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Key Republicans Want to Scrap Health Bill's Tax Cuts for Wealthy — Collins, Rounds suggest eliminating repeal of investment tax — McConnell negotiating with Republicans to win over holdouts — Several Senate Republicans began to question Wednesday whether their health-care bill …
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Washington Post
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Poll: Only 12% of Americans support the Senate health care plan — Just 12% of Americans support the Senate Republican health care plan, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, amid a roiling debate over whether the GOP will deliver on its signature promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.


The Entire Trump Agenda Is at a Tipping Point — Earlier this month, a senior White House official deeply involved in enacting President Trump's agenda on Capitol Hill laid out the Administration's ideal legislative schedule for the rest of this year. — “Between now and the August recess …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly


Donald Trump's Ignorance Is Becoming a National Crisis — Even Republicans are fed up with the president's ham-fisted attempts to set health-care policy. — Health-care policy, Donald Trump has admitted, is more complex than he once assumed. “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated …
Discussion:
Vox, The Mahablog, Shareblue and Daily Kos


Fox News Poll: 27 percent favor Senate GOP health care plan, as vote gets delayed — By two-to-one, American voters oppose the Senate health care bill to replace the Affordable Care Act — even as a majority wants to repeal at least some of the existing law.

We fixed Donald Trump's misleading chart that claims Republicans are increasing Medicaid funding — President Donald Trump tweeted this chart on Wednesday afternoon, claiming that the Senate Republican health care bill actually increases funding for Medicaid: … Here's the problem: It's incredibly misleading.
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Week


Trump claims GOP has a ‘big surprise’ on healthcare
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, The Atlantic and Shakesville

Growing group of senators oppose health care bill
Discussion:
Shareblue and Politicus USA

Why I'm Not Betting Against Mitch McConnell
Discussion:
ABC News and New York Magazine


Officials struggle to convince Trump that Russia remains a threat — Trump blasts Obama on Twitter, demands apology — Washington (CNN)As President Donald Trump lashes out at former President Barack Obama for failing to take a harder line against Russia for election meddling …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo


Cardinal George Pell charged with at least three serious sex offences — Cardinal George Pell, Australia's highest ranking Catholic will face at least three serious sex assault charges, including at least one count of rape. — Victoria Police has confirmed Cardinal Pell has been charged …
Discussion:
The Week
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Australian Cardinal, a Top Adviser to Pope, Is Charged With Sexual Assault
Discussion:
ABC, The Guardian and Fusion


A Teen Was Charged With Killing Her Boyfriend During A Failed YouTube Stunt — A 19-year-old woman in Minnesota has been charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting her boyfriend as the couple attempted to record a YouTube stunt, authorities said. — Monalisa Perez was arrested …
Discussion:
Refinery29, The Verge, New York Magazine, NBC News, Daily Wire and Althouse


Facebook's Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men from Hate Speech But Not Black Children — In the wake of a terrorist attack in London earlier this month, a U.S. congressman wrote a Facebook post in which he called for the slaughter of “radicalized” Muslims.


Gov. Matt Bevin publicly signs bill allowing Kentucky's public schools to teach the Bible — FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) — Public schools in Kentucky can soon teach reading, writing and the book of Revelation. — At the Capitol on Tuesday, Gov. Matt Bevin gave his public “Amen” to a bill allowing Bible courses in public schools.
Discussion:
Salon, Daily Kos, Raw Story, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, The Daily Caller, Fusion and WCMH-TV


New ransomware, old techniques: Petya adds worm capabilities — ★★★★ ★ — On June 27, 2017 reports of a ransomware infection began spreading across Europe. We saw the first infections in Ukraine, where more than 12,500 machines encountered the threat.
Discussion:
NPR, Comae Technologies, Lawfare, Motherboard, The Verge, Forbes, Securelist, New York Times and Balloon Juice, more at Techmeme »
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Petya.2017 is a wiper not a ransomware
Discussion:
Axios, Current DDoS Attacks, CNET, Threat Intel, Mashable, The Verge, Securelist, Lawfare, New York Times and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »


Burr: Senate panel to get Comey memos — The Senate Intelligence Committee has reached an agreement to receive memos written by former FBI Director James Comey detailing his interactions with President Donald Trump, Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told POLITICO on Wednesday.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Mediaite, Axios, Talking Points Memo and IJR
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Senate Intelligence panel will see Comey Trump memos
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Axios


Trump seizes the advantage in war with media — White House staffers were ‘elated’ when they heard that three CNN journalists had resigned over a botched story. — Donald Trump and his allies believe he's gained a tactical advantage in his war with the media.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Media Matters for America, IJR, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Tillerson blows up at top White House aide — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's frustrations with the White House have been building for months. Last Friday, they exploded. — The normally laconic Texan unloaded on Johnny DeStefano, the head of the presidential personnel office …


Obama's jeans game gets strong(er) — (CNN)"The truth is, generally I look very sharp in jeans." — Barack Obama, 2014. — While the statement wasn't one of then-President Obama's most important pronouncements during his time in office, it was one of the most questionable, from a truth perspective.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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The Case Of The Mysterious Trump Portraits On The Hill — On Wednesday afternoon, a painting of President Donald Trump was spotted being carried around Capitol Hill. — This just came into the Capitol with its creator, Barry Wingard of western PA. He painted it.... Reply Retweet Favorite
Discussion:
Raw Story


LaVoy Finicum shooting: FBI agent indicted for alleged false statements — Slow-motion video of gunshot FBI allegedly lied about in LaVoy Finicum confrontation — An FBI agent has been indicted on federal accusations that he lied about firing at Robert “LaVoy” Finicum last year …
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FBI agent faces 5-count indictment in LaVoy Finicum shooting investigation
Discussion:
The Guardian, Talking Points Memo and Daily Wire


Arrest made after Ten Commandments monument at Arkansas Capitol toppled, shattered — A 6-foot-tall stone Ten Commandments monument installed Tuesday on the Arkansas Capitol grounds was toppled less than 24 hours later after a 32-year-old Arkansas man drove a vehicle into the statue, police said.


U.S. unveils enhanced airline security plan to avoid laptop ban — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Wednesday unveiled enhanced security measures for foreign flights arriving in the United States in what officials said was a move that aims to end a limited in-cabin ban on laptops …
Discussion:
The Verge, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider and Engadget
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Gorsuch's First Anti-Gay Dissent Has a Huge Factual Error—and Terrible, Dishonest Logic — On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled the Constitution requires states to list same-sex parents on their child's birth certificates. The decision was predictable: In Obergefell v. Hodges …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Above the Law and Los Angeles Times


Deposed Saudi Prince Is Said to Be Confined to Palace — BEIRUT, Lebanon — The recently deposed crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Nayef, has been barred from leaving the kingdom and confined to his palace in the coastal city of Jidda, according to four current and former American officials …

Wrestling's new villain named himself ‘Progressive Liberal.’ Hillary's on his shirt. — It was a strange sight, even for the “sport” of professional wrestling. — A wrestler holding a microphone faced an Appalachian crowd before a match and began unleashing a torrent of insults …


Video Feed of Commerce Chief Wilbur Ross Cut Off Mid-Speech in Berlin — Organizers fade out Wilbur Ross video feed to cheers, applause — Episode hints at German frustration ahead of G-20 summit — The U.S. commerce secretary was cut off in mid-speech during a video feed to an event hosted …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and CNBC


CNN Anchor: Trump Putting Journalists In Danger; “Declaration Of War On Media” Has “Emboldened” War Zones — CNN's Clarissa Ward, a foreign correspondent, served as guest co-host on Wednesday's broadcast of CNN's News Day. Ward fretted “people” in war zones have been “emboldened” …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit

Authorities to investigate Jay Sekulow nonprofit after ‘troubling’ revelations — Authorities in two states are looking into a nonprofit led by an attorney to Donald Trump, after the Guardian reported it had steered tens of millions of dollars to the attorney, his family and their businesses.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Media Matters for America, Mediaite and Media Matters for America


Newt Gingrich misleads with point that House health care bill grows Medicaid spending — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said all the media coverage that declares the Republican health care bills would cut Medicaid is wrong, because he claimed the program actually gets a significant boost over the years.
Discussion:
The Week, New York Times, Weekly Standard and NPR

What the latest James O'Keefe video leaves out — Conservative activist James O'Keefe caused a stir on Tuesday with the release of a secretly recorded video that purports to show a CNN producer casting doubt on his network's coverage of possible collusion between President Trump's associates and Russian officials.