Top Items:
Chris Frates / NationalJournal.com:
Republicans, White House in Talks Toward Big Fiscal Deal — GOP senators and Obama's chief of staff have been meeting for weeks to set a course that might avoid a crisis when America hits its debt limit in the fall. — At least a dozen Republican senators are regularly meeting …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Washington Wire, Yahoo! News, The Hill, ABC News, Hullabaloo, susiemadrak.com and The Reaction
RELATED:
The Fix:
Senate immigration plan wins majority support from public
Senate immigration plan wins majority support from public
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com, Right Turn, CNN, Outside the Beltway, The Plum Line, Post Politics, Hot Air, The Hill, Politico, First Read, Daily Kos and Washington Post
Ginger Gibson / Politico:
What happened to Benghazi probe?
What happened to Benghazi probe?
Discussion:
Althouse, Chicago Boyz, Hot Air, CNN and The Hill
Jeanne Marie Laskas / GQ Magazine Online:
Have You Heard the One About President Joe Biden? — That's No Joke. Consider: He is the most quietly effective politician in D.C. (Don't laugh.) The “Most Influential Vice President in History.” (Seriously, stop laughing.) One of our nation's most senior statesmen. (Look it up!)
Discussion:
The Reliable Source, TheBlaze.com, The Fix, ABC News, BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, Yahoo! News and CNN
RELATED:
Tal Kopan / Politico:
GQ interview: Joe Biden hedges on 2016
GQ interview: Joe Biden hedges on 2016
Discussion:
BizPac Review, The Hill, The PJ Tatler and National Review
Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:
IRS lawyer says scandal was overseen by D.C., names names — Top IRS officials in Washington, D.C. planned and oversaw the agency's improper targeting of conservative groups, according to the 72-year old retiring IRS lawyer who will testify Thursday before the House Oversight Committee.
Discussion:
Fox News, Scared Monkeys, Questions and Observations, Pat Dollard and Ed Driscoll
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Darrell Issa / USA Today:
Rep. Darrell Issa: IRS Tea Party trail leads to DC
Rep. Darrell Issa: IRS Tea Party trail leads to DC
Discussion:
msnbc.com and The Raw Story
Jake Miller / CBS News:
Texas governor Rick Perry signs controversial abortion law — Capping off nearly a month of intense media coverage and legislative hijinks, Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, signed a bill restricting abortions on Thursday. — The measure effectively bans all abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Right Wing Watch
RELATED:
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
Back in Black - New York Versus Texas
Back in Black - New York Versus Texas
Discussion:
Mediaite, Above the Law, The Raw Story and Trail Blazers Blog
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Pelosi: GOP needs ‘lesson on the birds and the bees’ amid abortion fights
Pelosi: GOP needs ‘lesson on the birds and the bees’ amid abortion fights
Discussion:
LifeNews.com, Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers and Shakesville
Meredith Shiner / The World's Greatest …:
Testy Meeting Among Senate GOP on ‘Nuclear Option’ Deal — A meeting of Senate Republicans on Wednesday grew tense as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told his members he could have gotten a better deal on nominations than the one negotiated by rank-and-file Republicans.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Hill, WHAS, The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and Booman Tribune
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Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Planned Parenthood To Close Three Texas Clinics — Planned Parenthood on Wednesday informed staff at three of its facilities in Texas that they would be closing, according to people familiar with the decision. — The three clinics are located in Bryan, Huntsville and Lufkin, Texas.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, LifeNews.com, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and msnbc.com
Jon Lovett / Salon:
Liz Cheney for Senate — Vicious, cynical and talented Liz Cheney is perfect — Liz Cheney, the infamous political operative and daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, announced last night that she is running for Senate. After careful consideration, I believe this is welcome news …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and The Week
RELATED:
Gail Collins / New York Times:
The Cheney in Waiting — Dick Cheney's daughter wants to be a senator!
The Cheney in Waiting — Dick Cheney's daughter wants to be a senator!
Discussion:
American Spectator, Slate, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice and Washington Examiner
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Prominent Democrats Are Now Comfortable With Racial and Ethnic Profiling — How else can one interpret President Obama and Senator Chuck Schumer saying that the NYPD's Ray Kelly would make a good secretary of Homeland Security? — On Wednesday, President Obama assured a Univision reporter that Ray Kelly …
Discussion:
Colorlines, National Review and NY1
RELATED:
Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
For Coalition Politics; Against Hypocrisy Trolling
For Coalition Politics; Against Hypocrisy Trolling
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Congressman: Benghazi Survivors Forced to Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements — Congressman Frank Wolf, a Republican from Virginia, said today on the House floor that survivors of the Benghazi terror attack have been forced to sign non-disclosure agreements: — “On Tuesday I raised the question …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Hot Air, BizPac Review and The PJ Tatler
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
House Republicans Cave On Marriage Fight — “[T]he House now seeks leave to withdraw as a party defendant.” House Republicans stop defending statutes similar to the Defense of Marriage Act that ban recognition of same-sex couples' marriages. — Via: J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Joe. My. God., Truth Wins Out and SCOTUSblog
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Moscow Trip for Obama May Be Off as Snowden Tensions Build — WASHINGTON — President Obama may cancel a scheduled trip to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir V. Putin in September as the standoff over the fate of Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor seeking asylum there …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Right Turn, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's … and Guardian
Rich Yeselson / Politico:
Ted Cruz is a legitimate 2016 threat — Ted Cruz is heading to Iowa this week for the state GOP's summer picnic. He's going to New Hampshire to speak before the Republican State Committee on Aug. 23 He visited South Carolina, another early primary state, in May.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and Shakesville
Hadas Gold / Politico:
DNA test: Rep. Steve Cohen not the father — The woman whom Rep. Steve Cohen has been claiming is his out-of-wedlock daughter is not, according to a paternity test revealed on Thursday. — CNN had a paternity test done on Victoria Brink with Cohen's participation, although the Tennessee Democrat did not appear on camera.
Discussion:
CNN and FishbowlDC
Nasser Al-Awlaki / New York Times:
The Drone That Killed My Grandson — SANA, Yemen — I LEARNED that my 16-year-old grandson, Abdulrahman — a United States citizen — had been killed by an American drone strike from news reports the morning after he died. — The missile killed him, his teenage cousin and at least five …
Discussion:
emptywheel and Mediaite
Berkeley Brean / Rochester, NY News:
Valet parked cars searched under TSA regulations — Rochester, N.Y. — She says she had no warning that someone was going to search her car after she left to catch her flight. So the woman contacted News10NBC. — We found out it happened to her because she valet parked her car.
Discussion:
National Review, Hit & Run and VodkaPundit
Rich Lowry / Politico:
Conversation about race? Get real — Let's take the advice of the attorney general of the United States. Let's have a national conversation about race in the wake of the Zimmerman case. Let's make it a painfully honest conversation — except about all the things that are painful for us to admit.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, New Republic, msnbc.com, National Review, Weasel Zippers, News Desk, The Hill and The Hinterland Gazette
Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama to Chicago teens: ‘I was you guys’ — First lady Michelle Obama recalled her own struggles getting acclimated to college as she offered advice Thursday to Chicago teens whose experiences have mirrored her own. — “I was you guys,” she told students participating in Urban Alliance Chicago …
Discussion:
CNN
John Gizzi / NewsMax.com:
Rep. Peter King Mulls 2016 Presidential Bid — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — In a recent political development that could only be called surprising, Newsmax has learned …
Discussion:
Ballot Box and ABC News