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

5:30 PM ET, July 12, 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.

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: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, TalkLeft, CNN, Daily Kos, Politics and The Note

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

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: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, National Review, Gawker, Daily Pundit, Say Anything, Washington Post and Moe Lane

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: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Reuters, Riehl World View and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Zeke Miller / Politics:

Boehner Says The Debt Limit Increase Is Obama's Problem — Speaker of the House John Boehner introduced a new argument to the debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks Tuesday, saying raising the borrowing limit is Republicans' concession in the negotiations. — “This debt limit increase is [Obama's] problem,” he said.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, Little Green Footballs and Sky Dancing

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: New York Magazine and Erick's blog

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

EXCLUSIVE: McConnell to Obama: Eat your own darn peas — At 2 p.m. today, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) is going to make some news. Right Turn has learned from sources familiar with McConnell's thinking that McConnell is going to suggest an alternative to President Obama's “grand bargain.”

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

Erik Wasson / Healthwatch:
Cantor outlines $353B in Medicare, Medicaid savings during debt talks

Discussion: The Politico, The Note and ThinkProgress

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

Discussion: The Page and A plain blog about politics

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Pew Research Center …

Damian Paletta / Washington Wire:
470 Business Leaders Urge Congress, White House to Act on Debt

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politics and MyFox Philadelphia

Rich Lowry / National Review: McConnell's Contingency Plan

Corey Boles / Wall Street Journal:
McConnell Says ‘Real Deal’ Not Possible With Obama

Discussion: The Hill, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Pajamas Media, Wizbang and Political Punch

The Note:
Mitch McConnell's ‘Last Choice Option’ on Debt Ceiling

Discussion: CNN

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

Discussion: National Review and Hullabaloo

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

Discussion: Hot Air, Pajamas Media and The Politico

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

Discussion: Washington Post, Swampland, USA Today, Firedoglake, The Note, AMERICAblog News and Gawker

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

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and PolitickerNY

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Boehner: 'This Debt Limit Increase Is Obama's Problem'

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Rich Lowry / National Review: More Contingency Plan — The initial legislation would authorize …

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Boehner: avoidable economic crash isn't my problem

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

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.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Camp Of The Saints, iOwnTheWorld.com, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Betsy's Page, Say Anything, The Lonely Conservative, Clayton Cramer's Blog and JammieWearingFool

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: Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative and Say Anything

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.

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Ron Paul won't run for reelection to the House

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and LewRockwell.com Blog

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

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 …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, Crooks and Liars, Wall Street Journal, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, AMERICAblog News, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway and Prairie Weather

New York Times:

Half Brother of Afghan President Is Killed in Kandahar — By ALISSA J. RUBIN, CARLOTTA GALL and RUHULLAH KHAPALWAK — KABUL, Afghanistan — The powerful half brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot dead on Tuesday by a close family associate, according to Karzai family friends who were nearby.

Discussion: BBC, The Atlantic Online, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Scared Monkeys, Swampland, Gawker, Taylor Marsh and New York Magazine

Joshua Partlow / Washington Post:
Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan president, killed by trusted confidant

Discussion: Don Surber, Guardian, FP Passport, Global Public Square, Newshoggers.com, Atlas Shrugs, JustOneMinute and Truthdig

Mirwais Khan / Associated Press:
Afghan president's half brother killed in south

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Aljazeera, The Politico, msnbc.com, BLACKFIVE, The Long War Journal and National Review

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

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 …

Discussion: TPMDC, Crooks and Liars, The American Independent, Daily Kos, USA Today, Mediaite, Shakesville, National Review, Top of the Ticket, AlterNet, ABCNEWS, The Gist, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay

Marc Caputo / MiamiHerald.com:

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

Justin Fenton / Baltimore Sun:

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

Samantha Stamler / CNN:
Presidential historian accused of stealing Maryland museum documents

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Runnin' Scared

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: ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, Information Dissemination and Emptywheel

Jonathon M. Seidl / Breaking news and opinion …:

Education Omaha Schools Spend $130,000 in Stimulus Money to Buy 8,000 ‘Social Justice’ Diversity Manuals — If I told you that your tax dollars (130,000 of them) went to buying a “diversity” manual that asserts the government and other institutions create advantages that …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Omaha World-Herald, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, Doug Ross and Moe Lane

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Thinks We're Still in the Bush Era — Another day, another chart from the “non-partisan” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on what “accounts” for the public debt. At some level, these exercises are silly: all prior legislation could be equally said to …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Althouse

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

Proud Of Being Ignorant — This is the dumbest story ever written in all of human history. … Note that this was under “Politics and Policy.” It's as if the purveyors of Beltway-ism and fen-fen joined forces and hatched a diabolical plot. — Adam expounds: … The worst part is there no actual hypocrisy.

Discussion: Adam Serwer, Mediaite, Wonkette and Balloon Juice

Anita Gates / New York Times:

Sherwood Schwartz, Creator of Gilligan and the Bradys, Dies at 94 — Sherwood Schwartz, who created “Gilligan's Island” and “The Brady Bunch,” two of the most affectionately ridiculed and enduring television sitcoms of the 1960s and '70s, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 94.

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, GayPatriot and Runnin' Scared