memeorandum: White House rejects linking debt limit to balanced budget, threatens veto (Zachary A. Goldfarb/Washington Post)

8:30 PM ET, July 18, 2011

Top Items:

News of the World phone-hacking whistleblower found dead — Death of Sean Hoare - who was first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson knew of hacking - not being treated as suspicious — Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbusiness reporter who was the first named journalist …

Wall Street Journal:

News and Its Critics — A tabloid's excesses don't tarnish thousands of other journalists. — When News Corp. and CEO Rupert Murdoch secured enough shares to buy Dow Jones & Co. four years ago, these columns welcomed our new owner and promised to stand by the same standards and principles we always had.

New York Times:

Murdoch Aides Long Tried to Blunt Scandal Over Hacking — LONDON — Two days before it emerged that The News of the World had hacked the cellphone of a murdered schoolgirl, igniting a scandal that has shaken Rupert Murdoch's media empire, his son James told friends that he thought the worst of the troubles were behind him.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, msnbc.com, Tom Watson, Salon, Marbury, New York Magazine and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Bloomberg:
Murdoch Struggles for Control as Scandal Grows

Discussion: Mixed Media, Guardian, TechCrunch, Felix Salmon, The Huffington Post, The Wrap, The Wire and News Desk, more at Techmeme »

David Carr / New York Times:
Troubles That Money Can't Dispel

CBS News:

Poll: 71% shun GOP handling of debt crisis — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Americans are unimpressed with their political leaders' handling of the debt ceiling crisis, with a new CBS News poll showing …

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Obama officially threatens to veto GOP's ‘cut, cap and balance’ bill — The White House on Monday warned President Obama will veto GOP legislation to “cut, cap and balance” spending and the budget. — In a statement of administration policy, the White House Office of Management …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Pajamas Media, Don Surber, The Politico and AMERICAblog News

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The Republican Retreat — In the negotiations over the debt ceiling, the Republican Party had everything mapped out except the endgame. — For months, Republican leaders used all the tools at their disposal — the anti-spending intensity of their base, the White House's desire for a deal …

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, The New Republic, Balloon Juice, Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Politico

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Rep. Louie Gohmert Wonders If Obama Chose Debt Ceiling Deadline To Coincide With His Birthday Party — While a startling number of House Republicans refuse to accept experts' dires warnings about the possibility of default come Aug. 2 if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling …

Discussion: NewsMax.com, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
White House rejects linking debt limit to balanced budget, threatens veto

Discussion: Keith Hennessey, The New Republic, Pajamas Media, The Daily Caller and FrumForum

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
White House: Budget cuts to president's office hurt debt efforts

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Reuters, Michelle Malkin, New York Post and Pajamas Media

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:
GOP Rep. Rokita Refuses To Raise The Debt Ceiling Even If It Means ‘The Economy Might Get Worse’

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Note

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
No one likes the GOP's reckless tactics

Discussion: The New Republic, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:

Congressman Who Harassed Elizabeth Warren Showered With Donations From Banks And Predatory Lenders — Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) playing a Nintendo Wii in his office — Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) gained infamy in May when he went on a childish tirade against Professor Elizabeth Warren …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Federal Judges Are Retiring At Twice The Rate New Judges Are Being Confirmed

Discussion: The Hill, Law Blog, The Political Carnival and New York Times

Elizabeth Warren / The Huffington Post:
A Big Week for the New Consumer Agency

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Rortybomb, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, White House.gov Blog, Executive Gov, Mother Jones, Swampland, Paul Krugman, Washington Wire and The Wire

Molly Ball / The Politico:

Sarah Palin film to get wider release — The producers of the pro-Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” say they are following up a better-than-expected opening weekend with plans to expand to more cities soon. — Details weren't yet available Monday, but the movie's distributor …

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin

Wes Little / CNN:
‘Palinistas’ pleased with ‘The Undefeated’

Discussion: Victory Film Group and Conservatives4Palin

John Nolte / Big Hollywood:
‘Eunuchs’: Did Anyone Notice Bill Maher Trashing Sarah Palin's Children as ‘Family of Inbred Weirdos’?

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Amelia Hill / Guardian:

Police examine bag found in bin near Rebekah Brooks's home — Former NI chief executive's husband denies bag - containing computer, paperwork and phone - belonged to his wife — Detectives are examining a computer, paperwork and a phone found in a bin near the riverside London home of Rebekah Brooks …

Discussion: Mediaite, Roger Ailes and Boing Boing

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

New O'Keefe investigation uncovers Medicaid fraud [VIDEO] — Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe released the first installment in a new video investigation Monday morning, this one focused on Medicaid fraud. The first video in the series shows government employees in Ohio assisting two men …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Hot Air, Mediaite, RedState, The Gateway Pundit and Confederate Yankee

Judson Berger / Fox News:

NIH-Backed Study Examined Effects of Penis Size in Gay Community — The federal government helped fund a study that examined what effect a gay man's penis size has on his sex life and general well-being. — The study was among several backed by the National Institutes of Health …

Discussion: Wonkette

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Feds pay for study of gay men's penis sizes

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Ben Birnbaum / Washington Times:

Cain: I would attack Iran to protect Israel — GOP presidential hopeful met Monday with Israeli ambassador — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain speaks with reporters and editors during an interview Monday at The Washington Times' office building in D.C. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mediaite, TPMDC, Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

George Packer / New Yorker:

EMPTY WALLETS — In the midst of the debt crisis in Washington, D.C., Danny Hartzell backed a Budget rental truck up to a no-frills apartment building that is on a strip of motels and pawnshops in Tampa, Florida. He had been laid off by a packaging plant during the financial crisis of 2008 …

Discussion: News Desk

The Politico:

Default could ‘sink the whole boat’ — The warnings are apocalyptic. “Armageddon,” President Barack Obama intones. “Catastrophic,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner insists. “Calamitous,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke admonishes. — But suppose — just suppose …

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos and The Atlantic Online

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Fitch warns US could lose AAA rating by Aug. 4 without deal — The Fitch credit rating agency has warned that it could downgrade the nation's credit rating from AAA to B-plus as soon as Aug. 4 if a deal is not struck to raise the debt limit. — FitchRatings said it still expects Congress …

Discussion: Mother Jones

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Fitch: ‘AAA’ rating in jeopardy

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and FrumForum

Juana Summers / The Politico:

Roemer to launch W.H. bid Thursday — It's official: Buddy Roemer will formally announce his presidential campaign Thursday from New Hampshire. — While the former Louisiana governor's campaign has not set a location for the announcement, he's scheduled to speak at Dartmouth College …

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, The Political Carnival, The Washington Independent, FrumForum and Gawker

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Gay conservative group reaches out to Bachmann — As gay-issue advocacy groups increase pressure on Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann over her views about homosexuality, the gay conservative group GOProud is requesting a meeting with the Republican presidential candidate to possibly lend a hand.

Discussion: Mediaite, Truth Wins Out, Joe. My. God., ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

The Slow, Painful Coming Death Of The Independent, Conservative Blogosphere — Way, way back in 2001, when I got started in the blogosphere, the Right side of the blogosphere was bigger and more influential than the Left. Why? Well, in American politics, the energy tends to be with the party that's out of power.

Discussion: American Power, Pajamas Media, Ben Smith's Blog, Betsy's Page, Riehl World View, Althouse and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Tea Party Nation: “We Must Stand With The Bachmanns” Against Gay Rights — Tea Party Nation has increasingly voiced a militant opposition to gay rights, endorsing activists who maintain that LGBT equality will destroy America and that anti-LGBT bullying is “healthy.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Blade, ThinkProgress, Pam's House Blend and Towleroad News #gay

Brad Johnson / ThinkProgress:

Romney Backtracks: 'I Don't Think Carbon Is A Pollutant' — ThinkProgress filed this report from Derry, NH. — It's getting close to impossible to track Mitt Romney's vacillating position on global warming. Appearing in Derry, NH, the Republican presidential candidate reversed …

Discussion: The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers and AMERICAblog Elections

The Note:

How Much Longer Can Obama Defy Political Gravity? — ANALYSIS By AMY WALTER (@amyewalter): Although President Obama's job approval rating of 48 percent (according to Pollster.com average) isn't exactly stellar, it is remarkably high given the level of economic pessimism and despair among American electorate.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog and TPMDC

Ben Wolfgang / Washington Times:

Many states celebrate surpluses as Congress struggles with debt — As Washington stares at rising national debt and projected deficits for years to come, many states are faced with the opposite problem: whether to spend their budget surpluses and, if so, on what. — At least a dozen states ended fiscal 2011 with surpluses.

Discussion: Plunderbund