Top Items:

Detroit Files for Bankruptcy — By MONICA DAVEY and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH — DETROIT — Detroit, the cradle of America's automobile industry and once the nation's fourth-most-populous city, has filed for bankruptcy, an official said Thursday afternoon, the largest American city ever to take such a course.
Discussion:
Wonkblog, New Republic, The Reaction, The Week, The Verge and Outside the Beltway
RELATED:


Detroit Files Biggest U.S. Municipal Bankruptcy — Emergency Manager Orr Seeks to Liquidate Assets to Satisfy Creditors — The city of Detroit filed for federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday afternoon, making the automobile capital and onetime music powerhouse the country's largest-ever municipal bankruptcy case.
Discussion:
Law Blog and The Hinterland Gazette


Detroit files largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history — DetroitThe city of Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history Thursday afternoon, culminating a decades-long slide that transformed the nation's iconic industrial town into a model of urban decline crippled …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Vox Popoli and The PJ Tatler


Detroit files for bankruptcy protection
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and PolicyMic

Obama to Detroit: Drop Dead
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air and Weekly Standard


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:
BuzzFeed, The Moderate Voice, LGBTQ Nation, ThinkProgress, The Plum Line, PoliticusUSA, Advocate, Yahoo! News, Taylor Marsh, Joe. My. God., Poliglot, SCOTUSblog, Truth Wins Out and Daily Kos

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:
The Hill, WHAS, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, The Huffington Post, Booman Tribune and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
RELATED:


Republicans, White House in Talks Toward Big Fiscal Deal
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Yahoo! News, Firedoglake, The Hill, Washington Wire, Crooks and Liars, ABC News, susiemadrak.com, Booman Tribune and The Reaction

Republicans eye ‘Obamacare’ as new focus of fiscal debate
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …

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
RELATED:


Pete King Says He's ‘Certainly’ Looking at Running for President
Discussion:
Post Politics and Yahoo! News


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:
National Review, LifeNews.com, msnbc.com, The PJ Tatler, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, Daily Kos and Shakesville


Senate confirms Thomas Perez as labor secretary — Thomas Perez on Capitol Hill in April 2013. (Molly Riley/AP) — The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Thomas E. Perez as labor secretary, making him the latest of President Obama's nominees to earn confirmation after senators reached a deal to avert changing the chamber's rules.
Discussion:
Heritage Action for America and ImmigrationProf Blog
RELATED:

Senate votes to end debate on McCarthy's nomination to lead EPA
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Politico and CNN

Senate confirms Thomas E. Perez as Labor secretary
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters and Daily Kos


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:
msnbc.com, The Fix, Politico, Yahoo! News, TheBlaze.com, The Reliable Source, Weasel Zippers, ABC News and CNN


Debating, Yet Again, the Worth of Law School — In the debate over whether law schools are worth what they cost students, sober analysis often seems to give way to angry rhetoric. — The heated response to the recently released paper titled “The Economic Value of a Law Degree,” …
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy, Discourse.net, Brian Leiter's Law …, Above the Law and Balkinization
RELATED:

Brian Tamanaha Says We Should Look at the Below Average Outcomes (And We Did)
Discussion:
Wonkblog, Discourse.net, Inside Higher Ed, Balkinization, TaxProf Blog and Law Librarian Blog


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:
Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, The Week and New York Magazine

Obama May Cancel Moscow Trip as Tensions Build Over Leaker — 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, Guardian, Right Turn, Hot Air, The Week, Outside the Beltway, New Republic and Lawfare


Back in Black - New York Versus Texas — Rick Perry tries luring New York businesses to Texas, but Lewis Black is none too impressed with the Lone Star State. (06:36)
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Mediaite, Above the Law and Trail Blazers Blog


Former editor of Rand Paul's Neo-Confederate staffer talks about the Southern Avenger — Jack Hunter asked me to delete columns — Long before last's week Washington Free Beacon story kicked up a two-day media storm, Jack Hunter knew that the Republican establishment was working …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Raw Story, The Reality-Based Community and Weekly Standard


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:

For Coalition Politics; Against Hypocrisy Trolling
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money


Gunman Near White House “Was Only Going to Fire a Couple of Shots” — A man who displayed a loaded weapon at a U.S. Secret Service police booth outside the White House told officers, “I was only going to fire a couple of shots if no one confronted me,” according to court documents.
Discussion:
The Hill and The Raw Story

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:
Wizbang, The Daily Caller, Sister Toldjah, BizPac Review, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Politico

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:
Hit & Run, Boing Boing, National Review and VodkaPundit


Paul Ryan Returns to Iowa — Des Moines, Iowa — Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee, will headline a prominent Republican dinner in Iowa this fall, a visit that is sure to stoke talk of a potential presidential bid. — According to Iowa governor Terry Branstad …
Discussion:
Post Politics
RELATED:

The Obamacare provision that terrifies insurers — President Obama is set to speak this morning about how the health-care law is cutting premiums for millions of Americans. His remarks will focus on a small Affordable Care Act provision known to health wonks as the “medical loss ratio.”
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Wonkblog and Post Politics


Hold placed on George Zimmerman trial evidence — Zimmerman won't get gun back yet as feds mull case — A hold was placed Thursday on all evidence related to the death of Trayvon Martin. — It's another indication that federal investigators are not done with the George Zimmerman case, despite a jury's not guilty verdict.
Discussion:
Rasmussen Reports, Mediaite, Pat Dollard, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette and American Power, more at Mediagazer »