From ATLANTIC MONTHLY: In October 2005, three Citigroup analysts released a report describing the pattern of growth in the U.S. economy. To really understand the future of the economy and the stock market, they wrote, you first needed to recognize that there was “no such animal as the U.S. consumer,” and that concepts such as “average” consumer debt and “average” consumer spending were highly misleading.

From USA TODAY: A federal appeals court panel struck down the centerpiece of President Obama’s sweeping health care overhaul Friday, moving the argument over whether Americans can be required to buy health insurance a step closer to the U.S. Supreme Court.

From the MORNING CALL: When Don Adams of the Independence Hall Tea Party Association heard about Pat Toomey’s selection to the exclusive debt supercommittee, he sighed with relief. With Toomey, a freshman Republican U.S. senator, Adams said he feels solace that someone will be on the panel who shares his belief that big government impedes economic growth, and who will be “reminding [the 11 other] committee members every day.”

From the WASHINGTON POST: The financially strapped U.S. Postal Service is proposing to cut its workforce by 20 percent and to withdraw from the federal health and retirement plans because it believes it could provide benefits at a lower cost.

From the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE The report card is out, and Pennsylvania again landed in the middle of the pack in the rigor of its state testing standards. The National Center for Education Statistics released a report Wednesday that shows how proficiency standards for state tests measure up against each other and against the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, often known as the Nation’s Report Card.

From the NEW YORK TIMES: It feels eerily familiar: Stocks are plummeting. The economy is slowing. Politicians are scrambling to find solutions but are mired in disagreement. Many Americans are wondering whether they are in for a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008.

From USA TODAY: Wisconsin Republicans retained four of six state Senate seats at stake Tuesday, narrowly holding onto a majority in recall elections seen as a referendum on GOP moves to strip public workers of most collective bargaining rights..

On August 8th, Superior Court denied the request of Wilson Bucher for re-argument or reconsideration of the decision dated June 6th that awarded the proceeds from the Thomas W. Bucher Estate to the Lancaster Public Library.

From the FINANCIAL TIMES: …First, the Fed could launch an “Operation Twist” on the yield curve, selling short-term Treasuries and buying long-dated bonds with the aim of driving down long-term yields. But the Fed considered buying longer-term assets last November and explicitly decided not to.

From JACK RASMUS: On Friday, August 5, the employment numbers were released by the US Department of Labor for July jobs. The Current Establishment Survey (CES), referred to as the payroll report, indicated 117,000 jobs were created in July. That was more than the general forecast of 85,000 by economists, although still well below the 150,000 a month needed to absorb new entrants into the labor force…

From MAILONLINE: Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal… The tapes were recorded with leading historian Arthur Schlesinger Jnr within months of the assassination on November 22, 1963, and had been sealed in a vault at the Kennedy Library in Boston…