Tense moments at Common Purpose meet  —  Tensions between the White House and its liberal allies came to a head last night at the weekly Common Purpose meeting, where progressive leaders and National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling had a tense exchange about the debt deal, two Democratic sources said.

GOP ponders Perry: Savior or flop?  —  To a sizable slice of the Republican base, Rick Perry looks like the conservative, charismatic presidential candidate they have been waiting for in the 2012 campaign.  —  To many GOP elites, however, the Texan looks more like a general election flop in the making.

Another politician forced to resign after sending naked pictures to woman he had online relationship with  —  A politician who emailed a woman nude photos of himself that were posted on a GOP activist's website has resigned and said he will consider all legal options to have the pictures taken down.

Tim Pawlenty pulls ads ahead of Ames Straw Poll  —  Tim Pawlenty will be pulling his radio and television ads off the air in the 72 hours before next Saturday's straw poll in Ames.  —  The former Minnesota governor's presidential campaign says it's not short on cash, but simply planning …

How John Boehner escaped disaster  —  In the midst of a rebellion from his own colleagues, John Boehner faced a big decision.  —  It was 10 p.m. last Thursday, the most stressful moment of his Speakership.  —  Boehner's debt-limit bill was short on votes, and the GOP leadership was forced …

UNION MEMBERS OUTRAGED After White House Hires Non-Union Crew For Obama's Birthday Bash  —  Somebody's Having a Birthday Party and You're Not Invited  —  That is, if you belong to a union.  —  In case you live under a rock and haven't heard, Barack Obama turns 50 today.  And, the place to be tonight is the Aragon.

MSNBC Host, Guest Consider Whether Tea Partiers Are Addicts, ‘Delusional’  —  MSNBC host Martin Bashir interviewed Stanton Peele, a psychologist and an “expert on addiction,” this afternoon.  Bashir urged Peele to psychologically evaluate supporters of the Tea Party.

Minnesota School Faces Lawsuit Over Racist ‘Wigger Day’ … A Minnesota school district allowed a homecoming event called “Wigger Day,” during which students wore clothes and behaved in a manner that “from their perspective, mimicked black culture,” according to a federal class action lawsuit filed against the district on Friday.

Revealed: Operation Shady RAT  —  For the last few years, especially since the public revelation of Operation Aurora, the targeted successful intrusion into Google and two dozen other companies, I have often been asked by our worldwide customers if they should worry about such sophisticated …

Air Force Suspends Christian-Themed Ethics Training Program Over Bible Passages  —  The Air Force has suspended a course that was taught by chaplains for more than 20 years because the material included Bible passages.  —  The course, called “Christian Just War Theory” …

Senate Democrats' frustration with media begins to show in FAA fight with House  —  After an acrimonious, months-long debate over raising the national debt limit, a battle many Democrats think the Republicans won, Senate Democratic leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated over how the media reports …

More Americans Oppose Than Favor Debt Ceiling Agreement  —  Americans are twice as likely to think it will make economy worse rather than better  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are more likely to oppose (46%) than favor (39%) the agreement President Obama and Congress reached to raise the federal debt ceiling.

D.B. Cooper Exclusive: Did Niece Provide Key Evidence?  —  A woman claiming to be the niece of infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper has spoken to ABC News in an exclusive interview about her role in the recently re-ignited 40-year-old cold case that has haunted the FBI for years.

Exclusive: Randi Zuckerberg Leaves Facebook to Start New Social Media Firm (Resignation Letter)  —  Randi Zuckerberg, who is director of marketing at Facebook and also the sister of CEO and Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg — is leaving Facebook after six years to start a new media firm to help companies become more social.

‘Mission Accomplished’: Breivik Call To Cops  —  Anders Behring Breivik said “mission accomplished” during a call to police after he massacred 69 people on Utoya island, it has been reported.  —  According to the Verdens Gang (VG) daily, the 32-year-old right-wing extremist said: “Breivik.

The Second Great Contraction  —  print recommend Send link clip secure rights  —  CAMBRIDGE - Why is everyone still referring to the recent financial crisis as the “Great Recession”?  The term, after all, is predicated on a dangerous misdiagnosis of the problems that confront …

Bachmann vs. Romney … - Walter Kirn: Catch-22 Isn't Joseph Heller's Best Book - Devastating Photos of the Famine in Somalia - Sex Selection Happens in the U.S., Too.  How Should Doctors Deal With Such Cases?  - When They Test Birth-Control Pills, Who Takes the Placebos?

Flying blind  —  ON DECEMBER 16th, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama met in Chicago with key members of his economic team to discuss their response to the deteriorating economic situation.  Just two weeks earlier, the Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that 533,000 jobs had been lost in November …

The Debt Deal Makes It Nearly Impossible for the GOP Nominee to Pivot to the Center  —  With the passage of the debt limit increase package this week, many political activists and observers have undoubtedly heaved a sigh of relief and either headed off on vacation or refocused their attention on the …

Chevy Volt: Still Not Selling  —  The July sales numbers are out and the Chevy Volt continues to electrify (get it?) the country.  GM sold ... 125 Volts last month!  —  Way back in March I made fun of the Volt for selling 281 units in February.  Turns out, February was a good month.

Just Watch This of the Day: Why the Internet Exists, Reason #143,106: “Mariachi Connecticut performing for a beluga whale at Mystic Marinelife Aquarium.”  —  [thanks tracey!]

Cubans Set for Big Change: Right to Buy Homes  —  HAVANA — José is an eager almost-entrepreneur with big plans for Cuban real estate.  Right now he works illegally on trades, linking up families who want to swap homes and pay a little extra for an upgrade.

The economy and 2012 loom over Obama's bus tour of the Midwest  —  President Obama will travel the Midwest by bus this summer to talk up the White House's job-creation efforts and to try to shore up political support in battleground states.  —  Obama will embark on a three-day tour, from Aug. 15 to 17.

Obama: Still the Alinskyite  —  Here's my take on the puzzle of Obama's leadership style.  Obama is still every inch the Alinskyite organizer.  He talks about uniting, even as he deliberately polarizes.  He moves incrementally toward radical left goals, but never owns up to his ideology.

The Scariest 4 Economic Graphs I've Seen This Year  —  This is a remarkable sequence of pictures from Calculated Risk showing that no major economic indicator has returned to its pre-crisis level.  In other words, after two years of recovery, not a single key broad measure of the economy has actually recovered.

Iraq's troop decision encouraging, U.S. says  —  BAGHDAD — U.S. officials on Wednesday welcomed Iraq's decision to negotiate with Washington on keeping some U.S. troops in the country into next year, seeing it as a move toward ending the months-long political stalemate that has complicated U.S. plans for a December withdrawal.

Spending Cuts … E. Barandiaran

New York State's Fracking Lawsuit Barred by Law, U.S. Says  —  The U.S. government said it will ask a judge to dismiss a New York lawsuit that seeks to force a fuller environmental review of how natural-gas extraction could affect 9 million water drinkers in the state.