Top Items:
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
RELATED:
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
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Reid says he's waiting on Boehner to tell him ‘path forward’ on raising debt ceiling — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday claimed his chamber has a “path forward” for raising the debt ceiling but said he's waiting on Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to tell him what can pass the House.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Tom Harkin: House Republicans Have Morphed Into ‘A Cult’
Tom Harkin: House Republicans Have Morphed Into ‘A Cult’
Discussion:
Daily Kos and The Daily Caller
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
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
House Dem opposition rises against McConnell fallback debt-ceiling plan
House Dem opposition rises against McConnell fallback debt-ceiling plan
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, Slate, Washington Post, Hot Air and New York Times
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:
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’ — WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida is standing by an incendiary email he sent to a Democratic colleague after she criticized him in a speech on the House floor.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Ben Smith's Blog and The Lonely Conservative
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:
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:
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, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
RELATED:
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Disconnect — Disconnect between Obama …
First Thoughts: Disconnect — Disconnect between Obama …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and New York Magazine
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 …
RELATED:
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:
ThinkProgress, GOP 12, National Review, TPMDC and Shakesville
Robert Greenstein / Off the Charts Blog:
Clarifying Some Misunderstandings about the “Gang of Six” Plan — Some of the early reporting on the deficit reduction plan that the Senate's “Gang of Six” released today appears to have incorrectly or incompletely described two principal elements of the plan: its reductions in health care programs and its revenue increases.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
RELATED:
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, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Erick's blog, The Politico, The New Republic, Roll Call, RedState and Politics
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Gang of Six: A Day Late...
Gang of Six: A Day Late...
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, Capital Gains and Games blogs, A plain blog about politics and The Daily Dish
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, Online NewsHour, msnbc.com, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Tina Korbe / Hot Air:
Report: Private sector job creation ground to a halt almost instantly after Obamacare passed — A new report out yesterday from The Heritage Foundation shows private sector job creation dropped dramatically almost immediately after President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) into law.
RELATED:
James Sherk / Heritage Foundation:
Recovery Stalled After Obamacare Passed
Recovery Stalled After Obamacare Passed
Discussion:
National Review and Pajamas Media
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:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, 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
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.
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
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:
The Note, emptywheel, GOP 12 and National Review
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 Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice and Politics
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, PolitickerNY, Washington Post, National Review and ProPublica
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:
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