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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?
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Debt Talk Mired, Leader for G.O.P. Proposes Option
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Politics, The Caucus, Daily Kos, The Hill and CBS News

As Easy as ABC — Moving on from Mitch McConnell.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal

Mitch McConnell Just Proposed the “Pontius Pilate Pass the Buck Act of 2011″
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Politico, New York Times, The New Republic, Cato @ Liberty, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Sweetness & Light, Weekly Standard, National Review, Michelle Malkin, Washington Post, TPMDC, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Swampland, AMERICAblog News, Prairie Weather, Booman Tribune, Spartanburg Tea Party, Washington Examiner, Nice Deb, Talking Points Memo, RedState, Say Anything, The Hill, Politics, Mother Jones, The Hill, Doug Ross, ThinkProgress, The Lonely Conservative, Reuters, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, The Caucus, Commentary Magazine, FreedomWorks blogs, Heritage Action for America, Pajamas Media, Riehl World View, Washington Monthly, UNCOVERAGE.net, Right Wing News, Townhall.com, Outside the Beltway, The American Independent, The Mahablog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gawker, Washington Wire, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Daily Pundit, Weigel, Moe Lane and Fox Nation

In Fiscal Fight, G.O.P. Distrust of Obama Runs Deep
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Political Insider and The Caucus

Obama and DNC raise $86M, more than doubling GOP field - RNC campaign targets four swing states - Mandel brings in $2.3M for Senate bid - Hahn wins in CA-36 - Barbour camp eyes Perry - One month until — (aburns@politico.com) and (jhohmann@politico.com) — 2012 SIREN - OBAMA'S NUMBER …
Discussion:
The Note, TPMDC, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic Online, Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh and JammieWearingFool
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Alternative Headline: Obama 2012 Fundraising Behind 2008 Pace
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Hot Air, Moe Lane and NewsBusters.org

Obama is winning on debt debate, but there's no room for moral victories
Discussion:
driftglass

Obama fails to match Bush fundraising / Update - 2Q v. 3Q
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Los Angeles Times, Pajamas Media, The Caucus and Oliver Willis


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:
Michelle Malkin, Telegraph, Guardian and The Jawa Report
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At Least 10 Reportedly Dead After Explosions Rock Mumbai Markets — Three separate explosions tore through a business district in India's Mumbai Wednesday, leaving at least 10 people dead and over a dozens injured, NDTV.com reported. The country's Home Ministry reportedly confirmed …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit

Near simultaneous blasts kill at least 3 in India's
Discussion:
ThinkProgress


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:
ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice and Guardian
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News Corp pulls out of BSkyB bid — BSkyB bid dropped by Rupert Murdoch's media group after pressure from the public and parliament — Rupert Murdoch's media group News Corporation bowed to pressure from the public and parliament on Wednesday and withdrew its bid to take full control of pay-TV company BSkyB.


The News Corp. Bid for BSkyB Is Over — For Now
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Guardian and The Business Insider

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.
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Congress hears outcry from business lobby on debt ceiling and deficit
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Swampland, The Nation, National Review, Daily Kos and The New Republic

U.S. Debt Ceiling Increase Remains Unpopular With Americans
Discussion:
Politics, Hot Air, Questions and Observations, The Politico, The Virginian, Taegan Goddard's …, Balkinization, Shakesville, The Hill, Top of the Ticket, Taylor Marsh, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Swampland, The Huffington Post, AMERICAN FUTURE, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Poll Watch Daily

Will Americans ‘do the right thing’ on debt?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice


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:
Power Line, Ben Smith's Blog and Raw Replay
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Shutdown could leave Minnesota dry
Discussion:
KSTP-TV and Marginal Revolution


Raise Taxes or Granny Gets It — The liberal media's idea of a grown-up. — President Obama is pulling out the big guns and pointing them straight at your grandmother. “Obama on Tuesday said he cannot guarantee that retirees will receive their Social Security checks August 3” …
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How Can We Not Love Obama?
Discussion:
The Western Experience, Pajamas Media, iOwnTheWorld.com and Maggie's Farm


California special election: Hahn cruises to solid victory — Democrat Janice Hahn defeated Republican Craig Huey in a bitterly contested Southern California special election marked by stinging attacks from both sides. — Hahn finished with a healthy 54.56 percent of the vote to Huey's 45.44 percent in Tuesday's vote.
Discussion:
CNN, PolitiCal, UNCOVERAGE.net, Pajamas Media, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative and American Power
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Gracious In Defeat — The National Republican Congressional Committee …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice


Missing 9-year-old B'klyn boy found dead: sources — The dismembered body of a missing 9-year-old Hasidic boy was found at two locations in Brooklyn and police this morning arrested a suspect in the slaying — who had the child's severed feet in his freezer, sources told The Post.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Israel Matzav
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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.
Discussion:
MarketWatch, CBS News, Moonbattery, Pundit & Pundette, Betsy's Page, Weekly Standard and Doug Ross
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Can President Obama keep paying Social Security benefits even if the debt ceiling is reached?
Discussion:
National Review, Don Surber and Politics


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:
Althouse

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:
AMERICAblog Gay, Good As You and Towleroad News #gay


Raise Revenues, Not Taxes — Legalizing Internet gambling and marijuana are two easy ways to cut the deficit. — This is a leadership moment for President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner. The debt limit—an issue both leaders agree must be addressed—is the last best hope …
Discussion:
The Politico and ThinkProgress

How to Shave a Bundle Off the Deficit: Spend Less on Nukes — We're planning to spend as much on nuclear weapons in the next decade as we did in the last on the Iraq War. But toward what end? — Congress is in the midst of an intense debate over a massive defense spending bill …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress


Prison doctor gets paid for doing little or nothing — A California surgeon has mostly been locked out of his job: on paid leave, fired or fighting his termination. When he does work, it's reviewing records. He made $777,000 last year, including back pay. — A file photo of San Quentin State Prison.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, americanthinker.com and Politics


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:
New York Magazine


Bernanke: Fed May Launch New Round of Stimulus — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that a new stimulus program is in the works that will entail additional asset purchases, the clearest indication yet that the central bank is contemplating another round of monetary easing.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress