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Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefits — GOP Divided Over Benefit Reductions — OVERVIEW — As policymakers at the state and national level struggle with rising entitlement costs, overwhelming numbers of Americans agree that, over the years, Social Security …
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Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
The budget deals of Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, in one chart — There are two ways to read the current stalemate in the debt-ceiling negotiations. There's David Brooks's take, which is that watching Republicans pass up “the deal of the century” should leave conservatives convinced there's something wrong with the GOP.
Discussion:
TPMDC, Crooks and Liars, The American Conservative, James Pethokoukis, National Review, FrumForum, The New Republic and AmSpecBlog
Michael McAuliff / The Huffington Post:
Orrin Hatch: The ‘Poor’ Should Do More To Shrink Debt, Not The Rich (VIDEO) … WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) voted against beginning debate on a measure that would have the Senate declare the rich should share the pain of debt reduction Thursday, a day after arguing that it's the poor and middle class who need to do more.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, FrumForum and TPMDC
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Democrats fuming over Obama's apparent move on Social Security — Senate Democrats reacted angrily Thursday to a report that President Obama has proposed significant cuts to Medicare and Social Security in closed-door talks with GOP leaders. — Democratic lawmakers said they were dismayed …
Discussion:
Doug Ross, Sky Dancing, Pajamas Media and Firedoglake
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Pelosi not informed in advance of Obama's broader reform plans
Pelosi not informed in advance of Obama's broader reform plans
Discussion:
The Politico, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh and FrumForum
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Pelosi: Medicare, Social Security Benefit Cuts Are Line In The Sand On Debt Limit Bill
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money
KochFacts.com:
Letter to Senator Patty Murray, Chair Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — Dear Senator Murray: — For many months now, your colleagues in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee leadership have engaged in a series of disparagements …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Taegan Goddard's … and Sister Toldjah
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Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
DSCC asking Kochs for cash — The Kochs have become a major target of Democratic ire recently — but that hasn't stopped the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee from asking their company for money. A Koch company executive fires back in a letter to DSCC chairwoman Sen. Patty Murray:
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative and Pajamas Media
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News of the World to close amid hacking scandal — Police are investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World — This Sunday's issue of the News of the World will be the last edition of the paper, News International chairman James Murdoch has said.
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Amelia Hill / Guardian:
Andy Coulson to be arrested over phone hacking tomorrow — Second former senior News of the World journalist to also be arrested after leaks from NI force police to speed up plans — Andy Coulson has been told by police that he will be arrested on Friday morning over suspicions that he knew about …
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Magazine, Runnin' Scared, Mediaite, Harry's Place, Jezebel, FrumForum and Emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »
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Royal British Legion suspends NoW ties over ‘hacking’
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Guardian, The Nation, Charles Apple, Mediaite and Left Foot Forward, more at Mediagazer »
Brand Republic:
News of the World to close, ending 168-year history
News of the World to close, ending 168-year history
Discussion:
Guardian, Felix Salmon, Mediaite, Telegraph, News of the World, newsfeed.time.com, ThinkProgress, The Politico and Runnin' Scared, more at Mediagazer »
Russell Adams / Wall Street Journal:
News Corp. to Close Its News of the World Tabloid
News Corp. to Close Its News of the World Tabloid
Discussion:
Mediaite, AllThingsD, American Power and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »
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Boehner: ‘Maybe 50-50’ Chance of a Debt Deal Reached Within 48 Hours — House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks with reporters after a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill on Thursday. — House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, informed fellow House Republicans on Thursday …
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GOP Congressman: House Republicans Have Privately Discussed Impeaching Obama Over Debt Ceiling — Last month, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested that the debt ceiling is unconstitutional because of Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, which states that “the validity of the public debt of the United States...shall not be questioned.”
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
DeMint would accept ‘serious disruptions’ to economy in debt debate
DeMint would accept ‘serious disruptions’ to economy in debt debate
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly
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Chase Gets Man Thrown In Jail For Fraudulent Check. Except The Check Is Legit. — Ikenna, a 28-year old construction worker, went to deposit a $8,463.21 Chase cashier's check at his local Chase branch, only for the teller to decide that neither he nor his check looked right and he got tossed in jail for forgery, KING5 reports.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Suburban Guerrilla and Hullabaloo
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Jailed for cashing Chase check at Chase bank — AUBURN, Wash. - Buying his own home was a big accomplishment for construction worker, Ikenna Njoku, of Auburn. He's only 28 years old. — “I was really excited. For the first time, I actually got to buy a lawn mower, mow my lawn and everything,” said Njoku.
Discussion:
Gawker and The Raw Story
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Why the Republicans Resist Compromise — The chart that I'm going to show you is one of the more important ones that we've presented at FiveThirtyEight in some time. It helps explain a lot of what's going on in American politics today, from the negotiations over the federal debt ceiling to the Republican presidential primaries.
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, Outside the Beltway, The New Republic and Talking Points Memo
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Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Setting the Record Straight: Correcting Myths About Independent Voters
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Elizabeth Smart, Network Pundit? — Amid the Casey Anthony frenzy, ABC News is close to unveiling its latest contributor. Howard Kurtz reports exclusively on the kidnap victim's new career. — Elizabeth Smart first came into our consciousness nearly a decade ago as a 14-year-old girl kidnapped from her Salt Lake City bedroom.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Pajamas Media, TBogg, New York Magazine, Jezebel and Media Decoder, more at Mediagazer »
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Casey Anthony Ordered Back to Jail and Fined $4,000
Discussion:
Guardian, New York Times, This Just In, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, TBogg and Gawker
Alan M. Dershowitz / Wall Street Journal:
Casey Anthony: The System Worked
Casey Anthony: The System Worked
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Opinion L.A., Los Angeles Times and RedState
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Mexican Citizen Is Executed as Justices Refuse to Step In — WASHINGTON — In a 5-to-4 decision that split along ideological lines, the Supreme Court on Thursday evening rebuffed a request from the Obama administration that it stay the execution of a Mexican citizen on death row in Texas.
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversation Feed and FrumForum
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Father spoke of having Obama adopted — US immigration files from '61 reveal Kenyan student's plan — President Obama as a young boy, with his father, who left when his son was 2. (Obama for America via Associated Press) — In the spring of 1961, President Obama's father revealed …
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Why Jamie Leigh Jones Could Lose Her KBR Rape Case — Her story of a brutal attack in Iraq sparked a national outcry—but how much of it is true? — Post Comment — The allegations were explosive when they first hit in 2007: A 20-year-old woman named Jamie Leigh Jones alleged that four days …
Discussion:
Jezebel, The Jawa Report and PointOfLaw Forum
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Another high-profile rape case collapsing?
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How Republicans and Tea Partiers Alike Used the Heritage Foundation's #AskObama Script — Yesterday, President Obama held a live chat session on Twitter. Billed as a “townhall,” the President spent an hour fielding questions from Twitter users about the state of the nation.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, A plain blog about politics and Linkmeister
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DNC chairwoman a work in progress — When President Barack Obama selected Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to lead the Democratic National Committee, she was hailed as the best pick he could make. — Since her election to Congress, Wasserman Schultz has quickly earned a reputation …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Iowa Group Asks Republican Candidates To Agree That Homosexuality Is A Choice, Pornography Should Be Banned — This morning, Iowa's FAMiLY Leader unveiled “The Marriage Vow: A Declaration of Dependence upon MARRIAGE and FAMILY,” a 14 bullet pledge presidential candidates will have to sign to secure any …
Discussion:
Iowa Caucuses and Towleroad News #gay
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Felix Salmon:
What happens on August 3? — Samuel Beckett's famous phrase “You must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on” is a pretty good summation of what will face Treasury come August 3 if there's no deal on the debt limit. Reuters has a fantastic story this evening on the impossible quandary facing Treasury officials …
Discussion:
CNN, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Credit Writedowns and The Heritage Foundation
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Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Political Turns Personal: Mayor Will Officiate at Gay Advisers' Wedding — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg summoned his chief policy adviser, John Feinblatt, to his desk at City Hall a few days ago for what seemed like a routine conversation with the boss. “Let's get a cup of coffee,” the mayor told him, motioning to the office kitchen.
Discussion:
Gawker, Ben Smith's Blog and New York Magazine