memeorandum: Obama Eliminates Warren as Consumer Head (Bloomberg)

2:50 PM ET, July 16, 2011

Top Items:

Panic at the White House? Gloomy Goldman Sachs sees high unemployment, possible recession — Last night in a new report, Democrat-friendly Goldman Sachs dropped an economic bomb on President Obama's chances for reelection (bold is mine): … Alarms bells must be ringing all over Obamaland today.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Pundit & Pundette, Conservatives4Palin, The Gateway Pundit, americanthinker.com and PoliPundit.com

Paul Krugman:

The Political Economy of the Lesser Depression — Everyone in the forecasting business is scrambling to mark down both their estimates of second-quarter growth and their forecasts for later in the year. Goldman Sachs (no link) was pretty optimistic a few months ago; now they've grown quite pessimistic:

Discussion: TalkLeft, Grasping Reality …, Rortybomb and ThinkProgress

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Bizarroworld economics — So I'm reading this James Pethokoukis blog post at Reuters about Goldman Sach's grim new outlook on unemployment. This is the wrap up: … So what's the recommendation? … He's also for slashing spending, but the real answer to our prayers is tax cuts. Seriously.

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

The Journal Becomes Fox-ified — It's official. The Wall Street Journal has been Fox-ified. — It took Rupert Murdoch only three and a half years to get there, starting with the moment he acquired the paper from the dysfunctional Bancroft family in December 2007, a purchase that was completed …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Little Green Footballs, Company Town, The Big Picture, Prairie Weather, Hot Air and The Nation, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:

Tea Party: Polls Show Importance To GOP Base … WASHINGTON — As negotiations continue over raising the debt limit, Republican leaders are at odds with their own base, amid reports that their electoral coalition is breaking down. Public polling data illustrating the growing importance …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Swampland

James Chapman / Daily Mail:

Rebekah Brooks in line for £3.5m pay out as News International slaps gagging orders on chief executives (apart from that inquiry on Tuesday) — Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was given a seven-figure severance package after resigning, it has emerged.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Guardian, New York Magazine and Truthdig, more at Mediagazer »

Larry Flynt / Washington Post:
Rupert Murdoch went too far

Discussion: Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:
Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton Stepping Down

Discussion: The Lede, Crooks and Liars and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Les Hinton's Resignation Letters

Discussion: The Lede, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Gothamist and AMERICAblog News

Los Angeles Times:

House Republicans brace for compromise on debt — GOP leaders turn to their most trusted budget expert, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), to explain to the rank and file what could happen if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling. — Reporting from Washington— Republican leaders in the House …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, Calculated Risk and The Hill

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid and McConnell expect to unveil debt-limit ‘Plan B’ next week

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Bloomberg:

Obama Eliminates Warren as Consumer Head — President Barack Obama has chosen a candidate other than Elizabeth Warren as director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a person briefed on the matter. — The president's choice is a person who already works at the consumer agency, the person said today.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Los Angeles Times, The Political Carnival, Hot Air, Associated Press, The Confluence, Crooks and Liars, naked capitalism, The Raw Story and Balloon Juice

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:

Michele Bachmann leaves church accused of anti-Catholic bias — Taking a page from President Obama's political playbook, Michele Bachmann has formally left a church in Minnesota accused of holding anti-Catholic views. — According to CNN, the church that Michele Bachmann and her husband Marcus …

Discussion: New York Sun, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Politics

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Obama's Haul: Big Money From Big Donors — Twenty-seven fund-raisers collected more than $500,000 each in contributions for President Obama and the Democratic Party in the past three months, helping Mr. Obama collect a record haul of campaign cash as he starts his re-election effort.

Discussion: Political Punch, americanthinker.com, USA Today, Ballot Box, Ben Smith's Blog and msnbc.com

The Politico:
Of Obama's $86 million, 40% from bundlers

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN, The Daily Caller and The Note

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Obama fundraising report signals juggernaut campaign

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, The Daily Caller, Gawker, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog and FrumForum

The Huffington Post:

Elizabeth Warren: Government Hasn't Sufficiently Probed Foreclosure Abuses (VIDEO) … WASHINGTON — A top Obama administration official on Thursday questioned the scope of the state and federal investigations into alleged mortgage abuses and “illegal” foreclosures perpetrated …

Discussion: Firedoglake

Mj Lee / The Politico:

Dalai Lama to visit W.H. on Saturday — Part of the Dalai Lama's Washington visit will include a White House visit. — AP Photo — The White House announced late Friday that President Obama will meet with the Dalai Lama at the White House on Saturday, finally putting an end …

Discussion: Right Wing News and FrumForum

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Mitt Romney's cash advantage — Kasie Hunt does the math: … One of the more than incidental benefits to treading light in Iowa is that Romney will probably be able to keep a relatively low burn rate for much of the summer. At the end of the quarter, Pawlenty had just $1.4 million …

Discussion: FrumForum