memeorandum: Bigger Government, Smaller People? Not Really, Mr. Speaker (Jonathan Cohn/The New Republic)

11:30 AM ET, July 26, 2011

Top Items:

New polls confirm Obama's Democratic base crumbles — With all of the spotlights on the high-stakes debt maneuverings by President Obama and Speaker John Boehner the last few days, few people noticed what Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders said: — “I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Note, Questions and Observations, Pajamas Media, Betsy's Page, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Ylan Q. Mui / Washington Post:

More Americans unhappy with Obama on economy, jobs — More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama's policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Naked Politics, Red Dog Report, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAblog News and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

The Republican Wreckage — House Republicans have lost sight of the country's welfare. It's hard to conclude anything else from their latest actions, including the House speaker's dismissal of President Obama's plea for compromise Monday night. They have largely succeeded in their campaign …

Discussion: Speaker, Washington Post, Shakesville, NewsBusters.org blogs, American Power, New York Times, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

The White House:

Address by the President to the Nation — THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I want to talk about the debate we've been having in Washington over the national debt — a debate that directly affects the lives of all Americans. — For the last decade, we've spent more money than we take in.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Althouse, Global Public Square, Questions and Observations, Democratic Strategist, And So it Goes in Shreveport, National Review, Scared Monkeys, NewsBusters.org blogs, White House.gov Blog, CNN, Wizbang and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »

The Hill:

Conservatives denounce Boehner plan — The chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee wasted little time announcing his opposition to the House GOP leadership's two-step plan to raise the debt ceiling. — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who stood — visibly uncomfortable …

David Espo / Business Week:

Challenging Obama, House GOP unveils new debt bill — WASHINGTON — In a blunt challenge to President Barack Obama, House Republicans drafted legislation Monday to avert a threatened Aug. 2 government default — but along lines the White House has already dismissed. U.S. financial markets shrugged off the uncertainty.

Discussion: The Agonist

The Politico:

Debt ceiling speeches: Obama reasserts himself; Boehner pushes back — President Barack Obama elbowed his way back into the debt ceiling debate Monday night, three days after Republicans shoved him out, but he offered no hint of a solution to the escalating political and financial crisis.

Discussion: Firedoglake, NationalJournal.com, Daniel W. Drezner, Hot Air, Gothamist, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, The Moderate Voice, The Sundries Shack, CNN, The Note and Michelle Malkin

David Beard / NationalJournal.com:
Congressional Websites Crash After Obama Urges People to Reach Out on Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Angry Bear and The Caucus

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Conservatives bridle at trillions in ‘phony’ cuts

Joshua Norman / CBS News:
Boehner: I didn't want “mano-a-mano” with Obama

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Wall Street Journal:
A Leadership Default — The President blames House Republicans for everything.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — White House Transcript: Obama's speech on the debt limit

Discussion: Power Line, Sense of Events, Big Government, Hit & Run, The Huffington Post, Pundit & Pundette and The Gateway Pundit

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Boehner briefed Limbaugh on debt plan

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Salon, Outside the Beltway, Juanita Jean's, Politics, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and The Politico

The Politico: Speaker Boehner's remarks, as prepared for delivery

cbpp.org:
Statement: Robert Greenstein, President, on House Speaker Boehner's New Budget Proposal

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The New Republic, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh and GoozNews

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Krauthammer on Obama's Address: “I Thought I Was Cynical Until I Heard That Speech” (Video) — Charles Krauthammer unloaded on Obama tonight after his stale poll-driven speech to the nation. Obama still has no plan. — “I thought I was cynical until I heard that speech. It was purely partisan.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Times, Scared Monkeys, Pirate's Cove, Don Surber, PoliPundit.com and HotAirPundit

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Baby Talk — I was struck by these sentences in President Obama's speech: … Consider the condescension implicit in the president's statement—"a term that most people outside of Washington have probably never heard of before." These “people outside of Washington” are not little children …

Discussion: theblogprof

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Obama Prepares For Stalemate

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politics, Pajamas Media and Outside the Beltway

PewResearch.org:

Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics — Twenty-to-One — By Rakesh Kochhar, Richard Fry and Paul Taylor, Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends — The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times …

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress, Shakesville and Jared Bernstein

Hope Yen / Yahoo! News:
Wealth gap widens between whites, minorities

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

The Help-Wanted Sign Comes With a Frustrating Asterisk — The unemployed need not apply. — That is the message being broadcast by many of the nation's employers, making it even more difficult for 14 million jobless Americans to get back to work. — A recent review of job vacancy postings …

Discussion: Economix and Balloon Juice

WQAD-TV:

Bachmann walks away from WQAD — Davenport, Iowa— Michele Bachmann made a visit to the Quad Cities last night to speak with supporters and give interviews to the local television media, that is, with one exception. Despite promises to WQAD for a one-on-one interview the Congresswoman's managers openly …

Discussion: The Note, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

David Brooks / New York Times:

Congress In the Lead — Some of us like to think big. We thought at the beginning of this debt crisis that it might be possible to reach a Grand Bargain. This deal would make a serious dent in the country's awful debt problem. It would begin to reform entitlements.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog, Marbury, DailyHowler.com and Balloon Juice

Katherine Burton / Bloomberg:

Soros to End Hedge-Fund Career, Return Money — George Soros, the billionaire best known for breaking the Bank of England, is returning money to outside investors in his $25.5 billion firm, ending a career as hedge-fund manager that spanned more than four decades.

Discussion: DealBook, FT Alphaville, The Big Picture and Money & Company

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:

Brown signs California Dream Act — New law covers private funding; governor signals he may also favor expanding public Cal Grants eligibility. — Following through on a campaign promise, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law Monday easing access to privately funded financial aid for undocumented college students.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Heritage Foundation and Pajamas Media

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Bachmann skips 40 percent of votes since launching bid — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has missed nearly 40 percent of votes in the House since she formally launched her presidential campaign. — Bachmann's absentee rate, which is significantly higher than the two other House members running …

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Politico, TPMDC and GOP 12

Paul Davidson / USA Today:

Texas bucks national unemployment trend — Need a job? — Move to Texas — Finding work may not be quite that simple, but it sure seems that way. While the nation's job growth has limped along since the economic recovery began two years ago, the Lone Star State is enlarging

Discussion: WILLisms.com and Weasel Zippers

Harriet Baskas / msnbc.com:

Bladder cancer survivor has new run-in with TSA — Thomas Sawyer, a 62-year-old bladder cancer survivor who made headlines last November after a pat-down left him covered in his own urine, has filed a new complaint with the Transportation Security Administration.

Discussion: Mediaite and Right Wing News

Paul Westcott / WGIR-AM:

On Air

Discussion: The Politico and Hot Air

Telegraph:

Norway killer Anders Behring Breivik had extensive links to English Defence League — Anders Behring Breivik had extensive links to the far-Right English Defence League, senior members of the group have admitted. — Anders Behring Breivik leaves court on Monday

Discussion: Politics, msnbc.com, Guardian, Document.no and The Radio Equalizer

Robinson / nation.foxnews.com:

O'Reilly Shreds Media for Calling Norway Terrorist ‘Christian’ — BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: “Impact” segment tonight: mass murder in Norway. A vicious killer, Anders Breivik, has murdered at least 76 people in the Scandinavian nation of Norway. Breivik is a brutal fanatic …

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times