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huffingtonpost.com — Top officials insist that among all the issues they've tested with voters, the one that yields the best results for the party is a pledge to protect the retirement program from privatization. And with the economy in the midst of a slow but painful recovery, health care reform still largely a mixed bag in terms of popularity, and an unpopular war in Afghanistan, Social Security has climbed to the top of the list of conversation topics out of both expediency and necessity.

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dailykos.com — Earlier today I sent a letter to the White House, signed by myself and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Lynn Woolsey, making it clear that we will stand against any potential cuts to Social Security benefits. Whether they come from the president's debt commission or from members of Congress, any proposals to reduce entitlement benefits -- one of the most fundamental bonds between the American people and the federal government -- will be dead on arrival in the House of Representatives.

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usatoday.com — They spent months on health care and Wall Street in Congress, but as lawmakers talk with voters during the summer recess they are increasingly focused on an entirely different issue: Social Security.

Hoping to capitalize on the popular program before the midterm elections, lawmakers in both parties are using this weekend's 75th anniversary of Social Security to position themselves as guardians of its 53 million beneficiaries.

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dailykos.com — The most salient result from the polling, said Greenberg is that it reflected that the electorate is "remarkably sophisticated about the economic crisis and its causes" and hold the firm belief that the only way to address the deficit long term is with investment in the economy. The survey of 1,000 people who voted in 2008 was conducted at the end of July. Here are the key findings:

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politico.com — States have set the pace over the past decade as the nation’s leaders in implementing climate change policy, but much of their work could be on the line this fall.

Nineteen gubernatorial races involve states that participate in the regional climate initiatives that have emerged as important alternatives to federal policy, given Congress’s failure to pass a cap-and-trade system to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

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nytimes.com — Thousands of acres of farmland here in the San Joaquin Valley have been removed from agricultural production, largely because the once fertile land is contaminated by salt buildup from years of irrigation. But large swaths of those dry fields could have a valuable new use in their future — making electricity.

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thehill.com — A slew of liberal groups launched a website Tuesday that provides detailed data on petroleum and coal industry contributions to Congress over the last decade — money that the activists tied to the death of climate change legislation on Capitol Hill.

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blogs.wsj.com — Republicans candidates collected about 70% of the political donations from the employees and political accounts of financial services firms in June, the most recent month in which records are available, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That’s a reversal from March, when Democrats collected 70% of the donations from Wall Street.

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politico.com — Univision’s Jorge Ramos, an anchor on the nation’s largest Spanish-language television network, says Obama broke his promise to produce an immigration reform bill within a year of taking office. And Latinos are tired of the speeches, disillusioned by the lack of White House leadership and distrustful of the president, Ramos told POLITICO.

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thehill.com — The Senate could pass legislation to bolster security on the U.S.-Mexico border as early as this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) office said Tuesday.

The House on Tuesday quickly passed the $600 million bill after a voice vote and limited debate, setting up a final vote in the Senate, which is in recess.

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