Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Mother of All No-Brainers — The Republicans have changed American politics since they took control of the House of Representatives. They have put spending restraint and debt reduction at the top of the national agenda. They have sparked a discussion on entitlement reform.
Discussion:
TAPPED, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, The Politico, Politics, New York Magazine, Free exchange, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Nation, Jared Bernstein, A plain blog about politics, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org blogs, Ricochet Conversation Feed, AMERICAN FUTURE, Booman Tribune, AmSpecBlog, The Moderate Voice, Bark Bark Woof Woof, driftglass, Althouse, FrumForum, Shakesville, Oliver Willis and Cafe Hayek
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Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
A grand old cult — Someone ought to study the Republican Party. I am not referring to yet another political scientist but to a mental health professional, preferably a specialist in the power of fixations, obsessions and the like. The GOP needs an intervention. It has become a cult.
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Why Can't the GOP Get to Yes? — David Brooks does the David Brooks equivalent of losing his temper … Why can't they take the deal? — There's one semi-fair reason, which is that the Democrats and the GOP leadership got entirely too cute with the last round of negotiations …
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversation Feed and FrumForum
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The Hangover
First Thoughts: The Hangover
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, CNN, Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Associated Press
Craig Robinson / The Iowa Republican:
TIR Poll: Republicans United on Need to Defeat Obama
TIR Poll: Republicans United on Need to Defeat Obama
Discussion:
GOP 12
Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:
BMW layoffs exemplify the evisceration of the middle class — Every working American should be dismayed by — and afraid of — what BMW is doing. — By all accounts, BMW's parts distribution warehouse in Ontario was one of the jewels of the company's system.
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee and Balloon Juice
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Time in House Could Be Short for Republican Newcomers — WASHINGTON — Just when freshman House Republicans have finally learned their way to the Cannon Caucus Room, how to vote on a motion to proceed and which commissary serves the best tuna sandwiches, someone back home — worse …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Suburban Guerrilla and Prairie Weather
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David Catanese / The Politico:
Tea party's new role model: Mike Lee
Tea party's new role model: Mike Lee
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org and American Spectator
Christopher Hitchens / Slate Magazine:
Boat People — Some questions for the “activists” aboard the Gaza flotilla. — The tale of the Gaza “flotilla” seems set to become a regular summer feature, bobbing along happily on the inside pages with an occasional update. A nice sidebar for reporters covering the Greek debt crisis …
Discussion:
The Galloping Beaver
Amy Sullivan / Swampland:
Behind the Scenes, Christian Right Leaders Rally Behind Rick Perry — In early June, TIME has learned, a group of prominent figures on the Christian Right held a conference call to discuss their dissatisfaction with the current GOP presidential field, and agreed that Rick Perry would be their preferred candidate if he entered the race.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, GOP 12, Politics, The New Republic, FrumForum, Taegan Goddard's … and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Laura Italiano / New York Post:
DA set to drop charges vs. DSK — Pop the champagne, DSK. — Prosecutors will agree to drop the charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn — either on his next court date in two weeks or even sooner, according to a top investigator in the case who called the eventual dismissal “a certainty.”
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Solid Majority of Jewish Americans Still Approve of Obama — Changes in approval among Jews continues to reflect broader U.S. patterns — PRINCETON, NJ — Jewish Americans gave President Barack Obama a 60% job approval rating in June, down from 68% in May, but statistically unchanged from 64% in April.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, ThinkProgress, The Politico, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
Newt Gingrich offers bleak view of campaign finances — Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich talks with residents of Clear Lake, Iowa during the town's Independence Day parade Monday. (Charlie Neibergall/AP) — Newt Gingrich, whose presidential bid has been beset by problems including …
Discussion:
The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and TPMDC
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Administration Offers Health Care Cuts as Part of Budget Negotiations — WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are offering to cut tens of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in negotiations to reduce the federal budget deficit, but the depth of the cuts depends …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Politico, Washington Post, Sky Dancing, Democracy in America, Healthwatch, Politics and FrumForum
Edward Morrissey / The Week Magazine:
Obama can't dump Biden — The commentariat is foolishly enamored of the fantasy that Andrew Cuomo could replace Joe Biden as the president's running mate in 2012 — Not all that long ago, a group of pundits, including myself, addressed the questions swirling around the re-election prospects …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Advancing a Free Society, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
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Benyamin Korn / JTA:
Op-Ed: Jews becoming commonplace in conservative ‘new media’ — PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Many reviews already have appeared of “The Undefeated,” the soon-to-be-released documentary about Sarah Palin's tenure in Alaska.Yet none of them — even in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post or The Washington Post …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
The Politico:
Nikki Haley's rise raises tensions back home — Even the basics of Haley's relationships with the legislators have suffered. — “We used to have this problem with Sanford. He'd veto items in the budget that he put in there and asked us to pass,” said GOP state Sen. Larry Grooms.
The Daily Beast:
White Supremacist Stampede — A startling number of white-power candidates are seeking public office. Eve Conant reports on their under-the-radar strategy and David Duke's White House flirtation. — Add to the growing list of candidates considering a bid for the GOP presidential nomination …
Discussion:
USA Today, Gawker and Pam's House Blend
Brad DeLong / Bloomberg:
The Sorrow and Pity of Another Liquidity Trap — There is only one real law of economics: the law of supply and demand. If the quantity supplied goes up, the price goes down. — Back in the third quarter of 2008, the public held about $5.3 trillion of U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman
Catherine Herridge / Fox News:
White House's New Anti-Terror Strategy: Kill the Suspects? — Usama bin Laden has been killed. The U.S. is poised to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. And the Obama administration's shift in counterterrorism strategy from land wars to precision strikes and raids is raising concerns …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers
New York Times:
Perry Breaks With a Fellow Texan: Bush — AUSTIN, Tex. — Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican contemplating a presidential run, shares many attributes with the last man who ran for president from here, his predecessor and onetime patron, George W. Bush. He has the same straight-legged Texas swagger …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Adam Goldman / Yahoo! News:
AP Enterprise: The man who hunted Osama bin Laden — WASHINGTON (AP) — After Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, the White House released a photo of President Barack Obama and his Cabinet inside the Situation Room, watching the daring raid unfold. — Hidden from view, standing just outside …
Nicholas Riccardi / Los Angeles Times:
Arizona conservatives scramble after campaign finance law's defeat — The state's Clean Elections Act had swept a surge of small-government Republicans into power. — Arizona Republican state Sen. Steve Smith, right, had never run for public office before last year.
Discussion:
Balkinization
Wall Street Journal:
Voting Blocs to Watch as 2012 Nears — There's a long way to go before next year's presidential election, but it's already possible to frame the decisive question: Will the giant demographic trends benefiting President Barack Obama and his Democrats be enough to offset the erosion caused by a poor economy?
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Rick Santorum's Math Fail: Blasts Obama For Creating ‘Only 240 Million Jobs’ — 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum continued his long-shot campaign this morning with an appearance on CNN. During the interview, Santorum attempted to criticize the Obama administration's record on jobs …
Discussion:
Raw Replay, Political Punch, Moonbattery and Iowa Caucuses
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Santorum: Romney, Huntsman show ‘weakness’ in Iowa — Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) accused fellow GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman of “weakness” for opting against campaigning aggressively in Iowa. — Santorum took a shot at both the former Massachusetts governor …
New York Times:
Let's Not Linger in Afghanistan — LAST month President Obama announced plans for withdrawing by next summer the approximately 30,000 American troops sent to Afghanistan as part of the 2009 surge. — We commend the president for sticking to the July date he had outlined for beginning the withdrawal.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Politico and Weasel Zippers
Politics:
The Missing US Ambassador at the feast for Ronald Reagan — Last night's Guildhall dinner in honour of Ronald Reagan's centenary was a truly glittering and warm occasion. — The British roasted lamb and the sunny Californian chardonnay evoked the close Anglo-US relationship of Reagan …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Weasel Zippers
Jim Brunsden / Bloomberg:
European Union Parliament Backs Restrictions on Naked Credit Default Swaps — European lawmakers called for restrictions on traders' use of credit-default swaps to profit from defaults on sovereign debt they don't own. — The European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France …