A rather sharply worded statement from DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse:

Republicans and their allied groups – desperate after losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol Hill – are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional Districts across the country.

However, much like we saw at the McCain-Palin rallies last year where crowds were baited with cries of 'socialist,' 'communist,' and where the birthers movement was born – these mobs of extremists are not interested in having a thoughtful discussion about the issues – but like some Republican leaders have said – they are interested in ‘breaking' the President and destroying his Presidency.

These mobs are bussed in by well funded, highly organized groups run by Republican operatives and funded by the special interests who are desperately trying to stop the agenda for change the President was elected to bring to Washington. Despite the headline grabbing nature of these angry mobs and their disruptions of events, they are not reflective of where the American people are on the issues – or the hundreds of thousands of thoughtful discussions taking place around kitchen tables, water coolers and in homes.

The right wing extremists' use of things like devil horns on pictures of our elected officials, hanging members of Congress in effigy, breathlessly questioning the President's citizenship and the use of Nazi SS symbols and the like just shows how outside of the mainstream the Republican Party and their allies are. This type of anger and discord did not serve Republicans well in 2008 – and it is bound to backfire again.

I've received, oh, about a hundred agitated e-mails from older folk who have swallowed whole the lie pushed by Betsy McCaughey that the House health care bill would pressure seniors to end their lives sooner than they wish.  My correspondents all pass on the info passed on to them that terrible things are contained on pages 425 and 426 of HR3200.

If they had read these pages, they'd note that there are no requirements to discuss end-of-life care with anyone anywhere.  What seniors are being given is a new benefit in which Medicare would pay doctors  to discuss these matters, and only if beneficiaries want it.

The puppet-masters scaring these good people have notably made no mention of pages 427 and beyond, which cover ways to ensure that  orders for life sustaining treatments are respected. The key passage reads:

1 ‘‘(I) in which all legal barriers have been
2 addressed for enabling orders for life sustaining
3 treatment to constitute a set of medical orders
4 respected across all care settings; and
5 ‘‘(II) that has in effect a program for or6
ders for life sustaining treatment described in
7 clause (iii).
8 ‘‘(iii) A program for orders for life sustaining
9 treatment for a States described in this clause is a
10 program that—
11 ‘‘(I) ensures such orders are standardized
12 and uniquely identifiable throughout the State;
13 ‘‘(II) distributes or makes accessible such
14 orders to physicians and other health profes15
sionals that (acting within the scope of the pro16
fessional's authority under State law) may sign
17 orders for life sustaining treatment;
18 ‘‘(III) provides training for health care
19 professionals across the continuum of care
20 about the goals and use of orders for life sus21
taining treatment

As a public service, I quote the entire section on ADVANCE CARE PLANNING CONSULTATION at fromaharrop.com.

At one of his recent town hall meetings, President Obama said he would gladly welcome members of Congress to the White House to read through health care legislation "line-by-line."

Today, however, Robert Gibbs was less than clear on whether Obama would in fact read through a final bill in its entirety on his own.

"I assume the president will study the details of the proposal," the press secretary said. "He's a highly-informed individual."

He also joked that he didn't know what the president's "vacation plans are." After moving to take another question he -- perhaps realizing the potential pitfall -- backtracked quickly to challenge the reporter if he planned to read the entire bill, as well.

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell (R) leads his Democratic counterpart, Creigh Deeds, by 14 points in the latest survey by Public Policy Polling (July 31-Aug. 3, 579 RV, MoE +/- 4.1%). This is an 8-point margin increase for McDonnell since the previous PPP poll last month and the second poll in the last few days to show McDonnell leading by double digits.

McDonnell 51 (+2 vs. last poll, July 7)
Deeds 37 (-6)

McDonnell now leads by 10.7 points in the RCP Average for Virginia Governor

McDonnell's 14-point lead comes on the same day that a Monmouth survey found Republican Chris Christie leading by the same margin in the race for governor of New Jersey. President Obama won both states last year, and in each state Democrats currently hold the two Senate seats and the governor's mansion. These are the two biggest races of the year, and Republicans are banking on wins in both to boost fundraising and momentum going into the 2010 midterm elections.

Megan McArdle, Charlie Gasparino and John Tamny all agree: Matt Taibbi may be a gifted wordsmith, but he's also a moron who knows nothing about finance.

Germany is disputing an EU report saying it has the lowest birth rate of any country in the European Union. Der Spiegel has the deets.

Methinks this is a bit of overkill:

Anchors Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and Soledad O'Brien will lead CNN's second prime-time special focused on analyzing President Barack Obama's presidency and airing report cards from CNN contributors and the general public. The CNN National Report Card: Second 100 Days airs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 6. The network will give viewers the opportunity to grade how President Obama, Congress and other elected officials have handled the second 100 days in office and how the country is progressing on significant issues.

Can't wait for the third hundred days special, and the fourth hundred days, and the fifth.....

After a month of potential game-changing moments -- a visit from President Obama and the selection of a running mate -- Gov. Jon Corzine (D) has only lost ground in the latest Monmouth University poll.

General Election Matchup -- Likely Voters
Christie 50 (+5)
Corzine 36 (-1)
Daggett 4 (unch)
Don't Know 8 (-5)

Favorable Rating
Corzine 37 / 53
Christie 49 / 33
Daggett 11 / 9

Corzine's job approval rating is at 35 percent among likely voters, with a stunning 58 percent disapproving.

In the Democratic base, it's a mixed bag for the governor. He has shored up support among black and hispanic voters (65 percent, up from 50 percent in July). But he's slipped 10 points among teachers to the point where Christie now holds an advantage of 47-37 percent. And Christie now holds a 18-point lead in union households, 48-30 percent.

The poll was conducted from July 29 to August 2 among 723 registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent. The likely voter sample was 484 voters.

When one of the authors of Freakanomics says the Cash for Clunker numbers "don't seem to add up," people should probably pay attention.

Robert Gibbs did his best Bush 41 at today's press conference insisting there will be no new taxes on the middle class: "Let me be precise:  The President's clear commitment is not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year."

Video of Gibbs here.