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Bachmann Won't Seek Re-election Next Year — Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican who made an ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year.
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James Carville on Michele Bachmann: ‘Sad day’ — Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville predicted on Wednesday that Republicans throughout the country would be “relieved” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has decided to retire. — “Sad day,” Carville quipped on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” …
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Washington Monthly, The Dish and Taegan Goddard's …


Bachmann's fall — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the tea-party firebrand facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — abruptly announced on Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term. — Her move marked a spectacular fall for a congresswoman …
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Washington Monthly, The Week, Yahoo! News, PoliticusUSA and msnbc.com


The 8 Most Outlandish Moments Of Michele Bachmann's Time In Congress
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American Prospect

Rep. Bachmann looks forward to ‘limitless’ future, but not in the House
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Firedoglake, americanthinker.com, Washington Wire, addictinginfo.org and Scared Monkeys

Michele Bachmann: I'm quitting my House seat in 2014
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Pirate's Cove

Tea Party fave Bachmann won't run for Congress again
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The Agonist and NewsBusters

Minn. Rep. Michele Bachmann says she won't run for re-election in 2014
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Conservatives4Palin and The Moderate Voice

Bachmann's Departure Relieves GOP Headache
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The Atlantic Online, The Week, Taegan Goddard's … and First Read

Michele Bachmann: A Fact Checker's dream
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The Fix, Mediaite, Business Insider and Poynter


IRS higher-ups requested info on conservative groups, letters show — Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations' activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency's Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures …

President of Scandinavia — WASHINGTON — Like many others in our business, Jonathan Alter says he is “on fire” about the Justice Department's snooping on reporters and attempting to criminalize investigative journalism, including labeling the respected Fox News Washington correspondent James Rosen a …
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msnbc.com
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The Wisdom of Bob Dole — Bob Dole no longer recognizes the Republican Party that he helped lead for years. Speaking over the weekend on “Fox News Sunday,” he said his party should hang a “closed for repairs” sign on its doors until it comes up with a few positive ideas …
Discussion:
msnbc.com and PoliticusUSA


Larry King joins RT with brand new politics show — Award-winning interviewer Larry King will host a mold-breaking political talk show on RT from next month, speaking to both leading establishment figures, and those who are not afraid to go against the grain.
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BBC, Politico, The Daily Caller, Deadline.com, Mediaite, americanthinker.com, Business Insider, Gawker and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »


Fire Eric Holder: Column — Top lawyer doesn't have credibility to investigate anyone, let alone himself. — Recently, Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to answer questions about the administration's sweeping surveillance of journalists with the Associated Press.
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Politico, Yahoo! News, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Wake up America, Twitchy, The Common Ills, Hot Air and Post Politics, more at Mediagazer »
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House Judiciary panel launches official probe into whether Holder lied
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Power Line, CNN, Crime and Consequences Blog and Hot Air

Cantor says Obama ‘disconnected,’ has ‘lost focus’ in office — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday said that President Obama had become “disconnected” and “lost focus,” citing a trio of controversies which threaten to derail his second-term agenda.
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Politico
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McConnell campaign ad ties Obama to IRS scandal, Richard Nixon
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The Plum Line

McConnell Campaign Ad Uses IRS Scandal Against Obama
Discussion:
Politico and Talking Points Memo


Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor hitting back with own ads — Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), who's facing an onslaught of ads from New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's gun-control group, has started buying TV air time of his own, three media-tracking sources told POLITICO.
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Roll Call and Post Politics
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Study: PolitiFact says Republicans lie more — The fact-checking organization PolitiFact has found Republicans to be less trustworthy than Democrats, according to a new study. — Fifty-two percent of Republican claims reviewed by the Tampa Bay Times fact-checking operation were rated …
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The Plum Line, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and The Monkey Cage
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Study: Republicans are “the less credible party”
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addictinginfo.org, First Read, The Raw Story and Poynter


Sources: Lincoln Chafee to switch parties — Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has notified senior Democratic Party officials that he intends to switch his party registration and join the Democratic Party, multiple sources familiar with Chafee's decision told POLITICO.
Discussion:
Post Politics, WJLA-TV and The Raw Story


AP EXCLUSIVE: RISE OF AL-QAIDA SAHARA TERRORIST — You are here — Home » Osama bin Laden » AP Exclusive: Rise of al-Qaida Sahara terrorist — DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — After years of trying to discipline him, the leaders of al-Qaida's North African branch sent one final letter to their most difficult employee.
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Power Line, The Week, AMERICAblog, Open Channel, Gawker, Hit & Run, Maggie's Farm and The Monkey Cage


Rubio: The ‘Only Answer’ To IRS Scandal Is To Repeal Obamacare (VIDEO) — Calling the Internal Revenue Service's role in the implementation of the new federal health care law “chilling,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued in a video posted online Wednesday that the only appropriate response …
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Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Wonkette, Balloon Juice and Washington Examiner


Harvard Dean Steps Down Following Secret Searches of E-Mail Accounts — Less than three months after Harvard University administrators admitted to signing off on secret searches in the e-mail accounts of more than a dozen resident deans as part of a cheating investigation …

Newsweek confirms it is eyeing sale — Newsweek CEO Baba Shetty and editor-in-chief Tina Brown have sent a memo to staff confirming earlier reports that parent-company IAC is exploring a sale of the now online-only magazine. — In the memo, Shetty and Brown attributed the exploration …
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Variety, Capital New York and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »


Record 10,978,040 Now on Disability; ‘Disability’ Would Be 8th Most Populous State — (CNSNews.com) - The total number of people in the United States now receiving federal disability benefits hit a record 10,978,040 in May, up from 10,962,532 million in April, according to newly released data from the Social Security Administration.
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AEIdeas, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers


A Bad Relationship: How the Press Came To Love Obama More Than Itself — As the scandals pile up, the press keeps finding excuses for the president, writes Stuart Stevens. — In Dan Brown's new novel, Inferno, the lead character is struck with amnesia, unable to remember critical events even as he's trying to save the world.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Mediaite, New York Post, Betsy's Page, The Impolitic, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler and Politico