Top Items:
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
In debt talks, Obama offers Social Security cuts — President Obama is pressing congressional leaders to consider a far-reaching debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for fresh tax revenue.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Note, ThinkProgress, oftwominds.com, Reuters, The Hill, The Nation, MiamiHerald.com, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, American Power, Los Angeles Times, Questions and Observations, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Oliver Willis, The Caucus, Swampland, Shakesville, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Sideshow, Brilliant at Breakfast, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh, Prairie Weather, Indecision Forever, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hullabaloo, AMERICAblog News, Political Punch, The Other McCain, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Corrente, Crooks and Liars, TPMDC and FrumForum
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New York Times:
Obama to Push for Wider Deal With G.O.P. on Deficit Cuts — WASHINGTON — Heading into a crucial negotiating session on a budget deal on Thursday, President Obama has raised his sights and wants to strike a far-reaching agreement on cutting the federal deficit as Speaker John A. Boehner …
John T. Bennett / The Hill:
Defense faces $700B spending cut — National security spending could be cut by as much as $700 billion in a deal to raise the debt limit, defense sources said. — That's almost twice the amount President Obama originally proposed. — Obama directed the Defense Department …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, The Western Experience and Prairie Weather
Sally Jacobs / Boston Globe:
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 …
Discussion:
Althouse, Weasel Zippers, Political Punch, JammieWearingFool and Lynn Sweet
Reuters:
Exclusive: Treasury secretly weighs options to avert default — (Reuters) - A small team of Treasury officials is discussing options to stave off default if Congress fails to raise the debt limit by the August 2 deadline, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Heritage Foundation, americanthinker.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Pundit and FrumForum
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Wall Street Journal:
The Only Reform That Will Restrain Spending — All 47 Senate Republicans now support changing the Constitution to balance the federal budget. — Whatever happens when President Obama meets with congressional leaders of both parties at the White House today, no long-term solution is on the table …
Discussion:
The Hill, RedState, National Review and The Lonely Conservative
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Jim DeMint, Olympia Snowe: Amend Constitution
Jim DeMint, Olympia Snowe: Amend Constitution
Discussion:
FrumForum
Telegraph:
Phone hacking: families of war dead ‘targeted’ by News of the World — The bereaved relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have had their phones hacked by a private investigator working for the News of the World. — The bereaved relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have had their phones hacked
Discussion:
The Politico, CNBC, Guardian, Washington Post, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Left Foot Forward, msnbc.com, American Power and FrumForum
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James Robinson / Guardian:
News of the World investigator may have targeted families of dead soldiers
News of the World investigator may have targeted families of dead soldiers
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Liberal Conspiracy, Shakesville, AMERICAblog News and The Lede
Julianna Goldman / Bloomberg:
Unemployment Rate Won't Hobble Obama's Re-Election, White House Aide Says — The White House's top political adviser, downplaying the significance of the unemployment rate in the 2012 election, said the Republican candidates are offering the same policies that caused the economic crisis …
Discussion:
Scarecrow's myFDL diary and JammieWearingFool
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James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Ruthless People — Libs to Ginsburg: Drop dead. — Some legal observers would like to be rid of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Associated Press reported over the weekend. These aren't conservatives who find her too activist but liberals who find her too old and worry that if she doesn't get out soon …
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, Don Surber and Mish's Global Economic …
Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Michele Bachmann on Iowa TV: ‘Waterloo’ — Michele Bachmann is going up in Iowa with the first television ad of her presidential campaign, a 30-second spot titled “Waterloo” that Bachmann's team says will start running statewide today. — The bio spot, produced by Strategy Group Media …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, CNN and FrumForum
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Paul Broun / National Review:
Thinking Outside the Box: Let's Lower the Debt Ceiling — In the midst of our economic emergency, which is beginning to resemble a full-on Greece-style meltdown, every politician in America has taken to the soap box to say the exact same thing: We need to reduce our national debt and cut spending to get America back on track.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Confederate Yankee, Mother Jones, The Lonely Conservative and TalkLeft
Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
Katie Pavlich Scandal Grows: FBI, DEA Involved With Operation Fast and Furious — Yesterday, Acting ATF Director Kenneth Melson answered questions from Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Charles Grassley surrounding Operation Fast and Furious. Melson voluntarily participated in the interview …
Discussion:
Fox News, Big Government, The Daily Caller and Hot Air
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Hans A. von Spakovsky / Pajamas Media:
Gunwalker: The ATF's Kenneth Melson Blows the Whistle on the Justice Department
Gunwalker: The ATF's Kenneth Melson Blows the Whistle on the Justice Department
Discussion:
Power Line, Sister Toldjah, Wizbang, Moe Lane, The Lonely Conservative, Confederate Yankee, Nice Deb and Daily Pundit
ABCNEWS:
Casey Anthony Juror: ‘Sick to Our Stomachs’ Over Not Guilty Verdict — Casey Anthony juror Jennifer Ford said today that she and the other jurors cried and were “sick to our stomachs” after voting to acquit Casey Anthony of charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
Discussion:
This Just In, CNN, Sky Dancing, Hot Air, msnbc.com, Jezebel, The Informer, TMZ.com, Gawker, SEANET Corporation, Gothamist, Verum Serum, TalkLeft and Off the Bench, more at Mediagazer »
Caitlin Dickson / The Atlantic Wire:
Richard Dawkins Gets into a Comments War with Feminists — Players: Famed evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins; Rebecca Watson, female activist. — Opening Serve: Richard Dawkins made an unexpected appearance in the comments section of biologist PZ Myers' post at Scienceblogs.com last week.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli, The Other McCain, Skepchick and normblog
Peter Oborne / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
David Cameron is in the sewer because of his News International friends — In the careers of all prime ministers there comes a turning point. He or she makes a fatal mistake from which there is no ultimate recovery. With Tony Blair it was the Iraq war and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction.
Discussion:
Guardian, New York Times, EU Referendum, Guy Fawkes' blog, Left Foot Forward and The Lede, more at Mediagazer »
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Mark Foley has prostate cancer — Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned after sexually explicit messages he sent to underage male pages were made public, said Thursday that he's battling prostate cancer. — “Naturally, I have some reservations about the surgery,” …
Discussion:
NewsMax.com
David Brody / The Brody File:
Brody File Exclusive: GOP Presidential Candidates Will be Asked To Sign A Marriage Vow — The Brody File has learned that The Family Leader, an influential pro-family group in Iowa will ask each of the 2012 presidential candidates to sign a marriage pledge that professes everything …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, GOP 12, The Hill and Fox News
View from Geneva:
Timeline: Falk's reaction — Reaction: UN's Falk Denies, Then Deletes Anti-Semitic Cartoon — After UN Watch today exposed his publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon, the UN Human Rights Council's Richard Falk first denied publishing the cartoon—and then deleted it. See his blog here.
Discussion:
Harry's Place, Weasel Zippers, Israel Matzav, The Jawa Report and Israellycool
RELATED:
Richard Falk / richardfalk.wordpress.com:
Apology for Unintentionally Posting Anti-Semitic Cartoon in Qaddafi Arrest Warrant Blog
Apology for Unintentionally Posting Anti-Semitic Cartoon in Qaddafi Arrest Warrant Blog
Discussion:
YID With LID and View from Geneva
Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
GOP bill weakens light bulb efficiency law — House Republicans plan to bring to the floor next week legislation that would water down a provision in a 2007 energy law that requires light bulbs to be more energy efficient. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Right Wing News
Great Falls Tribune:
Exxon claimed failed pipeline was buried deep below Yellowstone River — BILLINGS — Exxon Mobil Co. had reassured federal regulators and officials from a Montana town since December that an oil pipeline beneath the Yellowstone River was safe, buried deep enough to avoid any accidental ruptures.
Discussion:
The Reaction
Joseph E. Stiglitz / Slate Magazine:
The Great Recession, Part II — The world could be headed for another economic disaster if we continue to listen to free-market ideologues. — Just a few years ago, a powerful ideology—the belief in free and unfettered markets—brought the world to the brink of ruin.
Bloomberg:
Lehman Borrowed $18 Billion From Undisclosed Fed Program During '08 Crisis — Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ)'s brokerage borrowed as much as $18 billion in four separate loans from a previously secret program of the U.S. Federal Reserve in June 2008, three months before its parent filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, naked capitalism and AMERICAblog News
New York Times:
City Setting Sunday Hours to Grant Gay Unions — New York City, whose top elected officials strongly supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, will take the unusual step of opening city offices on a Sunday, July 24, so gay couples can marry on the day the law takes effect.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Runnin' Scared, City Room, The Awl, New York Magazine and ThinkProgress
Jon Donnison / BBC:
Hamas arrests male hairdresser for Gaza woman's haircut — Hamas argues it is enforcing a law supported by most of the population in Gaza — The Hamas government in Gaza has begun enforcing a law introduced last year banning men from cutting women's hair.
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, msnbc.com and Elder of Ziyon