Morning Reads from the DCExaminer

Byron York - Why Graham balked; can Dems win by losing on climate AND immigration?
Within hours, it became clear that there would be no unveiling, and, at least as far as Graham was concerned, no bill, either. Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democrats decided to remove the measure, on which Graham and others had worked for months, from the Senate schedule and replace it with some sort of unformed and so-far-unwritten measure on immigration "reform."

Chris Stirewalt - Public unions make a private sector power grab
All week, the unions and their allies in community organizing will be holding mass demonstrations across the country to decry the power of Wall Street and demand passage of the president's plan.
Rallies and marches for a bank bill? What does that have to do with working for the government?

Michael Barone - Hold the VAT -- taxpayers may prefer spending cuts
The Obama Democrats' stealth strategy for increasing the size and scope of the federal government is well under way, despite huge voter backlash. Federal spending has been increased from a 30-year average of 21 percent of gross domestic product to 25 percent, and a bipartisan commission tasked with reducing the deficit may recommend tax increases. Presidential economic adviser Paul Volcker has already called for a value added tax, a form of national sales tax, and presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs has declined to rule it out.

Mark Hemingway - Did an Obama national security adviser make an anti-Semitic joke?
A Taliban militant gets lost and is wandering around the desert looking for water. He finally arrives at a store run by a Jew and asks for water. The Jewish vendor tells him he doesn’t have any water but can gladly sell him a tie. The Taliban, the jokes goes on, begins to curse and yell at the Jewish storeowner---

Susan Ferrechio - GOP says it has the votes to block Dems' bank bill
Senate Republicans say they will likely have the votes to block the start of debate on a major financial reform bill, which would leave the legislation in limbo until a bipartisan deal can be achieved.