Obama Seeks 2013 Tax Cuts Within Limits  —  WASHINGTON — With a torpid job market and a fragile economy threatening his re-election chances, President Obama is changing the subject to tax fairness, calling for a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for people making less than $250,000.

Perry: TX Won't Implement Key Elements of Health Reform … Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said in an early morning announcement.

Hill Poll: Majority feel Obama has changed country for worse  —  Two-thirds of likely voters say President Obama has kept his 2008 campaign promise to change America — but it's changed for the worse, according to a sizable majority.  —  A new poll for The Hill found 56 percent …

Donors arrive at Hamptons fundraisers with advice for Mitt Romney  —  Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign event June 27 in Sterling, Va. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)  —  EAST HAMPTON, N.Y. - As protesters assembled on a beach in advance of Mitt Romney's evening event at the home …

GOP unnerved by Democrats' candid camera techniques  —  Politicians recognize they give up a degree of privacy when they run for office.  —  But Democrats are testing the outer limits of that understanding with a practice that raises questions about when campaign tracking becomes something more like stalking.

Obama's Administration Killed a 16-Year-Old American and Didn't Say Anything About It.  This Is Justice?  —  Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was 16 on the day he was killed.  “I tried every legal means to stop the targeted killing of my son,” says his grandfather Nasser al-Awlaki, the father of Anwar al-Awlaki.

America Already Is Europe  —  In spending, debt and progressivity of taxes, the U.S. is as much a social-welfare state as Spain.  —  I'm often asked if I think America is trending toward becoming a European-style social democracy.  My answer is: “No, because we already are a European-style social democracy.”

Justice unseals indictment charging 5 in Brian Terry's death, offers $1M reward for leads on fugitives  —  The Justice Department on Monday unsealed an indictment charging five individuals allegedly involved in Border Patrol agent Brian Terry's death, and announced a reward of up to $1 million …

Obama campaign raises $71 million in June  —  In an email to donors, the Obama campaign announces that it has raised $71 million in June.  —  From Chief Operating Officer Ann Marie Habershaw: … To recap, that's a $35 million gap between Mitt Romney and Obama in June …

CNN Poll: Was politics behind Holder contempt vote?  —  Washington (CNN) - Most Americans approve of the decision by the House of Representatives to censure Attorney General Eric Holder, but a new national poll also indicates that a majority of the public thinks that House Republicans …

White Trash Reception Hits the Hill  —  Yeah, you read that headline right.  The lobbying and policy shop Strategic Health Care is hosting a “White Trash Reception on the Hill” next week.  We get forwarded a lot of reception invites here at the Alley and we've never seen one quite like this before.

Romney Set to Counterattack on Bain  —  The L word.  —  Image by JASON REED / Reuters  —  The Romney campaign will begin to aggressively push back against President Obama's accusations that the Republican was an “outsourcing pioneer” today, a source privy to the the campaign's strategy told BuzzFeed.

Donald Trump gets ‘statesman of year’ award  —  Real estate mogul.  Political pundit.  “Apprentice” host.  Birther.  Sometime presidential candidate teaser.  —  Also: “Statesman.”  —  That's the latest title to be bestowed upon Donald Trump when he receives the 2012 “Statesman of the Year” …

The Hollowing Out  —  It has become a campaign ritual.  Immediately after the release of unemployment figures on the first Friday of every month, Democratic and Republican spin shifts into high gear.  —  “Our mission is not just to get back to where we were before the crisis.

Gay marriage supporters raise $952K in June  —  Sponsored Links OLYMPIA, Wash. —  Supporters of gay marriage in Washington state said Monday that they raised more than $950,000 last month for the campaign to uphold the state's new law, which is currently on hold pending the outcome of a November ballot measure.

Socialite Denise Rich dumps U.S. passport  —  (Reuters) - Denise Rich, the wealthy socialite and former wife of pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, has given up her U.S. citizenship - and, with it, much of her U.S. tax bill.  —  Rich, 68, a Grammy-nominated songwriter and glossy figure …

The Newsroom's Third Episode Is Something ‘Every American Should See and Ponder’  —  Dan Rather is reviewing HBO's The Newsroom for Gawker throughout the show's first season.  —  Episode 3 of HBO's “The Newsroom” is deeper, broader and better than the two previous installments.

Worst TB outbreak in 20 years kept secret  —  State rushes closure of its only TB hospital in Lantana  —  Lilla Charline Burkhalter, 60, comes to the Clara White center for breakfast most mornings.  It was here, in the soup kitchen, that a man with active, coughing TB was recently identified …