Anderson Cooper: “The Fact Is, I'm Gay.”  —  Last week, Entertainment Weekly ran a story on an emerging trend: gay people in public life who come out in a much more restrained and matter-of-fact way than in the past.  In many ways, it's a great development: we're evolved enough not to be gob-smacked when we find out someone's gay.

W.H. gets unexpected backup: Romney camp says it's a penalty, not a tax  —  Prominent Dems including White House chief of staff Jack Lew and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have repeatedly argued in recent days that the fee for not buying insurance under the health care law is in fact a penalty and not a tax.

A Vast New Taxing Power  —  The Chief Justice's ObamaCare ruling is far from the check on Congress of right-left myth.  —  The commentary on John Roberts's solo walk into the Affordable Care Act wilderness is converging on a common theme: The Chief Justice is a genius.

Mitch McConnell: Covering 30 million uninsured is ‘not the issue’  —  Mitch McConnell's appearance today on Fox News Sunday was remarkably revealing — it showed as clearly as you could want that the Supreme Court decision is finally forcing Republicans to declare what, exactly …

A Tale of One Tragedy and Two Campaigns  —  As I am sure you have heard several states are in a state of emergency due to a sudden thunder-storm that was accompanied by high winds.  Millions were left without power during days of record heat.  I am among the powerless.

Obamacare is the biggest tax increase in history ... if you ignore history  —  Maybe you've heard that Obamacare is the biggest tax increase in history.  Not so.  Not even close.  Kevin Drum posted the evidence in a table.  I turned it into a chart.  More here and here.

Gov. Scott: Florida will not implement insurance exchanges or expand Medicare  —  Florida, the state the led the fight against President Obama's health care law, will not comply with the Supreme Court opinion.  —  Gov. Rick Scott tells Fox News that he and his Attorney General, Pam Bondi …

Armando Montano, AP summer intern, dies in Mexico City at age 22  —  Eduardo Verdugo/Associated Press - In this June 4, 2012 photo, Armando Montano, 22, poses for an ID photo at the Associated Press office in Mexico City.  Montano, an aspiring journalist who was working this summer …

Christie Calls Reporter “Idiot” at Press Conference  —  When a reporter tried to ask Chris Christie an off-topic question at a press conference, the governor snapped at him  —  New Jersey's governor is known for speaking his mind when something displeases him.

CPAC's boy wonder swings left  —  Jonathan Krohn took the political world by storm at 2009's Conservative Political Action Conference when, at just 13 years old, he delivered an impromptu rallying cry for conservatism that became a viral hit and had some pegging him as a future star of the Republican Party.

US manufacturing shrinks for first time in 3 years  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first time in nearly three years, a troubling sign as evidence builds that economic growth is slowing.  —  The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers …

Europe's Great Illusion  —  Over the past few months I've read a number of optimistic assessments of the prospects for Europe.  Oddly, however, none of these assessments argue that Europe's German-dictated formula of redemption through suffering has any chance of working.

Vice president hopefuls play the name game  —  The vice-presidential selection process is not merely the act of each nominee picking a running mate.  It's also the political equivalent of the Oscars.  —  Just as aspiring movie stars covet being among the nominees for cinema's ultimate prize …

Eric Rauchway: Megan McArdle Says Something Wrong on the Internet  —  One of the distressing things about the global weblogging community is the way that smart, quirky, and thought-provoking conservatives have lost their smarts, their quirkiness, and their thought-provokingness as they have advanced careerwise.

Economy Cuts Into Obama's Youth Support  —  Maria Verdugo, a 20-year-old graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz, barely remembers the presidential election of 2008 — the one that spawned a youth movement that was singular in its scope and political effectiveness — except for …