memeorandum: House Dems: If GOP Is Intent On ‘Destroying Government,’ Obama Should Use 14th Amendment To Raise Debt Ceiling (Zaid Jilani/ThinkProgress)

2:35 PM ET, July 27, 2011

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.

Discussion: FreedomWorks blogs, Firedoglake, TPMDC, Lean Left, FrumForum, Erick's blog, The Sundries Shack, Pundit & Pundette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Dish, The Daily Caller and Club for Growth

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.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Politics, msnbc.com, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call, National Review and HotAirPundit

The Politico:

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).

Discussion: Roll Call, Michelle Malkin, TPMDC, nation.foxnews.com, The Note, The New Republic, Oliver Willis, Daily Kos, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Daily Caller

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.

Discussion: The Note, Washington Monthly, White House.gov Blog, The Hill, CNN, Politics, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Dish, Pajamas Media, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars and Hullabaloo

The Note:

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, The Hill, Little Green Footballs, Taegan Goddard's …, Politics and The Hill

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: AmSpecBlog, Washington Examiner, Speaker, Riehl World View, Marbury, Swampland, The Hill, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Other McCain, The Page, National Review, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, James Pethokoukis and Hot Air

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 …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Salon, Big Government, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Wonkette, Gawker, ThinkProgress, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Dependable Renegade and White House.gov Blog

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 and The Garlic

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus: McCain vs. the Tea Party

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill: Dem lawmaker: ‘Nobody I know’ has seen Reid plan

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Boehner: ‘A Lot’ Of Republicans Want To Force Default, Create ‘Enough Chaos’ To Pass Balanced Budget Amendment

Discussion: Balloon Juice

The Note: John Boehner to House GOP: ‘Get Your Ass In Line’

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Boehner to GOP: ‘Get your ass in line’

Discussion: Washington Monthly

The Atlantic Online:
Conservative Caucus Apologizes for Emails Attacking Boehner Plan

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

The Note:
Debt Debate Continues: What to Expect Wednesday

Discussion: TPMDC, The Politico and CNN

CBS News:
Huntsman embraces Boehner debt plan dividing GOP

Discussion: GOP 12 and Associated Press

New York Times:
Boehner Issues Blunt Warning to Dissenters to Back Plan

Discussion: The Caucus and The Mahablog

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
After Aiding Republicans, Business Groups Press Them on Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News and The BLT

TPMDC:
CIVIL WAR: GOP Coalition Splinters Into Open Conflict Over Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, FreedomWorks blogs, The Hill, FrumForum and Swampland

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Cat To Emerge from Bag?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Whiskey Fire, The Mahablog, The New Republic, TPMDC, Discourse.net and Balloon Juice

Al Kamen / Washington Post:
Religious groups: Debt ceiling is a moral issue

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Bearing Drift

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Breaking: Boehner to postpone Wednesday vote on debt bill

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Washington Post, USA Today, Washington Wire and The Politico

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 Daily Hurricane and Big Government

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico: Clyburn: Invoke the 14th Amendment

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
House Dems: If GOP Is Intent On ‘Destroying Government,’ Obama Should Use 14th Amendment To Raise Debt Ceiling

Discussion: Reuters and Indecision Forever

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.

Discussion: New York Times, Michelle Malkin, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Swampland, SmartMoney.com, Yahoo! News, Simply Left BehindThe …, americanthinker.com, Marginal Revolution and Questions and Observations

John Carney / CNBC:
Can The Treasury Department Really Run Out of Money?

Discussion: Felix Salmon

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
U.S. May Have Way to Cover Bills After Deadline, for Week

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, YID With LID, www.thetakeaway.org, Political Punch and Politics

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, Red Dog Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pajamas Media and nation.foxnews.com

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
New Tone: NY Times Columnist Says Tea Party Is Hezbollah Faction of GOP

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers and Pirate's Cove

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

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.

Discussion: USA Today, The Hill, CNN, The Washington Independent, Outside the Beltway, National Review, Hot Air, Indecision Forever, nation.foxnews.com, The Daily Caller, Red Dog Report, Naked Politics, msnbc.com, GOP 12, The Caucus and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Standard and Poor's Should Not Be Able to Play Kingmaker in the 2012 Election — Update: S&P is now denying that they endorse the Reid plan. They evidently understand the implications of this kind of “selective disclosure” to big investors.... Standard and Poors is evidently meeting …

Discussion: Dow Jones Newswires and naked capitalism

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

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.