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.

Should Liberals Be Mad at Kagan and Breyer?  —  While the Supreme Court's decision to uphold most of the Affordable Care Act in NFIB v. Sebelius was generally good news, the decision did have one unfortunate side effect.  The Court limited the use of federal spending power with respect to Medicaid …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

GOP To Make 31st Attempt To Repeal Obamacare Act … The House Rules Committee takes up a bill Monday called the “Repeal of Obamacare Act.”  And just like it says, the bill would wipe away the president's Affordable Care Act.  A vote of the full House is planned for Wednesday.

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.

Adriano Espaillat Concedes To Charlie Rangel  —  WATCH FOR ROLLING UPDATES: That's all, NY-13: Categorically saying he's at the end of a very bumpy primary road, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat has conceded his loss to incumbent Rep. Charlie Rangel.  —  We'll have more for you on this very shortly …

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.

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.

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” …

Liberal media reports saying I am equating Social Security of hardworking Americans to a form of slavery is absolutely false.  —  It seems that there is absolutely no level the attack machine will sink to deliberately distort my comments.  —  I was clearly talking about the number of people …

Wireless Firms Are Flooded by Requests to Aid Surveillance  —  WASHINGTON — In the first public accounting of its kind, cellphone carriers reported that they responded to a daunting 1.3 million demands for subscriber data last year from law enforcement agencies seeking text messages …