Mike Huckabee has apparently decided gay marriage is a bigger menace to society than obesity. Fox and Friends ended the "You didn't build that" argument with a story on the business practices of two little girls who run a lemonade stand that Obama didn't build. And like Attends, Tranquility, Depend, and other adult diaper brands, Mitt Romney has declared war on leaks. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Tuesday, July 24th:
GOP INTRODUCES INDIVIDUAL VACATION MANDATE - Amanda Terkel: "The House Republican regulatory reform bill appears to contain an embarrassing typo, mistaking 'employment' for 'unemployment.' The 'Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act' calls for a moratorium on 'significant regulatory action' as soon as the legislation is enacted. The argument by Republicans is that government regulations burden job creation and growth and should therefore be suspended until the economy picks up. But in what appears to be a typo, the measure would require that new regulations are suspended until unemployment reaches 94 percent.... 'The Republicans have made a big typo in their latest message bill to nowhere. Looks like they should stop harping about 'red tape' and start looking for the white out,' said Drew Hammill, press secretary for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)." [HuffPost]
LEEWAY FOR RICK PERRY MEANS LESS INSURANCE FOR THEE - Jeffrey Young: "Health care reform will extend health insurance benefits to 3 million fewer people by 2022 as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in June that states could choose not to expand Medicaid for the poor, according to an analysis published by the Congressional Budget Office Tuesday. Although the Supreme Court upheld President Barack Obama's health care reform law and its individual mandate that nearly all Americans obtain some form of health care coverage, the justices also decided that states could decline to add people earning up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level -- $14,856 for a single person this year -- to their Medicaid rolls. As a result, the CBO predicts six million fewer people will gain access to Medicaid, but about half of them will buy subsidized private health insurance through the 'exchange' marketplaces established by the law." [HuffPost]
ROMNEY PIVOTS TO LEAKS - Remember that story about the president's kill list? Thomas Beaumont: "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of trying to gain a political edge by leaking classified information about the U.S. military raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Romney leveled the accusation during an address to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention. It marked his strongest indictment yet of Obama's foreign policy in a close race the Republican has sought to keep focused on the sluggish economy. 'This conduct is contemptible. It betrays our national interest. It compromises our men and women in the field,' Romney told the assembly of more than 1,000 veterans and advocates. 'And it demands a full and prompt investigation by a special counsel, with explanation and consequence.' [Associated Press]
During the 2008 campaign, Romney called the prosecution of Scooter Libby, which stemmed from an investigation into leaks, "outrageous." [BuzzFeed]
Josh Hersh: Romney "sidestepped a key opportunity to attack President Barack Obama's approach to the crisis in Syria..." [HuffPost]
VOTER FRAUD FRAUD - Nick Wing: "Defendants in a case against one of the nation's strictest voter ID laws in Pennsylvania made a major concession to plaintiffs this week, just days ahead of the start of the trial over the measure. In a stipulation agreement signed earlier this month, state officials conceded that they had no evidence of prior in-person voter fraud, or even any reason to believe that such crimes would occur with more frequency if a voter ID law wasn't in effect. 'There have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania; and the parties do not have direct personal knowledge of any such investigations or prosecutions in other states,' the statement reads. According to the agreement, the state 'will not offer any evidence in this action that in-person voter fraud has in fact occurred in Pennsylvania and elsewhere,' nor will it 'offer argument or evidence that in-person voter fraud is likely to occur in November 2012 in the absence of the Photo ID law.'" [HuffPost]
A little girl told Fox and Friends' Brian Kilmeade that Obama was "rude" for saying she needed help to start her lemonade stand. Kilmeade asked her for a job: http://huff.to/OsJZJC
WHO HAS THE JOB-KILLING AGENDA NOW? The House Republican job bills wouldn't, as it turns out, create that many jobs. Oops. Erin Mershon: "[T]here's a problem with their jobs bills: They don't create jobs. At least, they won't any time soon. In interviews conducted by The Huffington Post with five economists, most said the GOP jobs package would have no meaningful impact on job creation in the near term. Some said it was not likely to do much in the long term, either. 'A lot of these things are laughable in terms of a jobs plan that would produce noticeable improvements across the country in the availability of employment in the next four or five years,' said Gary Burtless, a senior economist at Brookings. 'Even in the long run, if they have any effect all, it would be extremely marginal, relative to the jobs deficit we currently have.'" [HuffPost]
TEA PARTIER NOT A MCCAIN FAN - An Arizona Tea Party leader wants to recall John McCain, in part because he did something reasonable. Nick Wing: "In an interview with the Arizona Capitol Times, Harris called McCain an 'embarrassment,' before laying out a variety of unapologetic anti-Islamic sentiments. 'Have you ever read the Quran? I suggest you do so, because anyone that is a Muslim is a threat to this country, and that's a fact,' Harris told the Times. ... [Ed note: He also wrote an email.] 'Go to hell, Senator, it's time for you to take your final dirt nap,' Harris concludes." Tell us how you really feel, guy! [HuffPost]
@SenJohnMcCain: Interesting news item... "Tea party leader says all Muslims a 'threat' to U.S.; Seeks recall of McCain" http://bit.ly/OkWKHW
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Unemployment benefits helped James Eagan Holmes massacre 12 people in a movie theater, according to crackpot blogs. Where is the information coming from? The Drudge Report wrote "collecting unemployment" in a July 20 link to a New York Times story that said no such thing. And a Reuters wire story hosted on the Toronto Star's website says Holmes "was currently collecting unemployment," citing a federal law enforcement official. But that detail is absent from the same wire story everywhere else it is hosted (DDD is waiting for an explanation from Reuters). Maybe it ain't true, but inside some people's fevered minds the idea Holmes collected unemployment fits the bigger story that unemployment insurance and other safety net programs erode our nation's moral fiber.
DOUBLE DOWNER - Ramesh Ponnuru incorrectly reports that the child poverty rate is lower than it was before welfare reform. It was 20.5 percent in 1996 and it's 22 percent today. [Bloomberg View]
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
JON KYL DISLIKES MIDDLE CLASS TALK - Frank Luntz might not approve of this, not sure though. Mike McAuliff: "President Barack Obama should stop talking about the middle class because it turns people against rich Americans, who should be embraced as the Michael Jordans of the U.S. economy, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Monday. Declaring that the use of the phrase 'middle class' is 'misguided and wrong and even dangerous,' Kyl argued in a Senate floor speech that Obama is 'spreading economic resentment [that] weakens American values' and ignoring 'the uniquely meritocratic basis of our society.' 'We have a president who talks incessantly about class, particularly the middle class,' Kyl said. 'I just think the whole discussion of class is wrong. It's not what we do here in America,' said Kyl, the Senate minority whip. He added, 'I don't think there's anything called 'middle class values' that are different from the values of other people in this country. Tell me what's different about the values of someone who the president identifies as middle class?'" [HuffPost]
FORMER ABRAMOFF LOBBYIST PISSED AT THINGS WANTS RADIO SHOW - Our Former Abramoff Lobbyist Pissed At Things is pissed that convicted crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff, FALPAT's former associate, has a radio show and FALPAT doesn't. "Wait, Jack Abramoff has a radio show?" FALPAT wrote after practicing Karate moves for three hours in his bedroom mirror. "How can I not know this? I must have been busy doing.....Now that I think of it what have I been doing?" Thanks, FALPAT!
@clairecmc: I'm 59 today. Ouch.
ALL HAIL MARION BARRY - HuffPost DC: "According to a new poll, Marion Barry has the highest favorability ratings of any local elected official in the D.C. government." [HuffPost]
MIKE HUCKABEE: EAT MOR CHIKIN - Timothy Stenovec: "Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, has had enough of what he called the 'vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry' aimed at Chick-fil-A. On his Facebook page, Huckabee announced that Aug. 1 will be 'Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,' a day on which he is encouraging people to patronize the fast food chain." No thanks, Mike! [HuffPost]
Heh: A tipster writes that the Obama campaign spent $62 at Chik-fil-A in June.
SEAMUS ROMNEY: THE GAME - A digital game publisher is working on a mobile app that mocks Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney for the way he treated his dog almost thirty years ago. In a press release, Censault LLC said it plans to publish "The Crate Escape: Seamus Unleashed" in late August, in coordination with an online group called Dogs Against Romney. A video of the game, which is still in development, shows a cartoon dog riding on top of a car, just like Seamus Romney did in 1983, when his owner, Mitt Romney, strapped his crate to the roof of the family station wagon for a 12-hour drive to Canada. [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Silly: ostriches. Very silly: people racing ostriches. Best name of the bunch: "Ostradamus."
ADORABLE ALERT - text href="http://www.huffpostdc.com" target="_hplink">HuffPost DC: "The National Zoo's miracle cheetah cubs made their public debut." [TARGET="_HPLINK">HuffPost]
COMFORT FOOD
By @bradjshannon!
- A video collection of sleepy animals for you. [http://bit.ly/SSB7lo]
- Canadian football is adorable. [http://bit.ly/SSBo7L]
- Randall Park, comedian, talks about comedy, is funny. [http://bit.ly/PFCROV]
- In a long distance relationship? This kiss-transmitting device might fix that for you. [http://bit.ly/SSCgth]
- Even as a corporate sellout, John Cleese is pretty great. [http://bit.ly/PFENHa]
- Harry Potter fan writes JK Rowling a letter/research paper on the genetics of wizardry. Internet shrugs. [http://bit.ly/SSCG2C]
TWITTERAMA
@politicoroger: Romney so tough in front of VFW, one wonders why he chose to be civilian in France rather than soldier in Vietnam.
@ChrisHarrisKS: "I'll do to our enemies what I did to KB Toys"
@jasoncherkis: Remember Coakley lost to a pickup truck MT@aterkel @SherrodBrown compares himself to a car in ad. http://huff.to/OkQ5NW
ON TAP is taking the week off.
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