Wednesday, June 19, 2013   Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Immigration: Reform Coming CBO: Senate immigration bill would cut deficits by $200 billion over decade Shorter CBO: Immigration reform is a free lunch Benen: The immigration price tag the right didn't want to see Harry Reid: Gang of Eight immigration reform bill could pass Senate now Extremist Rep. Louie Gohmert, Others May Block All Immigration Bills in Judiciary Committee 'Regular order' on immigration suffers another blow Harry Reid threatens to file cloture on immigration bill Immigration: Boehner dances around as decision time nears Is Boehner bluffing on using the Hastert rule? Even he doesn't know. Jonathan Bernstein: Finding a House Majority on Immigration Health Care Checkup GOP Eyes Medicare 'Doc Fix' Bill For Summer, Potential Obamacare Replacement Anne Kim and Ed Kilgore: A Test of Republican Loyalties On Obamacare Wonktalk: Can Avik Roy and Ezra Klein find common ground on Obamacare? Enroll America begins private outreach to help Americans prepare for Obamacare Glenn Thrush and David Nather: Launching the real Obamacare campaign How California Is Debunking The GOP's Obamacare Talking Points Noam Schiber: The GOP's Anti-Obamacare Strategy Is Dooming the Republican Party Ezra Klein: The GOP's dangerous Obamacare strategy Privacy vs Secrecy Poll: Public wants congressional hearings on NSA surveillance Google challenges FISA Court gag order, citing First Amendment Why The FISA Court Is Not What It Used To Be FISA request roundup: Where and how often has the government been mining user data? Dana Milbank: Congress has become a rubber stamp for the NSA Bipartisan group of House lawmakers offer bill to curb NSA's phone data collection 5 New Revelations About NSA Surveillance NSA considers ending collection of data on Americans' phone calls Katrina vanden Heuvel: The NSA state of secrecy must end Greg Sargent: Time to declassify those FISA court opinions, Mr. President Tolerance & Intolerance Pew Poll: As more Americans have contacts with gays and lesbians, social acceptance rises New study shows same-sex couples still face housing discrimination Energy, Climate & Environment World Bank says effects from climate change threaten serious economic trouble in the near future Utilities Switch Off Investment in Fossil Fuel Plants Nations In Turmoil Assad's Syrian troops fight rebels near Shiite shrine Report: Syria's extremist Islamists seizing control as moderates dither G-8 leaders support political solution to Syria Somali Islamist rebels attack U.N. compound in Mogadishu Huge protests sweep Brazil for second night The War Over There U.S. to launch formal peace talks with Taliban Afghan government irked over U.S. talks with Taliban Afghan Pres. Karzai suspends security talks with U.S.; Meanwhile, Taliban rockets kill 4 Americans International News Ex-U.S. Senator Russ Feingold Chosen as Special Envoy to African Region North Korean envoy in Beijing seeks to mend ties Flood death toll in India climbs sharply Midwest Roundup Neb. State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh sentenced to 2 days house arrest for drunk driving TransCanada defends threats towards opponents of Keystone XL pipeline GOP Rep. Steve King organizes anti-immigration reform event in DC today Iowa Poll: 54% of Iowans favor creating path to citizenship for immigration The Naked Truth There are times where being in the media is both exciting and terrifying, as we must keep our attention on an incredibly broad range of rapidly changing - and sometimes shocking - stories in the short term, while we continue to keep our collective focus on stories that take months or even years to see through. For example, over the last twenty four hours, the big headlines included both the NBA and NHL finals. They also included more discussion about the NSA's spying, and writer Glenn Greenwald. The great majority of that chatter still hasn't focused on the truly important debate on security and privacy - though there have been notable exceptions like the piece in the Washington Post on Tuesday from Katrina Vanden Heuvel. The headlines have also included more wrangling on the immigration reform bill currently working it's way through the U.S. House, including some amazingly good news about the immigration reform bill from the CBO. There was even a ridiculous story centering on Republican Congressman Michael Burgess from Texas, who appears to have some seriously warped ideas about fetuses. The U.S. House also passed a pointless attempt to limit abortion to twenty weeks or less. We suppose we should be grateful that the Republican-led House didn't generate yet another pointless story by tossing in their 38th ultimately pointless vote to try and retroactively kill President Obama's health care reform law. Obamacare has been one of those stories that's taken years to see through, and it's still not a finished product yet. Like a new suit that doesn't quite fit yet, the President's signature legislation of his first term still needs to have a few alterations - though not quite the fantasy redesigns some Republicans would like to see...   To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for June 19, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy Study: U.S. Minimum Wage Is Now Worth $2 Less Today Than It Was In 1968 Housing Starts Rise 6.8% as Builders Position for Demand Pickup Mortgage Rates On The Rise, But Are Still A Huge Bargain Rising mortgage rates elicit fears they could hurt housing recovery Wall Street Watch Obama May Be Ready to Let Bernanke Go Next January Uncertainty at Fed Over Its Stimulus Plans and Its Leadership Bank Of America Paid Foreclosure Bonuses & Lied To Homeowners, Employees Say Bank of America whistle-blower's bombshell: "We were told to lie" G8 Summit Obama calls for nuclear warhead reduction in U.S., Russia Internet monitoring must have proper limits, Germany's Merkel tells Obama G-8 to Fight Tax Evasion; Calls for Changes to Stop Corporate Evasion IRS Mess Full House committee transcripts prove; IRS targeting did NOT come from White House IRS 501c4 Rules To Be Challenged In Court Ezra Klein: How the IRS keeps the $4.3 trillion nonprofit world secret GOP's War on Women In Highly Partisan Vote, GOP-Led House Approves Unconstitutional Ban on Abortions After 22 Weeks Kate Sheppard: The GOP Tries to Redefine Rape Exemptions - Again The House abortion bill likely won't make it into law. But it still matters. Texas Rep. Burgess: Masturbating Fetuses Prove Need for Abortion Ban Conservative columnist: Female soldiers are likely to commit sexual assault 'hoaxes' Media Matters Ben Smith: Missing Michael Hastings; One of the great reporters of his generation died Tuesday at 33. Michael Hastings' Best Advice to Young Journalists Michael Hastings Last Column For Buzzfeed: Why Democrats Love To Spy On Americans Nebraska Public Radio's music director Stibor passes away Gallup: Americans' Confidence in Newspapers Continues to Erode Did You Miss It On Wednesday? Here It Is Again! Your HuskerNutz Preview for June 19, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update Gallup: Obama's Job Approval Regularly & Easily Outpaces Satisfaction With Direction Of U.S. Jonathan Chait: Obama's Secret Economic Growth Strategy | Obama in Berlin calls for US-Russia nuclear weapons cuts Obama's Berlin Speech: Germans Love Obama Even More Than They Hated Bush Filibuster Reform McConnell To Reid: If You Go Nuclear On Nominations, I'll Go Nuclear On Everything Sen. Levin Somehow Still Remains A Firm 'No' On Filibuster Reform Money in Politics Democratic Senators Tester and Udall roll out constitutional amendments to allow campaign-finance re-regulation, override Citizens United On The Left Sahil Kapur: Why Liberals Love Pope Francis Nate Silver: Politico Co-Founders Lack 'Curiosity For The World Outside Of The Bubble' On The Right Sen. John McCain: President Obama's 3 D.C. Circuit Nominees Deserve Votes Ezra Klein: Bobby Jindal is the Republican Party's problem Finals Notes Heat Survive To Force Game 7 In NBA Finals | Stanley Cup finals' Game 3 draws most viewers ever for NHL on NBC We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.