Franken Destoys Focus On The Family Witness, Exposes Misuse Of HHS Study  —  During this morning's Senate DOMA hearings, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) destroyed Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery's argument that children are better off with opposite-sex parents by demonstrating how Minnery misrepresented an HHS study.

Former Senator Judd Gregg Says Shutdown Needed Before House Will Agree To Debt Limit Deal  —  Former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) says Social Security checks will need to be halted before House Republicans will agree to a deal to raise the debt limit.  —  A deficit hawk and former Chairman …

Larry Summers calls Winklevoss twins ‘A**holes’  —  NEW YORK (Fortune) — What did Larry Summers really think of the Winklevoss twins?  —  “Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind,” the former president of Harvard said in an interview at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference.

Never Before Seen: The ‘Inside Scoop’ on Some 2012 Presidential Contenders  —  On this week's edition of The Brody File show, some never before seen footage from my interviews with Sarah Palin, Speaker John Boehner, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as we get the 'scoop" on some of their “personal preferences.

Wasserman Schultz brushes off West email  —  Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is dismissing Tuesday's personal attack by Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) as political bluster, not a hatchet job on the congresswoman, her office said Tuesday.  —  “I don't think that Congressman West is upset …

Cantor's wealthy backers: raise our taxes  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has scuttled any possible debt-reduction compromise, insisting House Republicans can't agree to so much as a penny in new revenue.  Every tax cut billionaires enjoy is sacred; every corporate-jet owner mustn't …

Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt  —  Tea party activist, attorney are winners in Republican primaries  —  By Tom Tolan, Lee Bergquist and Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel  —  Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay was the first of nine state senators …

Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job  —  Tim Pawlenty moved closer Wednesday to raising doubts about Michele Bachmann's fitness for office.  —  While repeating his previous comments that he'd defer to doctors on Bachmann's particular health situation, Pawlenty said broadly …

Clarifying Some Misunderstandings about the “Gang of Six” Plan  —  Some of the early reporting on the deficit reduction plan that the Senate's “Gang of Six” released today appears to have incorrectly or incompletely described two principal elements of the plan: its reductions in health care programs and its revenue increases.

Cost-Cutters, Except When the Spending Is Back Home  —  WASHINGTON — Freshman House Republicans who rode a wave of voter discontent into office last year vowed to stop out-of-control spending, but that has not stopped several of them from quietly trying to funnel millions of federal dollars into projects back home.

Christie on the decline  —  Chris Christie's popularity has declined significantly over the first half of 2011 and he would have a very difficult time winning reelection if voters in New Jersey went to the polls today.  —  Only 43% of voters in the state approve of the job Christie is doing to 53% who disapprove.

Why I foam-pied Rupert Murdoch |  Jonnie Marbles  —  Some people might think my action played into Murdoch's hands, but I did it for all the people who couldn't  —  First things first: I don't hate octogenarians.  I don't have a vendetta against anyone over 80 who likes to begrudgingly give evidence to parliamentary committees.

State Dept. contract officer steers $52 million to secret husband, daughter  —  A special investigation by The Daily Caller has discovered that a State Department contract specialist participated in awarding more than $52 million in taxpayer-funded contracts to a company owned and operated by her husband and daughter.

Maxine Waters ethics panel outsourced  —  Stung by allegations of misconduct within the panel, the House Ethics Committee has hired an outside counsel to take over the case against Rep. Maxine Waters.  —  Billy Martin, a partner at the law firm Dorsey and Whitney, has been hired by the committee to …

Tom Harkin: House Republicans Have Morphed Into ‘A Cult’ … WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats attacked the “Cut, Cap and Balance” measure on Wednesday, calling the House-passed bill “devoid of substance” and “dead on arrival” in the Senate, where it will receive a vote later this week.

Is Grassley Hinting That Maggie Gallagher Was Too Scared To Testify Against DOMA?  —  During his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on repealing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) vehemently defended the discriminatory law and reiterated …

Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting  —  Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped organize Rick Perry's foreign policy and national security briefing in Austin last Wednesday, Rumsfeld's staff confirmed today.  —  Perry's aides have been tight-lipped about the gathering …

The tide of public opinion keeps turning  —  For the better part of the year, congressional Republicans were able to argue, accurately, that Americans opposed raising the debt ceiling.  It was arguably the only honest claim the GOP made in this debate: poll after poll showed public opposition to doing the right thing.

Rep. Allen West calls DNC chair ‘vile ... despicable’ - Tracy Schmaler promoted at Justice - What Chris Christie told the tycoons - GOP losing perception war - Jamal Simmons, Ed Henry are 40  —  THE NARRATIVE — Jake Tapper, on “Good Morning America,” re new WP-ABC: “Horrible numbers for President Obama …

Report: Private sector job creation ground to a halt almost instantly after Obamacare passed  —  A new report out yesterday from The Heritage Foundation shows private sector job creation dropped dramatically almost immediately after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) into law.

NOM Rabbi Blames Gay Marriage For 8 Year Old's Murder  —  The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) recently invited Rabbi Yehuda Levin to join them at a rally protesting New York's same sex marriage bill, despite Levin's long history of offensive comments.

Interactive Map: No Debt Limit Increase Means Big Cuts to State Services  —  On August 2, if Congress fails to raise the debt limit, the United States will have its credit rating downgraded, interest rates will likely rise dramatically, and the federal government will be forced …

Nearly 10 Years Ago Today, The U.S. Began Borrowing Billions To Pay For The Bush Tax Cuts  —  As debates about deficit reduction continued to be heavily tilted toward cutting spending, which threatens to undermine a fragile recovery, rather than raising revenue from those who can afford it …

Romney as Job Creator Clashes with Bain Record of Job Cuts  —  Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign misses few opportunities to promote his record creating jobs, including his role in taking Staples Inc. (SPLS) from a start-up to the world's largest office-supply retailer.

At this Point, Anyone with an Obama 2012 Bumper Sticker is a Threat to the Gene Pool  —  Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, here we are for another weekly update.  There is only one word that describes the past week: appalling.