Top Items:

House votes 232-185 to block the IRS from enforcing ObamaCare — The House voted Friday to prevent the IRS from enforcing any aspect of ObamaCare, a bill meant to exact revenge against an agency that Republicans say is incapable of neutral enforcement of the law.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Raw Story and Weasel Zippers
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Hill gets Obamacare fix — Lawmakers and staff can breathe easy — their health care tab is not going to soar next year. — The Office of Personnel Management, under heavy pressure from Capitol Hill, will issue a ruling that says the government can continue to make a contribution …
Discussion:
CNN, Weekly Standard, The Heritage Foundation, Forbes, Corrente, ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, Via Meadia, Hot Air, National Review, americanthinker.com, First Read, Heritage Action for America, The World's Greatest …, New York Times, White House Dossier, The PJ Tatler and Twitchy


House GOP Passes 40th Obamacare Repeal Bill Before Going Home For Summer Recess
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs

Congress to get Obamacare exemption: report
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Vox Popoli

Inside the Obamacare resistance
Discussion:
New Republic, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune and A plain blog about politics

House slams door on carbon tax
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler


Charlie Rangel on Immigration, Pope Francis & His Successor — He's survived redistricting and a censure. At 83, Harlem's controversial House stalwart is finally confronting retirement. He won't be going quietly. By David Freedlander. — Charlie Rangel barged into his office …
Discussion:
Politico, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Fox News, Sister Toldjah, The Hinterland Gazette, Politicker, Mediaite and The Raw Story
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Charlie Rangel: Tea Party Is ‘Same Group’ Of ‘White Crackers’ Who Fought Civil Rights — In an interview with the Daily Beast published Friday, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) suggested Tea Partiers are the “same group” who fought for segregation during the Civil Rights movement.


U.S. issues global travel alert, to close embassies due to al Qaeda threat — (CNN) — A global travel alert issued Friday by the State Department said al Qaeda may launch attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond in coming weeks, and the U.S. government prepared to close embassies …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, emptywheel, The Moderate Voice, KTLA 5 and Questions and Observations
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State Department Issues Global Travel Alert
Discussion:
TalkLeft, FOX5 San Diego and Prairie Weather

Text of State Department's Travel Alert on Terror Threat
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Little Green Footballs, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story

The Attack in Benghazi: Worth Investigating After All — CNN reports that dozens of CIA agents were on the ground there — and that they're being pressured to keep quiet. Why? — Suddenly it is imperative that Congress investigate details surrounding the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Sister Toldjah, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway and The Week
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Jake Tapper: Remember when Rand Paul asked Hillary about gun running in Libya? — Nearly a year out from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, CNN's Jake Tapper unveiled what looks like an enormous puzzle piece that's been missing from the “phony scandal.”
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit


Seattle officials call for ban on ‘potentially offensive’ language — Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms “citizen” and “brown bag” are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, The Hinterland Gazette, New Jersey 101.5 and National Review


Tories hire key Obama strategist — The Conservative Party has hired Barack Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina for its general election campaign team, BBC Newsnight has learned. — Sources confirmed that he would act as a campaign strategy adviser to the Conservative party.
Discussion:
The Hill and Post Politics
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Putin's ‘zero-sum’ misstep — President Barack Obama can't come close to living up to the fantasies of a showdown stirred by Vladimir Putin's international flip-off. — But for all the calls Thursday to reassess the Russia relationship in the wake of Russia's granting temporary asylum to Edward Snowden …
Discussion:
VodkaPundit
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Separate Edward Snowden from his leaks: Our view
Discussion:
Online NewsHour, Daily Kos, Hot Air and Guardian

Sex, Money and Gravitas — Can a woman effectively run the Federal Reserve? That shouldn't even be a question. And Janet Yellen, the vice chairwoman of the Fed's Board of Governors, isn't just up to the job; by any objective standard, she's the best-qualified person in America to take over when Ben Bernanke steps down as chairman.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Brad DeLong, New York Sun, Economix and The Week
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Obama Narrows Field for Fed Chairman to 3
Discussion:
Business Insider, Daily Kos and Bloomberg

How fractured is the GOP? — Acombination of early presidential maneuvering and internal policy debate is feeding yet another iteration of that media perennial: the great Republican crackup. This time it's tea party insurgents vs. get-along establishment fogies fighting principally over two things …
Discussion:
PostPartisan, Wonkblog, American Prospect, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Dish, ABC News, Hot Air and The Heritage Foundation


Coming to an Old Friend's Aid, With an Eye on the Clinton Image — Moments before Huma Abedin stood amid a phalanx of television cameras last week and announced to a national audience that she was standing by her embattled husband, Anthony D. Weiner, she made a quick phone call to a trusted colleague.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Business Insider, First Read and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

The Neocon Revival — They say you can define what kind of conservative a person is by what year they want to go back to. Some conservatives, apparently including some in Senator Rand Paul's office, want to go back to the 1850s. They believe that Abraham Lincoln helped put us on the path to the leviathan state.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hot Air, National Review, New Republic and The Other McCain

The ‘Straight Talk Express’ is back: McCain on his fears about the future of the GOP — Sen. John McCain has a strong warning for Republicans: Falter on immigration reform and the party will lose in 2016. — “If we fail on immigration reform, it won't matter who our nominee …
Discussion:
Red Alert Politics and Politico

Senators spar over definition of ‘journalist’ in seeking to protect them — WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee, looking to provide protections for journalists and their sources, ran into a roadblock Thursday when lawmakers couldn't agree on the definition of “journalist.”
Discussion:
Politico, FishbowlDC and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »


Drunk Russian Soldiers Attack Lonely LGBT Rights Protestor, Fight Cops — Today is Russian Airborne Troops Day, an annual military pride celebration which traditionally involves gaggles of soldiers and pilots spilling into public square for merriment, flag waving, wallowing in public fountains and miscellaneous public drunkenness.
Discussion:
Advocate, Gay Star News, Towleroad News #gay and The Dish

Ninth woman accuses San Diego mayor Filner of sexual harassment — A ninth woman has emerged to accuse San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) of sexual harassment. — Emily Gilbert, who was hired to sing at a fundraiser days after Filner took office in December, told Fox5 that Filner grabbed her inappropriately at the event.
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh, Shakesville and CNN