June Job Creation at 80,000; Rate Holds Steady at 8.2%  —  The U.S. economy created just 80,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate held steady at 8.2 percent, reflecting continued slow growth in the economy with the presidential election just four months away.

Obama hits Romney: ‘Principles matter’  —  President Obama sharply attacked Mitt Romney over the individual mandate on Friday, hitting him for “abandoning a principle” he fought for in the past due to political considerations.  —  “One of the things that you learn as president …

Romney-Rice?  —  Erin McPike's “close examination of the [Romney] campaign's activity” at RealClearPolitics suggests four leading contenders for Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick—former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, Ohio senator Rob Portman, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan, and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal.

Ohioan to Obama: Let's arm-wrestle for vote  —  A voter in Amherst, Ohio, offered to arm-wrestle President Obama in exchange for his vote.  —  The president responded he'd prefer a basketball game, according to a White House pool report.  —  Obama was in Ohio wrapping up day one of a two-day bus tour …

Crime of the Century  —  Forget Bernie Madoff and Enron's Ken Lay — they were mere amateurs in financial crime.  The current Libor interest rate scandal, involving hundreds of trillions in international derivatives trade, shows how the really big boys play.

New Leak Explains What Chief Justice Roberts Was Really Thinking in Health Care Cases (Although the Leak is Poorly Sourced)  —  A fascinating new leak from deep inside the Supreme Court has just surfaced on what Roberts was thinking when he switched his vote in the health care cases.

Ralph Nader: ‘Cowering’ Democrats face defeat  —  If the “cowering” Democrats — who “are tortured daily by Republican leaders” — come away the losers in November, they will have only themselves to blame, according to Ralph Nader.  —  “If the Democrats in Congress were all drinking water …

The Incredible Shrinking American Government: 169K Jobs Gone in a Year  —  Another jobs report has come and gone, and yet again, we're left to wonder whether the economy might not be a tad healthier if we weren't firing government workers left and right.  Over the past year, the United States has shed 169,000 public sector workers.

Rand Paul on Civil Rights: Private Restaurants Wouldn't Have To Serve Martin Luther King  —  What's Your Reaction: … Wednesday on “Hardball,” Jack Conway charged that Rand Paul wanted to do away with the Civil Rights Act.  In fact, Rand Paul's words to the Courier-Journal …

5 Ways Republicans Have Sabotaged Job Growth  —  New numbers released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the economy added a mere 80,000 jobs in June.  That's down from an average of 150,000 jobs a month for the first part of the year, and far too little to keep up with population growth.

96 Year-Old Latino Former Arizona Governor Detained By Border Patrol In 100 Degree Heat  —  This man is Raúl Héctor Castro.  He is 96 years old, a former Arizona governor, and a former United States Ambassador to El Salvador, Bolivia and Argentina.  He was born in Mexico, and is a United States citizen.

Three Makes A Trend … - If Paul Clement Is So Good, How Did He Lose the Term's Two Biggest Supreme Court Cases?

Honor Code  —  Henry V is one of Shakespeare's most appealing characters.  He was rambunctious when young and courageous when older.  But suppose Henry went to an American school.  —  By about the third week of nursery school, Henry's teacher would be sending notes home saying that Henry “had another hard day today.”

Huntsman to skip national GOP convention  —  • Still smarting from his unsuccessful presidential campaign, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman says he won't attend the Republican's national convention or future gatherings until the party starts to tackle the bigger issues.

Exclusive: Yahoo and Facebook Strike Patent Peace Deal, Significantly Expanding Ad and Content Partnership  —  Executives at Yahoo and Facebook have completed an extensive strategic deal, as part of a final settlement of their contentious patent infringement lawsuit and countersuit.

‘No Child’ Law Whittled Down by White House  —  In just five months, the Obama administration has freed schools in more than half the nation from central provisions of the No Child Left Behind education law, raising the question of whether the decade-old federal program has been essentially nullified.