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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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”:

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” …

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.

Bernanke: U.S. default would cause ‘major crisis’  —  By: CNNMoney.com Staff Reporter Annalyn Censky  —  NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - How much clearer can Ben Bernanke be?  —  Since February, the Federal Reserve Chairman has issued a stern warning to Congress: if it fails to raise the U.S. debt ceiling …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

Rick Perry's Confederate past  —  Salon Exclusive: The Texas governor's uncomfortably close ties to groups that glorify the Lost Cause  —  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.

States enact record number of abortion restrictions in first half of 2011  —  In the first six months of 2011, states enacted 162 new provisions related to reproductive health and rights.  Fully 49% of these new laws seek to restrict access to abortion services, a sharp increase from 2010, when 26% of new laws restricted abortion.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.