Like to laugh? Like to be informed? Then sign up for TheDC Morning email here.
1.) The GOP needs to take a chill pill — President Obama is getting skewered for taking an eight day vacation — by the people who are in the midst of a five week congressional recess. TheDC’s Patrick Howley reports:
“Republicans are attacking President Obama’s planned eight-day vacation in Martha Vineyard’s, forcing White House press secretary Jay Carney to come to the president’s defense. ‘I would just check what they said six years ago,’ Carney said Thursday in response to GOP criticism of the trip, referring to George W. Bush’s vacations. The Obama family will begin their vacation in the Chilmark section of Martha’s Vineyard, the classic Massachusetts resort island, on Saturday, and will return Sunday August 18. ‘Most of the people in my district could never afford to visit Martha’s Vineyard, and those who could would feel uncomfortable vacationing in a place that has a reputation for being for the elite,’ Utah Republican Rep. Chris Stewart told USA Today.”
Has there ever been a stupider critique? Martha’s Vineyard isn’t a suburb of Tehran, is it? Who gives a hoot where President Obama chooses to go in the U.S. for his vacay? Look, GOP. President Obama is very deserving of a lot of criticism. TheDC Morning knows that because TheDC Morning regularly points out the president’s failures. But keep the criticism smart. Knocking the location of President Obama’s vacation just makes the party look petty. What matters is not where the president goes on vacation, but how he is doing running the country.
2.) Is Mitch Rand’s b*tch? — The Senate minority leader can’t get no respect. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“Jesse Benton, the longtime aide to Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Rand Paul, allegedly said in January that he was ‘holding his nose’ to get through his latest gig as campaign manager for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election. ‘Between you and me, I’m sort of holding my nose for two years because what we’re doing here is going to be a big benefit to Rand in ’16, so, that’s my long vision,’ a voice, allegedly Benton’s, says in the recording published by Economic Policy Journal on Thursday. According to Economic Policy Journal, the recording is of a January 9, 2013 call between Dennis Fusaro and Benton.”
But McConnell so needs the support of Rand Paul supporters that he can’t afford to fire Benton over the slight for fear it would hurt his re-election campaign. It’s kind of humiliating.
3.) Kiss of death? — Here’s some devastating news for Rand Paul. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“Once again, someone at the left-leaning MSNBC has predicted the fate of the Republican Party. On his Wednesday program, ‘Hardball’ host Chris Matthews forecasted that the GOP would go ‘hard right’ and nominate Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul as its 2016 presidential nominee. ‘I’ve been offering a prediction of late. Let me nail it down tonight,’ Matthews said. ‘I believe the Republican Party is going to go hard-right in 2016. It’s going to run someone from the growing hard-right wing of the party, something it hasn’t done since 1980. … ‘So, I predict the hard right is going to take over the Republican Party in 2016 and that the nomination is going to Rand Paul.'”
If Matthews is picking Paul, it’s a good bet it’s not going to be Paul.
4.) High taxes, no Pacquiao — Don’t let anyone tell you continually soaking the rich carries no consequences. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:
“Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao’s promoter says his fighter will not end his boxing career with a fight in New York City because of the state’s high income tax. ‘He’d have to be a lunatic,’ Top Rank CEO Bob Arum said, according to The Wall Street Journal. … Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz previously told Yahoo! Sports in February that Pacquiao was planning on fighting outside the U.S because America’s top tax rate of 39.6 percent made fighting in the U.S. ‘a no go.'”
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Conan O’Brien: 32 other countries have a greater life expectancy than the U.S. This is due to obesity, smoking and the NFL.
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Friendly, Cultural Event Held”
VIDEO: Chuck Todd rips NBC entertainment division, calls Clinton mini-series “a nightmare”