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:
The Atlantic Online, Weekly Standard, msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, TPMDC, Democracy in America, Hit & Run, Wonkette, Politics, Hot Air, Erick's blog, National Review, The Daily Caller, 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, Gallup, Talking Points Memo, Americans for Tax Reform RSS, Washington Post, Roll Call and Swampland
RELATED:
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
McConnell Warns of Risk to Party, and Country, of Default — WASHINGTON — The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, warned Wednesday that allowing a federal default could have disastrous political consequences for his party and “destroy” the Republican brand.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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
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.
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
On Deficit, Americans Prefer Spending Cuts; Open to Tax Hikes
On Deficit, Americans Prefer Spending Cuts; Open to Tax Hikes
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Politics and Top of the Ticket
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
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
McConnell's backup plan
McConnell's backup plan
Discussion:
Fox News, Hot Air and Big Government
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
McConnell Debt Ceiling Strategy: ‘I Refuse To Help Obama Reelection’
McConnell Debt Ceiling Strategy: ‘I Refuse To Help Obama Reelection’
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Monkey Cage and The New Republic
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate conservatives withhold support from McConnell debt plan
Senate conservatives withhold support from McConnell debt plan
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, MyFox Philadelphia, Wonkette, 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
RELATED:
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
The Politico:
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:
CNN, TPMDC, Hotline On Call, The Note, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Online, Taylor Marsh and JammieWearingFool
RELATED:
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
President Obama smashes record with $86M haul
President Obama smashes record with $86M haul
Discussion:
Ballot Box, CNN and The BLT
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 and Gothamist
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:
Guardian, Times of India, The Moderate Voice, Sydney Morning Herald, Mashable!, USA Today, Politics, Atlas Shrugs, Jihad Watch, Michelle Malkin and UN Dispatch
RELATED:
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
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
RELATED:
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
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:
LewRockwell.com Blog, The Raw Story, Say Anything and Hit & Run
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:
Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Guardian
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
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:
AMERICAblog News, The Atlantic Online, The Awl 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