Top Items:
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
RNC sends DNC 'you didn't bake this' Obama birthday cake — The Republican National Committee sent a birthday cake to the Democratic National Committee on Friday. The cake reads, “you didn't bake this” over a picture of President Obama. Icing text reads, “Happy birthday, Mr. President.”
RELATED:
James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
July jobs report: America's labor market depression continues — Only in a world of lowered, New Normal expectations was the July jobs report anything less than another disaster for U.S. workers. Nonfarm payrolls rose 163,000 last month as the unemployment rate rose to 8.3%.
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Economy Creates 163,000 New Jobs but Rate Rises to 8.3% — The U.S. economy followed up a weak second quarter by creating more jobs than expected with 163,000 new positions added in July, but the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent. — Markets reacted positively to the announcement …
Discussion:
zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, CNN, The Democratic Daily, The Other McCain, The Political Carnival, Questions and Observations, First Read, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, IMAO, The Mental Recession, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, FT Alphaville and Washington Examiner
The Hamilton Project / Papers:
A Record Decline in Government Jobs: Implications for the Economy and America's Workforce
A Record Decline in Government Jobs: Implications for the Economy and America's Workforce
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Calculated Risk, ThinkProgress and Indecision Forever
Neil Shah / Wall Street Journal:
Hiring Climbs but Jobless Rate Ticks Up
Hiring Climbs but Jobless Rate Ticks Up
Discussion:
Real Time Economics, CNNMoney.com, NY Daily News, FOX News Radio, Quite Normal, americanthinker.com and Newsy
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Pace of Hiring Rose in July, but Jobless Rate Ticked Up
Pace of Hiring Rose in July, but Jobless Rate Ticked Up
Discussion:
Reuters, Politico, The Caucus, Jared Bernstein, Economix, Taylor Marsh, Via Meadia, Outside the Beltway, The New Republic, BBC and JustOneMinute
Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Romney: Chick-Fil-A, Huma Abedin ‘not ... part of my campaign’ — POLITICO's Ginger Gibson reports from the Romney press avail in Vegas:
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Towleroad News #gay
RELATED:
Mike Opelka / TheBlaze.com:
EXCLUSIVE: THEBLAZE INTERVIEWS THE GUY FIRED FOR BERATING A CHICK-FIL-A EMPLOYEE (UPDATED WITH QUOTES) — Editor's note: Additional quotes from Adam Smith have been added below the video. — Should someone be fired from their job and threatened with violence, torture, even death because they have an opinion different than yours?
Discussion:
Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Quite Normal, Business Insider and Joe. My. God.
Phil Villarreal / Arizona Daily Star:
Tucson exec loses job over anti-Chick-fil-A rant in drive-thru — An executive at a medical manufacturing firm lost his job after a YouTube video of him verbally ambushing a young employee at a Tucson Chick-fil-A went viral. — Adam Smith, formerly Chief Financial Officer at Vante …
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Herman Cain: Gays Protesting Chick-fil-A Are Just Seeking Attention
Herman Cain: Gays Protesting Chick-fil-A Are Just Seeking Attention
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story
Kimi Yoshino / L.A. NOW:
Chick-fil-A ‘kiss’ day marred by ‘Tastes like hate’ graffiti
Chick-fil-A ‘kiss’ day marred by ‘Tastes like hate’ graffiti
Discussion:
Examiner, Los Angeles Times, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Towleroad News #gay, Theo Spark and Joe. My. God.
David Seifman / New York Post:
Mayor blasts Chick-fil-A critics, says trying to shutter store undermines Constitution
Mayor blasts Chick-fil-A critics, says trying to shutter store undermines Constitution
Discussion:
Politico, Reuters, Hot Air, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Business Insider and Gothamist
Tampa Bay Fl News:
Porn star Jenna Jameson endorses Romney — “I'm very looking forward to a Republican being back in office,” Jameson said while sipping champagne in a VIP room at Gold Club in the city's South of Market neighborhood. “When you're rich, you want a Republican in office.”
RELATED:
Bdisbrow / CBS San Francisco:
Porn Star Jenna Jameson Endorses Romney As Candidate For Rich In SF — SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Porn star Jenna Jameson chose a familiar stage to make her endorsement for the 2012 presidential election Thursday night. At a San Francisco strip club, the former adult actress and stage performer …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Politicker, The Daily Caller, Newsy and Gawker
Caitlin McDevitt / Reuters:
Jenna Jameson supporting Mitt Romney
Jenna Jameson supporting Mitt Romney
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and Althouse
Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Dem Lawmakers Want Answers About Romney's Enormous IRA — Leading House Democrats want to turn Mitt Romney's enormous IRA into more than just a political problem. — Romney's most recent financial disclosure form revealed that his tax-deferred individual retirement account holds upwards …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Politicker and The Mahablog
RELATED:
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Romney rips Reid, says he's paid ‘a lot of taxes’ — Mitt Romney said he has “paid taxes every year, and a lot of taxes” when asked about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) recent accusations that he hadn't paid any. — “Categorically, I have paid taxes every year and a lot of taxes …
Discussion:
CNN, National Review and Politico
Sam Youngman / Reuters:
Romney says paid “a lot of taxes” every year
Romney says paid “a lot of taxes” every year
Discussion:
ABCNEWS and The Political Carnival
Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
New SuperPAC, FightBigotry.com, Smears President Obama For ‘Racism Against White Folks’ — FightBigotry.com, a new Super PAC registered with the Federal Election Commission this week, makes no bones about its aim. It intends to run an attack ad that it says will hit President Barack Obama for …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Shakesville, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs and Joe. My. God.
Harvey Rice / Houston Chronicle:
Judge guts vote registration law — GALVESTON - A federal judge in Galveston on Thursday partially blocked new Texas registration laws that critics say amount to vote suppression because they prevent large voter registration drives. — U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa blocked the state …
Discussion:
JOSHUAPUNDIT and ThinkProgress
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Rafalca Delays VP Pick — Almost two weeks ago, I speculated on Fox News Sunday that Mitt Romney would announce his vice presidential pick early next week, on August 6 or 7. It was, if I may say, a reasonably well-informed forecast at the time. But I didn't take into account the existence …
Tomer Ovadia / Politico:
Peter King: White House leaked Syrian rebel aid news — Rep. Peter King alleged Friday that “all the evidence points towards the White House” as the source of recent reports that President Barack Obama signed a secret order to provide U.S. support to Syrian rebels — and that the information was leaked to “enhance” Obama's reputation.
Discussion:
CNN and Algemeiner.com
RELATED:
Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
Dems Nominate Anti-Gay Conspiracy Theorist for Senate — Update, 2:55 p.m.: Via the Tennessean, the Tennessee Democratic party has condemned Clayton, saying in a statement that he is “associated with a known hate group” (a reference to Public Advocate of the United States) …
Discussion:
Tennessean.com, Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller, Nashville Scene and Wonkette
Ruchir Sharma / The Atlantic Online:
Comeback Nation: Why the U.S. Economy Is Much Stronger Than You Think — Quite like an Olympic sport, hand-wringing about “America's decline” is popular, practiced all around the world, and often dominated by Americans, themselves. Unlike an Olympic event, it's wasted energy. — Reuters
BuzzFeed:
Can Obama's “Chemical Warfare” Keep The White Vote Down? — John Ellis on the president's negative campaign. Romney hasn't figured out an antidote. — Image by Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images — President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has spent more than $100 million on advertising over the last 3 months.
Discussion:
Wonkette and Mother Jones
Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Obama's Magic Number: 316,000 — A rhetorical milestone appears to be in reach. — With three months to Election Day, today's tepidly positive July jobs report has prompted Republican attacks on an increased unemployment rate and relief from the Administration that it could have been worse.
Discussion:
Mediaite and Joe. My. God.
Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
Rand Paul: Right to privacy predates the Constitution, comes from God — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) argued on Thursday that people have a legal right to privacy that predates the Constitution and comes from God. — “I think some conservatives get this thing wrong.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Heeding critics, Mitt sharpens pitch for long run — Popular in Politics — The Romney campaign likes to project an image of great confidence. It sees itself as an organization that doesn't panic when things go wrong and doesn't jump when critics, especially nervous Republicans, urge Romney to change direction.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, NationalJournal.com and ABCNEWS
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Why Washington Accepts Mass Unemployment — Good news! The economy added 163,000 jobs last month, just a bit over the level required to keep up with population growth. A return to a free fall now seems less likely. On the other hand, there is the small footnote that the return to full employment is nowhere in sight.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Brad DeLong, The Confluence, The Agonist and New York Times