Michelle Bachmann Signs Pledge that Says Black Children Better Off During Slavery  —  In Iowa, there's a social conservative pledge called “The Marriage Vow - A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family” that is anti-abortion, anti-same sex marriage, anti-divorce etc etc that GOP candidates are being urged to sign.

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.

Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery  —  The United States economy added a meager 18,000 jobs in June, up from a gain of a revised 25,000 jobs in May, the Department of Labor said on Friday.  The unemployment rate rose to 9.2 percent from 9.1 percent in May, the department said.

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.

What's In A Name?  Dems Support Social Security Benefit Cut — By Calling It Something Else  —  Social Security benefit cuts may be a bridge too far for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).  But what if Republicans and Democrats alike just agreed to refer to a benefit cut by another name.

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:

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 …

6 False Lessons Of The Space Shuttle  —  With the final flight of shuttle Atlantis sparking inspired debate over where NASA should go from here, PM contributor Rand Simberg warns against some of the conclusions that observers are drawing from 30 years of shuttle flights.  —  The last space shuttle flight has now launched.

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 …

Pentagon suspends DADT in wake of court ruling  —  The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under “don't ask, don't tell” and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexuals.  —  The moratorium issued Friday came …

CHART: Over 500,000 Government Jobs Lost Since Obama's Inauguration  —  So should we blame today's bad jobs numbers on Barack Obama's big government policies?  Again, I doubt it.  What we continue to see are decent—though not great—private sector job numbers offset by tumbling public sector employment:

What Obama Wants  —  On Thursday, President Obama met with Republicans to discuss a debt deal.  We don't know exactly what was proposed, but news reports before the meeting suggested that Mr. Obama is offering huge spending cuts, possibly including cuts to Social Security and an end …

TSA Agent Caught With Passenger's iPad in His Pants; Allegedly Took $50,000 in Other Goods, Cops Say  —  While most Transportation Security Administration employees are busy groping people or taking naked pictures of them, the cops say one of those employees was putting fliers' electronics down his pants.

Remarks by the President on the Monthly Jobs Report  —  THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody.  Obviously, over the last couple of days, the debate here in Washington has been dominated by issues of debt limit, but what matters most to Americans, and what matters most to me as President …

Some Afterthoughts  —  Almost two weeks ago — hauntingly, on the Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist, whom King Herod would behead because the saint dared to defend the God-given truth about marriage — our state sadly attempted a re-definition of marriage.  Is there anything left to say?

Bachmann: ‘I Hope’ Higher Unemployment Will Help My Campaign  —  Appearing on CNBC this morning, presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) was asked about this morning's dismal jobs report and whether higher unemployment rates might help her chances of winning in 2012.

GOP allies hatching sleazy dirty tricks in Wisconsin recall wars  —  It looks like allies of Wisconsin Republicans are growing so desperate that they're resorting to sleazy dirty tricks in their last-ditch bid to help the GOP hang on to the state senate.  —  This is deep in the weeds, but bear with me.

Obama weak in Pennsylvania  —  Pennsylvania is looking more and more like it could be a tough hold for Barack Obama in 2012.  His approval rating in the state continues to be under water at 46/48.  More voters have expressed disapproval than happiness with Obama on all three polls PPP has done in the state so far in 2011.

High school dropout convicted of trying to join terrorist group so he could kill U.S. troops  —  A Brooklyn high school dropout was convicted Thursday of conspiring to join a foreign terrorist group so he could kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan.  —  Betim Kaziu faces life in prison …