Friday Morning Roundup

On this Date in 1885, The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.

Read this, then get on with your weekend.

Saving Medicare
Congressman Scott Rigell, The Virginan-Pilot
We have a deep moral obligation to our seniors to ensure they receive quality, affordable health care. We have an equal obligation to our children to pass on an America rich in opportunity and free from the bonds of debt. I am committed to meeting both obligations, and I am mindful of the catastrophic consequences that will befall us if the trajectory of our nation’s finances is not altered dramatically.
Read more.

Lawmakers mock Obama claim on Libya hostilities
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans and Democrats on Thursday derided President Barack Obama’s claim that U.S. air attacks against Libya do not constitute hostilities and demanded that the commander in chief seek congressional approval for the 3-month-old military operation.
Read more.

AARP Pivots on Social Security Benefit Cuts
FoxNews.com
The decision, which AARP has not discussed publicly, came after a wrenching debate inside the organization. In 2005, the last time Social Security was debated, AARP led the effort to kill President George W. Bush’s plan for partial privatization. AARP now concludes that change is inevitable, and it wants to be at the table to try to minimize the pain.
Read more.

Jamie Radtke “wins” the Bearing Drift poll. Does it mean anything?

Born on this Day

1882 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (d. 1971)
1904 – Ralph Bellamy, American actor (d. 1991)
1932 – John Murtha, American politician (d. 2010)
1943 – Newt Gingrich, American politician
1943 – Barry Manilow, American musician
1945 – Tommy Franks, American General
1963 – Greg Kinnear, American actor
1980 – Venus Williams, American tennis player

“Work and play are words used to describe the same thing under differing condition.”
~ Mark Twain

Thursday Morning Roundup

Things to know…

Our Reactionary President
Victor Davis Hanson, TownHall.com
Obama seems intent on turning back the clock to the good old days of the 1960s and 1970s, when rigid political orthodoxy, not an open mind, once guided government.
Read more.

Former DNC Chairman Was #1 Cheerleader For Failed $787 Billion Debacle
National Republican Senatorial Committee
But the fact is, 28 months since Kaine and the Democrats’ stimulus was passed, nearly 1.9 million fewer Americans are employed.
Read more.

McDonnell expects surplus of at least $100 million
Richmond Times-Dispatch
McDonnell estimated the surplus for fiscal 2011 in an exchange with reporters after he announced that revenue collections in May increased by 17.9 percent over the prior year. It was the 14th month out of the past 15 months in which tax collections exceeded the prior year’s amount.
Read more.

Facebook Users Have More Close Friends [STUDY]
Mashable
A new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals some interesting details about social networking users, debunking the myth that people who hang on Facebook a lot tend to have less real-life friends and contacts.
Read more.

Born on This Day
1890 – Stan Laurel, British actor and comedian (d. 1965)
1917 – Katherine Graham, American publisher (d. 2001)
1943 – Joan Van Ark, American actress

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna,
which neither you nor your ancestors had known,
to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but
on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (NIV)
Deuteronomy 8:3