As the Obama administration debates the scope of troop withdrawls from Afghanistan starting this summer, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin (D-MI) said this afternoon he wants to see at least 15,000 troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year. 

Levin told reporters he wants to see combat troops included with support troops. He was staking out his position on troop withdrawals ahead of the confirmation hearing he will chair on Thursday for Leon Panetta to be Secretary of Defense.

"I advocate a significant number of troops including combat troops," he said. "That's my position ... at least 15,000 by the end of this year."

Levin was responding to reports that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is advocating a small number of support troops be removed this summer. He does not expect Panetta to come to the hearing on Thursday with specific numbers, but he is calling on the president to stand by past promises.

"I think he should stick to the commitment he made that there would be a significant reduction of U.S. forces in July," Levin said. "I think that's going to be the key issue. Its a critically imporant issue."

He also noted that troop withdrawals are a spending issue.

"There are billions of dollars involved in this decision," he said.

Friday's jobs report was discouraging news for the White House. The unemployment number ticked up for a second-straight month -- to 9.1% -- and 54,000 jobs were created, lower than most forecasts.

President Obama today seemed to express frustration with the speed of recovery and even some of the coverage of jobs data.

"I'm not concerned about a double-dip recession," Obama said during a bilateral news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I am concerned about the fact that the recovery that we're on is not producing jobs as quickly as I want it to happen. ... We are on the path of a recovery, but it's got to accelerate."

We noted in First Read on Friday that "the real fear" in the White House is "a jobless recovery," akin to Japan in the 1990s.

"Prior to this month we had seen three months of very robust job growth in the private sector," Obama added. "And so we were very encouraged by that. This month you still saw job growth in the private sector, but it had slowed down. We don't yet know whether this is a one-month episode or a longer trend."

He added that "economic data that in better times would pass without comment, now suddenly people wonder, well, are we going to go back to this terrible crisis?" And he said, in part, "[O]ur task is to not panic, not overreact."

The economy is the most important issue to this president's reelection chances. If unemployment doesn't improve, it could doom his prospects for a second term. The opposite is also true -- an improving jobs climate would bolster those chances.

He again noted "headwinds" facing the economy, in particular high gas prices. "It has an enormous impact on family budgets and on the psychology of consumers," Obama said.

He, once again, however, underscored the severity of the crisis he inherited and blamed "policy decisions" made over the past decade.

"[I]t's just very important for folks to remember how close we came to complete disaster," Obama said. "The world economy took a severe blow two and a half years ago.  And in part that was because of a whole set of policy decisions that had been made and challenges that had been unaddressed over the course of the previous decade. And recovering from that kind of body blow takes time. And recovery is going to be uneven...."

Merkel gave Obama a measure of credit and cover.

"Two and a half years ago," she said, "we experienced something that didn't exist for decades -- ever since the '20s and '30s of the previous Century. And generally around, because we cooperated so well, we were able to ward off the worst that could have happened."

She acknowledged that the world's powers, including the U.S. and Germany, sometimes disagree, even in a "controversial manner" on how to right the economic ship.

"For example," she said, "do we need more stimulus? How much do we need? How many savings programs and cuts programs do we need? What structural programs do we need? I think that shows great openness, because we're all breaking new ground.

"These are unchartered waters, and we cannot, with all due respect, rely completely on the financial business community to give us good advice every day. They have their own vested interest."

It's only a matter of time before Libyan leader Muammar Khaddafy steps down and there will be strong German support for the country at that time, President Obama said Tuesday during a press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote to authorize force to establish a no-fly zone and protect Libyan civilians, but both leaders played down their differences on the issue today. Obama said the NATO operation in Libya was fully integrated and that German personnel were actively involved in their NATO role. He also said the country was doing more in Afghanistan.

"Germany has stepped up and taken additional responsibilities in Afghanistan that have freed up resources for us to be able to conduct our operations in Libya," Obama told journalists assembled in the East Room. "We did discuss last night Germany's role and there is going be a lot more work to do when Khaddafy does step down in terms of getting the Libyan people back on their feet -- economic, political work that's gonna have to be done and my expectation is gonna be that there will be full and robust German support."

At the welcome ceremony on the South Lawn this morning, the two leaders spoke of the strong partnership between the United States and Germany and about working together on the mission in Afghanistan, in the fight against terrorism and nuclear proliferation -- especially in countries like Iran -- and about their support for struggle for freedom in North Africa and peace in the Middle East. The pair discussed these issues during their Oval Office meeting this morning.

"I believe this is our 10th meeting together -- that doesn't include the many phone calls, videoconferences we seem to have at all hours of the day," Obama told reporters at the press conference. "There's hardly any global issue where we don't consult one another."

On the Middle East, Obama said the two countries agreed that unilateral actions, like Palestinians seeking a vote on statehood at the UN General Assembly "should be avoided."

Last night, Obama and the chancellor dined privately in Georgetown and, tonight, the president and first lady will host a State Dinner for Merkel -- their first for a European leader.

Tim Pawlenty accused President Obama of being a "champion practitioner of class warfare."

“Elected with a call for unity and hope, he's spent three years dividing our nation,” the former Republican Minnesota governor, who’s running for president, said today at a speech on the economy at the University of Chicago. “And fanning the flames of class envy and resentment. To deflect attention from his own failures. And the economic hardship they have visited on America. "

Pawlenty took a dig at President Obama, asking the crowd about the "recovery summer" that the "President said we were having.” Noting unemployment and the nation’s debt, Pawlenty said the "president needs to enter economic rehab. And the American people need to stop his policies. Cold turkey."

Pawlenty proposed an overhaul of the tax code, calling the current on “anti-growth" and that "it's main goal --- seems to be to generate campaign contributions. Not jobs." He suggested the rate be reduced from 35% to 15%, adding that it’s "littered with special interest handouts --- carve-outs --- subsidies --- and loopholes." He said that a reduction would "reduce cronyism --- favoritism --- and government manipulating markets for political purposes."

Pawlenty later called for what he termed "The Google Test," and said that if the American people "can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it." 

He also called for the elimination of the U.S. Postal Service, the Government Printing Office, Amtrak, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"The post office, the government printing office, Amtrak, Fannie and Freddie were all built for a different time in our country,” Pawlenty said. “When the private sector did not adequately provide those services."

As we wrote in First Thoughts, a new Washington Post/ABC poll shows President Obama trailing Mitt Romney by three points among registered voters, 49%-46%, and tied among all respondents, with President Obama’s low economic ratings a significant factor in his overall weakness.

Daily Beast blogger Andrew Sullivan noted that the poll “might be the leader of a trend’ that the Osama bin Laden bounce President Obama received last month is over. But he also cited a  National Journal poll conducted at the end of May which suggested “resilient Obama strength,” as he posted much higher numbers among college-educated white women, independents and Hispanics, as well as improvements among “groups more dubious of him” including white men without a college education and whites aged 30-44.

At the very least, Sullivan concluded, “I think we can safely say that the political climate is volatile.”

Liberal blogger John Aravosis at AMERICAblog blamed the president for following, as he sees it, a Republican agenda focused more on deficit reduction than job creation.

The President decided a little over a year ago to join the Republicans in making the deficit a priority, and worse, a larger priority than job creation… if you still believe that the economy is on its way back, any day now, you might choose to focus on the deficit instead. Sadly, the only people who believe that are Republicans and quite possibly the President himself.

The conservative blogosphere pounced on President Obama’s low economic ratings almost unanimously.

“It’s the Economy, Stupid,” was NRO’s Robert Costa's headline as he grouped together graphs showing pessimistic views of the economic recovery and the direction of the country with President Obama’s approval ratings. 

“What's happening?  The bad economy is what's happening,” wrote GOP12’s Christian Heinze. His takeaway from those figures:

The GOP nomination is definitely worth having. Don't buy the hype that Obama's reelection is a fait accompli.

Those numbers on the economy are simply awful, and there's nothing to indicate they'll turn around. And even if things start moving grudgingly in the right direction, there's always a lag period between reality and perception, and the electorate might not have caught up by the time the election rolls around.

Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey wrote that the dismal economic figures across the board “are not re-elect numbers by any stretch of the imagination.”

Anti-tax organization Club for Growth – declared foe of government spenders and ‘establishment’ Republicans -- has released its policy white paper on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, offering a bleak assessment of the perceived GOP frontrunner’s record on taxes and regulation.

The group’s report takes Romney to task for his “unshakeable reputation as a flip-flopper,” with Club for Growth president Chris Chocola concluding that the organization has “serious concerns over his governing philosophy.”

“To this day, Romney supports big government solutions to health care and opposes pro-growth tax code reform – positions that are simply opposite to those supported by true economic conservatives,” the report reads.

The harsh assessment of Romney’s record stems largely from his failure to disavow the Massachusetts health care plan he signed into law in 2006.

“Empirical evidence demonstrates that RomneyCare has failed to control health care costs, increased the size of government, and by its very nature introduced more government and less freedom into health care markets,” the Club wrote in its report. “Governor Romney should admit that RomneyCare is a failure, and soon.”

While the group has never been friendly to many of the underlying principles of Romney’s 2006 plan – including the individual and employer mandates particularly despised by libertarian-leaning Republicans --  the scathing language in the latest report shows how damaging the former governor’s continued defense (and President Barack Obama’s embrace) of the plan has been since Romney’s last run for president.

Consider the comparatively more sympathetic interpretation in the Club’s 2007 assessment of Romney’s health care law.

“Most of the blame for the deficiencies in the Massachusetts plan lies with the liberal Legislature which, absent the resistance of Governor Romney, almost certainly would have enacted a major tax increase while moving healthcare reform in the worst possible direction,”  the group wrote then, noting that Romney unsuccessfully attempted to veto the requirement that businesses with 11 or more full-time employees provide health insurance.

"Governor Romney tried to deregulate the overregulated healthcare insurance coverage," the report added. "Many of his efforts were rebuffed by the Legislature, but he did make some progress."

The 2007 report concluded of Romney:

“His landmark steps in the healthcare arena also exhibit a mixture of desirable pro-free market efforts combined with a regrettable willingness to accept, if not embrace, a massive new regulatory regime. Nevertheless, given his outstanding private sector entrepreneurial experience; the strong pro-growth positions he has taken on the campaign trail; his overall record as governor; and the fact that the U.S. Congress will not be as liberal as the Massachusetts Legislature, we are reasonably optimistic that, as President, Mitt Romney would generally advocate a pro-growth agenda.”

Obama vs. the economy… New WaPo/ABC poll finds Obama trailing Romney among registered voters, 49%-46%... But is Romney’s boomlet temporary?... Warning: Beware of national polls this far out; Dole was beating Clinton at this point in the ’96 cycle… Obama on Afghanistan: “It’s time for the Afghans to take more responsibility”… Pelosi calls for investigation into Weiner, but not his immediate resignation… Pawlenty unveils his “Google Test” at 11:00 am ET speech at the University of Chicago, calling for elimination of governmental entities like the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak… Newt Gingrich: Wanna get away?... And Romney’s in Detroit, while Santorum is in Iowa.

*** Obama vs. the economy: If you needed any more proof that President Obama is running more against the economy than the Republican field, just look at the latest Washington Post/ABC poll. Conducted during the worst economic news the White House has encountered since last summer, the poll shows Obama trailing Mitt Romney by three points among registered voters, 49%-46%, and tied among all respondents. The reason: Romney outperforms Obama with independents. More from the poll: “Overall, about six in 10 of those surveyed give Obama negative marks on the economy and the deficit. Significantly, nearly half strongly disapprove of his performance in these two crucial areas. Nearly two-thirds of political independents disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, including — for the first time — a slim majority who do so strongly.”

*** Romney's short-term boomlet? That said, Obama leads all other potential GOP candidates in the poll (Palin, Gingrich, Huntsman, Pawlenty, and Bachmann). But is this as good as it gets for Romney, at least during this phase of the Republican race? Consider that he has carefully limited his exposure over the past few months, even admitting to CNN’s Piers Morgan that overexposure is his “greatest enemy.” (But being president or even the front-runner for the GOP nomination is the definition of being overexposed.) And outside of the jabs he received last week from Palin and Giuliani -- who might not even run in 2012 -- Romney hasn’t been attacked by top Republican rivals, like Pawlenty or Huntsman. Yet. Per the Washington Post/ABC poll, “The Massachusetts health-care plan enacted under Romney remains a potentially serious problem in the former governor’s bid. By nearly 2 to 1, Republicans oppose the plan, with strong detractors far outnumbering solid supporters.”

*** The White House can take comfort in this: In case you were wondering, back in March of 1995, Bob Dole was leading Bill Clinton, per a Los Angeles Times poll. And in June of 1995, a Newsweek survey found Dole leading Clinton, 49%-40%.

*** “It’s time for the Afghans to take more responsibility”: The Post/ABC poll also finds a majority (54%) believing that the war in Afghanistan isn’t worth fighting, although that percentage is down 10 points from March. And in his interview with Hearst yesterday, President Obama appeared to be leaning toward a steeper drawdown from Afghanistan, as yesterday’s New York Times foreshadowed. Said Obama, “By us killing Osama bin Laden, getting Al Qaeda back on its heels, stabilizing much of the country in Afghanistan so the Taliban can't take it over, it's now time for us to recognize that we've accomplished a big chunk of our mission and that it's time for the Afghans to take more responsibility." Read that again: The president said "we've accomplished a BIG CHUNK of our mission" (emphasis ours).

*** Sex(ting), Lies, and Videotape: From our vantage point, the biggest political result from Weiner-gate is that it distracted Democrats' message for an entire week. Instead of the GOP's Medicare plans, the Hill story of the week focused on Rep. Anthony Weiner's lies, followed by his never-ending, choked-up admission of sending lewd online photos and messages. Agree with his politics or not, John Boehner did his party -- and its overall message -- a favor by immediately pressuring the Chris Lees and Mark Souders to resign. Pelosi and team, by contrast? They allowed the Weiner story to linger, just like they did for Eric Massa (remember the Glenn Beck ordeal?) and Charlie Rangel (who twisted in the wind for months). Pelosi did call for an Ethics Committee investigation, but such an investigation has the potential only to pro-long the story. What happens if an investigation of Weiner, six months or a year from now, uncovers anything else? “We do not need an investigation to know he lied and acted inappropriately,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. “We need a resignation.”

*** Rogue’s gallery: All that said, consider this: In the past year or two, five rogues in Congress have been exposed -- John Ensign, Eric Massa, Chris Lee, Mark Souder, and Anthony Weiner. That’s less than one percent of all members of the House and Senate, and that's not a bad ratio.  Then again, three of these are from New York state. What’s up, Empire State?

*** Pawlenty’s “Google Test”: At 11:00 am ET from the University of Chicago, Pawlenty delivers a speech on the economy and government. Per excerpts, he will propose cutting corporate taxes (“We should cut the business tax rate by more than half. I propose reducing the current rate from 35% to 15%”); creating just two individual tax rates (10% and 25%); and eliminating the U.S. Postal Service, Amtrak, and the government printing office (“We can start by applying what I call ‘The Google Test.’ If you can find a good or service on the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be doing it”). Our question: Does Pawlenty realize that UPS and Fed Ex don’t deliver to some rural parts of the country? How do you ensure mail for those folks? The real issue with the Postal Service is Congress' inability to allow it to make smart business decisions (like raising postage to a realistic level of say one whole dollar?!?!? Or shutting down some post offices). Similarly, private companies -- unless they’re given a generous subsidy -- are unlikely to provide passenger-train service outside big cities on the East and West coasts.

*** Does the math add up? A Pawlenty spokesman emails First Read, “The Google Test highlights government programs and parts of government programs that are clearly duplicative of services now also provided by private sector.” And here’s another question: Does Pawlenty’s math add up when you cut individual tax rates, and still leave the popular home-mortgage and child-credit tax deductions? Budget experts, take out your calculators….

*** Wanna get away? Yesterday, we discovered that Newt Gingrich had taken Southwest Airlines' ad campaign ("Wanna get away?") to heart and has been on a Greek cruise over the past several days. All candidates go on vacations, but how many of them have gone on a cruise just weeks after announcing their presidential bid? Fair or not, Newt’s vacation only feeds the perception that he’s not all-in to win the GOP nomination, but instead simply wants ALL-IN on the debates and conversation to so he can stay relevant as an author and commentator.

*** On the 2012 trail: Elsewhere today, Romney is in Detroit, where Democrats will gleefully use the headline from his Nov. 18, 2008 New York Times op-ed (“Let Detroit Go Bankrupt) against him… Santorum, the day after announcing his presidential bid, is in Iowa… And Buddy Roemer is in Louisiana. 

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 67 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 98 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 154 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 244 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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“Three contenders for the GOP's presidential nomination will speak at a conservative gathering in Minnesota next week that's billed as the right's answer to the liberal Netroots Nation conference,” The Hill reports. “Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Hermain Cain will all speak at the RightOnline conference in Minneapolis, which is being held during the same time and in the same city as Netroots Nation.”

“Five Republican presidential hopefuls have signed on for the Iowa Tea Party Bus Tour this summer: Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson and Rick Santorum,” The Des Moines Register reports. “The three-week bus tour, the first in Iowa for the tea party movement, will make stops in 20 cities starting June 13 in Council Bluffs.”

BACHMANN: “Ed Rollins, the high-profile political strategist who managed Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election landslide, has agreed to run Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign in the likely event that she runs for president,” the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. “I’m helping her put together a campaign, if there is one,” Rollins said.

GINGRICH: Gingrich, who was last seen publicly on May 27^th, was discovered to be on a cruise through the Greek isles, along with other notable guest Twiggy, the ‘70s fashion icon, Politico writes.

HUNTSMAN: Huntsman is getting plenty of Iowa pushback on his comments last week that he would not campaign there because of his position against ethanol subsidies, including from Iowa’s secretary of state Matt Schultz, who said Huntsman’s excuse has as much credibility as “the dog ate my homework,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. “We are not single-issue voters,” Schultz said. Schultz, a Mormon, also criticized Huntsman from distancing himself from his faith. “Mr. Huntsman should know that Iowans elected me as their secretary of state and my Mormon faith was never an issue,” Schultz said.

Des Moines Register columnist Kathie Obradovich also hits Huntsman hard on the issue, saying Huntsman is “out of touch” with Iowa voters in scapegoating ethanol. “If Sen. Chuck Grassley is willing to scale back ethanol subsidies, it can’t be such an alien concept to Iowa Republicans. That Huntsman apparently doesn’t know that means he’s probably right on one point: He wouldn’t do very well in Iowa. It also means he won’t do very well in a lot of other states, besides.”

“Students for Daniels” endorsed Huntsman now that Daniels isn’t running.

PALIN: Sarah Palin's version of Paul Revere's ride has triggered a tug of war over the Wikipedia entry on that historic event,” the AP writes. “Dozens of changes were made to the Revere page on the Internet site Sunday and Monday after Palin claimed Revere's famous ride was intended to warn both his fellow colonists and British soldiers.”

On the conservative National Review’s website, Joel Miller, author of a book on Paul Revere, says he “groaned” when he heard Palin’s account and says she “basically got the whole story wrong.”

PAWLENTY: “Republican Tim Pawlenty was set to propose an economic policy Tuesday that would simplify individual tax rates to just three options and cut taxes on business by more than half as he offered himself as a replacement to Barack Obama in the Democratic president's hometown,” AP writes. “The former Minnesota governor also was to propose that any services available privately, such as the postal services or mortgages, should not be something government handles. He said he would require a vote in Congress to extend any regulation or he would cancel it. And he said he would eliminate taxes on investments and inheritances.”

Pawlenty also previews his speech in a Chicago Tribune op-ed.

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe: “Just days after announcing his presidential bid, Mitt Romney says not to expect him to hit the campaign hustings too hard anytime soon.” Romney said, “Right now, your greatest enemy is overexposure," he told CNN's Piers Morgan in his first major TV interview since his announcement. "People get tired of seeing the same person day in and day out."

Also on CNN, Romney denied that Sarah Palin’s bus stop in New Hampshire the same day of his presidential announcement in the state stole his thunder, the Los Angeles Times recounts. “"In a lot of respects it’s the best thing that could happen to me," he said. “‘I think Sarah Palin is generating enthusiasm and interest in a campaign this year. That’s a good thing,’ Romney explained. ‘She has a lot of energy and passion and bringing it to our race is positive for us.’”

Romney has already amassed a major donor base including a handful of former McCain backers, two donors each who were previously committed to Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour, and even a former Obama donor, the Washington Post writes.

SANTORUM: AP fact checks his announcement: “Santorum omits key details on deficit.” “In announcing his Republican presidential bid, former Sen. Rick Santorum blamed President Barack Obama for a federal deficit that has many contributors, and he omitted important details about Obama's comments on America's past.”

“Former Sen. Rick Santorum opened his bid for the White House here denouncing federal health care reform as a power grab designed to create dependency and erode freedom,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. “Tanned and smiling, Mr. Santorum walked to an outside podium under the portico of the Somerset County Courthouse carrying his 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, and followed by his wife, Karen, and the rest of their seven children.”

The Club for Growth is out with its white paper on Santorum: “On the whole, Rick Santorum’s record on economic issues in the U.S. Senate was above average.  More precisely, it was quite strong in some areas and quite weak in others.  He has a strong record on taxes, and his leadership on welfare reform and Social Security was exemplary.  But his record also contains several very weak spots, including his active support of wasteful spending earmarks, his penchant for trade protectionism, and his willingness to support large government expansions like the Medicare prescription drug bill and the 2005 Highway Bill.”

The New York Times: “Austan Goolsbee, a longtime adviser to President Obama and the only economist left on his core economic team, plans to leave as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers by September, after a year in the job, to return to the University of Chicago.”

“[A]t some point, the daily economic briefings stopped showing up on Obama's daily schedule,” The Hill writes. “White House officials said the meetings slowly petered out, but Obama still receives a daily economic briefing on paper.”

The New York Post’s cover is of a shirtless Rep. Anthony Weiner: “Naked Truth.” And its editorial page writes this: “Erections have consequences.”

The New York Daily News’ cover: “Yeah, I’m a schmuck.”

Roll Call: “Move over Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton and Charlie Sheen — the New York Congressional delegation is making a run to be the sex scandal kings of the decade.”

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is calling for the House Ethics Committee to investigate whether ‘any official resources were used or any other violation of House rules occurred’ in Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-N.Y.) admitted inappropriate contact with women via social media websites,” The Hill writes.

New York Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement tonight that he is "deeply pained and saddened" by the Anthony Weiner news, NBC’s Libby Leist reports. Weiner worked for Schumer for six years when Schumer was a House member - starting in 1985 when Weiner graduated from college. Weiner then went on to win Schumer's Congressional seat in 1998. On Weiner's website he describes Schumer as a mentor. In tonight's statement, Schumer says "By fully explaining himself, apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful actions, Anthony did the right thing. He remains a talented and committed public servant, and I pray he and his family can get through these difficult times."

Per NBC’s Luke Russert, House Speaker John Boehner will deliver a speech on the economy in Ohio today.

“Republican leaders are considering asking the White House to back a significant reform of the federal budget process in exchange for raising the nation’s debt ceiling,” a two-year budget, The Hill reports.

“The Senate appears unmoved by last week's House action on Libya, content to bring up a bipartisan resolution that would give the chamber's approval for U.S. operations in Libya,” Roll Call writes.

“In mid-December, 14 staffers with the House Homeland Security Committee went on an eight-day trip to Turkey, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates that cost taxpayers more than $150,000. It was an official delegation, but no Members of Congress made the trip,” Roll Call reports.

CALIFORNIA: The right has Nancy Pelosi. The left has Sarah Palin. Janice Hahn (D), the L.A. city councilwoman favored in a July 12 special election, will begin running an ad today on cable that compares her GOP opponent to Sarah Palin. (Here’s the ad.)

NEVADA: “Las Vegas elects a new mayor Tuesday, and for the first time in more than a decade it won't be Oscar Goodman,” the AP says.

OHIO: “The Ohio Democratic Party filed a complaint Monday with the Federal Election Commission against state Treasurer Josh Mandel (R), who will likely run against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) in 2012,” Roll Call writes. “The complaint alleges that Mandel used state resources for political purposes, including the use of ‘identical materials and language’ on Mandel’s government and campaign websites.”

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum today called President Obama a “paper tiger," accusing him of “appeasing” countries such as Iran.

"[T]he Iranians, they are moving full-scale forward with their nuclear program,” Santorum said on ABC. “They know the president is not going to do anything to stop them. He has been a paper tiger and they are an existential threat to the state of Israel, and the Israelis know it and the Americans know it. And this president has not stepped forward and done anything to stop that threat.”

Indeed, the Israeli news website Ynetnews has reported that “the Iranian regime is closer than ever before to creating a nuclear bomb, according to RAND Corporation researcher Gregory S. Jones” In fact, at its current pace, Tehran could have enough enriched uranium to make its first bomb within two months, according to Jones’ report. Jones goes on to argue that nothing short of military occupation can stop this nuclear development.

After years of frayed relations between Iran and the George W. Bush White House, Obama devoted his energy in 2009 to engaging Iran diplomatically. But when Tehran rejected an offer for an interim solution -- under which it would ship some uranium out of the country for enrichment -- Obama imposed strict sanctions against Iran, with the help of the United Nations.

Obama has recently vowed to “keep up the pressure” on Tehran to prevent its obtaining nuclear weapons.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a married Democratic congressman from New York, admitted Monday that he sent lewd photos of himself and engaged in sexual online conversations with women he met on Facebook and Twitter over the past three years.

But he did not resign and said that he and his wife - who was not in attendance - have no intention of splitting up over the scandal.

"The picture was of me, I sent it," he told reporters in New York City of a below-the-belt photo that was sent last weekend from his Twitter account.

In a lengthy and tearful apology during which he lamented his “destructive” and “dumb” behavior, Weiner said he has had “several inappropriate conversations with women I have met online,” -- about six women over the past three years. He added that he has never met any of the women in person and has never had sex outside his marriage.

He said that the female recipients of sexually-charged photos and messages he sent were all over 18 years of age "to the best of my knowledge."

Weiner’s confession conflicts with what he told reporters last week, when he continued to insist that his Twitter account had been hacked.

“I was embarrassed and I didn’t want it to lead to other embarrassing things,” he said Monday when asked why he misled the press about his online interactions. “It was a dumb thing to do to try to tell lies about it because it just led to more lies.”

While he said he takes full responsibility for his actions, Weiner insisted that he will not give up his job representing the 9^th district of New York.

“I don’t believe I did anything here that violates any law or violates my oath to my constituents,” he said.

The White House today said that President Obama will make a decision about the size of the troop withdrawal in Afghanistan “fairly soon,” and he will base it on “conditions on the ground.” White House officials also said the troop drawdown will begin in July, as originally planned.
 
The announcement comes on the heels of a New York Times article, which reported: 

President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago.

Administration officials reacted by saying Obama is planning a “real drawdown” of U.S. forces. However, according to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, the specifics have not been worked out. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed Carney’s remarks saying, “We have absolutely not made specific decisions, because we’re still gathering our best assessment.”
 
The president today held his monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan with his national security team. During the meeting, Defense Secretary Robert Gates -- via video -- briefed the president on his recent trip to Afghanistan. Over the weekend, Gates met with troops and called for a “modest” drawdown adding: “I’d leave the shooters till last.”
 
In 2009, Obama ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan, and also promised to begin a drawdown this July. He also stated that all combat troops would be out of Afghanistan by 2014, a timetable which is still in place, according to Carney. 
 
The president has been under increasing pressure on Afghanistan for a number of reasons: The war has been expensive, costing America an estimated $2 billion per week; some polls show it losin public support; and there is a collective sense that, after Osama Bin Laden’s death, it is time to turn the corner. 
 
Overall, there seems to be a growing fatigue for combat operations among both Democrats and Republicans. Last Friday, the House overwhelmingly issued a rebuke of Obama's Libya policy. On Monday, five U.S. troops were killed in Iraq during a rocket attack -- several months before the proposed departure of all U.S. troops from that country. Still, some military officials have expressed concern that an accelerated drawdown in Afghanistan could undermine security gains in the region. 
 
Obama will discuss the matter with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday (via videoconference). There are currently U.S. 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

For the second time this year, the internet is abuzz with photos of what appears to be a shirtless, married congressman from New York.

A week after Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., doubled down on his claim that a lewd photo sent from his Twitter account was the result of a “prank” or “hack,” the conservative site biggovernment.com has published what appear to be shirtless photos of the lawmaker that were allegedly sent to a young woman via email.

The latest photo published on the conservative site appears to be the bare-chested congressman, posed in an office with photographs visible in the background that resemble himself and his wife.

According to the site, run by provocateur Andrew Breitbart, the image was released to him by an unidentified young woman who says she received the image on Friday, May 20, from a Yahoo email address that she claims serves as an alias for Weiner.

The site also published several other bare-chested images of Weiner that it says were accessible by an internet search of that email alias.

The images come just months after Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., was forced to resign when similar images came to light, ultimately revealing Lee’s provocative interactions with various women via Craigslist.

Weiner told NBC’s Luke Russert last week that he could not say “with certitude” that a below-the-belt photo allegedly sent from his Twitter account last weekend was not of him, but he insisted that he did not send the image to a 21-year-old college student.

Weiner’s office has not responded to journalists’ requests for comment since the images began trickling into the blogosphere today.  

A House Democratic leadership aide also tells NBC News that so far nobody in congressional leadership has been in contact with Weiner today.

In an interview, Breitbart told NBC’s Mara Schiavocampo that he is in the possession of more photos and other online communications between Weiner and the unidentified woman. The woman first approached Breitbart and told him she had been engaging in a consensual online "sexting" relationship with the congressman, Breitbart said.

Breitbart’s tactics are generally eyed with some suspicion by objective news sources. His exposure of a speech by Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod led to a media brouhaha over her perceived racist statements before a full screening of the edited video revealed manipulation of her words; he was also involved in the 2009 controversy around a heavily edited video by James O’Keefe that contributed to the demise of ACORN.

In his speech today formally declaring his presidential candidacy, former Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum criticized President Obama on both economic and social matters.
 
Early on in the speech, which he delivered from Somerset, PA, Santorum asked: "Who are YOU, Mr. President? Who are you, Mr. President, to say that you and your administration should take 40 cents out of every dollar and borrow it from future generations to prop you up?"

Santorum continued, "He's devalued our currency and he's not just devalued our currency; he's devalued our culture. Through our marriage and not standing up for the Defense of Marriage Act, for federal funding of abortions." Then added, "He devalues our other currency, our moral currency."
 
About halfway through Santorum's speech, it appears that a lady in the audience passed out. Santorum called out for medics, and after the woman was carried away, Santorum bowed his head and asked "If everyone would say a little prayer for that young lady."
 
Following that brief interruption, Santorum continued on with his speech declaring, "America is a great country. Not because of our government. It's because our founders founded it a great country."
 
Santorum ended his speech by saying he's "ready to do what has to be done for the next generation. With the courage to fight for freedom, with the courage to fight for America. That's why I'm announcing today that I'm running for president of the United States. Join the fight! Join the fight!"

While Mitt Romney attacked President Obama on the economy and taxes, he touted his own record as governor of Massachusetts on fiscal issues and education. But an examination of his record reveals some of his claims are either inaccurate or, especially on the state’s finances, although linguistically correct, conceal subtle manipulations.

First Read examined five claims Romney made during his speech in the New Hampshire seacoast town of Stratham:

1. Did President Obama raise taxes on corporations?
2. Did Romney really not raise taxes?
3. Did Romney balance the budget every time?
4. Did he cut taxes 19 times?
5. Did Romney keep Massachusetts schools first among all 50 states? 

1. Did President Obama raise taxes on corporations?

Romney said Thursday of President Obama, "Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and employers, he raise[d] their taxes."

In fact, President Obama has not raised taxes on corporations during his three years in office.

"This seems like it is grasping at straws," Bill Smith, managing director of CBIZ's National Tax Office said.

Smith, who has 30-plus years of tax experience, noted that Obama has not increased the tax rate on corporations. He pointed out, in fact, that it was well covered back in December when Obama helped temporarily extend the Bush tax cuts. Smith highlighted a few provisions in the Tax Relief Act that Romney might have been talking about when he said Obama raised taxes on entrepreneurs.

The act did reinstate the estate tax, which had been repealed completely by the Bush tax cuts in 2001. This has an impact on some entrepreneurs and small business owners whose estates are worth more than $5 million, Smith said.

The other item Smith pointed to is part of President Obama's economic stimulus, a tax provision known as "net operating loss carryback." Carryback is exactly what it sounds like. It allows businesses in the red to "carryback" their losses and ask the IRS to refund them for any taxes they paid over the last five years. When the extension of the Bush tax cuts passed, carryback was tightened so only small businesses could ask for tax refunds for the last two years.

2. Did Romney really not raise taxes?
While Romney was technically correct when he said he did not raise taxes, he is responsible for the largest hike in fees in the state's history.

"There is a difference between fees and taxes," contended Noah Berger, president of the non-partisan Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center. "But Romney was responsible for the largest raise of fees in our state's history."

The head of the center since 2003, Berger said the difference between fees and taxes is that fees are usually charged for a specific service. Taxes, on the other hand, go into general cost. 

Budget documents show Romney raised more than $501 million from fee hikes and closing a business tax loophole in 2004 alone. Romney claimed on the campaign trail in 2008 the fee hikes netted around $260 million over his four years as governor. But the center’s analyses of the state’s 2004 budget show Massachusetts collected $331 million in fees alone after increasing those paid by people like gun owners, used-car buyers, the blind, and small business owners.

By the same logic Romney used in claiming President Obama raised taxes, Berger says it's possible to consider the $181 million in "loophole" closings Romney authorized in 2004 and 2005 as tax increases on businesses. 

3. Did Romney balance the budget every time?
As governor, Romney did balance every budget, but only by dipping into the state’s rainy-day fund early and often. He also fell far short of restoring “a $2 billion rainy day fund," as he claimed.

While state-finance law allows the use of rainy-day money to balance the budget, and Berger admits it’s not unusual for governors to do so during recessions, the same budget analyses by budget and policy center show Romney dipped into rainy-day funds routinely. He also co-opted money from funding pools set aside for Medicare assistance, infrastructure projects, and tobacco settlements. 

In 2007 alone, Romney's budget relied on $600 million from the stabilization fund. The center’s documents also show during his four-year governorship, Romney diverted more than $1.5 billion in revenue from other sources to help balance the budget despite record growth in tax revenues. 

According to the Massachusetts state comptroller's office, Romney left office with a $594.4 million surplus, well short of the $2 billion rainy-day fund figure he claimed.

4. Did he cut taxes 19 times?
According a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Romney did, in fact, cut taxes 19 times. (But see above about fees.)   

5. Did Romney keep Massachusetts schools first among all 50 states?
Romney was correct, when he said Massachusetts schools were "first among all 50 states" during his tenure. But, as a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics told First Read, the statistical difference between Massachusetts test scores and those of its closest competitors falls within the margin of error.

"Although Massachusetts was numerically first in all those years, these rankings do not reflect statistically significant differences,” said Arnold Goldstein, the NECS statistician.

Massachusetts finished first in NCES's educational rankings in both 2005 and 2007, statistically tying six other states. Under Romney's watch, Massachusetts students’ test scores improved, especially in fourth-grade math -- where they jumped from sixth to first in the nation.

Educational success in Massachusetts isn't new. According to Goldstein, Massachusetts has been at or near the top of the NCES school rankings since Democrat Michael Dukakis occupied the statehouse. Still, Romney’s claim in that case was correct.

Five Democratic senators up for re-election next year have written a letter to Vice President Biden to lay out their opposition to Paul Ryan's Medicare plan and to urge that it remain off the table in the bipartisan deficit talks Biden is leading.

Sens. Bill Nelson, Ben Cardin, Sherrod Brown, Claire McCaskill, and Jon Tester write to Biden: "Despite the public's overwhelming rejection of this proposal ... many top congressional leaders are now saying they want the [Ryan] plan included as part of a package to reduce the deficit... This proposal would never pass Congress on its own, and it does not belong in a larger deal either."

They continue, "We encourage you to remain unwavering in opposition to this scheme. For the good of the nation's seniors, it must remain off the table."

The Ryan Medicare plan would fundamentally alter the government's health-care program for seniors, privatizing it for those who are currently under 55.

The "Biden talks" -- which include Sens. Kyl (R-AZ), Baucus (D-MT) and Inouye (D-HI), as well as Congressmen Clyburn (D-SC), Van Hollen (D-MD) and Cantor (R-VA) -- will resume on Thursday. Biden has promised the group will tackle "big ticket" items like Medicare and spending cuts of at least $1 trillion. The talks are tied to a vote to raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2.

A steeper drawdown in Afghanistan?… How the politics of the war might be changing, especially on the GOP side… Obama today meets with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan at 10:00 am ET… How should Obama and the Democrats talk about the economy?... “Daily Rundown” tease: Past incumbent presidents have had a pretty similar message heading into their re-elections… Obama sits down at noon for another round of affiliate/local interviews… “Summer of Speculation” turns to Rick Perry… Santorum makes his presidential bid official at 11:00 am… And Herman Cain’s in Iowa.

*** A steeper Afghanistan drawdown? The New York Times front-pages today’s top news story: The Obama administration is considering a steeper drawdown in Afghanistan.  “President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new ‘strategic considerations.’” More: “The cost of the war and Mr. Karzai’s uneven progress in getting his forces prepared have been latent issues since Mr. Obama took office. But in recent weeks they have gained greater political potency as Mr. Obama’s newly refashioned national security team takes up the crucial decision of the size and the pace of American troop cuts.” The Times also reports that Obama is expected to deliver a speech on the subject later this month. The president meets today with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan and Pakistan at 10:00 am ET.

*** Have the politics changed? One thing to consider is that the politics on Afghanistan -- from the GOP side no less -- have begun to change. Before he decided not to run for president, Haley Barbour was discussing how the U.S. should detach itself from the war there. Even Sarah Palin has talked about expediting the timeline for withdrawal. “[C]onditions have changed there and we need to reevaluate the timeline that we have for ourselves being in there,” she said on “FOX” yesterday. And last week’s House GOP votes on the U.S. involvement in Libya suggested that today’s Republican Party has war fatigue. No doubt that there are still certain elements inside the GOP (John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Bill Kristol and the Weekly Standard) that would be opposed to an early departure from Afghanistan. But are the politics for a steeper drawdown easier than ever before?

** Administration vs. Pentagon: Also, check out how the Times sets up the Afghanistan debate -- between the Pentagon and the administration. Indeed, the tension over troop levels between these two entities (particularly between the National Security Council and the Pentagon) has been there since Obama took office. And it hasn't gone away. What has changed: The president may feel more comfortable telling Gates (and his successor) no.

*** No pain, no gain: Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece analyzing how Obama and the Democrats should talk about the U.S. economy heading into 2012. The consensus -- from both Dem pollster Stanley Greenberg and Obama adviser David Axelrod -- is that they need to embrace the economic pain many Americans are feeling. “Mr. Greenberg said in an interview: 'If you have 55% saying economy is poor, how can you possibly get re-elected if you ground your campaign on a backward-looking appraisal of your performance?'" More: "Mr. Axelrod, now an adviser to Mr. Obama's re-election campaign, appeared to side with Mr. Greenberg on the question of how much Democratic messages should look forward or backward. 'I've always said the same thing, which is we may not have created this mess, but we're responsible now. And people are less interested in how we got here than where we're going,' he said." Bottom line: Expect the president to stop touting AS MUCH about pulling the car out of the ditch and instead try and soothe folks who are still, well, in rehab (In fact, these are the metaphors he HAD used and has now ditched).

*** The re-election message: USA Today looks at the “Obama” brand heading into 2012. Yet as one of us will discuss on MSNBC's “Daily Rundown” this morning, there's a remarkable similarity in how incumbent presidents try to convince the country they should keep their jobs when running for re-election. They tout successes, acknowledge (even subtly) mistakes, and they try to sell themselves as the steady hand. Since Carter, there have been five presidents who have run for re-election, three of them in tough economic times (Carter, Reagan, and H.W. Bush). Only Reagan won.

*** Obama’s affiliate interviews: By the way, Obama conducts yet another round of interviews with affiliate/local news organizations -- to talk about the auto industry’s recent successes. The interviews, which take place at noon ET, are with the Hearst DC Bureau, WEWS Cleveland, and WDIV Detroit.

*** “Summer of Speculation turns to Rick Perry”: Over the weekend, the Dallas Morning News reported that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has invited the nation’s other 49 governors to join him at “a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our troubled nation” in August. The news has triggered more speculation that Perry could jump into the GOP presidential race. And here’s the thing about Perry: His name will continue to be the mix -- whether or not he runs -- due to geography and ideology. Without Huckabee or Barbour, there isn’t a current or former southern GOP governor in the field. And ideologically, today’s Republican Party is more rooted in the South and its politics than ever before. But Perry’s main problem is with the establishment wing of the party. If you’re going to win the GOP nomination, you need to win over the establishment, plus either the Tea Party or evangelical wings of the party. JUST having the Tea Party and the evangelical wing isn't enough, if major parts of the establishment are against you. And Perry's got a LOT of political enemies who have "Bush" on their resumes.

*** Santorum’s day: At 11:00 am ET from Somerset, PA, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum will formally announce his presidential bid. While other Republican candidates and non-candidates have recently dominated the headlines -- even Herman Cain got the New York Times profile treatment over the weekend -- Santorum’s socially conservative views give him a chance in Iowa. In addition, he’s comfortable in his own skin, and is among the best performers (at the debates and candidate forums) in the entire field. His minuses: He lost his 2006 bid for re-election, in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania, by a whopping 18 points. Moreover, is he too socially conservative, especially on a subject like gay rights as Americans attitudes have shifted on that subject? Earlier this morning on ABC, Santorum said, per NBC’s Matt Loffman: “We're ready to announce that we're going to be in this race. And we're in it to win. We're very excited about what the future holds.”

*** Going home: The site of today’s Santorum announcement -- Somerset, PA -- is where the presidential hopeful’s grandfather settled and worked in the coal mines after immigrating from Italy. But NBC’s Doug Adams noted last Friday that the Pennsylvania location reopens old questions about Santorum’s legal residence when he served in the Senate. As Adams wrote, “He and his wife Karen have owned a house in the Penn Hills, PA, suburb of Pittsburgh since 1997. But while he was in office, Santorum and his family spent most of their time living in a much larger house the couple owned in Leesburg, VA. Santorum says he kept his legal residence in Pennsylvania and spent holidays and some weekends there. But he always voted absentee, and the local press found another couple listed as registered voters at the same address.” What’s more, Santorum got caught up in a controversy when the Penn Hills school district paid 80% of the tuition costs for a “cyber” charter school that Santorum’s children attended while they lived in Virginia.

*** On the 2012 trail: Herman Cain today stumps in Iowa.

Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 68 days
Countdown to NV-2 special election: 99 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 155 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 245 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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BACHMANN: At the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Rep. Michele Bachmann ended her speech with a prayer. “‘We do pray for our president, we pray for the Supreme Court, we pray for the members of Congress, we pray for those who are in authority, because this is not a political scorecard,’ said the Minnesota congresswoman. ‘This is about the very life and future of our nation,’” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. 

CAIN: The New York Times on Herman Cain’s rising momentum as a Republican primary star: “If few people think Mr. Cain can win the nomination, he is satisfying voters’ desire to fall in love with a candidate. Their passion for him says as much about what the Republican field is lacking as it does about any specifics he is offering.”

CHRISTIE: “South Carolina state Rep. Phyllis Henderson (R) wants to draft New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie into a 2012 presidential run,” Roll Call writes.

GINGRICH: Newt Gingrich will return to Iowa during the July 4 holiday, having not visited the first primary state since May 21, the Des Moines Register reports. In addition, the director of Gingrich’s Iowa grassroots campaign, Will Rogers, has resigned to return to his job as the director of government affairs for the Iowa Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association, although he will continue to volunteer for the Gingrich campaign.

GIULIANI: In the years between now and his last presidential run, Rudy Giuliani’s support in New Hampshire has dissipated, McClatchy writes. “[H]is dilemma was obvious last week. He spoke Thursday at an Italian restaurant in North Conway, while about 90 miles away, Doug and Stella Scamman, influential Giuliani supporters in 2008, hosted 400 eager Mitt Romney backers for the former Massachusetts' governor's campaign kickoff.”

HUNTSMAN: Jon Huntsman told the AP that he would not compete in Iowa “for a reason,” first and foremost his opposition to subsidies for corn-based ethanol, which are considered a deal-breaker for many Iowans. He said he would compensate in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida, which he called his “make-or-break state.”

The Los Angeles Times points out, however, that Tim Pawlenty, whose campaign is counting heavily on a strong showing in Iowa, has already come out against continued ethanol subsidies and “drew applause at the Faith and Freedom event Friday night when he said Republicans must have the courage to tell voters the truth, even if it comes with risk.”

PALIN: “Sarah Palin insisted Sunday that history was on her side when she claimed that Paul Revere’s famous ride was intended to warn both British soldiers and his fellow colonists,” the AP writes. “‘Part of his ride was to warn the British that were already there. That, hey, you’re not going to succeed. You’re not going to take American arms. You are not going to beat our own well-armed persons, individual, private militia that we have,’ she added. ‘He did warn the British.’”

Bloomberg writes “Palin said she didn’t mean to steal media attention from Mitt Romney by appearing in New Hampshire at the same time he formally announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in the state. “‘I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes,’ Palin, the former governor of Alaska, said on ‘Fox News Sunday.’”

A documentary about Sarah Palin set to be released next month shows the former Alaska governor in a positive light, shifting the narrative away from some of the more controversial episodes from her political career, The Hill writes after a screening of the film was shown to reporters just outside Washington D.C. “An outsider, Palin climbs up Alaska's political ranks and along the way evolves into tough ‘Mama Grizzly’ willing to fight for her beliefs, according to the film. The word ‘courage’ is frequently used to describe her willingness to shake up the status quo; whether Palin is taking on corrupt oil executives and politicians, liberals, the media and the elites within her own party.”

ROMNEY: The New York Times’ Harwood writes that Mitt Romney, who tailored his presidential announcement for the 2008 cycle to fit the current ideological trends including condemning “radical violent jihad” and invoking “the sanctity of life.” Now running in 2012, however, Mitt Romney is shifting gears once again to accommodate the dominant issue on voters’ minds, jobs, which he didn’t even mention in his last presidential announcement speech.

We noted that Romney on Thursday had dropped the social conservative rhetoric of his announcement four years ago during his announcement this time around in New Hampshire. Some of that rhetoric, however, reappeared a day later at a conservative confab in Washington, before Romney pivoted back to the economy. “We’re united in our belief in the sanctity of human life,” Romney said, per the Boston Globe. We’re united in our belief in the importance and significance of a marriage between one man and one woman.”

SANTORUM: Ahead of Rick Santorum’s presidential announcement today, the New York Times looks at his campaign strategy so far, in which he has touted not only his work the social issues that he is known for but also what he did in Congress on national security, foreign policy and entitlement programs. “Nonetheless, the social issues are the ones that fire up the segment of the Republican primary base to which Mr. Santorum most appeals. And he has yet to address fully the issues that likely voters in a general election tell pollsters are most important: jobs and the economy. His core message now is his belief in American exceptionalism, a philosophy that he says President Obama does not share. The Obama presidency, he said, ‘has been a disaster’ in almost every respect.”

“Santorum, the former No. 3 Republican in the U.S. Senate and a favorite among his party's anti-abortion rights bloc, planned to make official his White House aspirations from the western Pennsylvania coal fields where his Italian immigrant grandfather worked,” the AP writes.

“President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner will tee up for a round of golf on June 18, the House Republican's office confirmed Friday,” Roll Call writes.

The Sunday New York Times: “Saddled with a faltering economic recovery, President Obama is rebuilding the campaign machinery that vaulted him into office, hoping it can overcome the challenges of persistently high unemployment and a fractured coalition of supporters.”

“The federal government has moved from economic ‘recovery mode’ to focusing on ‘standing up’ the private sector to fuel a turnaround, a top White House adviser said Sunday,” The Hill writes.

Today's top story from the New York Times: "President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new 'strategic considerations.'"

That said, Politico writes: "A whirlwind tour of three crucial bases shows no signs of the war winding down, or of Americans getting ready to leave following last year’s successful surge."

“President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner will tee up for a round of golf on June 18, the House Republican's office confirmed Friday,” Roll Call writes.

The Sunday New York Times: “Saddled with a faltering economic recovery, President Obama is rebuilding the campaign machinery that vaulted him into office, hoping it can overcome the challenges of persistently high unemployment and a fractured coalition of supporters.”

“The federal government has moved from economic ‘recovery mode’ to focusing on ‘standing up’ the private sector to fuel a turnaround, a top White House adviser said Sunday,” The Hill writes.

Today's top story from the New York Times: "President Obama’s national security team is contemplating troop reductions in Afghanistan that would be steeper than those discussed even a few weeks ago, with some officials arguing that such a change is justified by the rising cost of the war and the death of Osama bin Laden, which they called new 'strategic considerations.'"

That said, Politico writes: "A whirlwind tour of three crucial bases shows no signs of the war winding down, or of Americans getting ready to leave following last year’s successful surge."

“House Republicans took the first concrete steps Friday toward a fundamental shift in the party’s war and military policy,” Roll Call reports. “On issues ranging from military spending to trade to the country’s relationship with China, GOP Members have demonstrated an increasingly nuanced worldview that breaks the stereotypes of Republicans as fierce hawks with an isolationist streak.”

The DCCC has a Web video stressing the importance of Medicare and how House Republicans voted to fundamentally change it.

Following the release of the bleak May jobs report, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) said Democrats must "focus more on creating jobs than on reducing the deficit and dealing with the debt ceiling."

The Missouri congressman noted on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that despite job growth in the private sector, there is "no need in me pretending that this is good news."

Instead of making spending cuts, Cleaver argued the U.S. should be investing in infrastructure.

"We've got to begin to rebuild the infrastructure across the country, and that will create real jobs," he said, citing job creation from a federal transportation deal.

The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus said African-Americans are bearing the brunt of the slowing economy, given the unemployment rate for African-Americans is at 16.2%.

"We've got to be able to deal with these problems in the urban core and all around the country, but all we're doing is playing chicken with each other," he said.

The Congressional Black Caucus executive committee recently met with President Obama and emphasized that more jobs need to be created. The congressman said President Obama responded saying, "'Look, I'm going to continue to work on trying to heal the economy, and when I do that, it will make jobs available to all the American public.'"

Congressman Cleaver said he understands the President's response, but he believes action must be taken now.

"Congress has got to quit twiddling and playing politics with each other, or we're going to see the unemployment level rise even more."

The Missouri congressman said the lack of agreement between Democrats and Republicans on how to improve the economy has caused a "disconnect" between the American people and politicians in Washington.

"When I go home, people are concerned about jobs. When I come to Washington, all we talk about is whether or not we're going to raise the debt ceiling."

Cleaver expressed his frustration that advancements have not been made. The United States government "is kind of like a rocking-chair government; a lot of motion, but we are not getting anywhere."