memeorandum: Blow against O in Weiner race (Carl Campanile/New York Post)

12:00 AM ET, July 13, 2011

Top Items:

Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3 — President Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3 if Democrats and Republicans in Washington do not reach an agreement on reducing the deficit in the coming weeks.

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

Mitch McConnell Just Proposed the “Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011″ — Editor's note: I decided to make the title less incendiary. — Consider the Associated Press's headline right now: “GOP Leader McConnell proposes giving Obama new power for automatic debt limit increase”

Discussion: Washington Post, Politics, Washington Wire, National Review, Right Wing News, UNCOVERAGE.net, Outside the Beltway, TPMDC, The Lonely Conservative, The American Independent, Gawker, The Hill, Daily Pundit, Say Anything and Moe Lane

The Politico:

Senate GOP mulls new debt strategy — Trying to get out of the political box which they have helped to create, Senate Republicans are actively discussing a new plan under which the debt ceiling would grow in three increments over the remainder of this Congress unless lawmakers approve a veto proof resolution of disapproval.

Discussion: CNN, The Note, Healthwatch, No More Mister Nice Blog, PERRspectives, Hot Air, Jared Bernstein, msnbc.com, TalkLeft, Firedoglake, Politics, Daily Kos and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

The Big Blink? McConnell Proposes Giving Obama Authority To Raise Debt Limit Alone — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has proposed creating an escape hatch for Congressional Republicans, who have put themselves in a box by threatening not to raise the national debt limit …

Discussion: Politics, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and The Mahablog

Michelle Malkin:

Another mortifying McConnell head-banging-against-the-wall moment — Longtime readers are familiar with our time-honored tradition of marking inevitable Senate GOP sellout moments with the head-banging-against-the-wall animated gif. — Well, it is time to resurrect it again …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Reuters, New York Magazine, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, TPMDC, Riehl World View and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Republicans Introduce Plan, Go On Offensive — The debt ceiling debate continues. — Senate Republicans mounted a bold offensive today against President Obama's effort to force them to accept a tax hike as part of a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt limit.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, JustOneMinute, Erick's blog, National Review and Pundit & Pundette

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

U.S. Debt Ceiling Increase Remains Unpopular With Americans — More are concerned about higher level of spending than risk of economic crisis — PRINCETON, NJ — Despite agreement among leaders of both sides of the political aisle in Washington that raising the U.S. debt ceiling is necessary …

Discussion: Swampland, Balkinization, Top of the Ticket, Poll Watch Daily, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and AMERICAN FUTURE

Andrew Stiles / National Review:

Norquist: Time to Force Obama's Hand — Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, says he supports Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's “contingency plan” designed to force President Obama to assume nearly all of the responsibility for raising the debt ceiling.

Discussion: Americans for Tax Reform RSS, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Cold Fury and TPMDC

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Judo Flip! Boehner Agrees With McConnell That Dems Should Not Be Allowed To Take Debt Limit Hostage — Huge chutzpah points to House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman Michael Steel, who sends along a statement of support in response to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's byzantine plan to avoid a debt default.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Rich Lowry / National Review: McConnell's Contingency Plan

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Craven Reign — I just finished explaining that Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
McConnell outlines new proposal on debt ceiling

Discussion: The New Republic, PolitickerNY, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Why McConnell's debt limit proposal is a bad idea

Discussion: Roll Call, Riehl World View, AmSpecBlog and Hot Air

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
EXCLUSIVE: McConnell to Obama: Eat your own darn peas

Discussion: Fox News, Donklephant, Pajamas Media, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Indecision Forever and The Maddow Blog

Wall Street Journal:
Debt-Limit Harakiri — Mitch McConnell isn't selling out Republicans.

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
New McConnell Plan: We Get Everything We Want On Debt Ceiling, Plus 12 Opportunities To Bash Obama

Discussion: National Review, The Caucus, Hullabaloo, City Room and Balkinization

Daniel Strauss / The Hill: Tea Party group tells McConnell to ‘find his spine’

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:
Guy Benson — BREAKING: McConnell Proposes Alternative Debt Ceiling Deal

Discussion: Hot Air, Heritage Action for America, Pajamas Media, The Politico and Politics

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Dem strategist: Obama should invoke 14th Amendment powers to raise debt limit

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Daley Gator

The Politico:
Angry John Boehner rallies GOP troops on debt limit

Discussion: CNN, USA Today, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Swampland, Washington Monthly, Healthwatch, The Note, Gawker and Gothamist

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
McConnell's debt disapproval plan

Discussion: The Page and A plain blog about politics

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell fallback plan would leave debt-ceiling hikes to Obama

Discussion: The Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Hill and Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Mitch McConnell to Obama: You want debt ceiling raised? Then raise it yourself!

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice

The Note:

Politics Aside at Betty Ford Funeral: Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush Share Intent Conversation — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf (@zbyronwolf) reports: — Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama stared quietly ahead before the funeral of Betty Ford in Palm Desert, California.

Discussion: The Politico

The Note:
Cokie Roberts Eulogy for Betty Ford: The Hard Work of a ‘House’ Wife

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Sky Dancing

CBS News:
First ladies, dignitaries gather to honor Ford

Discussion: Associated Press

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Romney rejects gay marriage pledge — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign said Tuesday that he will not sign a conservative Iowa Christian group's far-reaching pledge opposing gay marriage, making him the first Republican presidential candidate to reject it.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hot Air, The Raw Story and Towleroad News #gay

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Sarah Palin Evokes Strong Emotions Among Republicans

Discussion: Washington Wire, MyFox Philadelphia, Conservatives4Palin and The Nation

Ben Birnbaum / Washington Times:
Ridge slams Bachmann as inexperienced

Discussion: The Page and The Politico

Stephen Marche / Esquire:

How Can We Not Love Obama? — Because like it or not, he is all of us — Before the fall brings us down, before the election season begins in earnest with all its nastiness and vulgarity, before the next batch of stupid scandals and gaffes, before Sarah Palin tries to convert her movie …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, iOwnTheWorld.com and Maggie's Farm

Nicholas Ballasy / CNSNews:

Sebelius: Obamacare's Penalty on Small Businesses a ‘Great Incentive’ for Growth — (CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com on Monday that a provision in President Barack Obama's health-care law that requires small businesses …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative and Say Anything

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Fresh doubt cast on Obama's health care story

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com, JustOneMinute, The Camp Of The Saints, Say Anything, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

Blow against O in Weiner race — In “a shot across President Obama's bow,” Democratic former Mayor Ed Koch yesterday urged voters in Queens and Brooklyn to make “history” by voting for the Republican candidate to replace randy ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner in the Sept. 13 special election …

Discussion: National Review, Israpundit, Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, JammieWearingFool and Israel Matzav

A.Killough / CNN:
Ed Koch hopes GOP will capture Weiner's seat

Discussion: PolitickerNY and Capital Tonight

John Tompkins / Brazosport Facts:

Ron Paul won't seek congressional term in 2012 — LAKE JACKSON — After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Ron Paul told The Facts this morning he will not be seeking another term for the District 14 seat. — Paul, 75, will instead focus on his quest for the presidency in 2012.

JSOnline:

State Supreme Court justices rule not to force recusals — By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — Madison - State Supreme Court justices can't kick each other off cases for alleged bias, the court ruled Tuesday in a bitterly divided decision along now-familiar 4-3 lines.

Discussion: Althouse

Star-Ledger Guest / NJ Voices Guest blog:
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer shows progressive streak

Discussion: Concurring Opinions and The Volokh Conspiracy

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Lightbulb bill likely headed for defeat in House — House Democrats on Monday indicated strong opposition to a controversial bill to repeal federal lightbulb standards, which could lead to the defeat of the measure in an expected Tuesday vote. — The Better Use of Light Bulbs Act …

Discussion: Sweetness & Light and Hot Air

Darren Goode / The Politico:
Light bulb bill goes dark in House

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Jeremy Scahill / The Nation:

The CIA's Secret Sites in Somalia — Nestled in a back corner of Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport is a sprawling walled compound run by the Central Intelligence Agency. Set on the coast of the Indian Ocean, the facility looks like a small gated community, with more than a dozen …

Discussion: Salon, Weasel Zippers, Lawfare, Information Dissemination, Emptywheel and ThinkProgress

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

N.Y. clerk quits over gay marriage — A rural New York town clerk has resigned her post rather than grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. — “I would be compromising my moral conscience by participating in licensing same-sex couples,” Laura Fotusky, the clerk of the Town of Barker, told POLITICO.