Top Items:
James C. Capretta / National Review:
The Gang of Six Disaster: The Worst Plan So Far — Confusion among congressional Republicans about their objectives in the debt-limit endgame has increased the possibility that they will stumble into a policy and political disaster over the next two weeks. — Only ten days ago …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, American Spectator, Washington Post, Cold Fury, Kaiser Health News and AmSpecBlog
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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
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
House GOP Suicide Squad gets bigger
House GOP Suicide Squad gets bigger
Discussion:
Washington Post, National Review and New York Times
The Politico:
House Republicans discussing short-term debt ceiling hike
House Republicans discussing short-term debt ceiling hike
Discussion:
Reuters, nation.foxnews.com, National Review, Sky Dancing, Washington Monthly, Slate, Indecision Forever, The Hill and Firedoglake
Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Business Roundtable praises Gang of Six plan, AFL-CIO rips it
Business Roundtable praises Gang of Six plan, AFL-CIO rips it
Discussion:
Reuters, Bloomberg, Firedoglake, CNN and news.firedoglake.com
Louise Storyand Julie Creswell / New York Times:
Wall St. Makes Fallback Plans for Debt Crisis — Lawmakers in Washington are racing to reach a deal to save the country from defaulting on its debt, but on Wall Street, financial players are devising doomsday plans in case the clock runs out. — These companies are taking steps to reduce …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Brilliant at Breakfast, Politics, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com, Mother Jones and The Page
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Jon Cohen / Washington Post:
Poll: Romney still ahead, but with big vulnerabilities in quest for GOP nod — View Photo Gallery — Campaign 2012: Who's in and who's out?: Republicans are beginning to announce who will pursue a bid for the presidency. — Mitt Romney leads the wide-open contest for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Discussion:
The Politico, GOP 12, New York Times and National Review
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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 and No More Mister Nice Blog
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:
Reuters, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Houston Chronicle, National Review, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Don Surber
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Michael R. Blood / Associated Press:
Perry courts potential fundraisers at LA meeting — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry met privately Wednesday with potential fundraisers in Los Angeles as he neared a decision on whether to enter the 2012 presidential race. — About 30 people joined the conservative Republican …
Discussion:
GOP 12 and Washington Wire
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting
Rumsfeld had role in Perry meeting
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, The Note, USA Today, Sky Dancing and The Washington Independent
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.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
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Sheldon Alberts / Financial Post:
Obama reconsiders short-term deal
Obama reconsiders short-term deal
Discussion:
Poor Richard's News, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill and Pirate's Cove
Kenneth Chang / New York Times:
The Shuttle Ends Its Final Voyage and an Era in Space — The last space shuttle flight rolled to a stop at 5:58 a.m. on Thursday, closing an era of the nation's space program. — It was the 19th night landing at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to end the 135th space shuttle mission.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Scared Monkeys, Balloon Juice, The BLT, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay and The Atlantic Online
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Politico reporter who covered Palin quits for Democratic Party job — A Politico reporter who often penned stories about Sarah Palin and other Republicans has quit journalism to work with the Democratic Party in Arizona, sources tell The Daily Caller. — That reporter, Andy Barr …
Discussion:
UrbanGrounds
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, Fox News, Outside the Beltway, Firedoglake, Mediaite, TPMDC, Naked Politics, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller and TBogg
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The Politico:
Democrats want West apology
Democrats want West apology
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, alicublog, Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Obama Maintains Sub-50% Job Approval in 10th Quarter — Too soon to say what 46.8% average approval portends for re-election — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama earned a 46.8% average approval rating in his 10th quarter in office ending July 19, essentially unchanged from the 9th quarter …
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, The Politico, TPMDC and YID With LID
Joseph Straw / NY Daily News:
Al Qaeda magazine pokes fun at fall of sexting pol Anthony Weiner — WASHINGTON - Even terrorists are making Weiner jokes. — In Al Qaeda's latest edition of its chilling e-magazine, “Inspire,” the terror network's Arabian Peninsula syndicate settles a score with former Queens Rep. Anthony Weiner …
Discussion:
City Room, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
The Politico:
Barack Obama's 2008 bundlers flee political ‘machine’ — When Senator Barack Obama began running for president in 2007, a small handful of determined, inspired supporters found a new political calling. A new group of professionals - from a San Juan jewelry story owner to a West Coast biotech executive …
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, Wonkette, Mediaite, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Gawker
Jonathan Weil / Bloomberg:
About Jonathan Weil — Curse the Geniuses Who Gave Us Bank of America: Jonathan Weil — Ask anyone what the most immediate threats to the global financial system are, and the obvious answers would be the European sovereign-debt crisis and the off chance that the U.S. won't raise its debt ceiling in time to avoid a default.
Discussion:
naked capitalism
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Sharpton Appears to Win Anchor Spot on MSNBC — After giving a nearly six-month tryout for the Internet talk show host Cenk Uygur, the cable news channel MSNBC is preparing to instead hand its 6 p.m. time slot to the Rev. Al Sharpton. — Mr. Sharpton's imminent hiring …
Discussion:
Hotline On Call and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »
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
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, CBS Minnesota and Dependable Renegade
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.
E. J. Graff / The Atlantic Online:
15 Years After DOMA, Hearing Reveals a Nation Transformed — It's hard to remember that now-foreign country, which was almost unrecognizably hostile to lesbians and gay men — To the cynical, the staged political theater of Senate committee hearings can seem tedious and predictable.
Discussion:
Renna Communications, Towleroad News #gay and Outside the Beltway
Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Exclusive: Inside Darpa's Secret Afghan Spy Machine — The Pentagon's top researchers have rushed a classified and controversial intelligence program into Afghanistan. Known as “Nexus 7,” and previously undisclosed as a war-zone surveillance effort, it ties together everything from spy radars …