McConnell proposal would force major review of entitlements  —  Larry Kudlow, who's plugged in with Congressional Republicans, scoops a key new detail about the emerging Mitch McConnell proposal to transfer control of the debt ceiling to the president:

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 …

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.

Michele Bachmann officially leaves her church  —  Washington (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has long been a darling of conservative evangelicals, but shortly before announcing her White House bid, she officially quit a church she'd belonged to for years.

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.

Obama makes his case to the left  —  President Obama recently took a beating from some on the left for suggesting that immediate deficit reduction is necessary to take the issue off the table and make it possible to spend more on liberal priorities later.  And Obama of course has regularly …

Fox And Friends Defends News Corp's Hacking Scandal: ‘We Should Move On’  —  Fox News finally addressed their parent company's hacking scandal head on this morning, with Fox and Friends launching a comically sycophantic and pathetically inaccurate defense of News Corp. Host Steve Doocy …

Dear House Republicans, This is Your “Time For Choosing”  —  “From here on out, if you lose this fight, every time you balk at expanding government, social security checks will be withheld, medicare payments will be withheld, and in just a few short years, surgeries will be cancelled, vaccinations withheld, and hospitals shuttered.”

House turns off light bulb standards by voice vote  —  The House on Friday morning moved to block federal light bulb efficiency standards without even a roll call vote.  —  An amendment from Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) defunding the Energy Department's standards for traditional incandescent light bulbs …

BREAKING: Attorney General Says Justice Department Investigating News Corp.  —  On Tuesday, ThinkProgress launched a petition requesting a Department of Justice investigation into potential violations of U.S. law by News Corporation.  In the last four days, over 13,000 people signed the petition …

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

Rick Perry 2012 run ‘very likely,’ Terry Branstad says  —  Iowa Republicans are increasingly convinced that Texas.  Gov. Rick Perry is running for president in 2012, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said, predicting that Perry would be a strong candidate in the caucuses if he enters the race.

Q & A: Bristol Palin on Abstinence after Levi  —  Bristol Palin's launch into the public eye came quickly after her mother's own entrance into the public arena.  Her out-of-wedlock pregnancy came under scrutiny after Senator John McCain chose former Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Osama Hit List: President Obama, Petraeus, Major U.S. Sporting Event  —  President Barack Obama boards Air Force One after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base Md., June 28, 2011.  Officials say that Osama bin Laden, still obsessed with attacking airplanes, was trying to hatch a plan to kill Obama …

Death and Budgets  —  I hope you had the chance to read and reread Dudley Clendinen's splendid essay, “The Good Short Life,” in The Times's Sunday Review section.  Clendinen is dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S. If he uses all the available medical technology, it will leave him …

Press Conference by the President  —  THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody.  As you know, yesterday we had another meeting with the congressional leaders.  We're not having one today, so I thought it would be useful to give you guys an update on where we are.  —  All the congressional leaders …

Court OKs Airport Body Scanners, Rejects Constitutional Challenge  —  A federal appeals court on Friday unanimously declined to block the government from using intrusive body scanners across airports nationwide, saying it is “not persuaded by any of the statutory or constitutional arguments” against them.

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.

Cantor Loves Gov't Spending ... on the Drug Industry  —  Republicans would like you to believe that our deficit problem is primarily a spending problem and that responsibility for that problematic spending is primarily a Democratic responsibility.  But the second claim is as misleading as the first.

Gingrich campaign $1 million in debt  —  Newt Gingrich's Republican presidential campaign reported to the AP that it is more than $1 million in debt, the latest body blow to a bloodied campaign.  —  The former House Speaker raised $2.1 million over the last six months but spent $1.8 million …

‘Obama lies’  —  Sarah Palin tweets a post-press conference slam on President Obama after he provides an update on the debt-ceiling stalemate: … It's worth noting, as Molly Ball reported last night, that Michele Bachmann, who appeals to much of the same swath of the GOP electorate that Palin does …

Recapturing The Romance Of Monetary Policy  —  I had a frustrating back and forth (here and here) with Corey Robin about monetary policy.  He's a writer whose work I really enjoy.  This 2004 Boston Review piece on neoconservatives is seminal, and his book Fear: The History of a Political Idea is great.

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.