Obama: “The Private Sector Is Doing Fine”  —  Question: What about the Republicans saying that you're blaming the Europeans for the failures of your own policies?  —  President Obama: The truth of the matter is that, as I said, we created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.

Booker's big mouth ruins relationship with Obama, Cabinet hopes  —  It's bye-bye, Beltway for Cory Booker.  —  Newark's mayor, who was gunning for a spot in President Obama's Cabinet, lost the chance after he shot his mouth off during a blunderingly honest TV appearance last month, sources told The Post.

Approval Rating for Justices Hits Just 44% in New Poll  —  WASHINGTON — Just 44 percent of Americans approve of the job the Supreme Court is doing and three-quarters say the justices' decisions are sometimes influenced by their personal or political views, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News.

Syria Qubair: Bloody traces of massacre seen in village  —  Unverified video released on Friday is said to show the city of Homs being shelled  —  The smell of burnt flesh and evidence of bloodshed have greeted a BBC correspondent entering the village of Qubair in Syria, scene of a massacre.

County elections chiefs to state: We won't resume voter purge program  —  Despite the state's decision to fight the feds over Florida's noncitizen voter purge, elections supervisors say they won't resume the progam.  —  MCAPUTO@MIAMIHERALD.COM  —  Florida's noncitizen voter purge looks like it's all but over.

Noonan: What's Changed After Wisconsin  —  The Obama administration suddenly looks like a house of cards.  —  What happened in Wisconsin signals a shift in political mood and assumption.  Public employee unions were beaten back and defeated in a state with a long progressive tradition.

Democrats paralyzed on tax cuts  —  Senate Democratic leaders are politically paralyzed on how to proceed on the Bush-era tax rates.  —  With five months to go before the election, President Obama and key congressional Democrats remain at odds on whether the threshold for extending …

Going dark to urge congressional action: Who will protect the freedom to blog?  —  My syndicated column today covers the crucial battle between truth-telling bloggers versus convicted bomber Brett Kimberlin and his band of malicious online thugs.  In honor of the National Day of Blogger Silence called …

Reagan Was a Keynesian  —  There's no question that America's recovery from the financial crisis has been disappointing.  In fact, I've been arguing that the era since 2007 is best viewed as a “depression,” an extended period of economic weakness and high unemployment that …

Morning Jay: The Media Doesn't Understand Races in the States  —  This write-up from the Hill on a recent Pennsylvania poll is pretty similar to many others these days: … And polls like these are producing frames like these, from Charles Babington of the AP:

Mormons Widely Favor Romney; Jewish Voters Back Obama  —  Mormons prefer Romney by 84% to 13%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mormon registered voters overwhelmingly support the candidacy of the first major-party presidential candidate of the Mormon faith, with 84% saying they would vote for Mitt Romney …

Labor Dept. counts oil lobbyists, garbage men, bus drivers as ‘green jobs’ [VIDEO]  —  Under questioning by House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa, senior U.S. Labor Department officials revealed that the Obama administration counts oil lobbyists, bus drivers, garbage men …

PAC Behind GOP Candidate For Gabby Giffords Seat Shows Gun In Email Appeal  —  A PAC supporting Jesse Kelly, a former Marine running to replace Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a special election on Tuesday, is using an image Kelly's campaign has avoided thus far — the candidate holding a gun.

State Department Purges Section on Religious Freedom from Its Human Rights Reports  —  (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. State Department removed the sections covering religious freedom from the Country Reports on Human Rights that it released on May 24, three months past the statutory deadline Congress set for the release of these reports.

SANTORUM LAUNCHES PATRIOT VOICES TO DEFEAT PRESIDENT OBAMA AND MOBILIZE ONE MILLION CONSERVATIVES  —  Chicago, IL - Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum announced today the launch of a new organization, Patriot Voices, which will mobilize one million conservatives around …

Same-sex marriage headed to ballot in Md.  —  A widely anticipated referendum on same-sex marriage in Maryland appeared a certainty Thursday, as an unofficial count of validated signatures submitted by opponents exceeded the required number.  —  As of late Thursday afternoon …