memeorandum: What Were They Thinking? — Someday people will look back and wonder … (Elizabeth Drew/New York Review of Books)

4:15 PM ET, July 24, 2011

Top Items:

Elizabeth Drew / New York Review of Books:

What Were They Thinking? — Someday people will look back and wonder, What were they thinking? Why, in the midst of a stalled recovery, with the economy fragile and job creation slowing to a trickle, did the nation's leaders decide that the thing to do—in order to raise the debt limit …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Paul Krugman:

President Pushover — Updated: Drew article now available. — The redoubtable Elizabeth Drew has a forthcoming article in the New York Review of Books — that confirms all our worst fears. She tells us that past concessions have … Even more alarming, however, is her window on what the White House is thinking:

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, Balloon Juice and TBogg

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

If Boehner prioritizes blame over success — The House went through the motions earlier this week, passing a radical “Cut, Cap, and Balance” debt-reduction plan that Republicans knew would fail. They did this as a sort of vanity exercise, intended to make GOP lawmakers and their activist base feel better about themselves.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Grasping Reality …, Raw Replay and Prairie Weather

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Speaker Boehner: President Obama ‘worried about his next election’ — With his self-imposed deadline for releasing a deficit plan before overseas markets open just a few hours away, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said both sides were “not there yet” and pushed for a two-stage debt-limit vote.

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Wizbang and JammieWearingFool

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Congress ditches Obama on debt talks — First came the Biden talks. When those blew up, the Obama-Boehner talks took center stage. And when that failed, the McConnell-Reid talks looked promising. And after they faltered, the Obama-Boehner talks tried to find a new life.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, Connecting.the.Dots, The Caucus and Washington Post

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

House GOP leaders schedule Sunday conference call — House Republican lawmakers are set to participate in a conference call with GOP leaders at 4:30pm Sunday, according to a source notified of the second such meeting in as many days. — The source, who intends to dial into the telephone conference …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

The Note:

Obama and Boehner Back at the Altar? — ABC's Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — With the opening of Asian markets now hours away and talks between Congressional leaders at a stand-still, ABC News has learned of a new high-stakes turn in the debt ceiling drama.

Discussion: Politics, Crooks and Liars, Mediaite and blogs.abcnews.com

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Durbin to Boehner: ‘You break it, you own it’ — The second most powerful Democrat in the Senate warned Republicans Sunday that they are toying with a fragile economy and would take the blame for any fallout from a debt default. — On Sunday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) …

Discussion: CBS News

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — GOP readies new debt ceiling plan; bill set for Sunday

Discussion: Washington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, James Pethokoukis, Power Line, A plain blog about politics, The Lonely Conservative, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit

The Hill:
Geithner: Deal must remove default threat through 2012 election

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and The Confluence

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
‘Super Congress’: Debt Ceiling Negotiators Aim To Create New Legislative Body

Discussion: Firedoglake, naked capitalism, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Boehner hints at a unilateral debt plan; Geithner shoots down short-term options

Discussion: The Reaction, Pirate's Cove, Washington Monthly, Reuters, State of the Union, Wall Street Journal, Angry Bear, The Huffington Post and Weasel Zippers

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
A small deal won't cut it

Discussion: Rortybomb, The New Republic, Grasping Reality …, The Hill and Firedoglake

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Boehner paints two-step deal as only option

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Fox News and Washington Monthly

Josh Gerstein / The Politico: Boehner prepared to move debt plan by himself

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner aims to release new debt plan by Sunday afternoon

Discussion: The Politico, The Gateway Pundit, AMERICAblog News and New York Times

The Hill:
Responsibility for debt talks shifts to Congress and away from Obama

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, Doug Ross, Roll Call, Sky Dancing, The Gateway Pundit, Los Angeles Times, Michelle Malkin and BBC

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Make Way for the Radical Center — DID I mention that I've signed a pledge — just like those Republican congressmen who have signed written promises to different political enforcers not to raise taxes or permit same-sex marriage? My pledge is to never vote for anyone stupid enough to sign a pledge …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Economist's View, Lean Left, Hullabaloo, Cogitamus, Slate, AMERICAN FUTURE, CANNONFIRE and The Daily Beast

New York Times:

Police Say Oslo Suspect Admits ‘Facts’ in Massacre — OSLO — The Norwegian man charged with attacks in and near Oslo, killing over 90 people, has admitted “to the facts” of the case, the police and his lawyer said on Sunday, and claims to have acted alone in a strike eerily foretold …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Associated Press, MyDD and Reuters

Reuters:
Norway mourns victims of anti-Islam “Crusader”

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and Maggie's Farm

Breaking News:

Taliban hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan — KABUL (BNO NEWS) — Suspected members of the Taliban on Friday hung the 8-year-old son of a local police commander in southern Afghanistan after ordering his father to surrender, according to a news report on Saturday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

David Ariosto / CNN:
Militants hang 8-year-old boy in southern Afghanistan

Discussion: The Long War Journal and americanthinker.com

Ben White / The Politico:

Once-patient markets now nervous about debt talks — NEW YORK - Global markets were poised on a knife's edge Sunday as Washington remained locked in partisan battle over raising the nation's debt ceiling, with no final deal in sight. — High level administration officials wanted a deal …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Michael McConnell / Advancing a Free Society:
Contrary to the President, Social Security Checks Are Not At Risk

Discussion: Power Line and Pundit Press

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Republicans, Zealots and Our Security — IF China or Iran threatened our national credit rating and tried to drive up our interest rates, or if they sought to damage our education system, we would erupt in outrage. — Well, wake up to the national security threat.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, PoliPundit.com, Daily Kos and NewsBusters.org

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

The 14th Amendment, the Debt Ceiling and a Way Out — WASHINGTON — A few days ago, former President Bill Clinton identified a constitutional escape hatch should President Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on a deficit reduction plan before the government hits its borrowing ceiling.

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Prairie Weather, Pajamas Media and Pirate's Cove

Margaret Sullivan / Buffalo News:

Same-sex couples rush to say ‘I do’ — NIAGARA FALLS — At the very moment the state extended the right to marry to same-sex couples, Kitty Lambert and Cheryle Rudd — surrounded by hundreds of friends and well-wishers in a historic ceremony against the backdrop of the rainbow-lit Falls — said, “I do.”