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”

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.