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Debbie Wasserman Schultz says GOP seeks ‘dictatorship ... spark panic’ — 'This is not leadership. This is almost like dictatorship, said Debbie Wasserman Schultz. AP Photo — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Wednesday …
Discussion:
Moe Lane, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, CNN, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos
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GOPers chant ‘fire him’ at Paul Teller — House Republicans on Wednesday morning were calling for the firing of the Republican Study Committee top staffer after he was caught sending e-mails to conservative groups urging them to pressure GOP lawmakers to vote against a debt proposal from Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
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The Moderate Voice, New York Times, The Atlantic Online, Roll Call, Southern Beale, TPMDC, RedState, The Note, The New Republic, Ben Smith's Blog, Michelle Malkin, The Raw Story, Oliver Willis, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Harry's Place, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Gateway Pundit, CNN and Washington Post


Carney makes an accusation — Jay Carney took on Fox News's Ed Henry. — John Shinkle/POLITICO — The day after White House press secretary Jay Carney and Fox News reporter Ed Henry tangled over Henry's request for specifics on Obama's plan on debt limit and deficit reduction, Carney and Henry were back at it again on Wednesday.
Discussion:
nation.foxnews.com, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

Ben Affleck Reacts To House GOP Using Clip From ‘The Town’ In Debt Debate … WASHINGTON — Heads turned a bit on Tuesday night when the Washington Post reported that House Republicans were using a scene from the movie “The Town” as a motivational vignette to encourage members to back Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) debt ceiling plan.
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The Hill, TPMDC, Weigel, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Big Hollywood, ThinkProgress, CNN, The Caucus, National Review, Washington Post, USA Today and The Note

It's All Over but the Face-Saving? — It remains unclear whether the House will pass a bill by the speaker, John A. Boehner, to raise the debt ceiling, though prospects appear to be significantly better today than they did yesterday. Still, the math looks to be pretty close.
Discussion:
Washington Post, TPMDC, The New Republic, The Confluence and Hullabaloo

McCain vs. the Tea Party — Is the old John McCain back? — The fiery, independent version of the Republican senator from Arizona took to the floor of the Senate Wednesday morning. Demanding “straight talk,” Mr. McCain accused conservative opponents of the House Republican leader's plan of abandoning reason in the debt fight.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Post, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Don Surber, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Nice Deb, Fox News Insider, Balloon Juice, Connecting.the.Dots, Marbury, National Review and Wall Street Journal

McCain Blasts Tea Party for ‘Foolish’ Demands in Debt Debate — ABC News' Sunlen Miller (@sunlenmiller) reports: — As Speaker of the House John Boehner is looking for votes on his House debt bill, one Senate Republican sent a strong message to the Tea Party block in the House and Senate …
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics and TPMDC


The Clearest Sign Yet That Boehner's Bill Will Pass the House — They talk a big game, but in private, Republicans attack the one person who stands up for what they claim to believe — If you listen to Eric Cantor or any of the self-styled Tea Party Republicans pushing the country to the brink of default …
Discussion:
Slate Magazine, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Prairie Weather and msnbc.com


Boehner quells rebellion on the right — A dust up among a major House conservative bloc and the prospect of tens of billions of dollars in new spending cuts has Republican leadership feeling as if it quelled an uprising on the right after struggling to line up votes for much of the week.


Tea party rally on Capitol Hill draws thin crowd — The only thing missing at the event attended by three senators? A big audience. Jay Westcott/POLITICO — It had all the makings of a big time tea party rally: Presidential candidate Herman Cain, conservative Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Hill and Daily Kos

A Time for Choosing — To govern is to choose. To vote is to choose.
Discussion:
FreedomWorks blogs, National Review, The New Republic, Washington Post, TPMDC, The Politico, Decide America, The Right Scoop, Riehl World View, A plain blog about politics, FrumForum, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Lean Left, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ProfessorBainbridge.com, AmSpecBlog, Firedoglake, Pundit & Pundette, The Sundries Shack, Swampland, The Daily Dish, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Erick's blog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway and Club for Growth

Boehner: ‘A Lot’ Of Republicans Want To Force Default, Create ‘Enough Chaos’ To Pass Balanced Budget Amendment
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Sky Dancing, TPMDC and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Grover Norquist backs John Boehner's debt bill
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, TPMDC, Hullabaloo and Pajamas Media

WSJ: Tea Party “hobbits” need to go back to Middle Earth, or something
Discussion:
John Boehner and The Other McCain

Quote of the Day — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Hill, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, A plain blog about politics and Daily Kos

Dem lawmaker: ‘Nobody I know’ has seen Reid plan
Discussion:
The Politico, nation.foxnews.com and The Daily Caller

What Does Wall Street Want? — I've been having some disturbing conversations with both finance people and Washington people over the last few days, that have only confirmed the disconnect I wrote about a few weeks ago. Each side is sending signals that the other side is not reading correctly.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy and Vox Popoli
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Standard and Poor's Should Not Be Able to Play Kingmaker in the 2012 Election
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires and naked capitalism

Palin: American Ideals Are ‘Foreign To Our President’ Because Of ‘His Background’ — Adding her heft to the GOP's debt ceiling debacle, the “undefeated” Sarah Palin graced Fox News Business last night to slam President Obama for suggesting that the wealthy should return to a higher tax rate.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket and Arizona Republic
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Palin to Keynote Tea Party Rally in Iowa
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Note, The Iowa Republican, Weasel Zippers, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air, GOP 12 and Top of the Ticket

George Lopez: If Sarah Palin Becomes President ‘I Will Move to Canada’
Discussion:
nation.foxnews.com, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Moonbattery


Franken's SNL moment on the Senate floor — For a moment Wednesday, Al Franken looked like he was back on the set of Saturday Night Live and not on the floor of the U.S. Senate. In a speech explaining that there would be no money to pay for military and security personnel if Congress …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Pajamas Media and The Radio Equalizer


50 Most Beautiful People for 2011 — It's no accident that Amy Cheng exhibits model-like poise in front of a camera. Growing up, her family would spend time outside their Chinese restaurant taking photos of one another in a park, and later on, Cheng would pose for her younger sister …
Discussion:
Wonkette, FishbowlDC, Gawker, The Daily Caller and iOwnTheWorld.com


Jackson Lee at Radical Islam Hearing: Let's ‘Have a Hearing on Right-Wing Extremists, Ideologues’ — (CNSNews.com) - At a hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security today about the radicalization of young Somali American Muslims by the al-Shabaab terrorist group, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee …
Discussion:
YID With LID, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers


Herman Cain Apologizes To Muslims — Herman Cain had his much-ballyhooed meeting with Muslims Wednesday, and he emerged, he said in a campaign statement “humble and contrite for any statements I have made that might have caused offense to Muslim Americans and their friends.”
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune and The Right Scoop

Norway mass murderer an equal opportunity plagiarist? So-called “manifesto” a cut-and-paste job — The 1500+ page “manifesto” that is alleged to have been written by Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik has the Left and their establishment media allies doing circle jerks and kept …
Discussion:
Gawker
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Report: Obama And Boehner Agreed To Raise Medicare Eligibilty Age Before Debt Talks Broke Down — In what may be one of the most under-reported stories of the debt ceiling talks, Politico's Jen Haberkorn notes that before negotiations broke down on Friday evening, President Obama and Speaker …
Discussion:
BuzzFlash.org, Red Dog Report, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Rep. Barney Frank: ‘Gender Bias’ Contributed to Warren Downfall — ABC News' Michael Ono reports: — Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., blames an unconscious culture of sexism for the failed appointment of Elizabeth Warren to the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

Planned Parenthood clinic attacked with Molotov cocktail — MCKINNEY - Officials with Planned Parenthood confirmed that their McKinney clinic was the target of violence sometime last night. — Holly Morgan, director of media relations and communications for Planned Parenthood in Dallas …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress

House Democrats urge Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment in debt fight — House Democratic leaders are calling on President Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment and raise the debt ceiling without congressional input. — Addressing the House Democratic Caucus on Wednesday morning …
Discussion:
Big Government, Firedoglake and The Daily Hurricane
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Clyburn: Invoke the 14th Amendment
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Weasel Zippers and Taylor Marsh

Why I support the Boehner bill — If you'd like a quick summary of the Boehner plan, please read my earlier post. — I support the Boehner bill and hope House Republicans will vote to pass it. — First I'll flag what I like about the substance of the bill.