According to reports from The Hill, the Associated Press and the Washington Post,  the number of Democrats who've gone on record calling for Charlie Rangel's resignation has now reached seven. They are:

Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio)
Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.)
Walt Minnick (D-Idaho)
Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.)
Zack Space (D-Ohio)
Betty Sutton (D-Ohio)
John Yarmouth (D-Ky)

Writing in the Arena, James Pinkerton compared the this week's lower court ruling on the Arizona immigration enforcement law to, well, I'll let him tell it:

Smart lawyers and judges get together to short-circuit the political process. Having thwarted public opinion, the legal elites high-five each other for their cleverness. Where have we seen this before? Oh yes, I remember: Roe v. Wade.

That seemed overblown to me. Immigration is an issue that is fraught with a lot more moral ambiguity than abortion. Americans view abortion as either wrong or not wrong, on a sliding scale. Their view of the morality of abortion affects how they think of the law.

Immigration is a different story. Sorting through various polls, we can see that the American people seem to want a better legal immigration system, real enforcement of immigration law to disincentivize illegal immigration, and better mechanisms in place to Americanize newcomers. They don't want any sort of amnesty for current illegals until the federal government can prove it has control of immigrant in-flows.

Therefore, I thought, though Americans -- especially Arizonans -- will be annoyed with the lower court ruling, they won't treat it in quite the same way as a Supreme Court ruling that made abortion-on-demand the law of the land in all 50 states.

That still makes sense to me, except that the Obama administration, following in the footsteps of the Bush administration, seems hell bent on antagonizing a clear majority of voters over this issue. Robert VerBruggen reports on the Corner:

According to an internal U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services memo going the rounds of Capitol Hill and obtained by National Review, the agency is considering ways in which it could enact “meaningful immigration reform absent legislative action” — that is, without the consent of the American people through a vote in Congress.

“This memorandum offers administrative relief options to . . . reduce the threat of removal for certain individuals present in the United States without authorization,” it reads.

Also: “In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, USCIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations, exercising discretion with regard to parole-in-place, deferred action and the issuance of Notices to Appear (NTA), and adopting significant process improvements.”

That's sure to go over like a lead balloon come November.

"Barney Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation and Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act legalizes most online gambling at the federal level but allows states to ban betting within their borders. The Defense of Marriage Act withholds recognition of same-sex marriage at the federal level but allows states to permit it within their borders. Why is the first piece of legislation essential and the second intolerable?" -W. James Antle III on the AmSpec Blog.

Anthony Weiner does his best Al Pacino imitation. For what it's worth, I applaud the Congressman's passion:

On RCP's Election 2010 page, Kyle Trygstad previews Tuesday's primaries in Kansas, Michigan and Missouri. Also, check out the Election 2010 page for news about the latest polling in the Nevada Senate race and the Florida Senate and Governor races.

On RCP, David Paul Kuhn writes about the coming American debt crisis, and Jed Babbin argues that instead of being too big and unwieldy, the intelligence community is poorly managed and often hindered by politics.

And on RCS, Art Spander writes that the Raiders may have what it takes to become relevant again.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent in the wide open Senate race, continues to hold a lead over Republican nominee Marco Rubio, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Their support levels have changed little since the last poll in early June.

In hypothetical general election match-ups, both billionaire Jeff Greene and Rep. Kendrick Meek -- whom Greene leads by 10 points in the Democratic primary -- trail Crist and Rubio by significant margins.

With Greene in the race, Crist leads with 37%, followed by Rubio with 32% and Greene 17%. If Meek is the Democratic nominee, Crist's support extends to 39%, Rubio 33% and Meek 13%.

As Qunnipiac notes in the press release announcing the poll, "Crist's lead is based on getting half the independent voters, about 20 percent of Republicans and about 40 percent of Democrats." His name identification also remains far higher than his opponents, with 38% saying they don't know enough about Rubio to form an opinion of him and 64% saying the same about both Greene and Meek.

Crist now leads by 4.2 points in the RCP Average with Meek in the race and 5.3 points with Greene in the race.

Meanwhile, the governor's race is equally competitive. Should Rick Scott be the Republican nominee (he currently leads in polling), he would hold a slight lead in the general election against Democrat Alex Sink and independent Bud Chiles. Scott would take 29% to 27% for Sink and 14% for Chiles. If Attorney General Bill McCollum takes the GOP nomination, he would lead with 27%, followed closely by Sink with 26% and Chiles with 14%.

According to Quinnipiac assistant director Peter A. Brown, Sink has been the "beneficiary of the millions spent on negative ads" in the GOP race between McCollum and Scott. "Whether that will remain the case once the Republican nomination is settled we'll see."

The survey of 969 registered voters was conducted July 22 – 27 with a margin of error of +/- 3.2%.

"You know, if I'd wanted Dick Cheney as president I would have just voted for him" -Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum on the Obama administration's attempt to expand the FBI's authority to demand Internet records without a warrant.

Apparently that's what she just told the National Association of Black Journalists at their convention in San Diego. I'll have to consult my lawyer friends to see what kind of case she may have. My guess is that she'd have a stronger case against the government for wrongful termination - though Vilsack has already apologized and offered her a new job - than she would against someone posting a video on the internet of her own words, even if the editing stripped it of the larger context of her speech.

On RCP's Election 2010 page, Kyle Trygstad writes about a new poll out of Florida that shows "outsider" candidates Rick Scott and Jeff Greene leading their respective primary races.

RCW and Gallup rank the "Top 5 Most Wired Countries."

On RCM, Diana Furchtgott-Roth writes about President Obama's Mid-Session Review, which shows that the deficit is on the rise and unemployment will remain high for years to come.

And on RCS, Jeff Neuman writes about the history of the 600 home run club.

Two polls in the last two weeks have shown Rep. Roy Blunt (R) holding a 6-point lead over his Missouri Senate opponent, Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D). Rasmussen's poll today finds Blunt with 49%, Carnahan 43% and just 4% undecided.

Blunt's support has increased 2 points from Rasmussen's poll two weeks ago, while Carnahan dropped 2 points. That survey, showing a statistical tie, was conducted just after President Obama campaigned in Kansas City for Carnahan.

Missouri is one of several open seats Republicans are hoping to hold in what's expected to be a strong year for the party. Others include Ohio, Florida, Kentucky and New Hampshire. While the GOP is expected to pick up several Democratic seats, keeping these are a high priority as well.

The survey of 750 likely voters was conducted July 27 with a 4% margin of error.