Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Republicans for Snowden — A left-right House coalition rushes to stop metadata collection. — Few things are more dangerous than Congress in heat, and so it is this week as a libertarian-left wing coalition in the House of Representatives is rushing to neuter one of the National Security Agency's antiterror surveillance programs.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Guardian, The Huffington Post, Hit & Run, Hot Air and Goppers
RELATED:
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
House rejects effort to curb NSA surveillance powers, 205-217 — The House on Wednesday rejected an attempt to curtail the National Security Agency's surveillance activities after a furious last-minute lobbying campaign by the White House to defeat the measure.
Discussion:
Reuters, Red Alert Politics, Firedoglake and The Hill
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama dismisses scandals as ‘phony’ — President Obama on Wednesday dismissed a series of controversies dogging his administration as “phony” in remarks that represented a clear shift in White House tactics. — “With an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals …
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Reuters and Red Alert Politics
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Meet President Obama's new economic message. Same as his old economic message. — You could be forgiven if you thought you had heard President Obama's speech on the economy today before. Because you have. For most of the 2012 campaign. (Don't trust us, read Obama's 2012 acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.)
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, New Republic, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch, Washington Post and ABC News
RELATED:
Yahoo! News:
Nice speech, Mr. President. You still can't do much to help the economy — Barack Obama flew to Knox College in his political home state of Illinois to deliver a ballyhooed economic speech Wednesday afternoon on the plight of the hard-knocks middle class.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
A warmed-over jobs message
A warmed-over jobs message
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Hot Air, PostPartisan, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, Post Politics, ABC News, Ed Driscoll and The Fix
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Boehner rips Obama speech
Boehner rips Obama speech
Discussion:
Guardian, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Red Alert Politics, CNN and Washington Monthly
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
Older, But Not Wiser — “As a country, we're older and we're wiser …
Older, But Not Wiser — “As a country, we're older and we're wiser …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
New York Post:
Weiner blames latest XXX online scandal on stress with Huma caused by pre-resignation sexting, begs voters for support in open letter — Serial sexter Anthony Weiner begged supporters to hang with him, telling them today “a rough time” in his marriage prompted him to keep sending sexually explicit words …
Discussion:
Politico, CBS New York, The Gateway Pundit, BizzyBlog and Jammie Wearing Fools
RELATED:
James Arkin / Politico:
NYC poll: Anthony Weiner narrowly ahead — Former Rep. Anthony Weiner still holds a slight lead for the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, but challenger William Thompson may fare best if the race turns to a runoff, according to a new poll. — Weiner leads Democratic candidates …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, his vorpal sword, New York Post, CNN, The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers, The Mahablog and Hot Air
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
READ: Obama's Economic Speech In Illinois As Prepared For Delivery — Eight years ago, I came here to deliver the commencement address for the class of 2005. Things were a little different back then. I didn't have any gray hair, for example. Or a motorcade. I didn't even have a teleprompter.
Discussion:
AEIdeas, The Plum Line, PoliticusUSA, Firedoglake and Yahoo! News
RELATED:
New York Times:
Obama Focuses on Economy, Vowing to Help Middle Class
Obama Focuses on Economy, Vowing to Help Middle Class
Discussion:
Economix, Outside the Beltway, Philly.com, msnbc.com and New Republic
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
What's the Matter With North Carolina? — The state went from beacon of tolerance to bastion of voter suppression in a month. — North Carolina is proving itself to be the poster child for all that is wrong with modern American democracy and—with thanks to Moral Mondays—also highlighting all that may someday save it.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, addictinginfo.org, The Progressive Pulse and thenation.com/blogs/163253
RELATED:
Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:
Justices on the Job — After Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. took …
Unknown / Patrick's Pals:
A Cut Above: President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush Join Patrick's Pals — Our little guy received some high-powered support this week when President George Bush 41 volunteered to shave his head to show his support for Patrick and Patrick's Pals. — Members of his Secret Service detail …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, Gawker and Red Alert Politics
RELATED:
Alex Seitz-Wald / Salon:
America's scariest police chief shoots “libtards” and forms militias — Meet Chief Marc Kessler: Liberal hater, M-16 carrier and founder of armed group to defend the country from tyranny — Mark Kessler really loves guns. “I carry an M-16 at work,” he says.
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
David Glovin / Bloomberg:
Mother of Golf Prodigy in Hazing Death Defied by FratPAC — Harrison Kowiak was 19 years old when he died after schoolmates pummeled him on a pitch-black field in Hickory, North Carolina. It was part of a fraternity hazing. — Determined to protect other students, Kowiak's mother Lianne devoted herself to fighting hazing.
Discussion:
The Week, Jezebel, BuzzFeed, Business Insider and Yahoo! News
Amanda Cochran / CBS News:
CBS News poll finds more Americans than ever want Obamacare repealed — (CBS News) A new CBS News poll finds more Americans than ever want the Affordable Care Act repealed. — According to the poll, 36 percent of Americans want Congress to expand or keep the health care law while 39 percent …
Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Senate approves deal on student loan rates — The Senate voted 81-18 Wednesday for legislation on student loan rates, splitting Democrats in the chamber. — Seventeen Democrats voted against the bipartisan bill that would cap most student loan rates at 8.25 percent.
Discussion:
Politico and Hullabaloo
Jennifer Liberto / CNNMoney.com:
Postal Service looks to end at-your-door mail — If you're moving to a newly built house, say goodbye to mail delivery at your door. — And if some House Republicans get their way, all door-to-door mail delivery will go away. — The U.S. Postal Service is marching towards a more …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller and The Agonist
Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Tax writers promise 50 years of secrecy for senators' suggestions — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel's top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), assured lawmakers that any submission they receive will be kept under lock and key by the committee and the National Archives until the end of 2064.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice