Top Items:
Enid Nemy / New York Times:
Betty Ford, Former First Lady, Dies at 93 — Betty Ford, the outspoken and much-admired wife of President Gerald R. Ford who overcame alcoholism and an addiction to pills and helped found one of the best-known rehabilitation centers in the nation, died Friday in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 93.
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Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Former First Lady Betty Ford Dead at 93 — Betty Ford, wife of former President Gerald Ford and the founder of the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse and addiction, has died at age 93. — In public, she was one of the most visible and outspoken first ladies in history.
Discussion:
The Politico, Associated Press and Hot Air
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Following Controversy Over Pledge, Family Leader Clarifies Anti-Porn Statement — GOP presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum both signed a candidate pledge by the influential social conservative group THE FAMiLY LEADER which ThinkProgress, ABC, the Washington Post …
Discussion:
Slate, The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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The Note:
Bachmann Signs Pledge for Ban on Porn and Same-Sex Marriage
Bachmann Signs Pledge for Ban on Porn and Same-Sex Marriage
Discussion:
The American Conservative, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Verum Serum, The Politico and Mediaite
Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
The FAMiLY Leader's Marriage Pledge Says Unwed Slaves Preferable Parents For African-Americans
The FAMiLY Leader's Marriage Pledge Says Unwed Slaves Preferable Parents For African-Americans
Discussion:
Dump Michele Bachmann
Baratunde / baratunde.com:
Michelle Bachmann is running for president on a pro-slavery, anti-porn platform?
Michelle Bachmann is running for president on a pro-slavery, anti-porn platform?
Discussion:
Truth Wins Out, pandagon.net, Daily Kos, Pharyngula and ThinkProgress
Elizabeth Flock / Washington Post:
Michele Bachmann signs pledge that says homosexuality is a choice
Michele Bachmann signs pledge that says homosexuality is a choice
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, NY Daily News, Talk Radio News Service, Verum Serum and Sadly, No!
Susan Crabtree / TPMDC:
Rep. Ryan Tastes The Grapes Of Wrath — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a leading advocate of shrinking entitlement spending and the architect of the plan to privatize Medicare, spent Wednesday evening sipping $350 wine with two like-minded conservative economists at the swanky Capitol Hill eatery Bistro Bis.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Sundries Shack, Erick's blog, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Harry's Place, The Raw Story and New York Magazine
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Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:
Paul Ryan's $350 Bottle of Wine — Remember John Edwards's $400 haircut? That turned out to be quite a problem for him. It looks like Paul Ryan is about have a similar problem on his hands. According to this astounding article (with pictures) at Talking Points Memo, Ryan …
Discussion:
Corrente
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
What did David Plouffe really say about unemployment? — Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe is getting widely pilloried on the right today for claiming that people won't vote in 2012 “based on the unemployment rate.” — Plouffe made the comments to reporters at a Bloomberg breakfast earlier this week.
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Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
What was the point of that Rose Garden speech?
What was the point of that Rose Garden speech?
Discussion:
Advancing a Free Society and Ricochet Conversation Feed
Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
What's the White House Doing Today to Create Jobs? …
What's the White House Doing Today to Create Jobs? …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Washington Wire
Julie Mason / Reuters:
Plouffe: It's about vision, not jobs
Plouffe: It's about vision, not jobs
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Hill, CNN, The Politico, Pajamas Media, New York Magazine and And So it Goes in Shreveport
John M. Becker / Truth Wins Out:
I Received ‘Ex-Gay’ Therapy at Marcus Bachmann's Clinic — TWO Exclusive Investigative Report by John M. Becker — The date was Thursday, June 30, 2011. I turned on the television and listened half-heartedly to the commercials as I busied about doing other things.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Dump Michele Bachmann
Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
President Obama Receiving Sycophantic Laughter — While President Obama certainly has an above-average sense of humor for a politician — easy-going, self-effacing, maybe a little corny at times — he's not known as one of the planet's foremost comedians. Yet photographic evidence compiled …
Discussion:
Wizbang and Pajamas Media
David Leonhardt / Economix:
The Cost of Austerity — The main problem with the job market is the lack of hiring by private employers. Above all, they aren't sure what the future will bring. — Financial crises have long hangovers, and this one is no exception. Home sales and car sales remain depressed …
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Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
CHART: Over 500,000 Government Jobs Lost Since Obama's Inauguration
CHART: Over 500,000 Government Jobs Lost Since Obama's Inauguration
Discussion:
Rortybomb, Top of the Ticket, PERRspectives, Jezebel, Swampland and Washington Monthly
Eli / Firedoglake:
Worst President Ever, Revisited — No, I'm not ready to crown Barack Obama the Worst President Ever just yet, but consider this: — Yes, George W. Bush wrecked our economy, destroyed New Orleans, turned a budget surplus into massive deficits, ignored warnings of a major terrorist attack …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
House liberals launch organizing drive against entitlements cuts — House liberals are launching an organizing drive inside the Democatic caucus, in an effort to line up Democrats and get them to commit to opposing any final deficit deal that contains any cuts to entitlements benefits, according to a letter I've obtained.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
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The Politico:
Entitlements talk spooks Dems
Entitlements talk spooks Dems
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The Note, Daily Kos and Weasel Zippers
Paul Tough / New York Times:
No, Seriously: No Excuses — In the early days of the education-reform movement, a decade or so ago, you'd often hear from reformers a powerful rallying cry: “No excuses.” For too long, they said, poverty had been used as an excuse by complacent educators and bureaucrats who refused …
Discussion:
The Quick and the Ed and ThinkProgress
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Erika Gudmundson / U.S. Department of the Treasury:
FACT CHECK: Treasury General Counsel George Madison Responds to New York Times Op-Ed on 14th Amendment — Treasury's General Counsel George Madison submitted to the New York Times today the following letter to the editor: — 620 Eighth Avenue — New York, NY 10018 — To the Editor:
Discussion:
Washington Post, TPMDC, Washington Wire, Gawker, Balkinization, Firedoglake, New York Magazine and Talking Points Memo
Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
DSCC fires back at Koch brothers — The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, after soliciting funds from the Koch Brothers, have decided that they're a much better foil. DSCC executive director Guy Cecil writes a letter in response, blaming the DSCC campaign solicitation on a staff error:
Discussion:
Focal Point, Power Line, Weasel Zippers and Wonkette
Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
What Really Matters — I don't want to take it too seriously, but I think this Gallup data on who is and isn't expressing satisfaction with their lives helps us understand which dimensions of economic inequality in America do and don't matter: — What you're seeing here is that being unemployed or being seriously poor is terrible.
Discussion:
Modeled Behavior and TheMoneyIllusion
The Politico:
Perry calling Iowa activists as potential donors convene — Rick Perry has started calling Iowa Republicans and a former RNC finance chairman is helping to convene a meeting of national donors later this month in Austin to discuss financing a potential 2012 campaign — signs that the Texas governor …
Fox News:
Pawlenty Aide Apologizes for Remark on Bachmann's ‘Sex Appeal’ — A top aide for Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign apologized after citing Rep. Michele Bachmann's “sex appeal” as a reason why she's gaining momentum in the polls. — Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and co-chairman …
Discussion:
Say Anything, Poor Richard's News, Sister Toldjah, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
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Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Bachmann: ‘I Hope’ Higher Unemployment Will Help My Campaign
Bachmann: ‘I Hope’ Higher Unemployment Will Help My Campaign
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Week Magazine, Towleroad News #gay and Daily Kos
Free exchange:
Jobless agonistes — HOPES had risen in the past week that America's economic soft patch was ending. They have just been doused with a bucket of cold water. The job market showed further deterioration in June from May, the government reported today. The number of non-farm jobs rose a meager 18,000 …
Discussion:
Calculated Risk and The Heritage Foundation
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Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery
Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, FT Alphaville, Hot Air, CNN, Economix, Crooked Timber, AlterNet, Calculated Risk, New York Times, Speaker, Money & Company, AmSpecBlog, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, GayPatriot, No More Mister Nice Blog, BizzyBlog, Emptywheel, White House.gov Blog, ThinkProgress, Don Surber, Corrente, New Deal 2.0, The Nation, Freakonomics, Doug Ross, Wall Street Journal, Booman Tribune, Bloomberg, Washington Post, AMERICAblog News, Oliver Willis, Scared Monkeys, Washington Monthly, Economist's View, FrumForum, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Shakesville, The Western Experience and Lawyers, Guns & Money
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Our Excuser-In-Chief — We haven't yet said anything about today's disastrous employment news. What is to be said? Unemployment is up to 9.2%, with underemployment much higher. A mere 18,000 jobs were added in June, less than one-fifth of what economists expected.
Discussion:
Associated Press