memeorandum: Gang Of Six Has Last Gasp (Jonathan Chait/The New Republic)

12:25 PM ET, July 20, 2011

Top Items:

Obama tries to box in House GOP — President Obama stopped by the White House briefing room, offering an update on the status of the debt-ceiling process. I've seen some reports suggesting the president endorsed the Gang of Six's compromise, but that's not quite what he said, and it seems to miss the point of Obama's comments.

Discussion: The Hill, The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Ed Schultz Show, The Mahablog, The White House, White House.gov Blog and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Russell Berman / The Hill:

House GOP passes ill-fated ‘cut, cap, and balance’ legislation — House Republicans on Tuesday approved an ambitious but legislatively ill-fated plan to enact deep spending restraints that could clear the decks for a compromise over the debt limit. — The so-called “cut, cap and balance” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner and The Other McCain

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Gang Of Six Has Last Gasp — The Senate “Gang Of Six” today made a final push for its deficit reduction proposal, announcing that apostate gang member Tom Coburn had rejoined the group, releasing its plan, and unveiling numerous Senatorial endorsements. President Obama praised the group and its plan at his press conference today.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Atlantic Online, The Note, The Reaction, JSOnline, JustOneMinute and The Politico

Jared Bernstein / The Huffington Post:
The People Want Balance! — It's crunch time — way past crunch time …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Americans for Tax Reform RSS:
What should taxpayers think about the “Gang of Six” announcement today?

Discussion: The Note, Pajamas Media, No More Mister Nice Blog and National Review

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
The Gang of Six's plan: Better than we're likely to do otherwise

Discussion: Washington Wire

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
House pursues balanced-budget bill; need for backup plan acknowledged

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, Slate Magazine, Don Surber, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Lonely Conservative, Economist's View, Balkinization and The Gateway Pundit

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Two House lawmakers call for vote on Gang of Six plan

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Politico, TPMDC, Erick's blog, Taylor Marsh, Connecting.the.Dots, Roll Call and RedState

John Avlon / CNN: Good news: The Gang of Six is back

Daniel J. Mitchell / Cato @ Liberty:
The Gang of Six Is Back from the Dead: Contemplating the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Their Budget Plan

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Marginal Revolution, National Review and AmSpecBlog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Allen West tirade: Wasserman Schultz ‘vile...despicable...not a Lady’ — Florida GOP Congressman Allen West this afternoon dispatched a scathing personal email to Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, calling her “vile, unprofessional ,and despicable,” “a coward …

The Note:
Rep. Allen West Unloads On ‘Vile, Unprofessional, and Despicable’ Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

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 …

First Read / msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Disconnect — Disconnect between Obama and the Senate vs. House Republicans and the Tea Party... In 2010, the Tea Party and independents were largely on the same page, but that's not the case anymore... White House is winning the PR battle in the debt fight, per new NBC/WSJ poll …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Hot Air

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:

Report: Obama top recipient of News Corp. donations — Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, The Confluence, Guardian, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan Sibley / Sunlight Foundation Blog:
Murdoch's influence extends to U.S., global politics

Discussion: The Agonist, New York Times and Towleroad News #gay

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Scandal Stirs U.S. Debate on Big Media

Discussion: TVNewser, The Atlantic Online, Guardian, ABCNEWS, The New Republic and The Nation, more at Mediagazer »

Allen West / National:

At this Point, Anyone with an Obama 2012 Bumper Sticker is a Threat to the Gene Pool — Greetings to our constituents, fellow Floridians, and all Americans, here we are for another weekly update. There is only one word that describes the past week: appalling.

Discussion: MyDD, The Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:
Allen West: Obama Supporters Are ‘A Threat To The Gene Pool’

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Post-ABC poll: GOP too dug in on debt talks; public fears default consequences — Majorities of Americans see both President Obama and congressional Republicans as not willing enough to compromise in their budget negotiations, but the public views the GOP leaders as particularly intransigent …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, msnbc.com, Hot Air, The Note and Gallup

The Note:
ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Dissatisfaction With Washington Hits 19-Year High

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Taylor Marsh, The Raw Story, Top of the Ticket, CNN, Daily Kos, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller and Taegan Goddard's …

Michele Bachmann / Washington Post:
Post-ABC poll: GOP too dug in on debt talks; public fears default consequences

Discussion: Angry Bear and CNN

Matt Schneider / Mediaite:

GOP Rep. Walsh Yells At Chris Matthews: 'Obama Doesn't Send A Thrill Up My Leg' — Add today's debate between Chris Matthews and Republican Congressman Joe Walsh to the Hardball hall of fame for the most exciting and in-your-face political discussions ever recorded.

Discussion: Breitbart.tv and The Gateway Pundit

Reuters:

Michele Bachmann faces more migraine questions — On the campaign trail in South Carolina, Michele Bachmann should have been basking in the glow of new polls showing her surging among national Republican primary voters. — Instead, the day was overshadowed by her acknowledgment Tuesday …

Discussion: GOP 12 and The Daily Caller

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Bachmann Says Migraines Won't Be a Problem if She's Elected President

Bloomberg:

Romney as Job Creator Clashes with Bain Record of Job Cuts — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign misses few opportunities to promote his record creating jobs, including his role in taking Staples Inc. (SPLS) from a start-up to the world's largest office-supply retailer.

Discussion: Politics

Carol Williams / L.A. NOW:

Man's call for Obama assassination is free speech, not crime, court rules — A La Mesa man who posted racial epithets and a call to “shoot” Barack Obama on an Internet chat site was engaging in constitutionally protected free speech, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in overturning his criminal conviction.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Confederate Yankee

Timothy Geithner / Wall Street Journal:

A Dodd-Frank Retreat Deserves a Veto — Only six congressional Republicans crossed the aisle to support reform one year ago. The GOP is still working to thwart change. — Two and a half years ago, with our country on the edge of a second Great Depression, we met with the president …

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, The Politico and Politics

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

Finally, Minnesota open for business — Minnesota's legislature approved a budget deal in the early hours of Wednesday morning that will end the state's 20-day government shutdown - the longest ever in a state - once Gov. Mark Dayton signs it later in the day.

Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Special session ends

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid

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: The Moderate Voice and Politics

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 and Hot Air

The Politico:

Iowa caucuses in December? It's possible — That's not the only domino. With South Carolina's primary facing money troubles after state funding for election operations was cut, Florida — which had been planning to go fifth, on March 1 or 3 — has been pushing to go earlier.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Iowa caucuses in December? It's possible

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway and Iowa Caucuses

Steve Lohr / New York Times:

U.S. to Close 800 Computer Data Centers — The federal government plans to shut 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its hefty technology budget and modernize the way it uses computers to manage data and provide services to citizens.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and New York Magazine