memeorandum: First Thoughts: Finger-pointing, posturing, and politics (First Read/msnbc.com)

2:55 PM ET, July 25, 2011

Top Items:

Wonkbook: Republicans have won. But can they stop there? — (YURI GRIPAS - REUTERS) We don't yet know what the final deal to raise the debt ceiling will be. But now that Harry Reid is developing a proposal with $2.7 trillion in cuts and nothing in revenues, it's a safe bet that it won't include any tax increases.

Discussion: The Nation, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Washington Wire, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, Sky Dancing, Shot in the Dark, Keith Hennessey, The Hill, Don Surber, Taylor Marsh, Betsy's Page, The Heritage Foundation, New York Times, TPMDC and Balloon Juice

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Speaker Boehner's Big Gamble — The Republican Speaker John A. Boehner, following the collapse of negotiations with President Obama, appears to be considering a path that would involve the House Republicans voting to raise the federal debt ceiling on their own terms, with little expectation of Democratic support.

Discussion: The Politico, Balkinization, Outside the Beltway, NationalJournal.com, Politics and The Hill

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Harry Reid Calls House Republicans' Bluff — Something you often see in negotiations is a mismatch between one side's stated sticking points and its real sticking points. In the debate over the debt ceiling, for example, Republicans have sought to portray themselves as having two bottom lines.

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Talking Points Memo

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

White House stokes debt-ceiling crisis — A Republican aide e-mails me: “The Speaker, Sen. Reid and Sen. McConnell all agreed on the general framework of a two-part plan. A short-term increase (with cuts greater than the increase), combined with a committee to find long-term savings …

Discussion: CNN, Sister Toldjah, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Politico, Hot Air, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Pajamas Media, Pundit & Pundette, Washington Times, Poor Richard's News, Washington Examiner, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

The Note:

Debt Debate: What are the Odds Congress Can Raise Debt Ceiling by Aug. 2? — ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — Democrats and Republicans are on a collision course this week over raising the debt ceiling. At some point, somebody will need to back down, but right …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, The Hill, The Mahablog and The Gateway Pundit

First Read / msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: Finger-pointing, posturing, and politics — Another week of finger-pointing, posturing, and politics?... Boehner to introduce his $3 trillion two-step plan at 2:00 pm ET ($1.2 trillion in cuts for a temporary debt-ceiling extension, following by a bipartisan committee to come …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Mother Jones

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

GOP Stumbles Over Surprise Dem Debt Limit Offer — Republicans have been tight-lipped so far about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's surprise offer of $2.7 trillion in spending cuts — and no tax revenue — to raise the debt limit through 2012. — TPM SLIDESHOW: — Debt Negotiations At The White House

Discussion: Washington Monthly, White House.gov Blog and Daily Kos

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Reid played key role on debt bill before Obama nixed plan

Discussion: Verum Serum, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
EXCLUSIVE: What Boehner said to the caucus

Discussion: The Other McCain, Human Events, Don Surber, ThinkProgress, NationalJournal.com, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Politics, Bloomberg, The Lonely Conservative, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com, Babalú Blog, The Right Scoop, Shakesville, Hot Air and The Hill

Felix Salmon:
How we got into this fine mess

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, New Yorker, Gawker and Paul Krugman

John Avlon / CNN:
Our stupid self-inflicted debt crisis

Discussion: current.com, MN Progressive Project and Guardian

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
What To Expect Today — If you're shaking off the cobwebs …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama takes political, policy gamble on ‘big deal’

Discussion: The Hankster, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, AMERICAblog News, The Impolitic, Paul Krugman and The Politico

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 …

William Saletan / Slate Magazine:

If Muslims are responsible for Islamic terrorism, are Muslim-bashers responsible for the massacre in Norway? — On Friday, anti-Islamist blogger Pamela Geller pounced on news of a massacre in Oslo. “Jihad in Norway?” she asked. She posted a second item—"You cannot avoid the consequences …

Discussion: Dean's World

Boris Johnson / Telegraph:
Anders Breivik: There is nothing to study in the mind of Norway's mass killer

Discussion: Guardian, Obsidian Wings, Marbury and Shakesville

Bruce Bawer / Wall Street Journal:

Inside the Mind of the Oslo Murderer — In his 1,500-page manifesto, Anders Behring Breivik slides alarmingly from a legitimate concern about the rise of Islam in Europe to propose ‘terror as a method for waking up the masses.’ — When bombs exploded on Friday in a compound …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Wire, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, Towleroad News #gay, Runnin' Scared and Roger Ailes

New York Times:
Norway Attacker May Have Had Accomplices; Death Toll Lowered

Discussion: The Lede, Gawker, NewsBusters.org, Little Green Footballs, FP Passport, Guardian and Althouse

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
In Defense of Blond Norwegians

Discussion: National Review, The Western Experience, Tim Blair, alicublog and Instapundit

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Top Dem.: 'If Boehner would just lead his caucus, this would have been over' - Top GOP aide: ‘Republicans will not give him a $2.4 trillion blank check he can use throughout his campaign’ — MARKETS CALM SO FAR— AP/London: “Global stocks started the week on a flat note as investors waited …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The New Republic

Elizabeth Drew / New York Review of Books:
What Were They Thinking? — Finding a solution to reducing …

Discussion: Firedoglake and About.com US Liberal Politics

The Politico:
Wu won't resign; Pelosi seeks probe

Discussion: The Note, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Oregonian, OpenSecrets.org, Online NewsHour, Hot Air, Mediaite, Washington Post, americanthinker.com, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers and Gawker

Washington Wire:

Mike Ross, a Leading Blue Dog Democrat, to Leave the House — Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, a leader of the Blue Dog coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats, said Monday that he would not seek re-election, which could be good news for Republicans as they aim to pick up another seat in the 2012 elections.

Discussion: USA Today

Jessica Taylor / NationalJournal.com:
Rep. Mike Ross the Latest Blue Dog Dem to Not Seek Reelection

Discussion: Red Dog Report, The Daily Caller and TPMDC

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Rep. Mike Ross to retire

Discussion: CNN

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

The Hill Poll: Most voters see media as biased and unethical — Likely voters hold a dismal view of the news media, generally regarding reporters as biased, unethical and too close to the politicians they purport to cover, according to a new poll for The Hill.

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Big Journalism, Weasel Zippers, Red Dog Report, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NewsBusters.org and JammieWearingFool

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Politics of a downgrade — A bond trader forwards on a note from Bank of America analysts today, anticipating a short term debt deal, likely followed at some point by a downgrade of America's bond rating from AAA to AA: — We expect the US credit rating to remain on negative outlook …

Discussion: Politics and Taylor Marsh

Paul Krugman:
Moody's Blues, Poor Standards, and the Debt

Discussion: Mother Jones, Economist's View and Rortybomb

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

Steve King on default: Obama could be impeached — Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said Monday that President Barack Obama “would be impeached” if the nation falls into default. — “STOP talking about default,” he wrote on Twitter. “The 1st dime of each $1 of revenue services debt.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Rep. King Says Obama Will Be Impeached If Government Defaults

Discussion: Politics

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: The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Ben Smith's Blog and GOP 12

Washington Times:

CURL: Is Obama a pathological liar? — “Mendacity is a system that we live in.” — In the weird world that is Washington, men and women say things daily, hourly, even minutely, that they know deep down are simply not true. Inside the Beltway, we all call those utterances “rhetoric.”

Discussion: BizzyBlog, Pajamas Media and JammieWearingFool

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
First lady says ‘N-O’ to career in politics post-White House

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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: Red Dog Report and Right Wing News

Bunny Mellon / Newsweek:

The Secret-Keeper — On the eve of her 101st birthday, reclusive philanthropist Bunny Mellon, the wealthy zelig who cavorted with Kennedys and stood by John Edwards, talks exclusively to Meryl Gordon about life with Paul, her famous friends, and the secrets buried in her gardens.

Discussion: The Politico, USA Today, Taegan Goddard's … and Ben Smith's Blog

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

To Reach Simple Life of Summer Camp, Lining Up for Private Jets — Gov. Paul LePage of Maine happened to be waiting for his flight at Augusta State Airport on a recent Saturday when the weekend crush began. — A turboprop Pilatus PC-12 carrying Melissa Thomas, her daughter …