memeorandum: House GOP balks at defense cuts (David Rogers/Reuters)

12:30 PM ET, July 11, 2011

Top Items:

For Boehner, Lofty Budget Goals Checked by Reality — WASHINGTON — At a private meeting about deficit reduction at the White House last week, Speaker John A. Boehner told his fellow Congressional leaders and President Obama that he did not spend 20 years working his way up to the top job …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Note, msnbc.com, The Caucus, The Daily Dish, The Reaction, Politics, The Politico, New York Magazine, Whiskey Fire, Connecting.the.Dots, The Hill and TPMDC

The Politico:

John Boehner's ‘grand bargain’ - with House GOP — Speaker John Boehner's decision not to “go big” on a debt-limit deal is the starkest demonstration yet of the limits of the Ohio Republican's power. — The internal GOP backlash against his efforts to secure a package of $4 trillion …

Discussion: Politics, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Sky Dancing, The Page, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

David Jackson / USA Today:

Obama, GOP back to where they started: The debt ceiling — It started with a simple objective: Raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. — Then the Republicans began demanding big budget cuts in exchange for increasing the debt ceiling. — Then the Democrats began demanding higher taxes …

Discussion: The Agonist

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Palin warns Boehner on debt ceiling deal — Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has issued a stern warning to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) as Boehner sits down with President Obama Sunday night to negotiate a raising of the debt ceiling: don't do it. — Palin, in an interview appearing …

Discussion: Fox Nation, Outside the Beltway, Sky Dancing, Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Bloomberg:
Obama Challenges Republicans for Debt-Plan Details

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Althouse and Coffee & Markets

James Pethokoukis:
No big budget deal? Blame Obama, not Boehner

Discussion: Hit & Run, Say Anything and Daily Pundit

David Rogers / Reuters:
House GOP balks at defense cuts

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic and FrumForum

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Method to Their Madness — The Republican Party's strategy …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Debt reduction talks in limbo as clock ticks toward Aug. 2 deadline

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Washington Monthly, Boston Globe, The BLT, Mediaite, The Politico and New York Times

Jill / Pundit & Pundette:
All Dems want is more taxing and spending

Discussion: National Review, The Camp Of The Saints, Poor Richard's News, Cold Fury and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:
Debt Talks Back to Square One

Discussion: Global Public Square, Capital Tonight, The Page and MyFox Philadelphia

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
President, speaker motivated by ‘big deal’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway

Craig Robinson / The Iowa Republican:

TIR Poll: Bachmann Overtakes Romney in Iowa — Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has surpassed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in a recent Iowa poll that was conducted by TheIowaRepublican.com. With Bachmann now leading in Iowa, Romney has fallen to second place …

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Michele Bachmann: While you weren't looking, she's taken over the GOP lead in Iowa

Discussion: Washington Wire, Minnesota Independent, The Hill, Pirate's Cove and TPMDC

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
GOP candidates caught in slavery controversy

Discussion: The Raw Story

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online: Pawlenty Is Right: Bachmann Has Accomplished Very Little

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty keeps up Michele Bachmann bashing

Discussion: Hot Air and The Page

Guardian:

News International papers targeted Gordon Brown — Newspapers obtained details from the former prime minister's bank account and legal file and his family's medical records — Journalists from across News International repeatedly targeted the former prime minister Gordon Brown …

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Washington Monthly, Liberal Conspiracy, Emptywheel and Harry's Place, more at Mediagazer »

Mirror.co.uk:

Phone hacking: 9/11 victims ‘may have had mobiles tapped by News of the World reporters’ — DESPERATE Rupert Murdoch yesterday flew to London to try to save his crumbling empire. — He arrived in a cowboy-style hat to be hit by claims News of the World reporters hacked the phones of 9/11 victims.

Discussion: Guardian, Tom Watson, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

The Independent:

I was targeted too, Gordon Brown to say — Gordon Brown will today break his silence over the News International scandal by accusing Rupert Murdoch's organisation of targeting his personal information, The Independent has learnt. — In a dramatic intervention in the deepening scandal …

Discussion: Guardian

Andrew Whitaker / The Scotsman:
‘Rebekah Brooks is my No1 priority,’ says defiant Murdoch

Discussion: Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Motoko Rich / New York Times:

Economy Faces a Jolt as Benefit Checks Run Out — An extraordinary amount of personal income is coming directly from the government. — Close to $2 of every $10 that went into Americans' wallets last year were payments like jobless benefits, food stamps, Social Security and disability, according to an analysis by Moody's Analytics.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, FrumForum, No More Mister Nice Blog, naked capitalism, Balloon Juice and The Consumerist

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

Obama vs. Obama — Not long ago, Obama warned that raising taxes in a struggling economy is “the last thing you want to do.” — In a 75-minute meeting Sunday night, President Obama once again demanded that more than $1 trillion in tax increases be part of any deficit reduction package attached to a vote on the debt ceiling.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, Verum Serum, Say Anything and Cold Fury

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

No, We Can't? Or Won't? — If you were shocked by Friday's job report, if you thought we were doing well and were taken aback by the bad news, you haven't been paying attention. The fact is, the United States economy has been stuck in a rut for a year and a half.

Discussion: DailyHowler.com and The Impolitic

Emily Shur / Newsweek:

Palin Plots Her Next Move — Sarah Palin hasn't jumped into the race for the White House (yet), but she believes the prize is there for the taking. In a conversation with Peter J. Boyer, Palin warns Boehner not to raise the debt ceiling, proclaims that Obama is beatable—and says the 2012 field is far from settled.

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Paul Ryan accuser won't talk — Susan Feinberg, an associate professor of management and global business at Rutgers University, caused a stir in the left-wing blogosphere over the weekend with her account of witnessing House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan drinking …

Discussion: tpmmuckraker …, The Awl, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Sky Dancing and Talking Points Memo

Associated Press:

U.S. Embassy in Syria Is Attacked — BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian government supporters smashed windows at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus on Monday, raised a Syrian flag and scrawled graffiti calling the American ambassador a “dog” in anger over the envoy's visit last week to an opposition stronghold, witnesses said.

Discussion: The Politico, Politics, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

Aljazeera:

US urges Yemen's Saleh to transfer power — Top aide John Brennan delivers US president's letter to Yemeni leader, urging Saleh to sign off on power transfer deal. — John Brennan, US President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, has urged Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's injured president, to sign a deal transferring power.

Discussion: Informed Comment