–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 …
President Obama jokes with AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka about eating birthday cake while he speaks at the labor union’s Executive Council meeting in Washington, August 4, 2010. REUTERS/Larry Downing
–Michael Lindenberger explains the ruling that struck down California gay-marriage ban yesterday.
–Dahlia Lithwick writes …
Early reports on Tuesday primaries in Missouri, Kansas and Michigan all had essentially the same theme: Where is everyone? Granted, voter turnout for primaries isn’t expected to match the grand standard of presidential elections, but the tales trickling in were still uninspiring. “It was a ghost town in Farmington Hills Precinct 4,” …
–BP says the Deepwater Horizon well is sealed and the government is saying most of the oil is gone. That doesn’t mean you won’t be hearing about it on TV this fall:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn43pS3YEPY]
–Sharron Angle’s ads are still focused on Nevada’s abyssal …
–There are primaries in Michigan, Kansas and Missouri today. Among the marquee contests are Republican Reps. Todd Tihart and Jerry Moran clawing it out for a good shot at Sam Brownback’s Kansas Senate seat, GOP congressman Roy Blunt trying to fend off Tea Party-fueled challenger Chuck Purgason for Kit Bond’s open Senate seat, and of …
Sorry, KT, but I’m purloining your swamp headline. And this time, Dems are looking looking at really filibustering — or at least getting rid of it. This has been the most productive session since LBJ’s Great Society, so why are Democrats looking at dismantling the filibuster? And can they do it? Here’s a look at what’s happening in the Senate.
–Obama is set to deliver a speech on winding down the mission in Iraq at the Disabled American Veterans convention today in Atlanta.
–Lindsey Graham warns of a bipartisan “unholy alliance” against the war in Afghanistan.
–John Kerry says he wouldn’t support a request for more troops. He’s sounding Ted Kennedy-esque to …
–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 …
I have a time.com story out today about the much-anticipated lame duck session expected this December. For all the hoopla, very little is likely to happen this lame duck. But what all this hyperbole surrounding the lame duck does do is rile up the respective bases. Democrats: Dear outraged environmental groups, worry not we pass climate …
–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 …
I took an informal poll of Senate staffers from both sides of the aisle today. What do you think will get done by the time the Senate adjourns the end of next week? 99% of the answers: Um, Kagan?
The Senate is about to vote on the DISCLOSURE Act, the Democratic response to the Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United, it’ll fail. …
–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 …
Since George Allen’s infamous utterance of the word macaca, any statewide campaign or Party that can afford it has sent minions to tail their opposition in the hopes of replicating that scandal. Sometimes these moments have an impact, sometimes they don’t: Trey Grayson’s video trove of Rand Paul slip ups did little to slow Paul’s …
