Thursday, August 01, 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. Can't Stop Obamacare GOP leaders refuse to level with the base about Obamacare Boehner's Public Message on Obamacare: We've Already Got a Strategy To Shut It Down John Boehner, privately, on shutting down the government over Obamacare: Don't go there Saxby Chambliss: GOP 'Got Our Butts Kicked' In Earlier Government Shutdowns Rachel Weiner: A government shutdown won't kill Obamacare Sarah Kliff: Confirmed - A government shutdown won't stop Obamacare The GOP Civil War Pew Research Poll: Whither the GOP? Republicans Unhappy & Want Change, But Split over Party's Direction Nate Cohn: Pew Poll Shows Challenge For Republican Rebrand 'Morning Joe' Scarborough calls Sen. Ted Cruz 'completely ignorant' member of Republican 'Taliban' Ted Cruz taunts fellow Republicans in Obamacare fight Libertarians like Rand Paul flex their muscle in the GOP Dana Milbank: Rand Paul rebuked by fellow Republicans on foreign aid Josh Barro: Libertarian Populism Isn't Populist Ed Kilgore: The GOP's Fever Still Isn't Breaking Republican 'tug of war' exposes battle over scope of government The GOP's Long-Predicted Comeuppance May Have Finally Arrived The Spying Game Newly declassified documents on NSA phone records program released As 'X-Keyscore' Revealed, Senators Criticize NSA Hoovering Of Phone Records U.S. Outlines N.S.A.'s Culling of Data for All Domestic Calls Kevin Drum: The NSA's Massive Call Record Surveillance Program Barely Accomplishes Anything Senators lash out at NSA for excessive secrecy Congress told of NSA surveillance reach years ago Washington Post: Americans deserve more information about information-gathering NSA chief asks a skeptical crowd of hackers to help agency do its job Snowden Gets Russian Asylum Ending Confinement in Moscow Airport Fugitive Snowden slips out of Moscow airport for 'secure' location Immigration: Reform Coming? Immigration Reform Advocates, Foes to Target House GOP During Recess Latino newspaper La Opinión calls for Boehner to strip Rep Steve King of immigration subcommittee position As Congress debates citizenship pathway, question is how many new citizens would follow Rep. Paul Ryan Wants Boehner To Bring Immigration Reform To A Vote Even If Most GOPers Don't Support It Justice & Injustice George Zimmerman Stopped For Speeding In Texas, With A Gun MLB prepared to ban A-Rod for life, suspend eight others Energy, Climate & Environment Corporate Shareholders Are Now Getting Nervous About Effects Of Climate Change How Maryland's New Climate Plan Could Actually Lower Energy Costs Nations In Turmoil Egyptian police urge pro-Morsi crowd to disperse UN: July deadliest month in Iraq since 2008 Syrian conflict: Assad says he is confident of victory International News Sec. Kerry meets with new prime minister, as U.S., Pakistan resume high-level negotiations Mugabe claims Zimbabwe win, rival cries foul Libya hands death penalty to ex-minister Thousands expected at Jerusalem's gay pride parade Uruguay takes first step toward becoming first nation to legalize marijuana industry States Of Confusion Gov. McDonnell continues to dodge responsibility in Virginia Florida Gov. Rick Scott says Tony Bennett is 'doing a great job' Midwest Roundup Nebraska Gov. Heineman headed to annual governors' meeting Neb. Democratic Governor candidate Hassebrook supports Medicaid expansion Amber Alert criteria changes in Iowa Iowans get a break with tax holiday Can't Hold Back The Tide   As we swim through hundreds of stories daily, some days are more difficult than others to keep our heads above the metaphorical waterline. From Major League Baseball's possible lifetime ban of Alex Rodriguez, to George Zimmerman being stopped in Texas for speeding (with a gun in his car, of course), to the latest NSA hearing, and the continually less civil intra-party GOP war, Wednesday's pool of stories kept us from getting as much accomplished as we would have liked. Thankfully though, a few things did get done in Washington, DC yesterday. For once, the House did something shocking, by actually doing something. The lower chamber voted overwhelmingly to pass a bipartisan deal to keep student loan interest rates low, in the short term, while raising the rates later on. Frankly, we think some House members were willing to say yes to almost anything, just so they could get out of chambers and get their free Jamba Juice smoothies. Still - if that's what it takes to get Congress to actually do something, we know a certain PR person in DC that we're fairly sure would be willing to give out free smoothies every day. There were also some meetings between Congressional Democrats and the President, and Speaker Boehner and House Republicans on Wednesday - and both get-togethers dealt partially with Obamacare. Even with rising levels of Democratic frustration and serious opposition to President Obama trying to stuff Larry Summers in as new chief of the Fed, we'd much rather be dealing with the Democratic side of the DC divide than being part of the metaphorical drainplug that is the Republican Party right now... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for August 01, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy ADP Report: 200,000 Private-Sector Jobs Added in July Jobless Claims in U.S. Fall to Lowest Level in Five Years | Jobless claims continue moving solidly toward 6-year low Evan Soltas: How About a GDP Measure for This Century? Wall Street Watch Bond Purchases by Fed Will Continue, at Least for Another Month Study Finds Big U.S. Companies Park $1.2 Trillion in Profits Offshore Inequality In America 5 Million Could Be Kicked Off Food Stamps Under Republican Cuts The McPoverty Calculator: How Much More Would You Pay for A Big Mac? The Fight For The Fed Janet Yellen may be only female on Fed board Obama defends Summers to congressional Dems; Also says he's not even close to Fed chair decision Neil Irwin: Eight things you need to know about Don Kohn, who also might be the next Fed chair | Ezra Klein: Funny how gender never came up during Bernanke's nomination. Or Greenspan's. Or Volcker's. John Cassidy: Where Larry Summers Went Wrong, Politically Paul Krugman: Economists Behaving Badly, Redux Sequestration Nation Kevin Drum: GDP Grew at Anemic 1.7% Rate Last Quarter. Thanks, Sequester! Taxes & Budgets Transportation, Housing & Urban Development bill pulled from floor as GOP budget frays War on Women North Carolina Abortion Clinic To Close, Could Have Been Only Remaining Clinic In State Irin Carmon: Things that look like feminism but aren't Equality In America As gay marriage comes to Minnesota, midnight weddings abound; Rhode Island making it legal, too Same-sex weddings starting Thursday in Rhode Island Race in America Federal Lawmakers Introduce Bill To End Racial Profiling By Police | Trayvon Martin's hoodie: Will it go on display at museum? Communications Breakdown Cleveland Plain Dealer cuts third of newsroom staff Romanesko: Bakersfield Californian lays off its only two remaining photo editors Media Matters John Avlon: Rush Limbaugh's Long, Slow March to Irrelevance Positive Newspaper News: New York Times Company Swings to a Profit It's Your Cap News Toon for August 01, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update President Obama enters health care dispute for Capitol Hill staffers National News Survey: Nearly one in three recent vets has considered suicide News From Capitol Hill Senate finally confirms ATF director; First new director in seven years Congress finally votes to cut student loan interest rates | Student loan bill passes House, heads to Obama House GOP pulls spending bills, focus on attempts to embarrass Obama On The Left Democrats Using Voting Rights Issues to Protect Senate Majority | J. Linkins: More Green Lanternism - What If Ron Fournier Can't Read? On The Right Steve Benen: What a governing allergy looks like Timothy Noah: The Republican Party's plan to fix the party? Move further right! | Boehner picks the wrong fight, wants to talk about who's liked more - him or President Obama A New Poll Suggests Serious Trouble for Mitch McConnell in 2014 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.