–President Obama is set to deliver a speech on education policy at the National Urban League’s 100th Anniversary Convention today. He will reportedly call for teacher pay to be pegged to performance, a serious bone of contention with unions.
–Harry Reid’s re-election campaign is getting defensive after Nevada lost out on federal …
–Democrats decide they really want to run against the Tea Party this year.
–A useful rundown of what made it into their energy bill. (Some assembly required, renewable energy standard not included.)
–Surface oil on the Gulf is dissipating quickly.
–A fascinating chart on the state of Afghanistan, then and now.
–David …
–Congressional leaders from both parties are meeting today with President Obama. There’s no official agenda, but they’ll probably discuss what needs to get done before the August recess.
–The House is poised for a vote on the war supplemental. The WikiLeaks doc dump may muddy the waters.
–The DISCLOSE Act, a campaign finance …
–The emerging consensus on the Wikileaks documents seems to be that while they include few shocking revelations, they paint a picture of a faltering mission in Afghanistan that will likely feed growing unease about the sustainability of the American effort there. John Kerry released the following statement as chairman of the Senate …
The Obama White House is furious this morning about the massive leak of military documents chronicling the unvarnished truth about the Afghanistan war. At the same time, though, there must be a certain sense of relief around the West Wing. When they first learned that the whistleblower website WikiLeaks had given the New York Times, …
The White House has reacted in full damage control mode to the release of classified documents detailing the U.S. military’s struggles in Afghanistan, which the New York Times calls “in many respects more grim than the official portrayal.”
To see the New York Times summary of the documents, click here. To see the Guardian’s coverage, …
The New York Times has the latest in the struggle between Iran’s right and far-right–between the so-called traditional conservative “principalists” and the populist-extremists led by the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad–which seems, finally, to be bubbling to the surface. This is a crucial conflict–these two groups, not the Green movement, are …
Amazing how David Petraeus can just crash through impasses and get his way. He’s even able to do get Hamid Karzai, who has boggled every other American who has dealt with him, to do something he doesn’t want to do–set up a system of local militias in rural Afghanistan. Karzai’s concerns are legitimate: the local militias would be more …
–Obama plans to use a recess appointment to get Donald Berwick in at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, avoiding what was sure to be a nasty confirmation fight in the Senate. In its spin, the White House makes at least two good points: CMS has been without a permanent chief since 2006 and the Harvard …
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama is set to meet with Israeli PM Netanyahu today at the White House. Both countries’ press corps seem focused on the personal rift. The White House seems determined to reverse that impression. Bibi says getting to direct talks is the goal.
–Scott Brown flirts with an “aye” on …
NBC’s First Read has found a videotape of RNC Chairman Michael Steele at a Connecticut fundraiser (above). The audio’s not great but in it Steele seems to suggest that President Obama is responsible for the war in Afghanistan. “Keep in mind again, this was a war of Obama’s choosing. This was not something the United States had …
Reuters/Jim Young
–Russ Feingold is a “no” on financial reform. Maria Cantwell is still on the fence; her office tells me she is still examining the final language. Susan Collins has joined Scott Brown in protesting the $18 billion financial sector tax tacked on in the 11th hour to pay for implementation. Snowe’s in a similar …
