Top Items:
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Time for Choosing — To govern is to choose. To vote is to choose. To vote against John Boehner on the House floor this week in the biggest showdown of the current Congress is to choose to vote with Nancy Pelosi. To vote against Boehner is to choose to support Barack Obama.
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The Politico:
GOP in chaos — Scrambling for votes on his troubled deficit package, Speaker John Boehner bluntly told wavering GOP lawmakers Wednesday morning to “get your ass in line” behind his debt ceiling bill. — Boehner predicted Senate Democrats will fold and pass the Boehner debt bill if it can get through the House.
David Rogers / The Politico:
Reid plan's savings trump Boehner's — In the battle of budget scores, the Senate Democrats' deficit reduction bill is the clear leader thus far over an alternative by Speaker John Boehner, which had to be pulled back from the floor Tuesday night for retooling.
Washington Post:
House Republicans delay vote on Boehner debt plan — Responding to Obama's appeal in a speech Monday night for Americans to contact their members of Congress to urge them to adopt his “balanced approach” to deficit reduction, callers flooded Capitol telephone circuits Tuesday morning …
Wall Street Journal:
The GOP's Reality Test — Republicans who oppose Boehner's debt deal are playing into Obama's hands. — The debt-limit debate is heading toward a culmination, with President Obama reduced to pleading for the public to support a tax increase and Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority …
Discussion:
The Caucus, AmSpecBlog, Riehl World View, Swampland, The Hill, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Page and Outside the Beltway
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Cat To Emerge from Bag? — There's an interesting possibility, even a likelihood, we may see unfold over the coming days. And if it happens, we might find out quickly whether there's a limit past which consensus opinion, the Wall Street/business interests who hold such a sway over national politics …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Whiskey Fire, The Mahablog, The New Republic, TPMDC, Discourse.net, Balloon Juice and The Hill
Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
House Republicans Psyche Themselves Up By Watching Ben Affleck Prepare To Beat Some Guys Up — For some reason the Washington Post's reporters decided to sanitize the anecdote, but apparently House GOP leaders are trying to garner support for John Boehner's debt ceiling plan by comparing …
Discussion:
Washington Post
The Note:
Debt Debate Continues: What to Expect Wednesday
Debt Debate Continues: What to Expect Wednesday
Discussion:
The Politico, Daily Kos and CNN
TPMDC:
CIVIL WAR: GOP Coalition Splinters Into Open Conflict Over Debt Ceiling
CIVIL WAR: GOP Coalition Splinters Into Open Conflict Over Debt Ceiling
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Swampland, The Hill, FrumForum and The Politico
New York Times:
Boehner Issues Blunt Warning to Dissenters to Back Plan
Boehner Issues Blunt Warning to Dissenters to Back Plan
Discussion:
The Caucus and The Mahablog
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Boehner to postpone Wednesday vote on debt bill
Breaking: Boehner to postpone Wednesday vote on debt bill
Discussion:
Washington Post, Betsy's Page, The Politico, USA Today and Washington Wire
Jack Lew / White House.gov Blog:
Baseline Basics — The CBO just released its analysis …
Baseline Basics — The CBO just released its analysis …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, The Caucus, TPMDC, The Moderate Voice, Politics and National Review
Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — CBO: Boehner plan cuts deficit by $1 bln …
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — CBO: Boehner plan cuts deficit by $1 bln …
Discussion:
National Review, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, CBO's Latest 10 Documents, The Hill, The Note and HotAirPundit
Marin Cogan / The Politico:
Conservative frosh go opposite ways
Conservative frosh go opposite ways
Discussion:
The Page, CNN and Hullabaloo
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Romney Leads Field of Announced GOP Candidates — Perry would be more competitive with Romney than Palin, Giuliani — PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney is the leader for the GOP nomination among the current field of official candidates, supported by 27% of Republicans, compared with 18% for Michele Bachmann.
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Can't We Do This Right? — There is only one thing worse than Republicans and Democrats failing to agree to lift the debt ceiling, and that is lifting the debt ceiling without a well-thought-out plan and with hasty cuts totaling trillions of dollars over a decade.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog and nation.foxnews.com
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Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
New Tone: NY Times Columnist Says Tea Party Is Hezbollah Faction of GOP
New Tone: NY Times Columnist Says Tea Party Is Hezbollah Faction of GOP
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Weasel Zippers
Paul Krugman:
The Cult That Is Destroying America — Watching our system deal with the debt ceiling crisis — a wholly self-inflicted crisis, which may nonetheless have disastrous consequences — it's increasingly obvious that what we're looking at is the destructive influence of a cult that has really poisoned our political system.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Impolitic, Balloon Juice, Weasel Zippers, theblogprof, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pajamas Media and Hullabaloo
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda on brink of collapse — U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al-Qaeda to the brink of collapse. — The assessment reflects a widespread view …
Discussion:
Salon, The Jawa Report, Top of the Ticket and Reuters
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Krauthammer: Bachmann is “unbelievably irresponsible” on debt ceiling — Charles Krauthammer, after being asked about Michele Bachmann's opposition to any plan that raises the debt ceiling.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller
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Sharyl Attkisson / CBS News:
ATF Manager says he shared Fast and Furious Info with White House — At a lengthy hearing on ATF's controversial gunwalking operation today, a key ATF manager told Congress he discussed the case with a White House National Security staffer as early as September 2010.
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Richard A. Serrano / Los Angeles Times:
FBI report at odds with ATF claim on weapons
FBI report at odds with ATF claim on weapons
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Paul Krugman:
The Guilty Parties — There's actually a simple way to resolve the debt ceiling crisis: non-crazy Republican leaders could support something like the Reid plan — which is, let's be clear, a huge victory for the right and defeat for progressives — and pass it with limited GOP support and overwhelming Democratic support.
Discussion:
TalkLeft and Balloon Juice
The Politico:
Credit hit worries Obama, Congress more than default — It's not the default that strikes the most fear in the White House and Congress these days. It's the downgrade. — Even Republican leaders say the country can't go into default, and they'll do everything possible to raise the debt limit by Aug. 2.
John Carney / CNBC:
Can The Treasury Department Really Run Out of Money? — The White House insists the U.S. government will not be able to stay current on all of its obligations as of Aug. 2 unless the debt ceiling is raised. — But can the government of the United States ever really run out of money?
Discussion:
Felix Salmon
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Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
U.S. May Have Way to Cover Bills After Deadline, for Week
U.S. May Have Way to Cover Bills After Deadline, for Week
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, YID With LID, Hot Air, Political Punch, www.thetakeaway.org and Politics
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
The next meltdown: Gas tax renewal — Looking beyond the horizon of the current insoluble legislative meltdown, a nervous Democrat pointed me yesterday to the next one: Most of the gas tax is set to expire on September 30. — An accountant's memo lists the taxes expiring that day, including:
Discussion:
Politics and Taegan Goddard's …
Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Peter King: 40 Americans joined terror group — More than 40 Americans have been recruited to join the Islamic terror network in Somalia, according to Rep. Peter King. — King (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is to make the statement during his opening statement …
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Zev Chafets / New York Times:
Stinger: James O'Keefe's Greatest Hits — The temperature was hovering near 90 degrees on the afternoon of Memorial Day when James O'Keefe III emerged from the woods and ambled over to my car. He was tall and thin, with pale skin and matted reddish hair. When his mug shot ran in the papers …
Discussion:
Big Journalism, The Awl and Althouse
JR Hoeft / Bearing Drift:
Romney-McDonnell 2012? — Former Massachussets governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney was in Virginia Beach yesterday attending a fundraiser at the home of State Sen. Jeff McWaters. — The $1200 per plate event brought up some interesting data points regarding Governor Bob McDonnell.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, GOP 12, Hot Air, Red Dog Report, Gothamist and National Review
Elvin Lim / OUPblog:
The triumph of politics — America is the only country in the world that that has the luxury of creating an economic crisis when there isn't one. Ours is the only democracy with a debt ceiling, with the exception of Denmark, which raises its ceiling well in advance of when it would be reached.
Jon Boone / Guardian:
Kandahar mayor killed by suicide bomber with explosives in turban — Taliban suspected, though Karzai ally may have been victim of grudge over destruction of illegally built homes — Afghan insurgents appeared to continue their assassination campaign against key public figures on Wednesday with the killing of the mayor of Kandahar.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit and Jihad Watch
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Ahmad Nadeem / Reuters:
Suicide blast kills mayor of Afghanistan's Kandahar
Suicide blast kills mayor of Afghanistan's Kandahar
Discussion:
The Long War Journal, Pundit Press and americanthinker.com
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
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:
The Politico