memeorandum: Appropriations chief lashes out at GOP after spending bill is pulled (Erik Wasson/The Hill)

6:15 PM ET, July 31, 2013

Top Items:

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

XKeyscore: NSA tool collects ‘nearly everything a user does on the internet’ — • XKeyscore gives ‘widest-reaching’ collection of online data — • NSA analysts require no prior authorization for searches — • Sweeps up emails, social media activity and browsing history

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

U.S. Outlines N.S.A.'s Culling of Data for All Domestic Calls — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday released formerly classified documents outlining a once-secret program of the National Security Agency that is collecting records of all domestic phone calls in the United States …

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Washington Post, Reuters, Crooks and Liars, Guardian, ViralRead, NYT Bits, The Democratic Daily, The Week and Lawfare

Washington Post: Government unveils secret order to Verizon

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Whither the GOP? Republicans Want Change, But Split over Party's Direction — Ryan Has Broader Appeal in GOP than Paul, Rubio or Christie — OVERVIEW — Coming off of two consecutive presidential election defeats, most Republican voters believe that their party must address major problems to be more competitive in the future.

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Rush Limbaugh, Politico, Taking Note, New Republic, Hot Air, The Caucus, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite and Taegan Goddard's …

Politico:

Ted Cruz taunts fellow Republicans in Obamacare fight — Ted Cruz is taking his hardball tactics to a whole new level. — The Texas freshman senator and his senior aides are unleashing a barrage of attacks on their fellow Republicans for refusing to support their plan to choke off Obamacare as a condition for funding the government.

Discussion: Post Politics, Trail Blazers Blog, USA Today, FreedomWorks blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, Wonkblog, Power Line and The Raw Story

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Ted Cruz: I didn't say ‘surrender caucus’

Discussion: Mediaite and Hot Air

Lisa Desjardins / CNN:

Source: Obama was ‘rude and dismissive’ in exchange with Democrat — Washington (CNN) - During a question and answer session Wednesday with Democrats on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama offered what Democratic sources said was a testy response to a question about a federal loan guarantee program …

Discussion: Politico, Wonkblog, Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Obama defends Summers, tells Dems 'Don't believe HuffPost' — President Obama on Wednesday defended Larry Summers from liberal criticisms that the former-Treasury secretary is unfit to head the Federal Reserve. — Addressing House Democrats in the Capitol, Obama emphasized that he has not decided …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Weasel Zippers

Richard McGregor / Financial Times:
Obama defends Larry Summers to Democrats

Discussion: Business Insider and Guardian

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Obama's no-Congress strategy

Discussion: CNN, Firedoglake, Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, American Prospect, NationalJournal.com, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Right Wing News, Wonkblog and Wall Street Journal

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Appropriations chief lashes out at GOP after spending bill is pulled — The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee sharply criticized his party on Wednesday after Republican leaders abruptly pulled an appropriations bill from the floor. — In a blistering statement, Rep. Hal Rogers …

Discussion: Politico and PoliticusUSA

David Rogers / Politico:

THUD pulled as GOP budget frays — With support collapsing, a $44.1 billion transportation and housing bill was pulled abruptly from the House floor Wednesday, and top Republicans conceded it was a further sign that the party's budget strategy is unraveling.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Isaac Chotiner / New Republic:

John McCain, Undecided 2016 Voter — Interview: McCain on Fox News Schizophrenia, Tea Party Nihilism, and Choosing Between Hillary Clinton and Rand Paul in 2016 — It has been difficult to follow politics over the past several months without sensing the presence of a new John McCain. (Again.)

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

McCain strolls into Dem caucus meeting — Sen. John McCain — a Democrat? — There was confusion Wednesday after the Arizona Republican mistakenly strolled into President Obama's meeting with Senate Democrats at the Capitol. — The room full of Democrats — who happened to be meeting …

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, Weasel Zippers and Ricochet Conversations Feed

George Zimmerman / TMZ.com:

George Zimmerman DASHCAM VIDEO — Stopped By Cops for Speeding ... Gun in Car — Stopped By Cops, Packing Heat — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — 1:55 PM PT — We've obtained the police dashcam video of the stop ... in which George Zimmerman informs the cop he has a firearm in his glove box.

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, National Review and The Hinterland Gazette

RADAR:

Secret Sex Tape: Monica Lewinsky Caught On Explicit Recording Telling Bill Clinton, ‘I Could Take My Clothes Off...’ — A sex tape that Monica Lewinsky recorded for Bill Clinton at the height of their scandalous affair has leaked, during which the former White House intern is heard planning …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Althouse and The Gateway Pundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Quit Is the Way to Roll — The cruelly misunderstood Anthony Weiner …

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com, Politicker and Connecting.the.Dots

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

Top Weiner Aide Trashes Intern Who Wrote Campaign Tell-All — Tuesday was an angry day in Weinerland. — The campaign staff awoke to see their former intern, Olivia Nuzzi, on the front cover of the Daily News. Inside the paper was an article bylined by Nuzzi in which she told …

Olivia Nuzzi / NY Daily News:
Anthony Weiner intern reveals why she, fellows joined New York mayoral campaign

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Huma Abedin to take break from job with Hillary Clinton

Discussion: NY Daily News, The Daily Caller, Yahoo! News, The PJ Tatler, UrbanGrounds, msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Raw Story, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, americanthinker.com and Weasel Zippers

Dorsey Shaw / BuzzFeed:

Glenn Beck: “I Was Diane Sawyer's Little Bitch” — Beck's radio program goes off the rails and his co-host Stu is left almost speechless. “Don't even think about what you're saying. Just go with it.” — Watch as Beck's radio program descends into chaos. — View Video ›

Discussion: Mediaite, The Raw Story and The Hinterland Gazette

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

National Income and Product Accounts — Gross Domestic Product, second quarter 2013 (advance estimate); — Comprehensive Revision: 1929 through 1st quarter 2013 — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

Discussion: Reuters, Economix, FT Alphaville, BBC, Forbes, Hawkings Here, Econbrowser, Daily Kos, Real Time Economics, ThinkProgress, PostPartisan, Washington Monthly, NewsBusters blogs and Calculated Risk

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Economy Grows Faster Than Expected

Discussion: Power Line, Real Time Economics, VodkaPundit and National Review

The Hill:

The Hill's 50 Most Beautiful People — Welcome to The Hill's annual 50 Most Beautiful list! — This year marks the 10th anniversary of the list and brings in a slew of new faces as, for the first time, White House and executive branch employees were eligible for consideration.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Texas on the Potomac, Hit & Run, msnbc.com, Yahoo! News, The BLT and Jammie Wearing Fools

Michael Maiello / Esquire:

KENNETH POLLACK: IF ONLY WE COULD REINVADE IRAQ — In the years leading up to the invasion of Iraq, noted Democratic hawk Kenneth M. Pollack played an instrumental role in building bipartisan support for George W. Bush's war of choice. Today, as a Senior Fellow at Brookings …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Kenneth M. Pollack / Brookings Institute: The Fall and Rise and Fall of Iraq

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

VIDEO: Paul Ryan Wants Boehner To Bring Immigration Reform To A Vote Even If Most GOPers Don't Support It — RACINE, Wisconsin — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) made a little-noticed pronouncement at a town hall Friday that could have major implications for the prospects of immigration reform passing the House of Representatives.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Jake Sherman / Politico:
John Boehner outlines new House Obamacare votes

Discussion: Daily Kos

BuzzFeed:

23 Libertarian Problems — Yes, I do sleep on a copy of Atlas Shrugged . — When someone tells you your “crazy views will never win an election.” — “Is this like your bible?” — When you get a fundraising text from the RNC. — Source: blog.asiantown.net — View Entire List ›

Katherine Heintzelman / PARADE Magazine:

Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker Talk Lee Daniels' The Butler, Racism, and the N-word — “People need to see this movie,” says Oprah of Lee Daniels' The Butler, which raises questions about race in America — In this weekend's issue, Parade features a very personal conversation with Forest Whitaker …

Discussion: Politico, The Hinterland Gazette, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and TMZ.com

Susan Jacoby / New York Times:

Weiner's Women — THERE is something missing from the endless moralizing and sophomoric jokes aimed at Anthony D. Weiner. That something is the role of women in a coarse and creepy Internet culture dedicated to the fulfillment of both male and female desires for virtual carnal knowledge.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Althouse and The Dish

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Look out below! Work more, get less in Obamacare ‘cliff’ — Be careful you don't fall off the Obamacare “cliff” when the boss asks you to put in some overtime. — Working more could ultimately mean thousands of dollars less for you under a quirk in the new health-care law going into effect this fall.

Discussion: American Spectator, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Reuters, Ricochet Conversations Feed and NewsBusters blogs

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

CNN: We Were Able to Interview Lead Benghazi Suspect for 2 Hours — John King reported this morning that a reporter from CNN was able to interview a lead suspect in the Benghazi terror attack for two hours: — The FBI has reportedly not been able to track-down the suspect, but CNN had no problem talking to him for two hours.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Progressives Plan To Turn Up The Heat On GOP Lawmakers During August Recess — WASHINGTON — GOP lawmakers may be feeling more heat this summer at their town halls, speeches and fundraisers as progressive activists begin an aggressive effort to confront Republicans wherever they go.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Plum Line, Mediaite, ABC News and Planet Washington

Steve Coll / News Desk:

How Egypt Will Shake the World — In late 1991, amid the worldwide wave of elections that followed the end of the Cold War, Algeria's military-backed government held a national vote and very reluctantly invited a coalition of previously repressed Islamists to take part.

Discussion: Daniel Pipes