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The GOP's Self-Defeating ‘Defunding’ Strategy — It will only strengthen the president while alienating independents. — In 2010, Republicans took the House of Representatives by gaining 63 seats. They also picked up six U.S. senators and 675 state legislators, giving them control …
Discussion:
CNN, Hawkings Here, NationalJournal.com, The Hill, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Ballot Box, PoliticusUSA, PostPartisan, American Spectator, Daily Kos, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, The Plum Line, The Hill, The Daily Caller, First Read, Taylor Marsh and New York Times
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Welcome to the Republican Party's make-believe fight to defund Obamacare. — If you're in a hurry, and you can only memorize one fact about the coming congressional debt and budget war, try this: There will be no “defunding of Obamacare.” It's impossible for Republicans to admit it …


New test could expose GOP's pack of charlatans — Conservatives in the Senate have spent weeks and weeks hectoring House Republicans to stand true to GOP principles and make funding for the federal government contingent upon Democrats agreeing to defund Obamacare.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, PostPartisan, Hullabaloo, The Plum Line and CNN


Ted Cruz Digs Himself In Further On Obamacare: ‘Likely That It Will Take Another Election For A Full Repeal’
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, BOR, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, The Fix and The Plum Line

Obama's claim that non-budget items have ‘never’ been attached to the debt ceiling
Discussion:
Hot Air and Independent Journal Review

The GOP Is Threatening Murder-Suicide With New Shutdown Warnings
Discussion:
NewsBusters, The PJ Tatler and Democratic Policy & …

Boehner To Cruz: Time To Put Up Or Shut Up On Defunding Obamacare
Discussion:
CNN and National Review

Senate sees way forward on funding bill
Discussion:
The Hill, National Review and The Huffington Post


Some House GOP conservatives want Cruz-Paul-Rubio-Lee filibuster on Obamacare defunding
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Hot Air and National Review

Ted Cruz Infuriates House Republicans By Conceding Defeat On Obamacare Repeal
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Hit & Run, The Hill, Mediaite, Business Insider, A plain blog about politics, Politico, Real Clear Politics, Washington Wire, Roll Call and The Hill


Pope Bluntly Faults Church's Focus on Gays and Abortion — Alessandro Di Meo/European Pressphoto Agency — Pope Francis, who has said the church should be a “home for all,” on Sept. 4 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. — Pope Francis, in the first extensive interview of his six-month-old papacy …
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National Review, Washington Monthly, The Dish, Advocate, DownWithTyranny!, The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh, PostPartisan, Firedoglake, Mediaite, RH Reality Check, Joe. My. God., NBC Latino, Gawker, ThinkProgress, Jezebel, Balloon Juice, Guardian, The Hinterland Gazette, Shakesville and Althouse
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A Big Heart Open to God — The exclusive interview with Pope Francis — Editor's Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal.
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Firedoglake, PostPartisan, msnbc.com, The Dish, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Guardian, LifeNews.com, CNN, The Week, CBS DC, The ToastThe Toast, NPR and The Raw Story


Creepy Obamacare ad hits college campuses and your nightmares — There will be girls. There will be beer. There will be cornhole. And someone will be dressed in the creepiest Uncle Sam costume you've ever seen. — Welcome to the strange new front in the war over Obamacare.
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The Caucus, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, A plain blog about politics, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Twitchy, BuzzFeed, Independent Journal Review, The Hill, TheBlaze.com, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, msnbc.com, The Week, Joe. My. God., The Raw Story, Politico, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Daily Kos
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WATCH: Anti-Obamacare Videos With ‘Creepy Uncle Sam’
Discussion:
Mashable, The PJ Tatler and A Spork in the Drawer


DeLay thanks God after aquittal for money laundering — HOUSTON - Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay says he thanks God for his acquittal on money laundering charges, calling the prosecution, “an outrageous criminalization of politics.” — Lunching in the Capitol with other Texas Republicans Thursday …
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Houston Chronicle, The Raw Story, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Taegan Goddard's …
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Texas court overturns Tom DeLay conviction
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Associated Press, Hot Air, neo-neocon, Hawkings Here, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller and Gretawire

Conviction of DeLay Is Overturned DeLay's Conviction Is Overturned
Discussion:
Washington Monthly


EXCLUSIVE: Two decades after her affair with Bill Clinton, Gennifer Flowers reveals they'd be together now if it wasn't for Chelsea and how former president confided in her that Hillary was bisexual — She bitterly regrets rejecting him when he last begged to see her and says he's the ‘love of her life’


Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin — When Pravda.ru editor, Dmitry Sudakov, offered to publish my commentary, he referred to me as “an active anti-Russian politician for many years.” I'm sure that isn't the first time Russians have heard me characterized as their antagonist.
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Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, CNN, WorldViews, TheBlaze.com, Guardian, The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, Gawker, The Stranger …, Associated Press, The Dish, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, World News, Talking Points Memo, Yahoo! News, NPR, National Review, New York Times, Hot Air, Independent Journal Review, The Hinterland Gazette, Post Politics, The PJ Tatler and CBS DC
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Truthfully, John McCain in wrong Pravda
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Hot Air, English pravda.ru, Weasel Zippers, Guardian, The Moderate Voice, TheBlaze.com, Joe. My. God., Mediaite, Connecting.the.Dots and Business Insider

Obama: ‘Raising the Debt Ceiling...Does Not Increase Our Debt,’ Though It Has ‘Over 100 Times’ — Raising the debt ceiling doesn't increase the nation's debt, Pres. Obama declared in a speech today. — In a speech at the Business Roundtable headquarters in Washington, D.C. …
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Yes, Americans Like the Debt Ceiling - And it Matters
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The Mahablog, National Review and ThinkProgress

If we get a debt ceiling crisis, it's because Republican voters want one
Discussion:
Business Insider, National Review, Prairie Weather and Taegan Goddard's …


Two Men Dead In Michigan Road Rage Shootout, Police Say — Police said two men died Wednesday after a shootout allegedly motivated by road rage, the Grand Rapids Press reported. — The initial police investigation showed Ionia, Mich. residents James Pullum, 43, and Robert Taylor, 56 …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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Road rage shootout: 2 men killed identified after evening incident in Ionia
Discussion:
The Raw Story


Warming lull haunts authors of key climate report — STOCKHOLM (AP) — Scientists working on a landmark U.N. report on climate change are struggling to explain why global warming appears to have slowed down in the past 15 years even though greenhouse gas emissions keep rising.
Discussion:
PlanetSave
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House Passes Bill Cutting $40 Billion From Food Stamps — WASHINGTON — House Republicans narrowly pushed through a bill on Thursday that slashes billions of dollars from the food stamp program, over the objections of Democrats and a veto threat from President Obama.
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House Republicans pushing for major food stamp cuts
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Talking Points Memo, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, Des Moines Register, Shakesville and The Raw Story


Spitting on Their Graves: Democrats Leave Benghazi Hearing Before Testimony From Families of Victims — During the second portion of a House Oversight and Government Reform hearing about Benghazi Thursday on Capitol Hill, the majority of Democrats on the Committee left the room and refused …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Independent Journal Review, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah and The PJ Tatler

GOP plans ‘one man, one woman’ law in wake of same-sex marriage ruling — A group of Republicans in the House is set to unveil a proposal aimed at protecting conservative groups in the wake of the Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage. — Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) …
Discussion:
Politico, The Volokh Conspiracy and Joe. My. God.
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New bipartisan bill protects groups that don't support same-sex marriage
Discussion:
Human Rights Campaign Blog, NOM Blog, Towleroad News #gay and Daily Kos

DOJ spox to USA Today: ‘I will save what I have for another outlet’ — A Department of Justice spokesperson who initially offered to provide sources to USA Today has reversed that decision on the grounds that the reporter was “biased” and would not forego his story even if the sources undercut its premise.
Discussion:
Techdirt and Popehat, more at Mediagazer »
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Justice Dept. watchdog never probed judges' NSA concerns
Discussion:
Hit & Run and emptywheel


AllThingsD parting ways with Dow Jones — AllThingsD and The Wall Street Journal call it quits. — FORTUNE — The team behind influential tech site AllThingsD is severing ties with founding owner Dow Jones, a subsidiary of News Corp. (NWS). A formal statement is expected later today.
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Politico, The Verge, Gawker, TechCrunch, Mashable, Deadline.com and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Hillary Clinton's image control: Security swipes man's phone, erases pic of her at speech — Hillary Clinton quietly slipped into Miami on Thursday to address a travel agents convention in a speech where the former secretary of state said little about troubles abroad or the future ambitions of the likely presidential-race frontrunner.
Discussion:
The Hill