–Recovery is in a full-blown stall. The unemployment rate stayed at 9.5% in July as the economy lost 131,00 jobs. Losses were fed in part by departing temporary census workers; the private sector added 71,000 new positions, albeit below expectations.
–White House Council of Economic Advisers chairwoman Christina Romer plans to step down in September. There are some rumblings she’s leaving because of tension with Larry Summers.
–The next CENTCOM commander, Jim Mattis, and the next Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, have been confirmed.
–The New York Times gives an unflattering review of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet’s stewardship of finances for Denver’s public school system. The story of “exotic deals” with Wall Street firms fits in pretty well with primary challenger Andrew Romanoff’s latest line of attack.
–Ahead of Tuesday’s primary, The Denver Post writes they’re both scrambling left.
–New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino trys to run against Cordoba House:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLLrd79aOqI]
–Trackers: the ever-lasting legacy of George Allen’s “macaca” moment.
—Winners from last night‘s primaries in Tennessee.
–Jeff “The Reluctant Billionaire” Greene looks to defend his opulence in a new minute-long TV spot. After recounting his humble roots, the Florida Democrat describes shorting the mortgage market during the housing crash as “go[ing] up against the biggest banks on Wall Street to protect jobs” — presumably those of his yacht crew — and says “I wish I’d been in the Senate so I could have done this for the people of Florida.” What?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hYbnAcPMVk]
–Exactly how wealthy is Jeff Greene? Well, in the telling metric of iPads per infant, he’s, um, wow…
–And Mitch McConnell tells Al Franken to save the fidgeting and eye-rolling for late night TV.
What did I miss?