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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.
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Michelle Malkin, Crooks and Liars, NO QUARTER, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Wire, James Pethokoukis, The TrogloPundit, RedState, Talking Points Memo, The Other McCain, The Enterprise Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Swampland, Say Anything, AmSpecBlog, National Review, Confederate Yankee, ThinkProgress, The Impolitic, Pundit & Pundette, Shakesville, JammieWearingFool, CBS Minnesota, Don Surber, TPMDC, New York Magazine and Politics
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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:
The Note, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, TalkLeft, CNN, Politics and Daily Kos

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”
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The Hill, Right Wing News, UNCOVERAGE.net, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Daily Pundit, Washington Post, Say Anything, TPMDC and Moe Lane


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:
The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos


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 …
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New York Magazine, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Reuters, Riehl World View and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion


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.
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JustOneMinute, Washington Examiner, AmSpecBlog, Erick's blog, National Review and Pundit & Pundette

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:
Talking Points Memo and Cold Fury

McConnell Proposal Gives Obama Power to Increase Debt Limit — The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Tuesday that a bipartisan budget deal with President Obama is probably out of reach, and he proposed a plan under which the president could increase …
Discussion:
City Room, Balkinization and Outside the Beltway

Craven Reign — I just finished explaining that Mitch McConnell epic passing of the buck to President Obama amounts to one of the most brazen and open admissions of cynicism I've ever seen. McConnell is saying: Debt, Schmedt, we'll let you do pretty much anything as long as we've got the politics wired to help us.
Discussion:
Daily Kos

Mitch McConnell to Obama: You want debt ceiling raised? Then raise it yourself! — As you've probably heard, Senator Mitch McConnell surprised the political world today by unveiling a new proposal under which Obama can raise the debt ceiling himself — a seeming escape hatch …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Note, Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice

McConnell's debt disapproval plan
Discussion:
The Page and A plain blog about politics

Mitch McConnell Debt Ceiling Plan: Senate GOP Leader Offers Alternative To Obama's ‘Grand Bargain’ [UPDATED]
Discussion:
Swampland and My Left Nutmeg


Boehner Says The Debt Limit Increase Is Obama's Problem
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msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice, Little Green Footballs and Sky Dancing

EXCLUSIVE: McConnell to Obama: Eat your own darn peas
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Fox News, Indecision Forever, Pajamas Media, The Maddow Blog and REPUBLICAN REDEFINED

Angry John Boehner rallies GOP troops on debt limit
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The Note, Swampland, USA Today, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Gothamist and Gawker

New McConnell Plan: We Get Everything We Want On Debt Ceiling, Plus 12 Opportunities To Bash Obama
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The Caucus, National Review, Hullabaloo and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

470 Business Leaders Urge Congress, White House to Act on Debt
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Politics and MyFox Philadelphia

McConnell Outlines Three-Step Debt Contingency Plan
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The Huffington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and National Review

More Contingency Plan — The initial legislation would authorize …
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The American Independent

McConnell fallback plan would leave debt-ceiling hikes to Obama
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The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Washington Monthly and Pew Research Center …

Judo Flip! Boehner Agrees With McConnell That Dems Should Not Be Allowed To Take Debt Limit Hostage

McConnell outlines new proposal on debt ceiling
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The New Republic, Prairie Weather, PolitickerNY and msnbc.com

Guy Benson — BREAKING: McConnell Proposes Alternative Debt Ceiling Deal
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Hot Air, Pajamas Media and The Politico

Cantor outlines $353B in Medicare, Medicaid savings during debt talks
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The Note, The Politico, Opinion L.A., CNN and ThinkProgress

McConnell Says ‘Real Deal’ Not Possible With Obama
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The Hill, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Pajamas Media, Wizbang and Political Punch

Boehner: avoidable economic crash isn't my problem
Discussion:
TPMDC, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Boehner's previous pledge to hike debt ceiling goes straight down the memory hole
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AMERICAblog News

Fresh doubt cast on Obama's health care story — During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama often discussed his mother's struggle with cancer. Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995, Obama said, fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment.
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Sebelius: Obamacare's Penalty on Small Businesses a ‘Great Incentive’ for Growth
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative and Say Anything

Wonkbook: Why liberals should thank Eric Cantor — (KAREN BLEIER - AFP/GETTY IMAGES) I knew the White House wanted a compromise on the debt ceiling. I just didn't expect them to do quite so much, well, compromising. — Here's what appears to have been in the $4 trillion deal they offered …
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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.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, UrbanGrounds, Top of the Ticket, Mediaite, LewRockwell.com Blog, Hot Air, Wonkette, Real Time Economics, The American Independent, Outside the Beltway, Washington Wire, Greg's Opinion, The Atlantic Online, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media, New York Magazine, Gawker, The Note, MarketBeat, CNN, The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC, Hit & Run, Hotline On Call, GOP 12, Politics and AmSpecBlog

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 …
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ThinkProgress, Lawfare, Weasel Zippers, Information Dissemination and Emptywheel

Bachmann: I'm ‘Very Proud’ Of Husband's Ex-Gay Therapy Clinics — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) refused to comment on her husband's Christian counseling clinics, dodging a question from a local ABC News reporter in Iowa about new video evidence showing one counselor telling a gay patient …

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.
Discussion:
Jezebel, Gothamist, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, The Raw Story and Capital Tonight

Pair tried to steal historical documents worth millions, police say — Presidential historian and collector held without bond — Barry H. Landau has rubbed elbows with presidents, helped plan inaugurations, and claims one of the largest collections of Oval Office memorabilia outside museums and presidential libraries.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com and MyFox Philadelphia
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Presidential historian accused of stealing Maryland museum documents
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Taegan Goddard's … and Runnin' Scared


Police reports show different side of Michele Bachmann — From complaining about her house being egged to filing a report that she was being held “against my will” in a public restroom, Michele Bachmann has left a trail of police reports showing a seldom-seen side of a presidential candidate.
Discussion:
Mediaite, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Blotter, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politics


Gingrich Leaps On The Court Stripping Bandwagon, Claiming ‘There Is No Supreme Court In The American Constitution’ — ThinkProgress filed this report from Pella, Iowa. — At an Iowa campaign stop, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) offered a truly bizarre explanation …
Discussion:
Althouse and Alan Colmes' Liberaland