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Stop Coddling the Super-Rich — OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched. — While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online, Forbes.com, The Hill, Rhymes With Right, Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS New York, Donklephant, Taylor Marsh, Blue Mass Group, Clusterstock, TalkLeft, Pajamas Media, emptywheel, The Impolitic, TPMDC, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, AmSpecBlog, Guardian, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, The Raw Story, Liberal Conspiracy, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, Althouse and PointOfLaw Forum
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Buffett: I beg you to raise my taxes — Warren Buffett, the third wealthiest man in the world with a net worth of around $80 billion, is demanding the U.S. government make the rich like him pay higher taxes and says they should no longer be protected like endangered “spotted owls.”
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, CNN and JammieWearingFool


Rick Perry schools Michele Bachmann in Waterloo — WATERLOO, Iowa — Rick Perry came to Michele Bachmann's home town Sunday evening and schooled the newly minted Iowa front-runner in her native state's demanding retail political culture. — The day after Perry announced his candidacy …
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Bachmann-Perry Overdrive — GOP voters are still searching for a unifying candidate. — The fight for the Republican Presidential nomination is finally getting underway in earnest, with Texas Governor Rick Perry bull-riding his way into the race and Michele Bachmann winning Saturday's straw poll in Iowa.
Discussion:
GOP 12, Talking Points Memo, Salon, Booman Tribune, Taegan Goddard's …, The New Republic, Don Surber, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hot Air

Chris Christie's Cue — This has been a clarifying week for the 2012 election. Thursday's Republican debate reminded everyone why Mitt Romney is the front-runner, as his rivals left the former Massachusetts governor more or less untouched. Saturday's Ames straw poll disposed of Tim Pawlenty …
Discussion:
msnbc.com

The Texas Unmiracle — As expected, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, has announced that he is running for president. And we already know what his campaign will be about: faith in miracles. — Some of these miracles will involve things that you're liable to read in the Bible.
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway, Paul Krugman, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos
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Romney takes dig at Perry over business experience — Litchfield, New Hampshire (CNN) - Mitt Romney said Monday his experience in business would help propel him over the man who threatens to be his biggest rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry. — Facing reporters' questions …
Discussion:
The Hill and The Politico
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After Iowa, Republicans Face a New Landscape
Discussion:
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Politico, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish and The Caucus


The Ten Weirdest Ideas In Rick Perry's Fed Up — Rick Perry's November 2010 book Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington is not a typical “campaign book” from a political candidate. For starters, its forward is written by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, nominally one of Perry's rivals for the nomination.
Discussion:
Gawker, Paul Krugman and Questions and Observations
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At 39 Percent, Obama's Reminded the Worst Could Lie Ahead — There it was: 39 percent. Floor broke. Threshold crossed. The close of Barack Obama's awful week. One more awful August. On Sunday, for the first time in his presidency, Obama's public approval rating dipped below 40 percent in the Gallup Poll.
Discussion:
The Hill, TPMDC, NewsBusters.org blogs, Truthdig and The Daily Caller
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With dismal approval polls, Obama hits the road
Discussion:
Syracuse Post-Standard, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Scared Monkeys

Obama returns to the campaign trail with Midwest bus tour
Discussion:
CNN, The Maddow Blog and The Heritage Foundation


A Businessman in Congress Helps His District and Himself — VISTA, Calif. — Here on the third floor of a gleaming office building overlooking a golf course in the rugged foothills north of San Diego, Darrell Issa, the entrepreneur, oversees the hub of a growing financial empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, iWatch News, Daily Kos and The Page

Krugman: You know what this economy needs? A space alien invasion! — Patrick Ishmael wrote about this in the Green Room, but why should he have all the fun? Not too long ago, Dick Durbin lamented the demise of credibility for Keynesian economic proposals, but even I didn't realize the Keynesians had become quite this desperate.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and Moe_Lane's blog
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Wall Street big lavished gifts on mistresses in three countries: wife — He's an aging Wall Street fat cat who could put even the most lusty young lothario to shame. — John Duffy, 62, the married CEO of the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods investment bank, has lavished millions of dollars' worth of homes …
Discussion:
Dealbreaker and New York Magazine

Todd Palin answers woman who calls Palins a “sellout” at Sarah Palin Iowa event (VIDEO) — Des Moines, Iowa — As we told you the other day, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hasn't decided yet to run for president. One big question she will have to answer is why she quit after only two years as governor.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Towleroad News #gay and Raw Replay


Verizon wins injunction against striking workers after reports of vandalism, violence and harrassment — No vandalism. No violence. No Harassment. No Obstruction. No intimidating. No threatening. No Blocking. No Trespassing. Those were just a few of the restrictions placed …
Discussion:
nation.foxnews.com, Big Government and Weasel Zippers

Mitt Romney Dubs Obama's Trip the ‘Magical Misery Bus Tour’ — ABC News' Emily Friedman (@EmilyABC) reports: — A new web video and harsh criticism emerged from the Mitt Romney camp today as President Barack Obama launched his three-day bus tour that will make stops in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Don Surber and Political Punch

Cain aims for fifth place in New Hampshire — Herman Cain tells Fox News this morning that, to his campaign, fifth is first. … Cain was fifth in the Ames straw poll on Saturday (almost sounds like he thinks the straw poll was the caucuses, and that Iowa is done).
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Politico and TPMDC


Democrats urge Obama to be more aggressive on jobs — Many want the president to stand up to Republicans and push for bigger, more ambitious programs to boost the economy. — Job seekers attend a job fair in San Jose. With the national unemployment rate still above 9% …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla

Breaking News: We Have a Barn Burner in SD-12 Between Kim Simac and Jim Holperin — As part of our ongoing efforts to provide you with original political content, Red Racing Horses has commissioned a poll of the 8/16 Recall Election between Kim Simac (R) and Jim Holperin (D).
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Taegan Goddard's …


The Barbarians Inside Britain's Gates — All the young rioters will have had long experience with the justice system's efforts to confer impunity upon law breakers. — The youth of Britain have long placed a de facto curfew on the old, who in most places would no more think of venturing forth …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page