Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Debt-Limit Harakiri — Mitch McConnell isn't selling out Republicans. — Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday he's concluded that no deal to raise the debt ceiling in return for serious spending restraint is possible with President Obama, and who can blame him?
Discussion:
Washington Post, Weekly Standard, The Atlantic Online, msnbc.com, Don Surber, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Democracy in America, Gallup, Hit & Run, Wonkette, Politics, Hot Air, Erick's blog, National Review, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, New York Times, CNN, TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog, And So it Goes in Shreveport, americanthinker.com, Betsy's Page, Shakesville, Daily Kos, The Lonely Conservative, Talking Points Memo, Americans for Tax Reform RSS and Roll Call
RELATED:
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
On Deficit, Americans Prefer Spending Cuts; Open to Tax Hikes — Twenty percent favor deficit reduction by cutting spending only — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' preferences for deficit reduction clearly favor spending cuts to tax increases, but most Americans favor a mix of the two approaches.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, The New Republic, Hot Air, Politics and Top of the Ticket
Scott Wong / The Politico:
Harry Reid commends Mitch McConnell's debt plan — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Wednesday praised Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for putting forth a plan to raise the debt ceiling, calling it a “serious proposal” that he's continuing to study. — “He spent a great deal of time working on this.
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
As Easy as ABC — Moving on from Mitch McConnell. — Mitch McConnell's plan, as Eric Cantor and Jim DeMint said tonight, is “going nowhere.” Which is where it deserved to go. It was too clever by half, transparently cynical, probably unconstitutional, and Rube Goldberg-like in its incomprehensibility.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, RedState and The Hill
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
McConnell Warns of Risk to Party, and Country, of Default
McConnell Warns of Risk to Party, and Country, of Default
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
When there's no method to the madness
When there's no method to the madness
Discussion:
The New Republic and AMERICAblog News
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
DNC chairwoman: Republicans acting almost like ‘spoiled children’ on debt ceiling
DNC chairwoman: Republicans acting almost like ‘spoiled children’ on debt ceiling
Discussion:
Mediaite and Jack & Jill Politics
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
McConnell: GOP won't take ‘co-ownership of a bad economy’
McConnell: GOP won't take ‘co-ownership of a bad economy’
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Eric Roper / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
One by one, bars get tapped out — Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores across Minnesota are running out of beer and alcohol and others may soon run out of cigarettes — a subtle and largely unforeseen consequence of a state government shutdown. — In the days leading up to the shutdown …
Discussion:
Fox News, KSTP-TV, Reuters, Gawker, Wonkette, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Hit & Run, MyFox Philadelphia, Politics, Raw Replay, The Impolitic, Ben Smith's Blog, Say Anything and Marginal Revolution
RELATED:
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Now It's Getting Serious! — Mark Dayton's shutdown of Minnesota's state government is now in its third week, and so far I've seen no sign of it. I mean that literally: if I hadn't read about the shutdown in the newspapers, I would have no reason to be aware of it.
Discussion:
Say Anything
Eric Roper Updated / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Shutdown forces MillerCoors to pull beer from shelves
The Politico:
No yelling at Obama today — Carney reminded journalists, “I used to be where you are, and I used to ask questions.” — AP Photo — A long-running tiff between the White House press corps and the West Wing over presidential access flared anew today when press secretary Jay Carney faced off …
Discussion:
Say Anything and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
NY Daily News:
Body of Leiby Kletzky, missing 8-year-old boy, found dismembered; pieces in Dumpster, refrigerator — The body parts of a missing 8-year-old Brooklyn boy were found Wednesday in a Dumpster and the refrigerator of a man suspected in his disappearance, police said.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Gothamist and New York Sun
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Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Mitch McConnell: We Must Rewrite The Constitution Because ‘Elections’ Haven't ‘Worked’ — Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered what may be the most concise summary of conservative constitutionalism ever spoken …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ACS Blog and Booman Tribune
John Whitesides / Reuters:
Pessimism deepens as economic concerns rise: Reuters/Ipsos poll — (Reuters) - Americans are deeply pessimistic about the future as economic concerns rise and White House talks on raising the U.S. debt limit sputter, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Politico, Indecision Forever and The Page
RELATED:
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
President Obama smashes record with $86M haul
President Obama smashes record with $86M haul
Discussion:
Ballot Box, CNN, The BLT and Washington Post
BBC:
Austrian driver's religious headgear strains credulity — Having received his driving licence, Niko Alm now wants to get pastafarianism officially recognised — An Austrian atheist has won the right to be shown on his driving-licence photo wearing a pasta strainer as “religious headgear”.
Discussion:
Lean Left, Weasel Zippers, Pharyngula, Boing Boing and Mediaite
New York Post:
Palin nemesis goes nude — GOP presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and her family are the subjects of a profile by George Gurley in the September issue of Playboy, according to sources. Insiders say the story will run next to a four-page nude pictorial of Mercede Johnston, the sister of Bristol Palin's estranged baby daddy, Levi.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberal Values, Outside the Beltway and New York Magazine
Elias Groll / The Politico:
9/11 families call for U.S. probe of Murdoch — Angry family members of victims of the 9/11 attacks on Wednesday called for a U.S. investigation into allegations that journalists at the British News of the World tabloid sought to hack the phones of their lost love ones.
RELATED:
Seung Min Kim / The Politico:
GOPer wants FBI probe of Rupert Murdoch
GOPer wants FBI probe of Rupert Murdoch
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Gothamist and Indecision Forever
Mark Tapscott / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Washington gets $200 billion a month, Social Security costs $50 billion a month, and Obama is threatening to starve Grandma? — President Obama told CBS News today that he “cannot guarantee that those [Social Security] checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue.
RELATED:
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Can President Obama keep paying Social Security benefits even if the debt ceiling is reached?
Can President Obama keep paying Social Security benefits even if the debt ceiling is reached?
Discussion:
National Review, Don Surber and Politics
Tennessean.com:
Police charge mother in Nashville airport altercation — Woman refused to let officers screen daughter — A 41-year-old Clarksville woman was arrested after Nashville airport authorities say she was belligerent and verbally abusive to security officers, refusing for her daughter to be patted down at a security checkpoint.
Discussion:
National Review, LewRockwell.com Blog, The Raw Story, Say Anything and Hit & Run
Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Romney, Johnson Reject Anti-Gay-Marriage Pledge — Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa conservative who unveiled his anti-gay-marriage pledge last week, may have gone too far. … Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney outright rejected the “Marriage Vow” written by Mr. Vander Plaats and his advocacy group, The Family Leader.
Discussion:
GOP 12, MyFox Philadelphia, The American Independent, Indecision Forever and Washington Post
RELATED:
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Romney Campaign Slams ‘Undignified And Inappropriate’ Marriage Pledge From Iowa Group
Romney Campaign Slams ‘Undignified And Inappropriate’ Marriage Pledge From Iowa Group
Discussion:
Hot Air, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, ACS Blog, Daily Kos, Associated Press and Iowa Caucuses
Adam Serwer / Washington Post:
Laughably bogus poll tries to ‘prove’ Obama is losing Jewish support — Republicans are touting yet another poll that purports to predict the end of the Jewish allegiance to the Democratic Party. Citing a new poll by Republican John McLaughlin and Pat Caddell, the GOP's favorite “Democrat …
Justin Elliott / Salon:
Rick Perry's Confederate past — Rick Perry made national headlines in 2009 when, during a speech to a Tea Party group, he floated the possibility that Texas could secede from the union. But the governor's substantive ties to the neo-Confederate movement may be deeper than previously known.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Other McCain
Eliot Spitzer / Slate Magazine:
Prosecute News Corp. — The U.S. government should go after Murdoch's media company for its corrupt practices and revoke its TV licenses if it's found guilty. — Bribery, illegal wiretapping, interference in a murder investigation, political blackmail, and rampant disregard for both the truth and basic decency.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Guardian
BBC:
Mumbai: Explosions shake India's financial hub — Police told local media that eight people had been killed and more than 100 wounded. — One explosion was reported in the Zaveri Bazaar, another in the Opera House business district and a third in Dadar district.
Discussion:
Telegraph, Fox News, Guardian, Times of India, The Moderate Voice, Sydney Morning Herald, Mashable!, USA Today, Atlas Shrugs, Politics, Michelle Malkin, Jihad Watch and UN Dispatch
JSOnline:
6 fake Democrats fall, setting stage for GOP recalls — Six fake Democratic candidates put up by the Republican Party to buy time for Republican state senators subject to recalls accomplished that job Tuesday, but none of them did the unexpected and knocked off a real Democrat.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Awl, AMERICAblog News and Althouse
Craig Pittman / St. Petersburg Times:
Tea party members tackle a new issue: manatees — Everybody knows what the tea party members oppose. High taxes. Big government. Obama's health care plan. High-speed rail. — Now, for at least some local tea party members, there's one more to add: manatee protection.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, ThinkProgress, Gawker and Wonkette
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Gracious In Defeat — The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is charged with getting Republicans elected to the House and keeping them there, sent out a press email overnight on the results of the CA-36 special election titled “Statement on Janice Hahn's Entry Into Democrats' Swamp of Corruption”:
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog and The Other McCain
Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
Katie Pavlich Operation Fast and Furious: Designed to Promote Gun Control — “Internal ATF emails seem to suggest that ATF agents were counseled to highlight a link between criminals and certain semi-automatic weapons in order to bolster a case for a rule like the one the DOJ announced yesterday [Monday].”
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, The Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee and Wizbang
Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
Settled in Albany, Gay Marriage Draws Opposition — Laura L. Fotusky, the town clerk in Barker, N.Y., a small community north of Binghamton, looked at the calendar, looked at her Bible and knew what she had to do. — She drafted a letter to the Town Board and said she would resign on July 21 …
Discussion:
Good As You, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Business community to Congress: Enough — It wasn't too long ago that 62 leading U.S. business groups, including the American Gas Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association, and the National Association of Manufacturers, all pleaded with Congress to end the standoff and raise the debt ceiling.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, The Huffington Post, Swampland and Connecting.the.Dots
Jeanette Rundquist / New Jersey Online:
N.J. to release 9/11 curriculum to help educators teach about terror — Mary Vazquez was teaching a lesson about communities at Millburn Middle School nearly 10 years ago when another teacher rushed into her classroom with a message to give if students asked: “Two planes went into the World Trade Center.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool