Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
House GOP Suicide Squad gets bigger — By late yesterday, the political world seemed to be feeling optimistic about the debt ceiling again. The Gang of Six had made a lot of senators happy; President Obama seemed upbeat causing a sudden spike on Wall Street; and the House was wrapping …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post and Crooks and Liars
RELATED:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
It Begins: Top Republicans Push Away From Gang Of Six Plan — As time goes on, and conservative interest groups and members of Congress rip into it, support among Republicans for the Gang of Six plan to reduce deficits will begin to wane. In fact, that's already happening.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
The Politico:
House Republicans discussing short-term debt ceiling hike — House Republican leaders have begun discussing a short-term debt ceiling hike that would be coupled with immediate spending cuts of a greater magnitude, according to several aides. — The White House also signaled Wednesday …
Discussion:
CNN, Slate, Sky Dancing, nation.foxnews.com, National Review and Firedoglake
James C. Capretta / National Review:
The Gang of Six Disaster: The Worst Plan So Far
The Gang of Six Disaster: The Worst Plan So Far
Discussion:
Kaiser Health News, Budget Committee and AmSpecBlog
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Cantor's wealthy backers: raise our taxes
Cantor's wealthy backers: raise our taxes
Discussion:
The Politico, Indecision Forever, The Daily Dish, ThinkProgress, Politics and The Hill
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.
RELATED:
Ryan J. Reilly / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:
Al Franken Pokes Fun At Focus On The Family Mischaracterizing Study At DOMA Hearing (VIDEO)
Al Franken Pokes Fun At Focus On The Family Mischaracterizing Study At DOMA Hearing (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and TPMDC
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Is Grassley Hinting That Maggie Gallagher Was Too Scared To Testify Against DOMA?
Is Grassley Hinting That Maggie Gallagher Was Too Scared To Testify Against DOMA?
Discussion:
Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay
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:
The Reality-Based Community, Hot Air, Clusterstock, Outside the Beltway and Booman Tribune
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Sheldon Alberts / Financial Post:
Obama reconsiders short-term deal
Obama reconsiders short-term deal
Discussion:
Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Reid says he's waiting on Boehner to tell him ‘path forward’ on raising debt ceiling
Reid says he's waiting on Boehner to tell him ‘path forward’ on raising debt ceiling
Discussion:
The Politico and Hot Air
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
Roll Call:
Allen West Says He Apologized to Wasserman Schultz — Freshman Rep. Allen West said Wednesday that he has apologized to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for calling her “vile, unprofessional and despicable” in an email. — “I just apologized,” West (R-Fla.) told a Huffington Post reporter.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, TPMDC, Naked Politics, ThinkProgress and Gawker
RELATED:
The Politico:
Democrats want West apology — Several House Democratic women on Wednesday called on Rep. Allen West to apologize to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz for his e-mail that called her “vile,” “despicable” and “not a Lady.” — The lawmakers said they were sending a letter to House GOP leadership …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Weasel Zippers
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, This Just In, Gawker, The Reaction, The Reality-Based Community, Shakesville and New York Magazine, more at Techmeme »
The Note:
Bachmann Releases Doctor's Note on Migraines as Pawlenty Says Candidates Must Be Able ‘To Do All of the Job, All of the Time’ — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe (@matthewbjaffe) reports from Indianola, Iowa: — When Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty descended on Iowa today …
Discussion:
CNN, Michelle Malkin, Washington Post, The Politico and Sister Toldjah
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job
Pawlenty says WH hopefuls must be able do the job
Discussion:
National Review, Washington Wire, TPMDC, Minnesota Independent, Washington Post, Daily Kos, GOP 12, ThinkProgress and Shakesville
Brad Watson / KHOU-TV:
Anita Perry encourages husband to run for president — AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry will need money, organization, staff and stamina if he runs for president. — But he appears to already have the support that's most important for the race — his wife's.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Don Surber
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting
Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, Sky Dancing, The Note, USA Today and The Washington Independent
Benjamin Spillman / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Las Vegas resort sues tea party group over hotel bill — Some Tennessee tea partiers are in hot water with a Las Vegas gambling resort that's accusing them of skipping out on a big hotel bill. — On Monday Venetian Casino Resort, LLC., filed suit against Tea Party Nation Corporation of Franklin …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Informer, Mediaite, Wonkette, The Raw Story, Gawker and The Daily Caller
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama in perilous shape — For the first time since last July Barack Obama does not lead Mitt Romney in PPP's monthly national poll on the 2012 Presidential race. Romney has now pulled into a tie with the President at 45%. — Obama's approval rating this month is 46% with 48% of voters disapproving of him.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog and msnbc.com
Maureen O'Connor / Gawker:
Sarah Palin is going to be a grandmother again. Eldest child Track Palin married high school sweetheart Britta Hanson two months ago, and now we hear that Britta is pregnant. The picture above of “Britta Pie,” which was posted on a Wasilla friend's Facebook wall, confirms the news she's expecting.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Top of the Ticket, The Daily Caller and Dependable Renegade
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:
GOP 12, Raw Replay, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Glittarazzi
CNN:
President calls debt crisis ‘self-created’ — Washington (CNN) - As President Barack Obama sat down with television stations from three key political states, he said he is still hopeful the White House and congressional leadership will come to an agreement to raise the nation's debt ceiling but said politics is interfering.
Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Business Roundtable praises Gang of Six plan, AFL-CIO rips it — The Gang of Six's bipartisan deficit-reduction plan continued to make waves Wednesday, with a key business group expressing general support and a prominent union bashing it. — In a statement issued Wednesday …
Discussion:
CNN, Firedoglake, Bloomberg, Reuters and news.firedoglake.com
RELATED:
Robert Greenstein / Off the Charts Blog:
Clarifying Some Misunderstandings about the “Gang of Six” Plan
Clarifying Some Misunderstandings about the “Gang of Six” Plan
Reuters:
Exclusive: Fed planning for potential default — (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default as a deadline for raising the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit looms, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Western Experience, Fortune, Taylor Marsh and Clusterstock
Abby Phillip / The Politico:
Obama to nominate fourth openly gay judicial candidate — President Barack Obama intends on Wednesday to nominate the fourth openly gay judicial candidate of his administration to U.S. district court, according to a White House official. — The White House plans to announce the nomination …
Discussion:
Poliglot and Towleroad News #gay
John Nolte / Big Hollywood:
Numbers Don't Lie: “The Undefeated” Had a Remarkable Box Office Debut — Box Office Mojo is a universally accepted and respected source for box-office numbers, mainly because they've always done a very professional job of sticking to numbers and avoiding the business and political nonsense that tarnishes so many others.
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin
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, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Joe. My. God.
Brian Winter / Reuters:
Role reversal: Latin America taunts US on debt woes — * Worries about contagion; Brazil now a U.S. creditor — After three decades spent battling their own debt crises and getting constantly lectured about them by Uncle Sam, many Latin Americans are watching the countdown to a possible default …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
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:
The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12
Betsy Mason / Wired Science:
The Incredible Things NASA Did to Train Apollo Astronauts — On the anniversary of the first man on the moon, and with the final space shuttle mission set to end Thursday, Wired.com takes a look back at the extraordinary amount of training astronauts go through before they are mission ready.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Michelle Lancaster / Big Government:
My Country 'Tis Of Thee, Sweet Land of...Removing the Pledge of Allegiance?! — Hard to believe, right? Well, it's true ... and it happened in Bowie County, Texas. — Just when I thought nothing could be as outrageous as my recent post “God Bless Our Military ... just not at the Houston National Cemetery …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Atlas Shrugs