PHOENIX (AP) - A federal judge dealt a serious rebuke to
Arizona's immigration law on Wednesday when she put most of the
crackdown on hold just hours before it was to take effect.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton sets up a lengthy
legal battle as Arizona fights to enact the nation's
toughest-in-the-nation immigration law. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer
said the state likely appeal the ruling and seek to get the judge's
order overturned.
But for now, opponents of the law have prevailed: The provisions
that angered opponents will not take effect, including sections
that required officers to check a person's immigration status while
enforcing other laws.
The judge also delayed parts of the law that required immigrants
to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for
undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places - a
move aimed at day laborers. In addition, the judge blocked officers
from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.

Despite 102 Democrats who broke ranks, the
House has approved $33 billion to fund the surge in Afghanistan.
The bill sent to President Barack Obama also had an additional $26
billion for non-war programs. Some Democrats said the war funds
should be used on domestic needs.

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner pressed the case on Sunday for letting Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire later this year.

In appearances on two television programs, Mr. Geithner said that letting tax cuts expire for those who make $250,000 a year or more would affect 2 percent to 3 percent of all Americans. He dismissed concerns that the move could push a teetering economy back into recession and argued that it would demonstrate America’s commitment to addressing its trillion-dollar budget deficit.

On “This Week” on ABC, he said, “We think that’s the responsible thing to do because we need to make sure we can show the world” that America is “willing as a country now to start to make some progress bringing down our long-term deficits.”

Mr. Geithner added, “I do not believe it will affect growth.”

Most Republicans and some Democrats in Congress strongly disagree and have pledged to launch an all-out effort to extend the tax cuts for people of all incomes. The cuts were passed under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003. Supporters of extending the cuts for everyone argue that raising taxes on any group, particularly one considered crucial for creating jobs, could endanger a precarious economic recovery.

(AP) - It's 599 down, and one to go for Alex Rodriguez
in his pursuit of 600 career home runs. A-Rod slugged No. 599 in
the Yankees' 10-4 win over Kansas City. He's one shy of becoming
the seventh major leaguer to swat 600 homers.

A-Rod admits to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-2003.
Does his record taint baseball?

A year after President Barack Obama's political honeymoon ended, his job approval rating has dropped to a negative 44 - 48 percent, his worst net score ever, and American voters say by a narrow 39 - 36 percent margin that they would vote for an unnamed Republican rather than President Obama in 2012, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

This compares to a 48 - 43 percent approval for Obama in a May 26 national poll by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University and a 57 - 33 percent approval last July, just before the political firestorm created by opposition to his health care plan galvanized political opponents and turned independent voters against him.

In this latest survey of more than 2,000 voters, independent voters disapprove of Obama 52 - 38 percent and say 37 - 27 percent they would vote for a Republican contender in 2012.

American voters also say 48 - 40 percent Obama does not deserve reelection in 2012.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A different picture is emerging, and it's led
the administration to re-think its decision to force an Agriculture
Department employee from her job. In an edited video posted on a
conservative website, Shirley Sherrod was heard telling an NAACP
group that she withheld some help from a white farmer years ago
because of his race. She says the complete version -- now posted by
the NAACP -- shows that she was talking about overcoming racial
bias.

Fox News and conservatives used the video to portray Sherrord as a racist.
This is not the first time conservatives have edited video to skew the
truth.

Click here for more:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/viral-videos-shirley-sherrod-flap-highlights-growing-political/story?id=11214756

ABC News - Sarah Palin's inflammatory tweets calling on New Yorkers to "refudiate" a planned mosque near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks has made her both a satirical target and a thorn in the side of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The former Alaska governor took to Twitter Sunday to oppose the city's plans for the mosque, already a source of heated debate in New York.

After Palin tweeted "peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation; it stabs hearts," Bloomberg shot back.

"Sarah Palin has a right to her opinions, but I could not disagree more. "Everything the United States stands for and New York stands for is tolerance and openness."

Daisy Khan, a spokesperson for the community center that will include the mosque, said Palin's stance "raises the very question of what is at the heart of all this furor and that is ignorance."

NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. David Paterson signed legislation Friday
that eliminates a database of thousands of people stopped and
frisked by New York City police without facing charges, calling the
practice "not a policy for a democracy."
Paterson signed the law over vehement objections of New York
City's mayor and police commissioner, who said the city was losing
a key crime-fighting tool.
But the governor said the policy that targets criminals won't be
affected by eliminating a database of people who were stopped, then
released.
"This law does not in any way tamper with our stop-and-frisk
policies," Paterson said. "What it does is it disallows the use
of personal data of innocent people who have not done anything
wrong. ... That is not a policy for a democracy."
Critics have said information from such stops, mainly of blacks
and Latinos who are innocent, can lead to future police suspicion
and surveillance. Police say the database helped to solve crimes,
including anti-gay and anti-Hispanic bias attacks.
"Albany has robbed us of a great crime-fighting tool, one that
saved lives," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in a
statement. "Without it, there will be, inevitably, killers and
other criminals who won't be captured as quickly, or perhaps
ever."
Paterson said he had met with Kelly and spoken to Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, but had not been persuaded that the database protects
the city from crime.
"Civil justice, and I think common sense, would suggest that
those who are questioned and not even accused of crimes be
protected from any further stigma or suspicion," Paterson said.
He signed the bill at a press conference with the bill's
sponsors and supporters including the city's public advocate, Bill
de Blasio.
"Today's reform of the stop and frisk database reaffirms a
basic value of this country. The government cannot keep tabs on
people who have done nothing wrong," de Blasio said.
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil
Liberties Union, praised Paterson for signing the legislation.
"Innocent people stopped by the police for doing nothing more
than going to school, work or the subway should not become
permanent criminal suspects," said Lieberman. "By signing this
bill, the Paterson administration has put itself on the right side
of history and leaves an important legacy in support of civil
rights, civil liberties and common sense."
In his sponsor's memo, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, D-Brooklyn,
said that in 2009, the New York Police Department stopped 574,304
people, nearly 90 percent of them people of color, and nine out of
10 were released without any further legal action. Data show 2.5
million stops since 2005.
Sen. Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat and former NYPD captain who
sponsored the bill, said Friday the bill would protect innocent
people from being targeted by police, especially minorities.
"Our fear is not to have our sons (be) victims of aggressive
criminal behavior, but we also don't want our children to be
victims of aggressive police behavior," Adams said.
The automated database, believed to be the only one in the
country, grew out of a law requiring police to keep details such as
age and race on anyone they stop, and it was envisioned as a way to
safeguard civil rights.
The law, enacted in 2001, required the police department to turn
information over to lawmakers every quarter. It was aimed at
uncovering whether police were disproportionately stopping black
and Hispanic men. But police also indefinitely hold on to addresses
and names of people stopped - information not required by the law.
The bill, which takes effect immediately, would not prohibit
police from entering into an electronic database generic
identifiers, such as gender, race and location of the stop.

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- NBC and CBS have reportedly refused to air an advertisement urging people to "kill" the idea of a proposed mosque near ground zero.

The advertisement, sponsored by the National Republican Trust PAC, features a narrator speaking over images of Sept. 11 destruction and stating the mosque would be a "monument to their victory"

PLEASE click here to view the ad:

http://www.1010wins.com/NBC--CBS-Refuse-to-Air-Anti-Ground-Zero-Mosque-Ad/7692134

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly 60 percent of American voters say they lack faith in President Barack Obama, according to a public opinion poll published on Tuesday.
The results of the Washington Post/ABC News poll are a reversal of what voters said at the start of Obama's presidency 18 months ago when about 60 percent expressed confidence in his decision making.
Confidence in Obama is at a new low but the poll found that his numbers are still higher than lawmakers of either major party four months ahead of the November congressional elections.
Asked how much confidence they have in Obama to make the right decisions for the country's future, 58 percent of respondents said "just some" or "none."
Sixty-eight percent expressed the same sentiments about Democrats in Congress and 72 percent said the same of Republicans.
The Post said problems in the housing industry, sluggish job growth and other economic issues may have taken a toll on Obama's approval rating.
Just 43 percent of all Americans, including a third of Democrats, now say they approve of the job Obama is doing on the economy, while 54 percent disapprove.
The survey also found wide anti-incumbent sentiment with 62 percent of voters saying they were not inclined to support their current representative.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the November 2 election as well as 36 of the 100 Senate seats.
Democrats now control both houses of Congress, but a slight majority of those polled said they would prefer to have Republicans in control to serve as a check on Obama's policies.

NEW YORK (AP) - George Steinbrenner died today. He rebuilt the New York Yankees into a sports empire with a mix of bluster and big bucks that polarized fans all across America.
Steinbrenner had just celebrated his 80th birthday on July 4. A person close to the owner told The Associated Press that Steinbrenner had a heart attack. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., where he died around 6:30 this morning.
For more than 30 years, Steinbrenner lived up to his billing as "the Boss."
He earned the nickname and clearly enjoyed it as he ruled with an iron fist.
The Yankees won six World Series titles during his reign. He also was known for feuds. He clashed with Yankees great Yogi Berra and fired manager Billy Martin twice.
As his health declined, Steinbrenner let his sons, Hal and Hank,
run more of the family business. Steinbrenner was in fragile health for years. He'd made fewer public appearances and pronouncements.
Till the end, he demanded championships. He barbed Joe Torre during the 2007 AL playoffs, then let the popular manager leave after another loss in the opening round. The team responded last year by winning another title.
His death was the second in three days to rock the Yankees. Bob Sheppard, the team's revered public address announcer from 1951-07, died Sunday at 99.

Violent protests erupted in Oakland with stores damaged and dozens arrested after a Los Angeles jury convicted a white former transit officer of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.
Prosecutors had wanted Johannes Mehserle convicted of murdering Oscar Grant. During the trial, prosecutors said the 28-year-old Mehserle became angry at the 22-year-old Grant for resisting arrest. He was shot in the back while he lay face-down. Mehserle claims he
mistakenly drew his gun instead of his Taser.
The jury had a choice between second-degree murder and lesser charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. The jury found that Mehserle didn't mean to kill Grant, but that his behavior was still so negligent that it was criminal. Involuntary manslaughter convictions carry a sentence of two to four years.

It's a big day for pro basketball fans in Cleveland, Miami, Chicago and New York. LeBron James plans to announce which team he'll play for next season tonight on ESPN. The announcement will be part of prime-time special.
We ask: Lebron Mania: Too Much Hype or Worth the Wait?

Arizona's tough new immigration law is being challenged in court by the Obama administration. It contends the law would result in "detention and harassment of authorized
visitors and citizens who do not have or carry identification documents." Supporters say the government is to blame for neglecting border problems.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Roadside bombs in Afghanistan have
killed five U.S. service members in different parts of the country.
Their deaths brought to 14 the number of U.S. and other
international troops killed so far this month.
A tally by The Associated Press shows June was the deadliest
month of the war for U.S. and international forces at 103 killed,
including 60 Americans.
Senator John McCain said this past weekend that we should expect a rise in casualties. He is also saying there should be no deadline for a Afghanistan withdrawal. Many conservatives agree with Senator McCain. So we are asking: Afghanistan Exit Strategy: Should There Be a Deadline?

The nation is celebrating the 4th of July -- American Independence.
But there are many bitter issues dividing us: The Afghanistan War, Immigration, whether to extend unemployment benefits to people out of work (some Republicans call the unemployed lazy). So we ask you at home: Name One Way to Make America Better.

President Barack Obama on Thursday blamed immigration policy gridlock on "political posturing and special interest wrangling."
In a speech Thursday, Obama took Republicans to task, in particular 11 GOP senators who supported recent efforts to improve the immigration system. He did not name any in particular, but told his largely supportive audience at American University that those lawmakers had succumbed to the "pressures of partisanship and election-year politics."
Seeking to rally new momentum to an issue that many advocates had hoped would be completed by this point, Obama laid out his rationale for a comprehensive approach to fixing what he and others, Republicans included, say is a broken immigration system.
He said the problem cannot be solved "only with fences and border patrols" but said the government should be held accountable for its responsibility to secure the border. Obama also said businesses should face consequences for knowingly employing illegal immigrants and that those who enter the country illegally should own up to their actions before they can begin the process of becoming citizens.
"The question now is whether we will have the courage and the political will to pass a bill through Congress, to finally get it done," the president said. "I'm ready to move forward, the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward and I believe the
majority of Americans are ready to move forward. But the fact is that without bipartisan support, as we had just a few years ago, we cannot solve this problem."
"Reform that brings accountability to our immigration system cannot pass without Republican votes," he said. "That is the political and mathematical reality."