Plan B Emerges on Debt  —  Sens. Reid, McConnell Quietly Discuss Way to Keep Government From Default  —  A backup plan to cut the federal deficit and keep the U.S. government from default gained momentum Thursday on Capitol Hill as President Barack Obama and congressional leaders took a break …

Phone Hacking: Rupert Murdoch's daughter in ‘furious’ attack on Rebekah Brooks  —  Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth has made a “furious” attack on Rebekah Brooks's handling of the phone hacking scandal at News International, The Daily Telegraph has learnt.  —  Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of Rupert

Getting to Crazy  —  There aren't many positive aspects to the looming possibility of a U.S. debt default.  But there has been, I have to admit, an element of comic relief — of the black-humor variety — in the spectacle of so many people who have been in denial suddenly waking up and smelling the crazy.

Marcus Bachmann says his clinics not anti-gay  —  Therapists will oblige if patients ask for counseling to become heterosexual, but they don't force treatment, he said.  —  The husband of Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann has come forward to defend his family-owned Christian …

Go Ahead, GOP, Make Obama's Day  —  So how can the GOP get something it wants out of the sodden mess of our debt negotiations?  Here's my answer: pass a short-term debt-ceiling increase.  It seems pretty clear to me that there's no time or common ground for a grand bargain before August 2nd, so pass a short-term increase.

Sarah Palin Movie Debuts to Empty Theater in Orange County  —  “Why aren't you seeing Harry Potter?” an usher said to the reporter sitting alone in the audience  —  When the clock struck 12:01 am today, AMC theaters in select cities were permitted to start showing “The Undefeated,” a feature length documentary about Sarah Palin.

U.S. Formally Recognizes Libya Rebels  —  ISTANBUL (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration has decided to formally recognize Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government.  The move gives foes of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi a major financial and credibility boost.

DOJ Tells Court It “Continues to Defend” DADT, Seeks Reinstatement of Law “By the Close of Business Tomorrow”  —  The Department of Justice filed a motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Ciruit in the Log Cabin Republicans v. United States case today, asking the court for “emergency” …

Can Obama Pull a ‘Clinton’ on the GOP?  —  He's following the budget-showdown script Bill Clinton used to win re-election.  But the economy added 434,000 new jobs in February 1996.  —  After a bruising midterm election, the president moves to the political center.  He distances himself from his Democratic base.

The Tragedy of Tim Pawlenty  —  He did everything right.  And that was the problem.  —  At almost precisely the minute that Michele Bachmann was declaring her presidential candidacy in Iowa at the end of June, I was interviewing Tim Pawlenty in a borrowed conference room in a midtown Manhattan financial firm.

GOP threatens to bolt on McConnell's plan  —  A plan to cut spending, put caps on future expenditures and pass a constitutional amendment to balance the budget is certain to come up, lawmakers said.  Also on the unofficial agenda of lawmakers are several bills to force the president …

Eric Bolling: 'I'll Never Forget 9/11, But Thank You, Liberals, For Reminding Me How Petty You Can Be'  —  In an emotional statement on Fox's The Five Thursday, Eric Bolling shot back at the “radical liberal left” that “pounced” on him after he said on the program Wednesday that “America was certainly safe between 2000 and 2008.

Bin Laden Plotted to Attack U.S. on 9/11 Anniversary  —  Osama bin Laden was working to assemble a team of militants to attack the U.S. on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 hijackings, according to communications that Navy SEALs seized from his Pakistani hideout when they killed the al Qaeda leader this spring.

It Was Debt What Did It  —  Never mind William Galston's strange belief that debt-deleveraging is a new theory, unknown to Keynesian economics; Mian and Sufi are in fact doing terrific work.  They have been testing the effects of household leverage by looking at cross-sectional evidence, in particular county-level US data.

Palin political committee spent tens of thousands on bus trip  —  Sarah Palin's political action committee spent tens of thousands of dollars covering the costs of the former Alaska governor's “One Nation” East Coast bus tour this spring — a trip that Palin (R) has repeatedly characterized as a “family vacation.”

Giuliani Flirts With Another Try For Oval Office  —  Former NY Mayor says decision will come in mid-September.  NHPR's Josh Rogers reports.  —  At every stop yesterday Rudy Giuliani said he learned from his failure in the 2008 election but won't make up his mind in getting in this race until mid-September.

Sinking Fast  —  Obama's multiplying Middle East failures.  —  The U.S. ship in the successor flotilla aiming to break the Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip has been named The Audacity of Hope.  It is a bad joke that Barack Obama deserves.  His proven coldness toward Israel has emboldened …