Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Romney's Tax Confusion — The candidate's response on the ObamaCare mandate reveals larger campaign problems. — If Mitt Romney loses his run for the White House, a turning point will have been his decision Monday to absolve President Obama of raising taxes on the middle class.
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Dukakis, Kerry ... Romney? — Remember Michael Dukakis (1988) and John Kerry (2004)? It's possible to lose a winnable presidential election to a vulnerable incumbent in the White House (or in the case of 1988, a sitting vice president). So, speaking of losing candidates from Massachusetts …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Taylor Marsh and Swampland
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Romney's fatal flaw — Penalty-vs.-tax episode exposes Romney's fatal flaw: Conservatives simply don't trust him... Romney's verbal gymnastics... Will tomorrow finally allow Romney to change the subject to the economy after three weeks when it hasn't been the dominant issue? …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Politico and Washington Post
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Romney Shifts Tone, Saying Health Care Mandate Is a Tax
Romney Shifts Tone, Saying Health Care Mandate Is a Tax
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Caucus, The Maddow Blog, The Daily Dish, BuzzFeed, Prairie Weather and Firedoglake
Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Ann Romney: Obama's whole campaign strategy is “let's kill this guy” — (CBS News) On a mission to shatter the image of her husband as rigid and unrelatable, Ann Romney told CBS News she worries that President Obama's entire campaign strategy is “kill Romney.”
Discussion:
Wonkette, protein wisdom, The Raw Story, Washington Post, Rumproast, Althouse and Freedom's Lighthouse
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Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Romney: Roberts' health care ruling “not accurate”
Romney: Roberts' health care ruling “not accurate”
Discussion:
Guardian and Business Insider
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Ann Romney says woman could be VP
Alicia M. Cohn / Ballot Box:
Romney criticizes Chief Justice Roberts on healthcare decision
Romney criticizes Chief Justice Roberts on healthcare decision
Discussion:
CNN
Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Romney clarifies health care mandate position
Romney clarifies health care mandate position
Discussion:
Wake up America, Swampland, Washington Examiner, Scared Monkeys, New York Magazine and Crooks and Liars
Rose Gordon Sala / msnbc.com:
It's a penalty, it's a tax ... it's more Romney flip-flopping on health care
It's a penalty, it's a tax ... it's more Romney flip-flopping on health care
Discussion:
theGrio and The Agonist
Rong-Gong Lin II / L.A. NOW:
San Diego fireworks show exploded in 15 seconds, ruining show [Video] — One of the largest Fourth of July fireworks shows in the nation was ruined in San Diego Wednesday after a glitch caused all the pyrotechnics to ignite all at once. — About five minutes before the Port …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story
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Lauren Steussy / KNSD-TV:
Fireworks Shot Off Early in Bay — Big Bay Boom fireworks display delayed after sudden burst — Thousands of people who camped out to watch the Big Bay Boom in San Diego's Glorietta Bay Wednesday night got more of a Big Bay Bust. — Port District authorities said a “technical difficulty” …
Discussion:
UTSanDiego.com, msnbc.com, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Atlantic Wire, Gawker, Guardian, L.A. NOW, Stinque and Towleroad News #gay
Office of the United States Trade Representative:
Obama Administration Challenges China's Unfair Imposition of Duties on American-Made Automobiles — Washington, D.C. - United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced today that the United States is challenging China's imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on more than $3 billion …
Discussion:
BBC and New York Times
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Tom Troy / Toledo Blade:
China to face accusation of unfair trade
China to face accusation of unfair trade
Discussion:
Politico, ABCNEWS and aflcio.org
Kurt Andersen / New York Times:
The Downside of Liberty — THIS spring I was on a panel at the Woodstock Writers Festival. An audience member asked a question: Why had the revolution dreamed up in the late 1960s mostly been won on the social and cultural fronts — women's rights, gay rights, black president, ecology …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Booman Tribune
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Timothy Dalrymple / Philosophical Fragments:
Against the Hippies: Or, In Defense of American Individualism
New York Post:
Corzine is having no fun in the shun — How the mighty have fallen. — It seems like only yesterday that Jon Corzine was the life of the party, holding court on the Hamptons political circuit, raising money for Barack Obama. — Now, Corzine — just months removed from a humiliating financial scandal …
Discussion:
Jammie Wearing Fools and DealBook
Rene Stutzman / Orlando Sentinel:
Judge: George Zimmerman's new bond $1 million — A Sanford judge today ordered George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, released on $1 million bail. — It was not immediately clear how long it would take the 28-year-old Zimmerman to arrange his release.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
Marisa Schultz / detroitnews.com:
TV pilot an outlet for Rep. McCotter — Lowbrow project was a way to deal with his failed presidential bid — As U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter's short-lived presidential run fizzled last year, the Livonia Republican turned to another aspiration: writing a TV show.
Discussion:
Politico, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, Taegan Goddard's … and Hotline On Call
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Marine Corps band plays Romney song on White House lawn — A subset of the Marine Corps band struck up one of Mitt Romney's walkout songs while President Obama was greeting visitors at the White House Independence Day celebration. — A White House pool report said the band struck up Rodney Atkins's …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and iOwnTheWorld.com
Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Alabama Pastor Holds ‘Whites Only’ Conference — All loving Christians are invited to celebrate the word of God at Rev. William Collier's annual conference — that is, as long and they are white. — Collier's Alabama town is outraged over the flyer for his pastors' conference, which specifies “All White Christians Invited.”
Discussion:
WECT-TV, WSFA-TV and The Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
Why Health-Spending Trend Matters — Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has declared President Barack Obama's health-care initiative constitutional, the next health policy move awaits the outcome of the November elections. — But the U.S. health-care system isn't waiting.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post and The Incidental Economist
RELATED:
Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:
Hopeful signs emerge for struggling jobs market — (Reuters) - U.S. private employers stepped up hiring in June and the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits last week fell by the most in two months, hopeful signs for the struggling labor market.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress and americanthinker.com
Timothy B. Lee / Ars Technica:
Verizon: net neutrality violates our free speech rights — Company argues FCC regulations run afoul of Fifth Amendment property rights too. — “Can you hear me now?” — Aurich Lawson — Verizon pressed its argument against the Federal Communications Commission's new network neutrality rules …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post and Hullabaloo
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Partisans Agree: Presidential Election Will Be Exhausting — Republicans Find General Election Less Interesting than Primaries — OVERVIEW — Republicans and Democrats find little to agree on these days, but they have some similar reactions to the 2012 presidential campaign.
Discussion:
Mediaite, CNN and Taegan Goddard's …
Elizabeth Mendes / Gallup:
Adults Aged 26 to 64 Lose Employer Healthcare; Young Gain It — Government-based insurance up among both age groups — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fewer U.S. adults aged 26 to 64 are getting health insurance from an employer in 2012, continuing a downward trend that began in 2008.
Discussion:
Reuters and ThinkProgress