GOP leaders fear damage to party's image as Donald Trump doubles down  —  Since Donald Trump announced his presidential bid, he's drawn plenty of controversy and outrage for his comments on the campaign trail.  Here are some of the key moments.  (The Washington Post)

‘New day in South Carolina’: House votes to take down Confederate flag  —  Rep. Wendell Gilliard and other representatives of the Lowcountry gather to remember the victims of the Emanuel AME Church shootings before the House voted early Thursday morning to bring down the Confederate flag from the Statehouse grounds.

Jeb Bush: People Need to Work Longer Hours  —  Today, Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush, who as of-late has gone relatively gaffe-free, uttered a phrase that may not go over too well with the constituency he seeks to reach.  During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope …

Obama administration revives plan once criticized as ‘death panels’  —  Six years after end-of-life planning nearly derailed development of the Affordable Care Act amid charges of “death panels,” the Obama administration has revived a proposal to reimburse physicians for talking …

Senate downplays Obamacare repeal  —  ‘No deadline,’ says Barrasso, as House conservatives cry foul.  —  Sen. John Barrasso, a point person on health policy, said there's no rush to do reconciliation.  Getty  —  July was supposed to be the big month for Obamacare repeal in Congress.

Overflowing GOP Presidential Field Has Fox News in Demand  —  It's the stuff of Republican nightmares: Fox News runs out of advertising time.  —  But in an election bursting with money from an expected 17 Republican presidential candidates and dozens of outside groups supporting them …

Donald Trump In 1999: “I Believe In Universal Health Care...It's An Entitlement” From Birth  —  “I'm very liberal when it comes to health care.”  —  Andrew H. Walker / Getty Images  —  Donald Trump, the reality TV host and real estate mogul running for the Republican presidential nomination …

Puerto Rico's crisis illustrates the risks of minimum wage hikes  —  Greece's impending bankruptcy is dominating the headlines right now, but between that financial catastrophe and the one facing Puerto Rico, the latter probably deserves more attention in the United States — or at least more attention than it's getting.

How A Teenage Girl Who Gave An ‘Intimidating Look’ Was Sentenced To Up To 5 Years In Prison  —  WASHINGTON — In suburban neighborhoods around the country, teenagers sass their parents and yell at their peers.  Usually, they grow out of it.  In Detroit, a 17-year-old girl who misbehaved …

Why We Shut Down Reddit's ‘Ask Me Anything’ Forum  —  We are moderators for the website reddit.com, a place where, on a typical day, millions of users read and share content in self-contained communities called “subreddits.”  We volunteer our time to help manage the subsection called IamA …

Day of ‘technical’ glitches puts lawmakers on edge  —  Lawmakers are having a hard time swallowing the idea that a major stock exchange, a global airline and a prominent media outlet coincidentally suffered major outages on the same day.  —  The New York Stock Exchange halted trading …

Brent Budowsky: A Bernie Sanders summer  —  The surge in support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 is the latest evidence of a progressive populist wave growing across America that has the potential to create a new political majority in the tradition of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy.