Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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.
Discussion:
Northern Reflections, The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Brendan Nyhan, Prairie Weather and Corrente
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Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Discussion:
The Note, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, CNN, The Politico, The Hill, New York Magazine, Washington Post, FrumForum and Outside the Beltway
Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
GOP Senator: Maybe We Shouldn't Have Tied Debt Vote To Deficit Deal (VIDEO) … WASHINGTON — Some Republicans are starting to have buyer's remorse over their party's insistence that a vote to raise the debt limit be tied to a long-term deficit reduction package.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice
Wall Street Journal:
The Obama Downgrade — The real reason the U.S. could lose its AAA rating. — So the credit-rating agencies that helped to create the financial crisis that led to a deep recession are now warning that the U.S. could lose the AAA rating it has had since 1917.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Betsy's Page, Questions and Observations and The Lonely Conservative
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
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.
Discussion:
Instapundit
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GOP rejects trading one tax cut for another — Last week, Democrats in debt-reduction talks focused much of their attention on unnecessary and unpopular tax giveaways. If Republicans want a compromise that cuts the debt without raising tax rates, Dems said, they can start by scrapping tax expenditures that help corporate-jet owners.
The Hill:
GOP leaders embrace ‘cut, cap and balance’ plan as debt solution
GOP leaders embrace ‘cut, cap and balance’ plan as debt solution
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Call Obama's bluff
Call Obama's bluff
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, AmSpecBlog, Daily Kos and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
New York Times:
‘Decision Time’ on Budget, Obama Tells Leaders
‘Decision Time’ on Budget, Obama Tells Leaders
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Jared Bernstein and FrumForum
National Review:
Cantor: ‘Not a Game’ — A couple of hours before Thursday's …
Cantor: ‘Not a Game’ — A couple of hours before Thursday's …
Discussion:
Political Punch, Weasel Zippers and Pundit & Pundette
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
House GOP plans meeting to discuss faltering negotiations over debt deal
House GOP plans meeting to discuss faltering negotiations over debt deal
Discussion:
The Politico
John Bingham / Telegraph:
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
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Time, Guardian, New York Times, The Daily Dish, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Guy Fawkes' blog, more at Mediagazer »
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BBC:
Phone hacking: News International chief Brooks quits — Media analyst Steve Hewlett: ‘News International appears to be on the run’ — Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, has resigned, the company has confirmed. — Her departure follows days of increasing pressure to step down as the phone hacking crisis grew.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and No More Mister Nice Blog
New York Times:
Rebekah Brooks Resigns From Murdoch's British Subsidiary
Rebekah Brooks Resigns From Murdoch's British Subsidiary
Discussion:
The Lede, Guardian, Mediaite, Company Town, The Nation, DealBook and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »
Ben Dowell / Guardian:
Rebekah Brooks resigns over phone-hacking scandal
Rebekah Brooks resigns over phone-hacking scandal
Discussion:
The Awl and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
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.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, TBogg, GOP 12, New York Magazine and The Impolitic
Tony Kennedy / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
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 …
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June Thomas / Slate:
Dan Savage, Bully
Dan Savage, Bully
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, FrumForum, The Moderate Voice and Althouse
Walter Shapiro / The New Republic:
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.
Discussion:
Swampland
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Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
Pawlenty Ends Quarter With $1.4 Million
Pawlenty Ends Quarter With $1.4 Million
Discussion:
CNN, Ballot Box, msnbc.com, GOP 12 and Ben Smith's Blog
Washington Post:
S&P warns that chance of downgrading U.S. credit rating is 50 percent — Standard & Poor's said late Thursday that it could downgrade the U.S. credit rating as soon as this month, and there is a 50 percent chance it will do so within three months, if Washington fails to come to an agreement over the nation's debt.
Discussion:
National Review, James Pethokoukis, Weasel Zippers, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics and FT Alphaville
RELATED:
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Bachmann raises $2 million in two weeks to start campaign — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) raised more than $2 million in the two and a half weeks since she announced her candidacy and has $4 million cash on hand after a $2 million transfer from her House account, according to CBS News.
Discussion:
Minneapolis Star Tribune
RELATED:
Paul Krugman:
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.
Discussion:
Grasping Reality … and Rortybomb
Associated Press:
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.
Discussion:
The Politico, CBS News and ThinkProgress
RELATED:
William Wan / Washington Post:
U.S. to recognize Libyan rebels as legitimate government
U.S. to recognize Libyan rebels as legitimate government
Discussion:
Reuters, The Gateway Pundit, FrumForum, The Page and Global Spin
Robert Reich / Wall Street Journal:
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.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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Alex Altman / Swampland:
With Debt Talks Stalled, Democrats Try to Divide and Conquer the GOP
With Debt Talks Stalled, Democrats Try to Divide and Conquer the GOP
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Reuters and Taegan Goddard's …
Chris Geidner / Poliglot:
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” …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Runnin' Scared, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and Metro Weekly
RELATED:
Phil Reese / Washington Blade:
BREAKING: DOJ seeks emergency stop to DADT injunction as Pentagon finalizes repeal
BREAKING: DOJ seeks emergency stop to DADT injunction as Pentagon finalizes repeal
Discussion:
AMERICAblog Gay and Pam's House Blend
The Politico:
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 …
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Mark Joyella / Mediaite:
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.
Discussion:
Wonkette and ThinkProgress
Reginald Fields / Plain Dealer:
Gov. John Kasich spends $2 million off-the-cuff; unexpected cash is for the state's children's hospitals to collaborate — COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich on Thursday spent $2 million so calmly and nonchalantly you would have thought he was just handing over $2.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, bizjournals and Plunderbund
Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
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.