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Rick Perry And Texas Job Numbers — Full disclosure: I don't like Rick Perry for our next president. I have my reasons that aren't worth going into here. However, when I was watching the GOP debate and pro-Perry people started bringing up Rick Perry's job numbers as a cudgel against other candidates …
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Perry Points to ‘Idiotic’ U.S. Rule That Doesn't Exist — For a small-government conservative on the presidential campaign stump like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a new federal regulation forcing farmers to get commercial drivers licenses would make a perfect example of Barack Obama's Washington run amok.
Discussion:
SFGate, TPMDC, The Note and Mother Jones


Stephen Colbert loses treasurer to Rick Perry — No joke: Presidential candidate Rick Perry and comedian Stephen Colbert, who last week barraged Iowa voters with advertisements urging voters to support “Rick Parry,” shared the same political committee treasurer - until they didn't.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Gawker and The Raw Story

Rick Perry will self-destruct within 30 days — Rick Perry talks treason about the Federal Reserve Board. Treason is a capital offense. Is Perry suggesting the death penalty for Federal Reserve Board members? — Rick Perry says Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will have a tough time if he goes to Texas.
Discussion:
The POH Diaries, The Note, Booman Tribune, Political Punch and ThinkProgress


Karl Rove Piles On Rick Perry: Bernanke Line ‘Not A Presidential Statement’ — It's no secret that Team George W. Bush and Team Rick Perry are not exactly close. And with Perry flailing after he accused Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke of “almost treasonous” behavior …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012, Talking Points Memo, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog News and Washington Monthly

Re: Rick Perry's Serious Unforced Error — I agree with John's post about Rick Perry's statement about Ben Bernanke about entirely. People shouldn't throw around the words “almost treasonous” loosely; and certainly a person running for president shouldn't do such a thing.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, TPMDC, ThinkProgress, The Caucus, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway

Rick Perry campaign not disavowing implied threat to Bernanke
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, AMERICAblog News, Slate, Commentary Magazine, The Huffington Post, Wonkette, ThinkProgress, Salon, Indecision Forever, The Daily Dish, AmSpecBlog, Paul Krugman, Donklephant, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly and Little Green Footballs

Rick Perry, the ‘no apologies’ candidate
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Reuters

Rick Perry suggests predator drones for border patrol
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, The New Republic, nation.foxnews.com and The Jawa Report

White House on Gov. Perry's Bernanke Comments: ‘Threatening the Fed Chairman is Probably Not a Good Idea’
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Monthly, TPMDC and The Note

Bush supporters slam Perry comment
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, dallasmorningviewsblog …, Red Racing Horses, The Hill, GOP 12, The Atlantic Wire and Guardian

Rove slams Perry's comments about Bernanke
Discussion:
CBS News, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus, TPMDC, ThinkProgress, The Politico and Hullabaloo

Rick Perry Thinks ‘Printing More Money’ Is ‘Almost Treason’ Because It Would Help The Economy And Thus Obama
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, Talking Points Memo and The Note, more at Mediagazer »

Interrogating the “Texas Miracle”
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, TheMoneyIllusion, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Erica Grieder

Rick Perry backed an already-climate-crusading Al Gore in '88
Discussion:
Don Surber, Guardian, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress and The Reid Report

GOP Primary: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13% — Texas Governor Rick Perry, the new face in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has jumped to a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann with the other announced candidates trailing even further behind.
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Obama, GOP candidates all unpopular — Ohio's a pretty good microcosm for an unhappy nation right now. — Barack Obama's approval rating in the state right now is 44%, with 52% of voters disapproving of him. His numbers with independents are horrid at 34/59.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and GOP 12


Let the Perry Hatred Begin
Discussion:
Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Politico

Romney vs. Perry: How the Numbers (and the Calendar) Stack Up
Discussion:
Grim's Hall, Race 4 2012 and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

NBC News Caught Red Handed ‘Selectively Editing’ & ‘ Doctoring’ Video to Smear Gov Perry as Racist — Ed Schultz used a deceptive edit to misinform his audience about the content of Gov. Rick Perry's speech in Iowa yesterday. Schultz claimed that Gov. Perry was calling President Obama a …


Silicon Valley billionaire funding creation of artificial libertarian islands — Pay Pal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to an initiative to create floating libertarian countries in international waters, according to a profile of the billionaire in Details magazine.
Discussion:
Gawker, Donklephant, Dean's World, Wonkette, LewRockwell.com Blog, Roger Ailes, Althouse and Balloon Juice


Ryan for President? — Paul Ryan is in the final stages of deciding on a presidential run. — Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is strongly considering a run for president. Ryan, who has been quietly meeting with political strategists to discuss a bid over the past three months …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Roll Call, Washington Post, The TrogloPundit, AmSpecBlog, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Ross Douthat, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Eunomia, Salon, Chicago Boyz, Gawker, PoliPundit.com, The Hill, National Review, Outside the Beltway, The Politico, Daily Kos, Campaign 2012, Race 4 2012, New York Magazine, Pajamas Media, GOP 12, The New Republic and msnbc.com


Obama clashes with Tea Party member — President Obama came face-to-face with the Tea Party last night in Iowa, clashing with members during and after a town hall last night. — Ryan Rhodes, a group leader in the Hawkeye State, stood up and shouted a question during a town hall asking …
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Video of the Day: Obama Confronted by Tea Partiers in Iowa
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

TRENDING: All shook up: Bachmann flubs Elvis birthday — (CNN)-Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann stepped all over Elvis Presley's blue suede shoes while stumping Tuesday, when she mistakenly wished “The King” a “Happy Birthday.” — August 16 actually marks the 34th anniversary of Presley's death.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TPMDC, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pirate's Cove and Campaign 2012
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Video: Michele Bachmann gives Elvis birthday wishes on the anniversary of his death
Discussion:
The Daily What, Salon and Gawker


Top Tabloid Editors Endorsed Hacking, Letter Says — LONDON — A high-profile parliamentary panel investigating phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World tabloid released new allegations Tuesday suggesting that, despite assertions to the contrary by the newspaper's owners and editors …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Shakesville and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »

Malpractice Reform in Texas: a Review — This is mostly from an old post (at my old blog), but with the entry of Gov. Perry into the race, it seems like time to wheel it out. — Over a year ago, a reader emailed me the following: … On Sunday, Gov. Perry said: … Where to start?
Discussion:
Mother Jones and ThinkProgress
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Why Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured people in the U.S.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Marginal Revolution and New York Times


The Civil War Isn't Tragic Cont. — Anyone who's going to deal in Civil War studies really needs to take a moment to grapple with James McPherson's This Mighty Scourge. I doubt that this was McPherson's intent, but the first essay in the book is really what set me on the path of questioning the …
Discussion:
Crooked Timber

Sentiment moving against Walker recall — Public sentiment in Wisconsin is moving against a recall of Scott Walker. Walker though remains very unpopular and if Russ Feingold chose to run against him in a recall election he would find himself in deep trouble.
Discussion:
Via Meadia, TPMDC, Firedoglake, Hot Air, The Political Carnival, RedState and Taegan Goddard's …


Everyone At Citi Is Okay! Out Of Breath And Doubled Over But Okay! — If you walked by 388 Greenwich Street earlier, saw scores of Citigroup employees standing around and panicked that everyone had gotten laid off and/or they decided to just shut down the whole operation, do not worry.