Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Cantor's wealthy backers: raise our taxes — House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has scuttled any possible debt-reduction compromise, insisting House Republicans can't agree to so much as a penny in new revenue. Every tax cut billionaires enjoy is sacred; every corporate-jet owner mustn't …
RELATED:
Politics:
Former Senator Judd Gregg Says Shutdown Needed Before House Will Agree To Debt Limit Deal — Former Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) says Social Security checks will need to be halted before House Republicans will agree to a deal to raise the debt limit. — A deficit hawk and former Chairman …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
White House says Obama could agree to short-term debt ceiling hike — President Obama could agree to a short-term hike of the debt ceiling if there are concrete plans in place to move quickly with a grand bargain, the White House said Wednesday. — White House press secretary Jay Carney stressed …
Discussion:
Big Government
Abby Phillip / The Politico:
Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate
Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay
Courtney Comstock / Clusterstock:
Goldman Just Held A Call On The Debt Ceiling — Here's Judd Gregg's Bearish Prediction
Goldman Just Held A Call On The Debt Ceiling — Here's Judd Gregg's Bearish Prediction
Discussion:
James Pethokoukis
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Gang of Six: A Day Late...
Gang of Six: A Day Late...
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, The Note, A plain blog about politics and The Daily Dish
The Politico:
Intrigue, secret talks grip Capitol Hill
Intrigue, secret talks grip Capitol Hill
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Pajamas Media, Politics, The Hill and National Review
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Boehner's office says Gang of Six proposal ‘appears to fall short’
Boehner's office says Gang of Six proposal ‘appears to fall short’
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Off the Charts Blog, The Huffington Post, The Politico, Erick's blog, The New Republic, Roll Call and RedState
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Franken Destoys Focus On The Family Witness, Exposes Misuse Of HHS Study — During this morning's Senate DOMA hearings, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) destroyed Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery's argument that children are better off with opposite-sex parents by demonstrating how Minnery misrepresented an HHS study.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Good As You, Balloon Juice, Poliglot, Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and AMERICAblog News
RELATED:
Fortune:
Larry Summers calls Winklevoss twins ‘A**holes’ — NEW YORK (Fortune) — What did Larry Summers really think of the Winklevoss twins? — “Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in kind,” the former president of Harvard said in an interview at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference.
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, Gawker, Shakesville and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Wasserman Schultz brushes off West email — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is dismissing Tuesday's personal attack by Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) as political bluster, not a hatchet job on the congresswoman, her office said Tuesday. — “I don't think that Congressman West is upset …
RELATED:
Fox News:
Rep. West Stands by Email Calling Wasserman Schultz ‘Vile, Despicable and Cowardly’
Rep. West Stands by Email Calling Wasserman Schultz ‘Vile, Despicable and Cowardly’
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media
Allen West / National:
At this Point, Anyone with an Obama 2012 Bumper Sticker is a Threat to the Gene Pool
At this Point, Anyone with an Obama 2012 Bumper Sticker is a Threat to the Gene Pool
Discussion:
The Impolitic, ThinkProgress, MyDD, Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story, TPMDC, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and American Power
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Allen West tirade: Wasserman Schultz ‘vile...despicable...not a Lady’
Allen West tirade: Wasserman Schultz ‘vile...despicable...not a Lady’
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, TPMDC, Booman Tribune, Online NewsHour, PolitickerNY, AMERICAN DIGEST, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Sister Toldjah, ThinkProgress, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Scared Monkeys, The Note, Feministing, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Other McCain, Hotline On Call, The Caucus, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Althouse, Gawker, The Raw Story, CNN, TBogg, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, JammieWearingFool, Doug Ross, Balloon Juice and Hit & Run
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job — Tim Pawlenty moved closer Wednesday to raising doubts about Michele Bachmann's fitness for office. — While repeating his previous comments that he'd defer to doctors on Bachmann's particular health situation, Pawlenty said broadly …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, GOP 12 and Shakesville
RELATED:
Katrina Trinko / National Review:
T-Paw's Iowa Power Play
T-Paw's Iowa Power Play
Discussion:
GOP 12, The Huffington Post, AMERICAblog Elections, TPMDC and The Note
David Brody / The Brody File:
Never Before Seen: The ‘Inside Scoop’ on Some 2012 Presidential Contenders — On this week's edition of The Brody File show, some never before seen footage from my interviews with Sarah Palin, Speaker John Boehner, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann as we get the 'scoop" on some of their “personal preferences.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ThinkProgress
RELATED:
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Palin: Journalists can learn from me — Today, David Brody released unseen footage from his Sarah Palin interview. This bit — at 21:55 in — caught my ear. — Palin:
JSOnline:
Democratic senator Hansen retains seat in recall attempt — Tea party activist, attorney are winners in Republican primaries — By Tom Tolan, Lee Bergquist and Georgia Pabst of the Journal Sentinel — Democratic state Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay was the first of nine state senators …
Discussion:
CNN and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
RELATED:
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Disconnect — Disconnect between Obama …
First Thoughts: Disconnect — Disconnect between Obama …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air and New York Magazine
Ron Nixon / New York Times:
Cost-Cutters, Except When the Spending Is Back Home — WASHINGTON — Freshman House Republicans who rode a wave of voter discontent into office last year vowed to stop out-of-control spending, but that has not stopped several of them from quietly trying to funnel millions of federal dollars into projects back home.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice and Politics
RELATED:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Christie on the decline — Chris Christie's popularity has declined significantly over the first half of 2011 and he would have a very difficult time winning reelection if voters in New Jersey went to the polls today. — Only 43% of voters in the state approve of the job Christie is doing to 53% who disapprove.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller and GOP 12
Jonnie Marbles / Guardian:
Why I foam-pied Rupert Murdoch | Jonnie Marbles — Some people might think my action played into Murdoch's hands, but I did it for all the people who couldn't — First things first: I don't hate octogenarians. I don't have a vendetta against anyone over 80 who likes to begrudgingly give evidence to parliamentary committees.
Discussion:
David Allen Green, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Marbury, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Maxine Waters ethics panel outsourced — Stung by allegations of misconduct within the panel, the House Ethics Committee has hired an outside counsel to take over the case against Rep. Maxine Waters. — Billy Martin, a partner at the law firm Dorsey and Whitney, has been hired by the committee to …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Washington Post, PolitickerNY, National Review and ProPublica
Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
State Dept. contract officer steers $52 million to secret husband, daughter — A special investigation by The Daily Caller has discovered that a State Department contract specialist participated in awarding more than $52 million in taxpayer-funded contracts to a company owned and operated by her husband and daughter.
Discussion:
National Review, Hot Air and International Liberty
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Is Grassley Hinting That Maggie Gallagher Was Too Scared To Testify Against DOMA? — During his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on repealing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) vehemently defended the discriminatory law and reiterated …
Discussion:
Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Rep. Allen West calls DNC chair ‘vile ... despicable’ - Tracy Schmaler promoted at Justice - What Chris Christie told the tycoons - GOP losing perception war - Jamal Simmons, Ed Henry are 40 — THE NARRATIVE — Jake Tapper, on “Good Morning America,” re new WP-ABC: “Horrible numbers for President Obama …
Discussion:
Gawker, Washington Post and Hullabaloo
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting — Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped organize Rick Perry's foreign policy and national security briefing in Austin last Wednesday, Rumsfeld's staff confirmed today. — Perry's aides have been tight-lipped about the gathering …
Discussion:
GOP 12 and National Review
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
The tide of public opinion keeps turning — For the better part of the year, congressional Republicans were able to argue, accurately, that Americans opposed raising the debt ceiling. It was arguably the only honest claim the GOP made in this debate: poll after poll showed public opposition to doing the right thing.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal and Balloon Juice
ThinkProgress:
NOM Rabbi Blames Gay Marriage For 8 Year Old's Murder — The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) recently invited Rabbi Yehuda Levin to join them at a rally protesting New York's same sex marriage bill, despite Levin's long history of offensive comments.
Discussion:
Good As You, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.
Center for American Progress:
Interactive Map: No Debt Limit Increase Means Big Cuts to State Services — On August 2, if Congress fails to raise the debt limit, the United States will have its credit rating downgraded, interest rates will likely rise dramatically, and the federal government will be forced …
Discussion:
TPMDC and ThinkProgress
Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
Nearly 10 Years Ago Today, The U.S. Began Borrowing Billions To Pay For The Bush Tax Cuts — As debates about deficit reduction continued to be heavily tilted toward cutting spending, which threatens to undermine a fragile recovery, rather than raising revenue from those who can afford it …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Daily Kos and Shakesville