year 2011, are they? No. That's because this is copied from (or lovingly designed in tribute to!) …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog and The Wire
JSOnline:
Johnson proves to be a big spender - and taker: Firm pays him $10 million — After dropping nearly $9 million from his own pocket to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, Ron Johnson didn't have to feel the pain for very long. — Johnson's plastics company paid him $10 million in deferred compensation shortly …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:
Iran giving out condoms for criminals to rape us, say jailed activists — Smuggled letters allege authorities are using mass rape as a weapon inside Iran's most notorious prisons — Prison guards in Iran are giving condoms to criminals and encouraging them to systematically rape young …
Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Exclusive: Top U.S. admiral admits we are trying to kill Qaddafi — The top U.S. admiral involved in the Libya war admitted to a U.S. congressman that NATO forces are trying to kill Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi. The same admiral also said he anticipated the need for ground troops …
Discussion:
National Review
Amit Singhal / The Official Google Blog:
Supporting choice, ensuring economic opportunity — At Google, we've always focused on putting the user first. We aim to provide relevant answers as quickly as possible—and our product innovation and engineering talent have delivered results that users seem to like, in a world where the competition is only one click away.
Discussion:
The Politico, Guardian, Bits, AllThingsD, TechCrunch and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Can liberals start their own tea party? — Van Jones is hoping to rival the tea party movement. (Carlos Osorio - AP Photo) — At last weekend's Netroots Nation gathering in Minneapolis, liberal activists expressed frustration that they lacked the political power or media focus given to the conservative tea-party movement.
Discussion:
AlterNet, Taylor Marsh, Instapundit, RedState, The Daily Caller, Jack & Jill Politics, The Nation and Seeing the Forest
RELATED:
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
Tea Partiers Create Their Own TV Show and Production Company (Exclusive)
Tea Partiers Create Their Own TV Show and Production Company (Exclusive)
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Mediaite, Gawker and Big Hollywood
The Politico:
Romney dominates GOP cash dash — Everyone knows Mitt Romney is going to outpace the GOP presidential field when next month's fundraising reports come out. But the scale of his money advantage is finally coming into shape: the rest of the field is going to be eating his dust.
Associated Press:
House vote to defund Libya mission fails — Measure comes hours after lawmakers rejected resolution to authorize operation — Below: — WASHINGTON — Hours after rejecting a resolution to authorize the U.S. military operation in Libya, the House on Friday voted down a measure that would have cut off funds for the mission.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The News Tribune
Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Osama wanted new name for al-Qaida to repair image — WASHINGTON (AP) — As Osama bin Laden watched his terrorist organization get picked apart, he lamented in his final writings that al-Qaida was suffering from a marketing problem. His group was killing too many Muslims and that was bad for business.
Discussion:
Power Line, Danger Room, Weasel Zippers, FP Passport, Gawker and Truthdig