memeorandum: U.S. Stock Futures Decline After Lawmakers Fail to Reach Debt-Ceiling Deal (Rita Nazareth/Bloomberg)

10:00 AM ET, July 25, 2011

Top Items:

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

EXCLUSIVE: What Boehner said to the caucus — From a source familiar with the call, this is what House Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans on Sunday: … That suggests to me that the House Republicans will pass a bill, send it to the Senate and let the Democrats decide if they want to send the country into default.

Discussion: Don Surber, Politics, The Lonely Conservative, Babalú Blog, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Shakesville and The Hill

John Hayward / Human Events:

Barack the Mad — The American presidency comes off the rails. — On Friday, right after his Democrat colleagues in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to kill the Cut, Cap and Balance Act without a real vote, President Obama held a town hall meeting at the University of Maryland …

Discussion: Doug Ross, The Lonely Conservative, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Hill

Rita Nazareth / Bloomberg:

U.S. Stock Futures Decline After Lawmakers Fail to Reach Debt-Ceiling Deal — U.S. stock futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will slump after rallying within 1.4 percent of a three-year high, as failure to raise the federal debt limit intensified concern of a default.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, odd time signatures and Washington Monthly

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Bill would force Obama to pay Social Security, military if US defaults — Tea Party conservatives hope to make a push on the House floor to force President Obama to avoid a national default if Congress fails to raise the debt limit. — Members of the Senate Tea Party Caucus have met …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Politico and RedState

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Cantor Opposed Short-Term Debt Ceiling Increase, Now Calls Obama's Opposition to Short-Term Increase ‘Indefensible’ — Today, Speaker John Boehner told the House GOP caucus that he is preparing a short-term bill that would raise the debt ceiling for about six months, despite Obama's pledge to veto such a measure.

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, NationalJournal.com and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Washington Wire:
Live Blog: The U.S. Debt Battle

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, National Review, MarketBeat, RedState, Politics and Wall Street Journal

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
BLACK MONDAY? Obama's Debt-Ceiling Crisis Strategy Could Sink Wall Street

Discussion: RedState and The Hill

Susan Crabtree / TPMDC:
Boehner Urges GOPers To ‘Stick Together’ As He Works On A Compromise

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Note

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, The Other McCain, Booman Tribune, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Politico, AMERICAblog News, Paul Krugman, Daily Kos, TBogg and Hullabaloo

David Rogers / The Politico:
Boehner, Reid key to path out of debt crisis

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Debt-limit compromise elusive as separate strategies take shape in House, Senate

Discussion: msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, The Page, The Heritage Foundation, The New Republic, Politics and naked capitalism

New York Times:
Rival Debt Plans Being Assembled by Party Leaders

Discussion: The Politico, Firedoglake, Sky Dancing, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft and The Huffington Post

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
CNN: Reid Working on His Own All-Cuts Debt Limit Proposal

Discussion: Associated Press, Taylor Marsh and The Politico

The Hill:
Boehner expects to have proposal Monday; Reid, Pelosi meet Obama

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

The Politico:
No debt deal in sight, parties go separate ways

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

The Politico:

Wu won't resign; Pelosi seeks probe — Embattled Rep. David Wu will not seek reelection in 2012, but he won't resign from office now despite allegations that the Oregon Democrat had an “unwanted sexual encounter” with the teenage daughter of a close friend last Thanksgiving.

Discussion: Oregonian, Mediaite, USA Today, americanthinker.com, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post and Gawker

Charles Pope / Oregonian:
Rep. David Wu won't resign, Nancy Pelosi calls for ethics investigation

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post and Associated Press

Real Clear Politics:

Rick Perry Eyes Late August Campaign Launch — Texas Gov. Rick Perry is all but certain to launch a presidential campaign and is nearing an announcement set for the second half of August, according to sources familiar with his political team's planning. — For months, Republican activists …

Discussion: The Note, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call, americanthinker.com and Outside the Beltway

John DiStaso / unionleader.com:
Perry gives first NH interview

Discussion: The Caucus and GOP 12

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Killings in Norway Spotlight Anti-Muslim Thought in U.S. — The suspect behind the attacks in Norway said he believed multiculturalism to be a threat. Here, mourners at Oslo Cathedral. More Photos » — The man accused of the killing spree in Norway was deeply influenced …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Tikun Olam

Kristen Wyatt / Associated Press:
Norway suspect borrowed from Unabomber's manifesto

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

John Hinderaker / Power Line: In Defense of Blond Norwegians

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Messing With Medicare — At the time of writing, President Obama's hoped-for “Grand Bargain” with Republicans is apparently dead. And I say good riddance. I'm no more eager than other rational people (a category that fails to include many Congressional Republicans) to see what happens if the debt limit isn't raised.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Prairie Weather

Paul Krugman:
Means-testing Medicare

Discussion: Modeled Behavior and Marginal Revolution

Daniel Frankel / Yahoo! News:

Palin doc headed for PPV as ticket sales plummet — LOS ANGELES (TheWrap) - With its Sarah Palin documentary “The Undefeated” increasing its playdates by 40 percent this weekend, only to watch box office revenue decline by more than 63 percent, distributor Arc Entertainment announced Sunday …

Discussion: GOP 12 and Outside the Beltway

The Hill:

Obama administration's charm offensive fails to win over business groups — The Obama administration's push to mend its relationship with business has gone cold only six months into the effort. — Complaints abound about the regulations pouring out of federal agencies to implement …

Discussion: Right Wing News

Newsweek:

The Maid's Tale — She was paid to clean up after the rich and powerful. Then she walked into Dominique Strauss-Kahn's room—and a global scandal. Now she tells her story. — “Hello? Housekeeping.” — The maid hovered in the suite's large living room, just inside the entrance.

Discussion: FP Passport, Feministing, ABCNEWS, TalkLeft, New York Times, The Politico, The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared and Media Decoder, more at Mediagazer »

ABCNEWS: Dominique Strauss-Kahn Accuser Speaks Out in Exclusive ABC News Interview

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes — A year-long military-led investigation has concluded that U.S. taxpayer money has been indirectly funneled to the Taliban under a $2.16 billion transportation contract that the United States has funded in part to promote Afghan businesses.

Discussion: The Politico, The Jawa Report and Marine Corps Times

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Michele Bachmann launches scathing attack on Tim Pawlenty — In a statement just released from her presidential campaign, Michele Bachmann delivers a harsh counterattack on her former home-state governor, hitting back at his charge that she lacks the experience to be president and blaming Tim Pawlenty for a …