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?

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 …

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.

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”:

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 …

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.

Top Dem suggests Boehner and Cantor have weak relationship  —  A House Democratic leader on Wednesday suggested House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) don't enjoy a good relationship.  —  “If they've got a good relationship, I don't want to see a bad one …

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.

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” …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

What if the Right and the Left Are Both Wrong About Why the Economic Recovery Is So Slow?  A New Theory.  —  Ever since it became clear that the pace of the economic recovery was falling short of expectations, two competing narratives have vied to dominate our politics.