• Teamsters President James Hoffa joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the presidential campaign and how it affects working people

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP attempts to drive America off a fiscal cliff

• Actress Olivia Munn of HBO’s “The Newsroom” calls in from Ohio at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the message she’s delivering to win the battleground state for Obama

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us about tonight’s debut of his new Current TV show, “John Fugelsang: So That Happened”

• Mitt Romney, trying to distance himself from perhaps his most damaging campaign moment, said Thursday that his infamous “47 percent” remarks were “completely wrong” and that he will “be about helping the 100 percent.”

• An animated President Obama told a crowd in Wisconsin yesterday: “When I got onto the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be Mitt Romney. But it couldn’t have been Mitt Romney, because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy.”

• The government today issues its September jobs report, expected to show an uptick in the U.S. unemployment rate after employers added only a modest number of jobs.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to do post-debate cleanup and to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about last night’s debate in Denver and the importance of Colorado to the presidential race

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on the Powell/Cantor race in Virginia, and to handicap last night’s debate

• Jane Wilson, AKA “Janeane From Des Moines”, the star of the Mockumentary by the same name that caught all of the GOP candidates off guard joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT

• Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood calls in at 11:45am ET / 8:45am PT with her reaction to last night’s debate in Denver

• Policy largely trumped “zingers” in the first debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as the two sparred on issues as varied as taxes and spending, entitlements, education and more.

• Amid the widespread judgment by the news media that Mitt Romney beat President Obama in their first debate, top Obama aides argued that Romney came off as unlikable and failed to offer the policy specifics Americans want.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Actress and Obama surrogate Kerry Washington (ABC’s “Scandal”) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new show and tells us about the Obama campaign

• Just 34 days out from the November election, there’s little argument that tonight’s presidential debate – in which President Obama and Mitt Romney will go head-to-head for the first time in this campaign – is a high-stakes affair for both men. The debate in Denver starts at 9pm ET / 6pm PT on Current TV.

• On the eve of the first presidential debate, Ann Romney said Tuesday that the debate will highlight the “contrast” between her husband and President Barack Obama. “We are excited about that,” she said of the debate.

• On the eve of the first presidential debate, the Far Right website The Daily Caller again circulated a previously reported video of a five-year-old speech in which then-Sen. Barack Obama praised his controversial former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and suggested the federal government discriminated against the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• Vice President Joe Biden told a campaign rally on Tuesday that the middle class has been buried for the past four years, just longer than President Barack Obama’s time in the White House.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to preview tomorrow night’s first presidential debate and review last night’s Brown/Warren debate in Massachusetts.

• Jen Psaki, Obama for America Traveling Press Secretary, calls in from Nevada at 11am ET / 8am PT where she is with the President while he preps for tomorrow night’s debate

• Two days before his first face-off with President Obama, Mitt Romney said on Monday that the presidential debate won’t be about “winning or losing” but instead it will be a chance for the candidates to describe the “pathway” on which they’d like to take the country.

• Some political momentum could be on the line when a judge rules today on whether to keep intact Pennsylvania’s tough new law requiring voters to show photo identification in next month’s presidential election.

• President Barack Obama, holed up at a swank Las Vegas-area resort to get ready for his first debate with Mitt Romney, jokingly told a volunteer on Monday that debate prep can be “a drag.”

• Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s claim of Native American heritage was once again in the spotlight as she sparred with GOP rival Scott Brown on Monday in the second debate of the pair’s contest for the U.S. Senate seat from traditionally Dem Massachusetts.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to tell us how Republicans think, the uselessness of Romney’s campaign, and the whininess of the GOP

• President Obama and Mitt Romney were hunkered down this weekend, cramming for Wednesday’s debate showdown. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, is playing Romney in practice sessions with the president. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) is playing Obama in debate prep with Romney.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, never one to be shy when it comes to speaking his mind, yesterday predicted that Mitt Romney would turn the presidential race around in the upcoming debate with President Obama.

• Paul Ryan said on “Fox News Sunday” that their tax plan–a 20 percent across-the-board income tax cut–would focus on deductions and closing tax loopholes for the rich, but declined to offer specifics, saying it would “take me too long to go through all the math”.

• The Supreme Court is starting a new term today that is shaping up to be as important as the last one, with the prospect of major rulings about affirmative action, gay marriage and voting rights.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Ted Kennedy Jr. calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to discuss health care and the ways that President Obama is looking out for people with disabilities

• Dr. Maya Angelou calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about voter engagement and the first days of early voting

• Actress and director Penny Marshall calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her life, career, politics and her new book “My Mother Was Nuts”

• Birther Queen Orly Taitz joins us in studio at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to talk about the ruling in Kansas that will keep Obama on the ballot, and give us updates on the hearings taking place this week in Missouri and Indiana.

• President Obama leads Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, and the two are locked in tight contests in Nevada and North Carolina, according to a new series of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday.

• Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday there can be no doubt that terrorists had planned and carried out the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi earlier this month that killed four Americans, including Amb. Chris Stevens.

• Republicans yesterday fired a vendor suspected of submitting 108 questionable new voter registrations in Palm Beach County, ground zero for disputed ballots in 2000’s presidential race.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Political strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on the presidential campaign, and on the Powell / Cantor campaign in Virginia

• Mitt Romney said yesterday that despite calls from conservatives to be more aggressive, he is not going to engage in a campaign of “character assassination” – despite what he says is the Obama campaign’s willingness to do so.

• President Obama and Mitt Romney took their campaigns yesterday to the critical swing state of Ohio, where the state of the once-robust manufacturing sector makes the debate over outsourcing and trade with China especially resonant.

• In explaining his tax plan in Ohio yesterday, GOP candidate Mitt Romney told the gathered crowd he would simplify the tax code, but that they should NOT expect large tax cuts.

• The National Football League and the referees’ union reached a tentative contract agreement at midnight Thursday, ending an impasse that began in June when the league locked out the officials and used replacements instead.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Stefanie Brown, Obama/Biden National African-American Vote Director, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about what’s at stake in this November’s election

• Striking a hopeful but serious tone about the future of the Middle East, President Obama at the United Nations yesterday called on his international counterparts to honestly confront the sources of unrest in Muslim countries, as well as the tensions between the West and the Arab world.

• With less than six weeks until Election Day, President Obama has opened up significant leads over Mitt Romney in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, according to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll of likely voters.

• Ann Romney told Jay Leno last night that the election of her husband would signal “that prejudices…” against Mormons… “are left behind” just as the election of President Obama sent a signal that other prejudices were left behind.

• The Romney campaign indicated yesterday that they have little faith in recent polls that showed a majority of voters in Ohio support President Obama.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney on Univision, and the Far Right going off the deep end

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the importance of keeping the Middle Class tax cuts

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the crazy things Paul Ryan has been saying on the campaign trail

• Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (and daughter of Ann Richards), calls in from the Clinton Global Initiative with a big announcement

• In a speech today at the UN exactly six weeks before the U.S. election, President Obama will seek to reassure American voters as well as world leaders that they can count on him to handle the latest global challenges, even as Mitt Romney seizes the chance to pan his foreign policy.

• In one of his harshest indictments to date of President Obama’s handling of the economy, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told an audience on Monday that Americans “are beginning to give up hope” on the economic recovery.

• Dems are seizing on Mitt Romney’s interview with “60 Minutes” in which he cites emergency rooms as a health care option for the uninsured — a statement that contrasts with his longstanding opposition to such an approach because it’s widely-known as the most expensive.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Investigative journalist Greg Palast calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How To Steal An Election in 9 Easy Steps”

• Mitt Romney paid an effective tax rate of about 14 percent last year, his campaign said Friday while also announcing that the Republican presidential nominee had paid an average annual effective tax rate of about 20.2 percent between 1990 and 2009.

• A defiant Mitt Romney is refusing to concede he is running as an underdog in the crucial battleground states that define the presidential contest, and accused President Obama of distorting his positions and trying to “fool” the American people.

• With the conventions fading into the rearview mirror and the first presidential debate fast approaching, new polls in crucial swing states suggest that GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s road to the White House is becoming a more challenging ride.

• “Homeland” earned Showtime its first Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series on Sunday night, breaking “Mad Men’s” four-year winning streak. In the Outstanding Comedy Series category, “Modern Family” took home the win for the third year in a row.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s desire to block any and all legislation going through Congress

• Markos Moulitsas, founder of DailyKos.com, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Mitt and Ann Romney’s continuous string of gaffes

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT to talk about Attorney General Eric Holder being cleared in the Fast And Furious scandal

• David Shuster of Current TV and WeActRadio calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the rise of Obama and the fall of Romney in the polls

• President Obama leads Mitt Romney in Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin, reaching the key 50 percent support threshold in all three battlegrounds, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls of these states.

• Ann Romney, in an interview with Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson, swung back at the range of critics in the media and among Republicans: “Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring,” she said.”

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Current TV’s Bill Press calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his book, “The Obama Hate Machine”

• Gov. Jesse Ventura calls in at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to talk about his book, “DemoCRIPs and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs In Government”

• Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the race to unseat Eric Cantor, and about Mitt Romney’s missteps in the last few weeks

• GOP nominee Mitt Romney found himself on the defensive at a Wednesday forum with Latino voters, fielding sharp questions about his comments at a closed-door fundraiser, immigration reform and Arizona’s controversial immigration law before the event shifted to his preferred subject of the economy.

• A report on the U.S. government’s controversial gun-trafficking operation “Fast and Furious” released Wednesday found no evidence that Attorney General Eric Holder knew of the botched effort to trace the flow of guns to Mexico’s drug cartels prior to its public unraveling in January 2011.

• Chick-fil-A has agreed to stop funding groups with anti-same-sex marriage stances, according to a statement released Wednesday by LGBT advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Anchor, author, and pundit Jeff Greenfield calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to talk about his new book, “*43”, about what would have happened had Al Gore become president in 2000

• Rebuking Mitt Romney on “Late Night with David Letterman” last night, President Obama said that Americans are not “victims” and that anyone seeking the presidency ought to be working for “everyone, not just some.”

• President Obama now holds a narrow lead over Mitt Romney in the key swing states of Virginia, Wisconsin and Colorado, according to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times survey.

• Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told New Hampshire voters Tuesday that President Obama has created a safety net that encourages dependency and “drains people of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives.”

• Chicago’s teachers agreed Tuesday to return to the classroom after more than a week on the picket lines, ending a stalemate with Mayor Rahm Emanuel over teacher evaluations and job security, two issues at the heart of efforts to reform the nation’s public schools.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about how ineffective Paul Ryan is to the Romney campaign

• Col. Wayne Powell joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his efforts to unseat Eric Cantor in Virginia’s 7th District

• Already scrambling to steady a struggling campaign, Mitt Romney confronted a new headache Monday after a video surfaced showing him telling wealthy donors that almost half of all Americans “believe they are victims” entitled to extensive government support.

• Teachers across the nation’s third-largest city will be poring over the details of a tentative contract settlement today as the clock ticks down to an afternoon meeting in which they are expected to vote whether to end a seven-day strike that has kept 350,000 students out of class.

• Mitt Romney on Monday launched a fall courtship of Hispanic voters, an increasingly important segment of the electorate, with a promise he would reform immigration laws in his first term.

• Occupy Wall Street protesters celebrated the movement’s anniversary Monday by clogging intersections in the city’s financial district, marching to the beat of drums that were a familiar refrain last year.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about all the rude things the GOP was up to in the last two weeks

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• After the two political conventions, President Obama leads Mitt Romney in three of the most important battleground states, according to new NBC/WSJ/Marist polls. In both Florida and Virginia, Obama is ahead of Romney by five points among likely voters, 49%-44%. In Ohio, the president’s lead is seven points, 50%-43%.

• Chicago teachers uncomfortable with a tentative contract offer decided Sunday to remain on strike, insisting they need more time before deciding whether to end a standoff with Mayor Rahm Emanuel that will keep 350,000 students out of class for at least two more days.

• Paul Ryan, the GOP vice presidential candidate, on Saturday said that he and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would reverse four years of “debt, doubt and decline” by improving the economy, preserving Medicare and strengthening the nation’s defense.

• Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of “coddling and appeasing” America’s enemies and said the Obama administration is at least partially responsible for ongoing violence in post-Arab Spring nations.

Sexy LIberal and Current TV superstar John Fugelsang is in for Steph and the Mooks all week long!  Check him out on your radio, on SiriusXM 127, streaming on your TuneIn Radio app, your Stitcher app, or your IHeartRadio app, or on Current TV!

Join Steph and the Mooks today live from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte today. Their guests will be Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies at 9am ET / 6am PT, Rep. GK Butterfield (D-NC) at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT, Teamsters President James Hoffa at 9:45am ET / 6:45am PT, Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) at 10:05am ET / 7:05am PT, Joe Jervis of the blog JoeMyGod at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) at 10:45am ET / 7:45am PT, Gov. Peter Shumlin (D-VT) at 11am ET / 8am PT, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) at 11:20am ET / 8:20am PT, CC Goldwater (Barry Goldwater’s Granddaughter) at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT, and Jon Stoltz of VoteVets at 11:45am ET / 8:45am PT

Join us for Live coverage from the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday morning when we talk to Aaron Smith of Young Invincibles, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Democratic Strategist Terry Lierman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, David Bender, Guy Cecil of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY).

And you can see it all on Current TV!

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• In his first speech as the Republican Party’s official presidential nominee, Mitt Romney on Thursday delivered an uncharacteristically personal plea for the presidency, outlining his vision for the nation’s future while vowing to “put the disappointments of the last four years behind us.”

• At the height of the tightly-scripted Republican National Convention, actor Clint Eastwood on Thursday made a “surprise” appearance, delivering a sometimes humorous, other times bizarre speech – a speech that was ad-libbed, according to the Romney campaign.

• Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention Thursday as the man who will ensure the United States continues to be the land of opportunity and that “new beginnings” are possible

• At the Republican National Convention, former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife, Calista, said Mitt Romney will bring the country back to the principles that are “core to Reagan’s presidency.”

• Isaac hovered over Louisiana for a third day Thursday, shedding more than a foot of additional rain that forced authorities to hurriedly evacuate areas ahead of the storm and rescue hundreds of people who could not escape as the rapidly rising waters swallowed entire neighborhoods.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• In his first speech as the Republican Party’s official presidential nominee, Mitt Romney on Thursday delivered an uncharacteristically personal plea for the presidency, outlining his vision for the nation’s future while vowing to “put the disappointments of the last four years behind us.”

• At the height of the tightly-scripted Republican National Convention, actor Clint Eastwood on Thursday made a “surprise” appearance, delivering a sometimes humorous, other times bizarre speech – a speech that was ad-libbed, according to the Romney campaign.

• Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced Mitt Romney at the Republican National Convention Thursday as the man who will ensure the United States continues to be the land of opportunity and that “new beginnings” are possible

• At the Republican National Convention, former House Speaker and Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife, Calista, said Mitt Romney will bring the country back to the principles that are “core to Reagan’s presidency.”

• Isaac hovered over Louisiana for a third day Thursday, shedding more than a foot of additional rain that forced authorities to hurriedly evacuate areas ahead of the storm and rescue hundreds of people who could not escape as the rapidly rising waters swallowed entire neighborhoods.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Thomas Mann & Norman Ornstein, authors of “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks”, call in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the GOP causing dysfunction in DC

• Melanie Roussell, DNC National Press Secretary, calls in from Charlotte at 10am ET / 7am PT to give us a preview of next week’s DNC

• Current TV and WeActRadio’s David Shuster calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the bad behavior of some delegates at the RNC

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on Wayne Powell for Congress in VA, and give us his impressions on the RNC

• Deirdre Schifeling, National Political and Organizing Director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, calls in at 11:30am from Tampa to talk about their efforts to educate and mobilize voters

• Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan last night formally accepted his spot on the ticket, calling on voters to give America a “turnaround” – and pledging that if elected, he and Mitt Romney will not “duck the tough issues” but “take responsibility” for the nation’s future.

• John McCain last night railed against President Obama for his foreign policy record, lamenting what he cast as a “demand for leadership” in America, and calling on voters to elect Romney “the next leader of the free world.”

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Chris Christie’s speech on the opening night of the RNC

• DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the kickoff of the Republican National Convention

• Fox News’ Alan Colmes calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Thank The Liberals… For Saving America (And Why You Should)”

• New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at the Republican National Convention last night called on Americans to face the nation’s “hard truths” this November, and embrace a “new era of truth-telling” when deciding the country’s political future.

• Ann Romney set out to show voters a more personal side of her husband, Mitt Romney, at the Republican National Convention last night but at the top of her remarks, she deviated from her script to reference Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall in Louisiana.

• Hurricane Isaac was beginning to move inland in southeast Louisiana before dawn Wednesday on a slow, drenching slog toward New Orleans, seven years to the day after the much stronger Katrina hit the city.

• GOP Strategist and columnist Rich Galen calls in from the RNC at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to give us an update on the shenanigans the GOP is up to at their convention

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to tell us what the Republicans are up to in Tampa

• Yvette Sanchez Fuentes, Obama’s director of the Office of Head Start, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the president’s commitment to the program

• Attorney and author Lisa Bloom joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about education and her new book, “Swagger” – Grab an excerpt of her book here!

• Former Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs joins us at 11:45am ET / 8:45am PT to discuss the Obama Campaign’s counter-messaging effort for the RNC

• With several bangs of the gavel by Reince Priebus, the Republican National Convention kicked off without much fanfare yesterday as the first day’s session officially lasted less than 60 seconds after the agenda was scrapped because of Hurricane Isaac.

• The center of Tropical Storm Isaac’s projected path took it directly toward New Orleans for a projected landfall as early as Tuesday night, nearly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Romney’s efforts to help the rich, and about the idiocy of Far Right pundit Erick Erickson

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• With Mitt Romney poised to accept the Republican nomination this week, President Obama on Saturday accused his rival of backing policies that would “make things worse for the middle class.”

• GOP officials have canceled today’s planned first day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa because of Isaac, the tropical storm growing to hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida.

• Tropical Storm Isaac swirled into the Gulf of Mexico today, threatening to disrupt U.S. offshore oil and gas supplies and strengthen into a powerful hurricane that could make landfall near Louisiana almost seven years to the day after Katrina struck.

• NYC police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, confirmed on Saturday that all nine bystanders at the Empire State Building shooting were wounded by police bullets, bullet fragments or shrapnel from ricochets, not from the gunman.

• Neil Armstrong, the Apollo 11 astronaut who became the first human being to set foot on another world, has died. He was 82.

• Tracey Pratt, a Massachusetts teacher who is a part of the Obama re-election team, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about education, and her experiences on the campaign trail

• David Shuster of Current TV and WeActRadio calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about next week’s Republican National Convention

• Michael Shure of Current TV’s “The Young Turks” calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to preview next week’s GOP Convention (which he will be attending)

• Actress Amy Madigan (“Field Of Dreams” “Gone Baby Gone”) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the play “Recipe” and the War on Women in politics

• Mitt Romney laid out his vision for achieving North American energy independence by 2020 yesterday, in part through giving states control over energy development on federal lands within their borders.

• Paul Ryan on Thursday condemned President Obama in his harshest terms yet for forcing mandatory defense cuts into last summer’s agreement to raise the debt ceiling, saying that Congress has told the president to “put up or shut up” by disclosing how the cuts would be implemented.

• The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles after he declared he was finished fighting the drug charges that threaten his legacy.

• Columnist and tweeter Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the Bill Press Studios at 9:30am ET /6:30am PT for Thursdays With Fugelsang

• Country music superstar Chely Wright calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to commiserate with Steph on what it’s like to be cancelled from Hannity

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the effect of Todd Akin’s rape comments on the 2012 races

• Actress Jean Smart (Designing Women) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her role in the upcoming play about female revolutionaries, “Recipe”

• Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate appears to have energized some likely voters in Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, according to a new Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll.

• President Obama weighed in on Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s controversial comments about “legitimate rape” Wednesday, mocking Akin by saying he “somehow missed science class.”

• President Obama continues to beat Mitt Romney among African American voters with a staggering 94 percent to 0 percent lead, according to a poll released Tuesday.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Comedian and actor Harry Shearer calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new album “Can’t Take A Hint”, and to share his thoughts on the 2012 political environment

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Ryan Budget Plan and about saving Medicare

• Actress Wendie Malick calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her new play “Recipe” and about women in the modern day political movement

• Mitt Romney on Tuesday stepped up his criticism of Republican Rep. Todd Akin and called on the congressman to drop out of the Missouri Senate race because of his recent, controversial remarks on rape and abortion. Akin, however, missed the 5pm deadline to drop out yesterday and remains in the race.

• Vice President Joe Biden, who will be in Florida as Republicans gather to nominate their presidential ticket, on Tuesday compared GOP critics of the Obama administration’s Wall Street reforms to “squealing pigs.

• The Republican Party on Tuesday quietly approved a platform that calls for a constitutional amendment banning abortion, and which does not provide exceptions for victims of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s trouble with “legitimate rape”

• Comedian and actor Richard Belzer (Law & Order: SVU) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country’s Most Controversial Cover-Ups)”

• Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin apologized Monday for comments he made about “legitimate rape” over the weekend, but rejected growing clamor even from fellow Republicans for him to abandon his Senate bid.

• President Obama said Monday that his campaign’s criticisms of Mitt Romney and other Republicans are not “out of bounds,” arguing that it is the Romney campaign that has crossed the line with false attacks on him.

• Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan joined forces on Monday to attack President Obama in New Hampshire, but it was Romney who leveled the harshest accusations, asserting that the president was running a dishonest campaign he called “sad and disappointing.”

• Phyllis Diller, the housewife-turned-comedienne with the cackling laugh who aimed some of her sharpest barbs at herself, died Monday morning in her Los Angeles home. She was 95.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s desperation, and about Paul Ryan’s hypocrisy

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• On the same day GOP VP hopeful Paul Ryan defended his Medicare plan in front of a crowd of senior citizens in Florida, President Obama blasted the GOP ticket for proposing to raise costs for the elderly while slashing taxes for the wealthiest Americans.

• Campaigning with his retired mother at his side, Congressman Paul Ryan made the Romney-Ryan ticket pitch for fixing Medicare Saturday morning before thousands at the world’s largest senior citizens community.

• In an interview, Rep. Todd Akin, Missouri’s Republican Senate candidate, has questioned whether women can become pregnant when they’re raped. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said, according to The Washington Post.

• Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood blockbusters as “Top Gun,” “Days of Thunder” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” died Sunday after jumping from the Vincent Thomas suspension bridge in Los Angeles Harbor, authorities said. Scott was the brother of director Ridley Scott.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the New York City bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• After weeks of speculation about his tax returns, Mitt Romney yesterday said he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes for each of the past 10 years. “Every year I’ve paid at least 13 percent, and if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, why, the number gets well above 20 percent,” Romney asserted.

• Paul Ryan told a Cincinnati television station in an interview airing yesterday that he “never asked for stimulus” money made available by the Recovery Act, contradicting documents that show he had advocated for Wisconsin companies that were seeking stimulus funds.

• Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s new running mate, amended two years’ worth of congressional financial disclosure reports in June to include an income-producing trust worth between $1 million and $5 million, USA Today reports.

• Legal experts say they expect a court challenge to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s order denying driver’s licenses and public benefits to young undocumented immigrants who qualify to stay in the U.S. under a new Obama administration program.

• Two U.S. troops were killed in the western Afghan province of Farah today when an Afghan Local Police officer turned his gun on them.

• Karl Frisch, columnist, tweeter, and co-founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Comedian and actor Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of Coffee With Carlos

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Paul Ryan’s trip to Vegas to talk to Sheldon Adelson

• Despite GOP enthusiasm surrounding the announcement that Paul Ryan has been tapped as Mitt Romney’s running mate, a new Gallup poll shows that the presumptive GOP nominee has not benefited from any material bounce in its poll since the pick was made public.

• President Obama yesterday pushed back GOP claims that he’s cutting Medicare and turned the criticism back on his challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, accusing them of wanting to overhaul Medicare to the detriment of seniors.

• Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden’s remark that Republicans were trying to “unchain” Wall Street and put Americans back in “chains” is a sign of a desperation from the Obama campaign.

• A man suspected of shooting and wounding a security guard yesterday in the lobby of the Far Right lobbying group Focus on the Family had been volunteering at a community center for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks is joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• James Roosevelt Jr, grandson of Franklin D. Roosevelt and current president and CEO of Tufts Health Plan, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about how Romney/Ryan will destroy health care in America

• There was some big talk on energy Tuesday on the campaign trail. President Obama talked wind power and Mitt Romney said if he is elected, America will be so energy independent by the end of his second term that we’ll no longer have to buy oil from the Middle East and Venezuela.

• President Obama today will be joined by First Lady Michelle Obama on the campaign trail for the first time in over 3 months, as he continues his effort to appeal to swing-state women voters. Today he’s expected to stress Paul Ryan’s anti-abortion rights record.

• Paul Ryan held a private event on Tuesday evening in Las Vegas that reportedly included GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. The event, held at Adelson’s Venetian Hotel and Casino, was closed to the media.

• Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday told a diverse crowd in Virginia, including many African-Americans, that presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney would “put you all back in chains” by unshackling Wall Street.

• Former and future congressman from Florida, Alan Grayson, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how Romney’s pick of Paul Ryan affects the GOP’s chances in Florida

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Zombie-Eyed Granny Starver known as Paul Ryan

• Mitt Romney returned to the campaign trail in Florida Monday morning without his new running mate, but armed with new rhetoric accusing President Obama of running a dishonest campaign meant to deceive the American people.

• Rep. Paul Ryan, whom Mitt Romney’s campaign plans to deploy heavily in Iowa, was greeted on Monday with resistance from an aggressive group of hecklers at his first solo campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair.

• In Iowa Monday, President Obama criticized Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan for being one of the “leaders of Congress” blocking a farm bill to help rural America from becoming law.

• Chris Christie, the sometimes abrasive but always entertaining governor of New Jersey, is set to be announced today as the keynote speaker for the Republicans’ national convention later this month.

• A deadly shootout erupted Monday near the Texas A&M University campus when a man being brought an eviction notice opened fire, leaving three people dead, including an officer and the gunman.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Paul Ryan as VP, why Romney will lose, and Bobby Jindal’s troubles

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Matthew Rothschild, editor of The Progressive magazine, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Paul Ryan’s career in politics and what it means to the 2012 race

• Political strategist and author David Bender calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan as VP

• Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to expose groups who are pocketing millions while claiming to support hospitalized veterans

• The newly-minted team of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan was on the move Sunday, campaigning in North Carolina and Wisconsin. The surprise announcement Saturday came just 10 days after Romney decided on Ryan.

• In his first public remarks since Mitt Romney’s vice president announcement, President Obama welcomed Paul Ryan to the race, calling the Republican Congressman a “decent man” he “fundamentally” disagrees with.

• The Spice Girls reunited Sunday for a performance during the star-studded closing ceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays with Fugelsang

• On the second day of his Colorado tour, President Obama slammed his Republican rival Mitt Romney for statements he’s made about immigration. “Romney believes in self-deportation” and the Arizona immigration law, Mr. Obama told the crowd in Pueblo, Colo., Thursday.

• Mitt Romney on Thursday took umbrage at what he called inaccurate and misleading ads run by the Obama campaign and an allied super PAC, even as his own campaign continues to run an attack ad that has been deemed “pants on fire” false by a fact-check organization.

• A gunman wearing an Afghan uniform has shot to death three American troops in the southern Helmand province, according to the U.S.-led international military coalition in the country, known as ISAF.

• Lawyers for James Holmes, the man charged in the Batman movie massacre, said Thursday that Holmes is mentally ill. The disclosure came when the lawyers appeared with Holmes at a Colorado court hearing into the attack.

• The U.S. women’s soccer team won its third straight Olympic gold medal Thursday, beating Japan 2-1 in a rematch of last year’s World Cup final and avenging the most painful loss in its history.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Political strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his efforts to defeat Eric Cantor in VA, and about the faltering Romney campaign

• Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the continuing fight to keep the Middle Class alive and well in America

• In an impassioned appeal to women voters, President Obama on Wednesday continued hammering the Democratic message that Republicans are insensitive to issues surrounding women’s health care, lambasting Mitt Romney for his positions on contraception and Planned Parenthood.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney yesterday continued to attack President Obama for what he called an attempt to remove work requirements from welfare – charges found to be baseless by welfare policy experts and new organizations.

• Federal scientists say July was the hottest month ever recorded in the Lower 48 states, breaking a record set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. “This would not have happened in the absence of human-caused climate change,” said Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann.

• David Shuster, anchor of “Take Action News” weekends on We Act Radio AM1480 in Washington DC, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the 2012 Presidential Election

• Ruth Conniff, journalist for The Progressive magazine, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Wisconsin Sikh temple shootings and gun control in Wisconsin

• According to a new CBS / NY Times poll, Mitt Romney is ahead of President Obama in the swing state of Colorado, 50 percent to 45 percent. Obama, meanwhile, leads Romney in Virginia, 49 percent to 45 percent and in Wisconsin, Obama has a 6-point lead over Romney, 51 percent to 45.

• Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused President Obama of “taking the work requirement out of welfare,” part of an escalating line of attack that also included a TV ad and a conference call with top Romney campaign allies.

• Jared Lee Loughner agreed Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison, accepting that he went on a deadly shooting rampage at an Arizona political gathering and sparing the victims a lengthy, possibly traumatic death-penalty trial.

• Karl Rove said Tuesday that Mitt Romney is “close to a decision” on a running mate and predicted that the announcement will come next week, “but it could come as early as Friday.”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Wisconsin Temple shooting, and about the sad state of the GOP

• Michael Shure of The Young Turks on Current TV calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the 2012 Presidential Elections

• Alexis Bledel, actress (The Gilmore Girls, Mad Men) and Obama surrogate, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about what young Hollywood is doing to get Obama re-elected

• Before he strode into a Wisconsin Sikh temple with a 9 mm handgun and multiple magazines of ammunition, Wade Michael Page played in white supremacist heavy metal bands with names such as Definite Hate and End Apathy. He was an Army veteran who was demoted and discharged over 10 years ago.

• At a fundraiser in Connecticut last night, President Barack Obama labeled opponent Mitt Romney’s tax plan as “Romney Hood,” saying it takes from the middle class and gives to the rich.

• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s still in the dark over his role at the upcoming Republican National Convention. Mitt Romney has not asked him to speak at the nominating convention this month.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Chick-Fil-A, contraception, and Mitt Romney

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Columnist and comedian Tina Dupuy calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to offer her apology to Mitt Romney

• A gunman allegedly killed six people and wounded three others before being shot dead by a police officer at a Sikh temple outside of Milwaukee Sunday morning.

• Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus didn’t mince words Sunday, calling Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “a dirty liar” over his criticism of Mitt Romney’s tax returns.

• There are still too many Americans looking for work, President Barack Obama said Friday in reaction to July’s jobs numbers, renewing his demand that Congress extend expiring tax cuts for most U.S. households.

• Las Vegas Sands Corp., controlled by billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, is the target of a federal investigation into possible violations of U.S. money-laundering laws, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Julie Bolcer, New York Correspondent for The Advocate, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the Democrats’ decision to include marriage equality in the party platform

• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) call in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about keeping the Middle Class tax cuts

• Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the fact that the Walton family of Wal-Mart owns more wealth than the bottom 40% of America

• Mitt Romney fired back yesterday against Dems questioning his tax proposals and tax-paying history, rebuking President Obama over his characterization of Romney’s tax plan and Sen. Harry Reid over his claim that the presumptive GOP nominee has not paid income taxes in 10 years.

• President Obama on Thursday once again slammed Mitt Romney for his budget proposal, telling supporters at an Orlando, Fla., campaign event that Republicans “have tried to sell us this trickle-down, tax cut fairy dust before.”

• Michael Phelps added a 20th career medal to his medal collection with his first individual gold of the London Games, and handed Ryan Lochte a double disappointment on his rival’s final night in the pool last night.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Political Strategist and author David Bender calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to remember progressive icon Gore Vidal

• Former and future congressman Alan Grayson calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Romney’s overseas trip and about increasing health care coverage for women

• Political strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to update us on the Cantor/Powell election in VA, and to talk about the presidential race

• Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Middle Class tax cuts, and about extending health coverage for women

• President Obama leads Mitt Romney among likely voters in Ohio and Florida – and has a double-digit lead in Pennsylvania – according to a Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll released this morning.

• Republicans controlling the House have passed a bill to extend tax cuts due to expire Dec. 31, officially laying down their marker in an election-year showdown with President Obama. Obama has threatened to veto the measure.

• With new ObamaCare regulations that went into effect yesterday, 47 million women now benefit from the guaranteed coverage of preventive services — including contraception coverage — without co-pays.

• Bill Press of “The Full Court Press” joins us at the Beverly Hilton from 6am to 6:30am

• Cenk Uygur of “The Young Turks” joins us at the Beverly Hilton from 7am to 7:30am PT

• John Fugelsang joins us at the Beverly Hilton from 7:30am to 8am PT for a big announcement

• Gavin Newsom of “The Gavin Newsom Show” joins us at the Beverly Hilton from 8am to 8:30am

• Eliot Spitzer of “Viewpoint” calls in from 8:30am to 8:45am

• Jennifer Granholm of “The War Room” joins us at the Beverly Hilton from 8:45am to 9am

• Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday afternoon announced they have reached a deal to keep funding federal operations past September 30 and avert a government shutdown.

• Tea Party darling Ted Cruz convincingly defeated the Republican establishment favorite in Texas’ runoff election Tuesday, capturing the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).

• Gore Vidal, the author, playwright, politician and commentator whose novels, essays, plays and opinions were stamped by his immodest wit, has died at the age of 86, his nephew said Tuesday.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Romney’s disastrous overseas trip, and about Scalia’s comments on gun control

• Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Democrats’ efforts to retain tax cuts for the Middle Class

• A three-nation overseas trip envisioned as a relatively low-key endeavor took its second major turn toward controversy Monday when Mitt Romney spoke at a Jerusalem fundraiser about the role culture plays in the relative strengths of the economies of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

• The Democratic Party’s platform drafting committee endorsed including a plank in its official platform backing same-sex marriage. The policy change is not final and must be approved by a larger committee meeting held in Detroit in August.

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday defended charges from Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and other congressional Republicans that her aide, Huma Abedin, is tied to Muslim extremists, saying those accusations “really have no place in our politics.”

• The American women aim for the first team gold in gymnastics since 1996 and Michael Phelps swims for his record breaking nineteenth career medal tonight at the London Olympics.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s trip overseas and Michele Bachmann’s insane witch hunt

• Michéle Flournoy, top advisor to the Obama campaign, calls in at 9:45am ET / 6:45am PT to talk about Romney’s overseas trip, and about President Obama’s foreign policy successes

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Seeking to further extinguish questions about his support for an Israeli military strike on Iran, Mitt Romney said Sunday that “no option should be excluded,” but repeated the caveat that he hopes diplomatic and economic measures will work first.

• Vice President Joe Biden told a gathering of more than 3,000 teachers on Sunday that Mitt Romney and fellow Republicans think that teachers are selfish.

• Colorado prosecutors are filing formal charges today against James Eagan Holmes, the former neuroscience student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others at an Aurora movie theater.

• US swimmer Dana Vollmer won a gold medal at the Olympics and set a world record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 55.98 seconds.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Friday With Hal

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to promote the Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour in Los Angeles tomorrow night

• Mitt Romney said yesterday that British officials might not be prepared to pull off a successful Olympics. In an interview with NBC News, he called London’s problems with games preparation “disconcerting,” and the remark sparked sharp responses from Britain’s top officials and the British press.

• President Obama is reaffirming U.S. ties with Israel, saying he will today sign legislation expanding military and civilian cooperation with the country. This upstages Mitt Romney one day before the Republican challenger visits Jerusalem.

• President Obama will not push for stricter gun laws this election year, the White House said Thursday, one day after his impassioned remarks about the need to keep assault weapons off the streets suggested he may plunge into that political fight and challenge Congress to act.

• One of the biggest secrets in London will finally be revealed this evening: what will happen at the opening ceremony for the Summer Olympic Games. Tonight’s Opening Ceremonies are being overseen by “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Trainspotting” director Danny Boyle.

• Karl Frisch, columnist, tweeter, and founder of Bullfight Strategies, calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Cliff Chenfeld, creator of the progressive media hub The Message — TheMessageIs.com – to talk about how wrong Conservatives’ ideas of Ronald Reagan are

• Col. Wayne Powell, who is running for Congress from Virginia to unseat Eric Cantor, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about how his campaign is going

• President Obama yesterday embraced some degree of control on the sale of weapons. He said responsibility for curtailing bloodshed also rests with parents, neighbors and teachers to ensure that young people “do not have that void inside them.”

• Mitt Romney said Wednesday that more restrictive gun laws would likely not have prevented last week’s deadly mass shooting at a Colorado Cineplex, and argued that it would take Americans changing their hearts, not their legislation, to prevent similar future attacks.

• Some of the victims of the Colorado movie theater massacre face enormous medical bills without the benefit of insurance. Three of the five hospitals treating victims said Wednesday they will limit or completely wipe out medical bills.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Wednesdays With Fugelsang

• Today, the Democratic-led Senate plans to hold a procedural vote to start considering a $250 billion Dem bill that would extend the tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 per year and couples making $250,000 per year.

• In a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno, Nev., on Tuesday, one day after President Obama’s appearance, Mitt Romney slammed the Obama administration for national security leaks and budget cuts to the military.

• According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, if Mitt Romney and his fellow Republicans are successful in repealing the Affordable Care Law, it would increase the federal budget deficit by an estimated $109 billion between 2013 and 2022.

• Four Democratic lawmakers proposed a ban on high-capacity ammunition Tuesday, breaking with politicians from both parties who’ve steered clear of calling for gun control legislation in the wake of the Aurora, Colo. shootings.

• Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson on “The Jeffersons,” has died. He was 74.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about gun control in the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shootings

• Willie Nelson and his wife Annie calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new album “Heroes”, and about sustainable alternative energy

• The suspected gunman in the Colorado theater massacre faced a judge Monday in his first court appearance yesterday. Wearing orange-red hair and looking at times emotional and at other times bleary-eyed, James Holmes sat as Chief Judge William Sylvester told him he was being held without bond.

• With the presidential race reverting to its regular course following the hiatus imposed by last week’s Colorado shootings, Mitt Romney on Monday attacked President Obama for failing to understand the business environment or meeting more frequently with his jobs council.

• Reaching out for the votes of military personnel, veterans and their families, President Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) national convention Monday that he kept the promises he made four years ago, stating that today the U.S. is “safer and stronger and more respected in the world.”

• Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has passed away at the age of 61 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer at her home in La Jolla, Calif.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the political response to the shootings in Colorado

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• During a visit to Aurora, Colo., Sunday, President Obama met with victims of Friday’s mass shooting at a movie theater, which killed 12 people and injured 58 others.

• As James Holmes, the suspected gunman in the Colorado theater massacre, heads to his first court appearance today, authorities have disclosed that he is refusing to cooperate and that it could take months to learn what prompted the horrific attack on midnight moviegoers at a Batman film premiere.

• Nine people remain in critical condition after Friday’s mass shooting, Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday. He also said they are in “bad shape.”

• At least 11 people died Sunday and another 12 were injured after a pickup truck loaded with passengers veered off the highway and crashed into trees in rural South Texas, authorities said.

• The statue of Joe Paterno was taken down from outside the Penn State football stadium Sunday, eliminating a key piece of the iconography surrounding the once-sainted football coach accused of burying child sex abuse allegations against a retired assistant.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours for Fridays With Fugelsang

• Journalist and documentarian Lisa Ling calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her show on the OWN Network, “Our America with Lisa Ling”

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his call to include marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform

• At least 14 people were killed and dozens more injured by a gunman who allegedly began his attack on Denver area movie-goers by hurling tear gas into the crowd at a Batman “The Dark Knight Rises” premiere around midnight on Thursday, police say.

• According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, 54% of adults nationwide say that Mitt Romney should provide further tax returns to the public. That includes three in four Democrats, more than half of independents, and 30% of Republicans.

• President Obama slammed Mitt Romney’s Medicare plan yesterday, telling seniors in the battleground state of Florida that his rival’s proposal would force them to fend for themselves and hurt them financially.

• The House of Representatives approved on Thursday $606 billion in defense spending for next year after two days of debate.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post’s “The Fix” calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new book, “The Gospel According To The Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics”

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Bush tax cuts and extending them for only the Middle Class

• Obama and Romney are effectively tied in the race for the presidency, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. 47% of registered voters nationwide who lean towards a candidate back Romney, while 46% support the president. 4% are undecided.

• A majority of registered voters believe that presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s policies favor the rich, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

• George Zimmerman told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday that the Trayvon Martin shooting was “a tragic situation.” He also said he felt that his life was in danger and that the media attention to his case felt “surreal.”

• A bombing at Syria’s national security building has killed the country’s defense minister and the Syrian president’s brother-in-law, and wounded other senior officials, Syrian state-run TV said.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students’ achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.

• In an attempt to change the subject from his tax returns and Bain Capital, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney intensified his own rhetoric on Tuesday and called President Obama’s recent comments about small business “insulting to every entrepreneur, every innovator in America.”

• President Obama’s re-election campaign and the Ohio Democratic Party are suing Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted and Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine in an effort to get early voting restored in the state ahead of November’s presidential election.

• With pressure building on Mitt Romney to release more of his past tax returns, Ron Paul on Tuesday added his voice to the chorus of people – including some Republicans – who say Romney should just bite the bullet and release the returns.

• The Boy Scouts of America yesterday strongly reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by some critics.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the 2012 Presidential Race, and about the end of the line for Ron Paul

• Political Strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Wayne Powell’s race in Virginia to unseat Eric Cantor

• Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about extending tax cuts for the Middle Class, and about Romney’s Bain problem

• With Congress preparing to tackle a series of controversial tax and budget issues this fall, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) is warning the GOP that Dems are not planning to stand down in the ongoing battle over extending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy.

• Back in the must-win state of Ohio yesterday, President Obama said Mitt Romney’s tax policies would create 800,000 jobs, but, “They wouldn’t be in America.”

• Mitt Romney held up the waiters and waitresses serving donors at a well-heeled fundraising event last night as examples of people who aren’t doing well under President Obama, saying the people serving the “refreshments” weren’t “having a good year.”

• A woman identified only as “Witness 9” in the George Zimmerman case told investigators that he molested her when they were children, information released Monday by the State Attorney’s Office reveals.

• Actress Lisa Kudrow calls in at 9:20am ET / 6:20am PT to talk about the second season of her Showtime series “Web Therapy”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital problems

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Michael Shure of Current TV’s “The Young Turks” calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the inconsistencies in Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital comments

• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) calls in at 11am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about The Disclose Act, and how Citizens United has ruined American politics

• Mitt Romney told several news organizations in a Friday interview blitz that President Obama should apologize for his campaign’s suggestion that the presumptive GOP nominee is either a criminal or a liar.

• On Saturday the Obama campaign released an ad titled “Firms” that will air in nine swing states. The ad superimposes newspaper article quotes such as “In business, Mitt Romney’s firms shipped jobs to Mexico and China” over audio of Romney singing an off-key version of “America the Beautiful.”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Matthew Breen, Editor in Chief of The Advocate, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the magazine’s first-ever presidential endorsement, for President Obama

• The Boston Globe yesterday reported on new evidence that allegedly shows Mitt Romney remained in control of Bain Capital three years longer than he’s claimed. If correct, the findings would complicate Romney’s line of defense that he was gone before many of the firm’s companies went bankrupt or laid off workers.

• The Drudge Report, the conservative website, reports Thursday night that there is a new frontrunner to be Mitt Romney’s running mate: Condoleezza Rice.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney headed to Wyoming last night for a fundraising event and private dinner sponsored by former Vice President Dick Cheney.

• A blistering report released Thursday found former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno helped hush up allegations of child sex abuse against a former assistant that went back more than a decade, sacrificing the ideals he preached to protect his football program.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Comedian Margaret Cho calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about her new tour, her DVD, and her new television show

• Tammy Duckworth, who is running for Congress from Illinois, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about her run to unseat Rep. Joe Walsh

• Cliff Chenfeld, record industry executive, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:20am ET / 7:20am PT to talk about his new Progressive online media hub, “The Message”

• Ari Berman of The Nation and “Herding Donkeys” calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Texas Voter ID trial

• Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney yesterday took his message to the NAACP delivering a speech that was received with mixed response — including multiple instances of prolonged boos.

• The GOP-led effort to repeal President Obama’s health care law passed the House of Representatives yesterday, successfully setting up campaign talking points for the coming months, but accomplishing little else.

• Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is currently being treated for a “mood disorder”, his doctor’s office said today. The office would not give any further information, citing privacy.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Stefanie Brown, National African-American Vote Director for Obama/Biden 2012, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Obama’s accomplishments for the African-American community

• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about extending tax cuts for the Middle Class

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the ComiCon appearance of his cartoon “Off The Curb”

• Golden Globe nominated actress Madeleine Stowe calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her support of Wayne Powell, who is running to unseat Eric Cantor in Virginia

• House Republicans generally avoided talk of replacement measures yesterday as they mobilized for an election-season vote today to repeal the health care law that stands as President Obama’s signature domestic accomplishment.

• In a speech at the NAACP’s convention today, Mitt Romney will make his case to the African-American community, attempting to establish a dialogue with black voters and making efforts to chip away at the president’s overwhelming lead among them.

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Obama’s desire to extend the tax cuts for the Middle Class

• Jonathan Krohn, former Conservative child hero turned Obama supporter, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his stunning political conversion

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the bad behavior at Mitt Romney’s huge fundraiser for the ultra-rich

• David Shuster of Current TV and WeActRadio calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about what President Obama needs to do to get the independent vote

• Comedian Michael McDonald joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:15am ET / 8:15am PT to talk about the news of the day and about his latest gigs

• President Obama yesterday proposed a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for Americans making less than $250,000, reiterating his calls to let tax cuts for high-earning Americans expire.

• Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) indicated that he “has no intention” of expanding Medicaid or putting in place a state-based health insurance exchange, both central components to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Romney’s comments on the unemployed, and about Rep. Joe Walsh’s comments on Tammy Duckworth

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• President Obama today will launch a push to extend the so-called Bush tax cuts for low and middle-income Americans, but he will continue to fight for the cuts to expire on Jan. 1 for people earning more than $250,000.

• Fresh off a week-long break in Wolfeboro, NH, Mitt Romney stopped in the Hamptons on Sunday to host three fundraisers, which were expected to raise $3 million, according to the New York Times.

• The House will vote this week to repeal The Affordable Care Act. The vote, which was announced by House GOP leaders immediately following the U.S. Supreme Court’s health care ruling, will be the 31st time the Republican House will have voted to repeal or defund all, or part, of the act.

• Internet providers have plans to help their customers today and others are braced for calls to helplines because thousands around the country whose computers were infected with malicious software more than a year ago faced the possibility of not being able to get online.

• Oscar winning character actor Ernest Borgnine died Sunday. He was 95.

• John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for two hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to give us her reaction to the Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act

• Doug Kendall, Founder and President of the Constitutional Accountability Center, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Supreme Court’s ruling on health care reform

• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about The Congressional Black Caucus walking off the House floor instead of voting to hold Eric Holder in contempt

• Jo Piazza, Senior Editor of Current.com/Pride, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the site’s efforts to talk about gay politicians for Gay Pride Month

• Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the individual mandate, a political standoff continues unabated. President Obama affirmed the court’s decision and his health care law on Thursday, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney promised to work to repeal it.

• The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress Thursday for failing to provide documents relating to the Fast and Furious gunwalking program.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Meghan McCain and Michael Ian Black are scheduled to call in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about their new book, “America, You Sexy Bitch: A Love Letter To Freedom”

• Actor and HuffPo writer Steven Weber joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out and talk about the news of the day

• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to give us Congress’ reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act

• The health care drama that began in the earliest days of the Obama presidency will reach its crescendo this morning when the Supreme Court announces its decision on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

• In advance of the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act due out today, Mitt Romney said yesterday it was a “moral failure” for Obama to focus on health care legislation during a time of economic crisis.

• After trading barbs for months over efforts to keep student loan interest rates low, Dems and GOPers have tentatively reached a deal to extend the current rates.

• The House will vote today on holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for withholding documents involving the failed Fast and Furious weapons crackdown.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Supreme Court’s rulings on immigration and health care reform, plus the Holder contempt hearings

• If the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act this week, President Obama will have “wasted” most of his first term, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney said Tuesday.

• Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday laced into Mitt Romney for allegedly outsourcing jobs while at Bain Capital and reviving the charge that Romney is out of touch because he once held a Swiss bank account and investments in the Cayman Islands.

• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) beat back a tea party challenge in the Utah primaries yesterday, and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) survived a primary challenge in New York despite ethics charges against him.

• Republican senators on Tuesday welcomed a move by the director of national intelligence to snuff out leaks of classified information but insisted that a special counsel is needed to investigate the Obama administration and recent disclosures.

• Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the Supreme Court striking down most of Arizona’s SB 1070

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 9:45am ET / 6:45am PT to talk about Jan Brewer’s and Mitt Romney’s reactions to the Supreme Court’s immigration law decision

• Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10am ET / 7am PT to hang out and talk about the news of the day

• Dr. Orly Taitz, one of the founders of the Birther Movement, joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:40am ET / 8:40am PT to present her case that the President was born in Kenya

• Mitt Romney told a group of donors on Monday that he would have “preferred to see the Supreme Court give more latitude to the states, not less,” in response to the Court’s ruling to strike down three contested provisions of a controversial Arizona immigration law.

• On Thursday, the same day the Supreme Court is expected to announce it’s decision on the health care case, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Romney & immigration, the weakness of Mass. Sen. Scott Brown, and more shenanigans in North Carolina

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Former and future Congressman Alan Grayson calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the aftermath of Romney’s bus tour

• After two days of meetings, meals and hobnobbing with the candidate, his top advisers and leading figures of the Republican party Park City, Utah, Mitt Romney’s biggest donors and bundlers say they are fired up and ready to go.

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the congressman heading an investigation into a botched gun-trafficking case said on Sunday he had no evidence the White House was involved in a cover-up about the operation or in providing misleading information to Congress.

• With less than two weeks to go before student-loan interest rates are slated to double, President Obama urged his frequent foil, the “do-nothing Congress,” to extend the low rates and “quit playing chicken” with the July 1st deadline.

• Alex Trebek, longtime host of the iconic game show “Jeopardy!,” was admitted into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday after suffering a “mild heart attack.”

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his constitutional amendment to reign in campaign spending, and about the Fast & Furious hearings

• Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the premiere of “The Invisible War,” the documentary on the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT for a San Francisco / “The War Room” version of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Mitt Romney said yesterday that immigration reform is “not just a moral imperative, it’s also an economic necessity” and pledged to replace President Obama’s plan to grant legal status to some children of illegal immigrants with a long-term policy that he said will keep families together.

• As jurors deliberated yesterday, one of Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky’s adopted sons came forward for the first time to say that his father had abused him. Matt Sandusky, 33, was prepared to testify for prosecutors at the trial, his attorneys said in a statement.

• It’s going to be a big weekend in the world of big conservative money: Both Mitt Romney and billionaire industrialist brothers David and Charles Koch are holding hush-hush events with wealthy donors designed to keep the dollars coming in.

• The Miami Heat finished off the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 last night to become the 2012 NBA Champions.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), member of the House Oversight Committee, calls in at 10:45am ET / 7:45am PT to talk about the Fast & Furious and the contempt vote against AG Eric Holder

• Chaz Bono, transgender advocate, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his book, “Transition: Becoming Who I Was Always Meant To Be”

• A year-and-a-half long investigation into a botched gun trafficking program culminated Wednesday with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

• Top Obama campaign officials yesterday said they would be outspent by Mitt Romney and allies, especially when you include all the various outside groups. This would make Obama the first incumbent president outspent by his rival.

• More than a week of often-explicit testimony wrapped up yesterday after former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s defense team rested without calling their client. That set up closing arguments for this morning, and jurors could start meeting behind closed doors in the afternoon to weigh Sandusky’s fate.

• Bill Lee, the Sanford, Florida police chief who was strongly criticized for his agency’s initial investigation of Trayvon Martin’s shooting in February has been fired.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, Prop. 8 plaintiffs, call in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the NY Times op-ed that Jeff’s father wrote on Fathers’ Day

• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Supreme Court’s pending ruling on Healthcare Reform

• Florida Sen. Marco Rubio abruptly returned to Mitt Romney’s vice presidential short list Tuesday when the presumptive nominee himself said Rubio is being vetted 12 hours after ABC News ran a story saying that he was not being vetted.

• Senators Leahy and Grassley asked the Supreme Court to break precedent and allow television cameras to broadcast the announcement of the upcoming decision surrounding the constitutionality of President Obama’s signature health care law.

• A meeting between Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Attorney General Eric Holder to work out an agreement over documents pertaining to the Fast and Furious case has ended without an agreement being reached. As a result, Issa has not postponed or cancelled a contempt vote of the attorney general.

• Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the change in President Obama’s immigration policy, and about Ron Barber’s win in Gabby Giffords’ House seat

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about immigration, Romney’s bus tour, and Anne Romney’s dressage horse

• Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Fathers’ Day op-ed that Jeff’s dad wrote for the NY Times

• Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the guessing and waiting game that is the Supreme Court’s health care ruling

• Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney went on the offensive Monday on immigration, charging that President Obama broke a campaign promise by neglecting it for most of his presidency.

• Mitt Romney made a bold prediction in Wisconsin to open the fourth day of his swing state bus tour: he would steal the Badger State from the Democratic column this November.

• Voter advocacy groups plan to file a lawsuit as early as today challenging Florida’s effort to clean the voter rolls of non-citizens. The coalition said their suit is more expansive than the Department of Justice suit and could impact other states’ potential efforts to clear voting lists.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest with Mitt Romney, and about President Obama’s historic immigration policy change

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• The Obama administration announced that it would no longer seek the deportation of most young illegal immigrants, and would instead allow them to apply for work permits, a significant policy shift with potentially major electoral implications.

• Mitt Romney would pursue some type of comprehensive, long-term reform to America’s immigration system, the former Massachusetts governor and his supporters said on Sunday.

• Rodney King, the African-American motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers became the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation’s history, was found at the bottom of his swimming pool early Sunday and later pronounced dead. He was 47.

• Greece appeared to have avoided crashing out of the euro currency zone and destroying the world’s economy early Monday after political parties in favor of an international bailout deal won a slim election majority – but the region’s debt crisis showed no sign of abating.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the Minneapolis Bureau in hours 1 and 3 for two hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Mayor Ralph Becker (D-Salt Lake City) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT from the US Conference of Mayors to talk about the need for bipartisanship in job creation legislation

• Country music superstar Chely Wright calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Los Angeles showing of her documentary, “Wish Me Away”

• In the key battleground state of Ohio, President Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney made competing remarks just minutes apart on the number issue of the campaign: The economy.

• The president and first lady Michelle Obama made a rare joint fundraising appearance when they visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick last night. The intimate dinner banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each.

• More than three years after Mr. Obama took office, 68 percent of Americans still say former President Bush deserves a great deal or a moderate amount of blame for the struggling economy, according to Gallup. Just 52 percent say the same about Mr. Obama.

• Egypt’s highest court ruled yesterday that the country’s entire parliament was illegally elected and ordered the body to dissolve after an “unconstitutional” vote.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the economy, jobs, and the 2012 election

• Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) calls in at 9:45am ET / 6:45am PT to talk about Romney’s economic message vs. President Obama’s economic message

• Actor and comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT for an hour of Coffee With Carlos

• President Obama and Mitt Romney both head to Ohio today to deliver dueling remarks about the economy — each candidate attempting to sell his fiscal vision to voters as America’s most promising path toward renewed prosperity.

• Mitt Romney gave a “pre-buttal” to a speech Obama plans in Cleveland today, saying he expected him to speak “eloquently,” but that “words are cheap” and the president should be denied a second term based on his track record on the economy.

• Even before JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was able to say one word of his much anticipated testimony to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, a Code Pink activist in a brown suit called him a “crook” and a “predator” who “needs to go to jail.”

• Jacki Schechner of Current TV’s news center calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to tell us why we should be skeptical about the insurance companies’ recent PR efforts

• Gov. Jesse Ventura calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about his new book, “DemoCRIPS and ReBLOODlicans: No More Gangs In Government”

• Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ hand-picked Democratic candidate Ron Barber won a special election Tuesday in southern Arizona to finish her term, defeating a Republican who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010.

• The Department of Justice is making good on its stated plan to sue Florida over Republican Gov. Rick Scott’s controversial sweep of the state’s voting rolls, filing a complaint Tuesday alleging that the efforts are in violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) called on Attorney General Eric Holder to step down at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday. Holder was there to answer questions about the Obama administration’s response to a report in the New York Times about U.S. efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.

• Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary told jurors in Jerry Sandusky’s sex abuse trial Tuesday that he saw his ex-colleague with a prepubescent boy in an on-campus shower and that he that he heard “skin-on-skin smacking sound.”

• Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what Dems are doing to improve jobs and the economy

• Former and Future Rep. Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Romney’s “We don’t need teachers” gaffe on the campaign trail

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the latest from Scott Walker’s Wisconsin

• Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about her heroic service in government, and about improving the economy for Americans

• The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Florida to stop its push to remove what it says are ineligible voters from their rolls. It comes the same day that Florida announced it was suing a different federal agency over the purge.

• The White House said late Monday that Commerce Secretary John Bryson, who was cited in a felony hit-and-run case in southern California over the weekend, will take a medical leave as he undergoes tests, evaluations.

• Democrats are hoping that late campaign appearances by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will help push her hand-picked successor to victory in a special congressional election in Arizona today.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Romney’s assertion that we have enough teachers, cops, and firefighters

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Mitt Romney condemned President Obama’s assessment of the private sector’s health as “fine” on Friday as a misreading of historic proportions. Romney seized on the comments, accusing Obama of being “out of touch.”

• Mitt Romney said in a speech in Iowa that Obama did not get the “message from Wisconsin.” Romney said that Americans “do not want more teachers, firemen, and policemen” calling them “more big government”.

• U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson is being investigated in a felony hit-and-run case after allegedly crashing a Lexus into two vehicles in California on June 9, Los Angeles County police have confirmed.

• The House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. The dispute stems from Holder failing to turn over documents subpoenaed in the Fast and Furious “gunwalking” investigation.

• The bittersweet love story “Once” captured eight Tony Awards on Sunday, including best musical direction, best lead actor in a musical and the top musical prize itself.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Lucas Grindley, editor of The Advocate magazine, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the growing list of Cabinet Secretaries that are supporting marriage equality

• Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about jobs, the economy, and how to kickstart both

• Comedian Michael McDonald calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the news of the day and his upcoming gig at the Improv in Brea, CA

• Bill Clinton said Thursday that he is “very sorry” for breaking with the Obama administration and suggesting that the Bush-era tax cuts for high earners should be extended into next year, telling CNN he did not fully understand the situation at hand.

• The Obama campaign raised less money than presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney during the month of May, and the Obama campaign is using that fact to motivate voters to donate

• The Obama campaign warned Thursday that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will have full access to his Swiss bank accounts, his money in the Cayman Islands, and his Bain Capital income unless he puts his investments in a federally-recognized blind trust.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Mark Kennedy Shriver, Senior VP of US Programs at Save The Children, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about his new book, “A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver”

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the lack of a recall in Wisconsin and about the race for the White House

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the economy, jobs, and student loans

• President Obama basked in the support of his gay and lesbian backers Wednesday night in Los Angeles, revving up an enthusiastic crowd with a pledge to block any attempt to roll back rights that gay Americans have gained under his administration.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called Scott Walker’s solid victory in Tuesday’s Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election a vote in favor of conservative principles that will “echo throughout the country.”

• Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul conceded on Wednesday that he will not obtain enough delegates to win the Republican nomination, but said his success at obtaining delegates “shatters the predictions.”

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Kris Perry & Sandy Stier, plaintiffs in “Perry v. Brown”, call in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about their reaction to the 9th Circuit Court’s refusal to re-hear the Prop. 8 case

• Marilu Henner, actress and author of “Total Memory Makeover”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about unlocking your memory potential

• Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady and author of “Don’t Forget: God Bless Our Troops”, calls in at 10:50am ET / 7:50am PT to talk about helping our service members

• David Bender, author and political strategist, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the ramifications of yesterday’s recall loss in Wisconsin

• Republican Gov. Scott Walker has survived the Wisconsin recall election, beating back a labor-backed effort to unseat him and again handing defeat to his Democratic challenger, 58-year-old Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

• The prospect of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage within the next year increased yesterday when a federal appeals court, over an indignant dissent by conservative judges, reaffirmed its ruling that struck down California’s Prop. 8.

• Comedian Kathleen Madigan joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours

• Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the recall vote today against Gov Scott Walker

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to preview today’s historic recall vote in Wisconsin

• David Shuster, correspondent for Current TV, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us what he’s found with his on-the-ground reporting in Wisconsin

• Public polling, internal polling and campaign strategists all tell the same story: GOP Gov. Scott Walker is clinging to a tiny lead over his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, heading into today’s recall vote in Wisconsin. Both parties are now focused on getting out the vote today.

• President Obama on Monday courted women voters as he urged the Senate to approve a bill that aims to narrow the gender gap for the wages of American workers.

• George Zimmerman’s lawyers have vowed to file a motion asking a Florida judge for a new bond hearing for their client Monday, a day after the murder suspect returned to jail on a judge’s order.

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Ari Berman, writer for “The Nation” and author of “Herding Donkeys”, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Florida’s purging of voters

• George Zimmerman arrived at the Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Fla., early yesterday afternoon to turn himself in after a judge revoked his bail for allegedly hiding cash he’d amassed in donated legal funds for his trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

• Mitt Romney’s favorable ratings are on the rise, but a new CNN poll indicates that President Barack Obama remains more popular than his Republican challenger. While rising 14 points since February, Romney still trails the president, who currently has a 56% favorable rating.

• Mitt Romney declared May’s disappointing jobs report a “harsh indictment” of President Obama’s stewardship of the economy, accusing the president of being overly focused on “legislative achievements” instead of putting Americans back to work.

• Vice President Joe Biden’s office has announced that his daughter Ashley has married a Pennsylvania doctor at a ceremony in Delaware. She is a social worker for the state of Delaware and he is a plastic surgeon in Philadelphia.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Anna Chlumsky from the new HBO comedy “Veep” calls in at 9:50am ET / 6:50am PT to tell us about her role in the Julia Louis Dreyfuss comedy

• Ted Boutrous Jr., top lawyer for the same-sex couples who challenged Prop. 8 in California, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about yesterday’s ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional

• After nine days of deliberation, a jury on Thursday found John Edwards not guilty on one of six charges of campaign finance corruption. A mistrial has been declared on the other five counts.

• In a tightly-guarded surprise campaign stop, Mitt Romney visited failed energy company Solyndra Thursday and invoked the building as a symbol of what he called President Obama’s misuse of taxpayer dollars.

• A Boston news conference by Democrats yesterday opened a new front in the Obama campaign strategy by taking on Romney’s gubernatorial experience after previously targeting the multimillionaire businessman’s background as head of a private equity company.

• Former first lady Nancy Reagan served lemonade and cookies to Mitt Romney and his wife and offered him something extra — her endorsement.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about health care, the economy, and Mitt Romney securing the GOP nomination

• Robin Abcarian, National Reporter for The Los Angeles Times, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about the Right’s demands for President Obama to release his college transcripts

• Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about creating jobs and improving the economy

• President Obama and Mitt Romney briefly set aside their differences yesterday as Obama called and congratulated Romney on officially winning the delegates necessary to become the president’s Republican rival.

• Fox News is under fire for a campaign ad-style four-minute video highly critical of President Obama, which ran twice on the cable channel’s morning program “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning.

• At a ceremony this afternoon in the East Room, President and Mrs. Obama unveil the portrait of 43rd President George W. Bush, which will become part of the permanent White House collection. A portrait of former First Lady Laura Bush will also be unveiled.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Political Strategist David Bender calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Mitt Romney clinching the GOP nomination, and about the Birther issue

• With 91 percent of the votes counted, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney sailed to victory in yesterday’s Texas GOP primary, earning 69 percent of the vote and surpassing the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Texas Rep. Ron Paul earned 11 percent.

• Donald Trump spent the day yesterday standing by his assertion that there is no actual proof that President Obama was born in the United States. Mitt Romney did not outright condone Trump’s suggestion, telling reporters that he does not agree with everything his supporters say and vice versa.

• Tea party candidate Ted Cruz achieved his goal Tuesday and forced GOP establishment favorite Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst into a runoff in the Texas U.S. Senate race.

• Facebook’s stock sank to a new low at $28.65 Tuesday before closing at $28.84, down $3.07, or 9.6 percent. That’s down roughly 24 percent since the social networking service’s initial public offering earlier this month.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about S.E. Cupp, the word “conservative”, and Romney making the rich richer

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Memorial Day and about Romney and his economics

• Joel Stein, columnist for Time Magazine, calls in at 10:45am ET / 7:45am PT to talk about his new book, “Man Made: A Stupid Quest For Masculinity”

• President Obama on Monday paid tribute to missing and fallen U.S. forces, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

• At the Veterans Museum and Memorial Center in San Diego on Memorial Day yesterday, Mitt Romney took a political tone. He expressed concern over the world’s security while singling out countries like Iran and China that he contends pose a threat.

• Mitt Romney is likely to formally seal the Republican presidential nomination today with a big victory in Texas that may give him a burst of momentum in his November 6 showdown with President Barack Obama.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the New York Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the economy, the VA backlog, and Afghanistan

• Robert Riley, former Secretary of Education under Bill Clinton, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to contrast Romney’s record on education vs. President Obama’s record

• Becky Pringle, Secretary/Treasurer for the National Education Association, calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to react to Mitt Romney’s education plan

• At a campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday evening, President Obama attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital experience, but sought to make clear that his criticisms are not an attack on the private equity industry.

• Mitt Romney visited a charter school in a struggling Philadelphia neighborhood on Thursday and ran into some pushback from educators and protesters who took issue with his ideas on class size and the role of families in successful school systems.

• President Obama holds a narrow advantage over presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney in three of the most pivotal presidential battleground states — Florida, Ohio and Virginia — according to new NBC-Marist polls.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his efforts to reform the filibuster, and to reform Wall Street

• Marcia Clark, prosecutor, author, and television correspondent, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about her new book, “Guilt By Degrees”

• After repeatedly pinning the president for the unemployment level, which now sits at 8.1%, Mitt Romney pledged he could cut the rate by two points if he makes it to the White House. But, based on the current rate of growth, the CBO expects the jobless rate to fall to 5.5% by the end of 2017 anyway.

• Calling the nation’s falling educational standards “the civil rights issue of our time,” on Wednesday Mitt Romney proposed dramatically expanding school choice for low-income and disabled children.

• Former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell, who oversaw the implementation of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the 90’s, said he has “no problem” with same-sex marriage on Wednesday.

• Elizabeth Warren has closed the gap on GOP Sen. Scott Brown in their battle for Brown’s Massachusetts Senate seat despite a controversy over her heritage, according to a new poll.

• Sexy Liberal Hal Sparks joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of Humpdays With Hal

• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act and the GOP’s War on Women

• Mitt Romney won the Republican primaries in Kentucky and Arkansas on Tuesday, victories that puts him within striking distance of clinching the Republican presidential nomination.

• Casting himself as “Middle Class Joe” in a speech to 450 people at Keene State College in New Hampshire, Vice President Joe Biden used layman’s terms to argue that the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s private equity experience “no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber.”

• Despite a volatile and eventful past few weeks in the early presidential contest, President Barack Obama continues to hold a small – and slightly narrowing – lead over Mitt Romney, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

• Regulators are looking into a report that Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for Facebook’s initial public offering last week, shared a negative assessment of the social network with major clients ahead of the IPO.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Mitt Romney

• Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act

• In a press conference marking the end of this year’s NATO Summit, President Obama touted the group’s formal agreement for a “responsible” withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan, and said that while gains in the country remain “fragile,” he does not believe there will ever be an “optimal point” to withdraw.

• President Obama’s overall job approval rating in a new ABC News / Washington Post poll is now back under 50 percent (47 percent approve, 49 percent disapprove) after hitting the halfway mark last month for just the second time since the killing of Osama bin Laden.

• President Obama said yesterday that the ongoing discussion over Mitt Romney’s record at the private equity firm Bain Capital is “not a distraction” from the serious issues that should be debated in the presidential campaign.

• A judge sentenced former Rutgers student Dharun Ravi yesterday to 30 days in jail for using a webcam to spy on his roommate Tyler Clementi’s intimate encounter with another man.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about racial attacks on President Obama, and about America’s changing ethnic makeup

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Comedian and activist Carol Leifer joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to hang out and tell us about her LA Power Of Choice Reception

• Chicago is bracing for more demonstrations today, with protesters vowing to march to the Boeing Corp. headquarters a day after police clashed with a group of demonstrators at the end of a march protesting the NATO summit.

• President Barack Obama warned of “hard days” ahead in Afghanistan as world leaders Sunday opened a NATO summit confronted by questions about the country’s post-conflict future.

• Assurances from this weekend’s G8 Summit at Camp David that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro helped support world stock markets Monday after sharp losses over the past week.

• Robin Gibb, a founding member of the Bee Gees who helped propel the group to international stardom, has died of cancer. He was 62.

• John Register, National Co-Chair of Obama for America, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about what’s at stake for veterans in this election

• Tina Dupuy, managing editor for Crooks & Liars, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about the GOP’s War on Women and the LGBT Community

• Mary Phillips-Sandy, Editorial Producer of Comedy Central’s Indecision Blog, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to tell us about the election blog and the latest polls

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT from South Florida for a half hour of Fridays with Fugelsang

• Mitt Romney yesterday doubled down on his repudiation of a proposed ad campaign attacking President Obama for his ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, telling reporters such a campaign would have been “the wrong course for a PAC or a campaign.”

• After four months of paperwork, hype and speculation, the last piece of the Facebook IPO is in place: Facebook said it has priced its IPO at $38 a share. Shares were released last night to buyers, who can resell them on the open market beginning on today.

• Disco queen Donna Summer has died, a family spokesperson told the AP. She was 63. Summer died of cancer Thursday morning in Naples, FL.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Former and Future Congressman Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about how the Bush economy is still affecting us

• Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the Violence Against Women Act and the GOP’s efforts to weaken it

• The Obama campaign dispatched Vice President Joe Biden to eastern Ohio Wednesday to push the president’s economic record and take direct aim at presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s history as a venture capitalist.

• Responding to attacks by the Obama campaign about his work at the helm of Bain Capital, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney defended his record, saying he “was no longer” at the company when it closed a steel factory.

• The GOP-led House on Wednesday voted to approve the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a piece of legislation that is the subject of partisan controversy because the GOP stripped out some of the most basic protections for women.

• John Edwards’ defense team rested Wednesday without calling the two-time Dem presidential candidate or his one-time mistress to the witness stand, a sign of confidence after presenting two days of testimony and evidence.

• Comedian and actor Rick Overton joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT for all three hours of the show to riff on the news of the day

• Veteran journalist Dan Rather calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “Rather Outspoken: My Life In The News”

• Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s War on Women and her efforts to help veterans

• Mitt Romney on Tuesday won GOP presidential primaries in Oregon and Nebraska, putting the former Massachusetts governor ever closer toward officially clinching the Republican presidential nomination.

• In a decidedly underwhelming fashion, Former President George W. Bush voiced his support for Mitt Romney‘s presidential campaign for the first time yesterday.

• Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took aim Tuesday at President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package, blaming it for a soaring federal debt that he likened to a prairie fire.

• Court records show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a nose fracture and two cuts to the back of his head after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the end of Ron Paul’s campaign, and about Romney’s speech to the evangelicals

• Ian Millhiser, Policy Analyst for The Center for American Progress Action Fund, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Romney’s lack of an immigration plan

• According to a new CBS News / NY Times poll, 46 percent of registered voters say they would vote for Romney, while 43 percent say they would opt for Mr. Obama. Romney’s slight advantage remains within the poll’s margin of error, which is plus or minus four percentage points.

• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon owned up to stock analysts and went on TV to accept blame for a $2 billion trading mistake. Today he faces shareholders, who are considerably less wealthy since the blunder was disclosed.

• Speaking to Barnard University’s graduating class yesterday, President Obama challenged the young women to persevere in the fight for equality through leadership, touting a pro-woman message and emphasizing his hopes that today’s young women “will help lead the way” for change in America.

• Ron Paul said on Monday he will no longer be actively campaigning in the GOP presidential primaries but won’t formally suspend his campaign. Instead, the libertarian candidate’s organization will continue to accumulate delegates to send to the Republican National Convention.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s bullying, and the fight for LGBT rights

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT), who introduced the Student Loan Affordability Act, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s efforts to block it

• Speaking at the graduation commencement of Liberty University, Mitt Romney told the crowd that people of different faiths can meet “in common purpose” through their moral decision-making. Romney also reiterated his position against same-sex marriage.

• For the third year in a row, a slight majority of Americans consider gay and lesbian relations morally acceptable, signaling that this is the new “new normal” in public opinion, according to a new Gallup poll released Monday just days after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage.

• JPMorgan Chase is expected to accept the resignation of Ina Drew, one of the highest-ranking women on Wall Street, after the bank lost $2 billion in a trading blunder, a person familiar with the matter said Sunday.

• The defense for John Edwards is scheduled to start this morning in the former presidential candidate’s corruption trial. Last week, the federal judge presiding over the trial turned down a motion to dismiss the charges against Edwards.

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang joins us from the studios of The Mic in Madison at 10am ET / 7am PT for two hours of Fridays With Fugelsang

• Robin Abcarian, national reporter for The Los Angeles Times, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s high school bullying incident

• Vice President Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office and apologized to President Obama a few hours before the president announced that he supports same-sex marriage. The president expressed that he understood Biden’s comments came from the heart.

• The Washington Post reported on a high school incident in which Mitt Romney repeatedly clipped the hair of a young man – presumed by other students to be gay – while other classmates pinned him to the floor, as the victim screamed for help and his eyes filled with tears. Romney repeatedly apologized Thursday for the incidents, even though he said he does not remember them.

• A fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign, held under a stretched transparent tent outside George Clooney’s sprawling tudor-styled canyon home, raised nearly $15 million, a record for a single fundraiser.

• The GOP-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would replace looming Pentagon spending cuts opposed by the GOP with a series of domestic program reductions opposed by congressional Dems.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to talk about President Obama’s evolved stance on marriage equality, and to co-host Right Wing World

• Ian Millhiser, Policy Analyst for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Mitt Romney’s lack of an immigration plan

• Rep. Joe Courtney (D-CT) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the GOP blocking the student loan debate

• Comedian and author Judy Tenuta joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11am ET / 8am PT to hang out and talk about her new book, “Tenuta: Full Frontal Tenudity”

• Three days after Vice President Joe Biden said he is “absolutely comfortable” with two men or two women getting married, President Obama told ABC News in a hastily arranged interview that “same sex couples should be able to get married.”

• Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he unequivocally opposes “marriage between people of the same gender,” drawing a contrast to President Obama’s “evolving” position on the issue.

• Federal authorities and the Justice Department said Wednesday that they plan to sue Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office over allegations of civil rights violations, including the racial profiling of Latinos.

• Comedian Carlos Alazraqui joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 9am ET / 6am PT to hang with us and talk about the news of the day

• Graeme Zielinski, communications director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the results of yesterday’s primaries to defeat Gov. Walker

• Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the budget and the GOP’s non-stop obstructionism

• A majority of North Carolina voters on Tuesday approved a controversial amendment that will write a ban on same-sex marriage as well as civil unions for both gay and straight couples into the state Constitution.

• Sen. Richard Lugar – the longest-serving senator in Indiana history – has lost his Republican Senate primary on Tuesday to state Treasurer and Tea Party darling Richard Mourdock.

• Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett defeated three other Dems and is set to face Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker in next month’s recall election that has become a nationally watched battle over union rights.

• An insider who worked with the United States and an allied security service to thwart an al-Qaida bomb plot hatched in Yemen was the man picked to carry out the suicide attack on a U.S.-bound airliner. He’d been working for Western intelligence from day one.

• Current TV correspondent David Shuster calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about the latest in the 2012 Presidential Campaign

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about the real start of the 2012 Presidential Campaign

• Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the GOP’s plan to boost the military and cut social programs

• The CIA thwarted a plot by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a new design. Officials, however, deny there was ever any immediate threat to the public.

• Rick Santorum endorsed presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney late Monday night in an email to supporters, saying a private meeting with the former governor last week had given him confidence that issues important to him would be well represented in the general election.

• Speaking at a plant that stamps parts for truck manufacturers, Romney continued his attack on President Obama ‘s economic stewardship, including the April unemployment rate of 8.1 percent–a figure the presumptive GOP nominee has said is double what it should be.

• President Obama’s re-election team unveiled a new ad Monday, striking back at the presumptive challenger Mitt Romney’s assertion that Mr. Obama’s three-plus years in power have been a failure.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about The Day Of Prayer and kicking Newt Gingrich when he’s down

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Vice President Joe Biden went where President Barack Obama hasn’t yet gone: In support of same-sex marriage, saying he’s “absolutely comfortable” with it. A spokesperson for the vice president quickly walked that back and said his position is “evolving on the issue”

• President Obama dropped the gloves against Mitt Romney on a trip that took him to two swing states on Saturday, leveling his most direct criticism to date of the presumptive GOP nominee while making the case for a second term.

• Although Mitt Romney is considered the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul won a majority of delegates at two state conventions in Nevada and Maine this weekend.

• Socialist François Hollande defeated conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday to become France’s next president, heralding a change in how Europe tackles its debt crisis and how France flexes its military and diplomatic muscle around the world.

• Blake Butler, host of Local Edge Radio on our affiliate 880 The Revolution in Asheville, NC, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about North Carolina’s discriminatory Amendment One

• Ari Berman of The Nation and “Herding Donkeys” calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about his new article, “Inside Romney’s NeoCon War Cabinet”

• Sexy Liberal John Fugelsang calls in from Phoenix at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the news of the day

• In letters from his last hideout, Osama bin Laden fretted about dysfunction in his terrorist network and crumbling trust from Muslims he wished to incite against their government and the West.

• Standing on stage with the Mitt Romney at an event in Portsmouth, Virginia, former presidential contender Michele Bachmann said she was there to “lend my voice and my endorsement to Mitt Romney as our president to take the county back.”

• China said Friday that Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic storm, has the right to apply to study abroad after he told U.S. lawmakers that he wants to leave his homeland for the United States.

• President Obama and his presumed Republican challenger Mitt Romney are essentially tied in Florida and Ohio, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

• Karl Frisch of Bullfight Strategies calls in at 9am ET / 6am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Joshua Hersh, foreign policy reporter for The Huffington Post, calls in from Afghanistan at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about President Obama’s surprise trip there

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) joins us in the Los Angeles Bureau at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about the 2012 Election and other news of the day

• With millions of dollars in campaign debt and just two Republican primary victories under his belt, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich finally called it quits Wednesday, suspending his campaign for the presidency so he could go back to being an “active citizen.”

• Former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann (R-MN) plans to endorse the party’s presumptive nominee Mitt Romney at a campaign event in Portsmouth, Va., today, Romney campaign officials say.

• Embattled Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is locked in a dead heat with Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett ahead of the state’s June 5 recall election, according to a new poll from Marquette University Law School.

• Former USC and NFL star Junior Seau was found shot to death at his home Wednesday morning in what police said appeared to be a suicide. He was 43.

• Former and future Rep. Alan Grayson calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to talk about Mitt Romney, and the GOP’s response to the Bin Laden killing anniversary

• Comic actress Rachel Dratch calls in at 10:30am ET / 7:30am PT to talk about her new memoir, “Girl Walks Into A Bar”

• Charlie Pierce of Esquire’s Politics Blog calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about Obama in Afghanistan, the Occupy movement, and Romney’s 3am call

• President Obama arrived in Afghanistan under cover of darkness yesterday for an unannounced visit to meet with U.S. troops and to sign a ten-year agreement with President Hamid Karzai on the role of U.S. forces beyond the end of the war in 2014.

• Mitt Romney released a statement on President Obama’s trip to Afghanistan last night. It said, in part, “I am pleased that President Obama has returned to Afghanistan. Our troops and the American people deserve to hear from our President about what is at stake in this war.”

• Mitt Romney’s spokesman on foreign policy issues abruptly quit Tuesday after anti-gay conservatives made an issue of his outspoken support for gay marriage. Richard Grenell resigned on what was to be his first official day on the job, citing the “hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues.”

• Zach Wahls, author and proud son of two moms, calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about his new book, “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes A Family”

• David Shuster, correspondent for Current TV, calls in at 11:30am ET / 8:30am PT to talk about Mitt Romney demonizing the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden

• In hundreds of cities around the world today, protesters are taking to the streets to protest rising economic inequality as part of a “general strike” for which citizens are being encouraged to skip work and school and forgo shopping.

• Asked by a reporter yesterday whether he would have gone after Osama Bin Laden, Mitt Romney responded: “Of course.” He was then asked if he would have given the specific order to kill bin Laden. “Of course,” he said. “Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.”

• President Obama responded on Monday to criticism that he is engaged in a “despicable” “politicization” of the killing of Osama bin Laden, saying “I hardly think you’ve seen any excessive celebration taking place here.”

• Mitt Romney’s short list of vice presidential candidates is expected to include 10 to 15 names. One of those potential candidates, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), joined Romney on the campaign trail yesterday morning.

• The Rude Pundit calls in at 9:30am ET / 6:30am PT to talk about Arizona and the Supreme Court, the vileness of Mitt Romney, and the good things Norway does

• Eric Boehlert, Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America, calls in at 10am ET / 7am PT to co-host Right Wing World

• Van Jones, environmental advocate and Senior Fellow at The Center for American Progress, calls in at 11am ET / 8am PT to talk about his new book, “Rebuild The Dream”

• At Saturday’s light-hearted White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Obama poked fun Saturday at everything, from the Secret Service scandal to the lavish spending by the Government Services Administration, to the upcoming general election.

• The White House said Friday that President Obama would veto a GOP measure passed by the House to extend lower interest rates on federal student loans because it takes money from a health care fund that benefits women.

• House Speaker John Boehner on Sunday described his amped-up rhetoric toward President Obama in recent days as advice. “The president is getting … some bad advice,” Boehner said on CNN. “Somebody needed to help him out, so I thought I would.”

• The wife of a former campaign aide for John Edwards takes the stand today where she is expected to detail her role in helping conceal the one-time Democratic presidential hopeful’s affair with a videographer.