memeorandum: By The Numbers: Why It's So Hard To Get To Compromise (The Note)

1:25 PM ET, July 29, 2011

Top Items:

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Why no vote tonight — A House aide just e-mailed me: “Buckets of crazy.” That's as good an explanation as any as to why Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) won't be able to hold a vote tonight on his debt-ceiling bill. The burn-the-building-down set is weakening, but the speaker is still short on votes.

Discussion: Associated Press, Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Politico, The Greenroom, The Gateway Pundit, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Outside the Beltway and The Page

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Wonkbook: Boehner failed. Now what? — Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill July 28. (JOSHUA ROBERTS - REUTERS) The lengths John Boehner went to ensure his bill failed in the Senate rather than the House were impressive, but ultimately, insufficient.

Discussion: Gothamist, Taylor Marsh, Healthwatch, Outside the Beltway and The Politico

The Hill:

Support shifts as Boehner adds balanced-budget amendment — House Republicans will attach a balanced-budget amendment to Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) last-ditch debt-ceiling plan, which GOP lawmakers said would move the measure to passage in a high-stakes vote later on Friday.

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and Taegan Goddard's …

National / NationalJournal.com:

DOCUMENT: Latest Version of House Speaker Boehner's Debt Plan — This is the latest version of the Boehner bill and reflects changes made after GOP leaders failed to assemble the necessary votes to pass it Thursday. This bill is the current legislative vehicle and may come to the House floor later Friday.

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, Pajamas Media, Politics and AMERICAblog News

Douglas Holtz-Eakin / National Review:

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory — Hard to believe what I'm reading, hearing, and watching. It's a concerted, bipartisan effort to snatch defeat when victory is in sight. — Let's start with the House Democrats, who are content to make a political statement and sit on their hands.

Discussion: theblogprof, The New Republic and Politics

The Politico:

Boehner builds momentum — House Republican leaders will tie a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution to their two-step debt-ceiling bill — a move that is all but certain to clinch the necessary votes to pass Speaker John Boehner's proposal a day after it stalled.

Discussion: Slate, Outside the Beltway, Daniel W. Drezner, The New Republic, Daily Kos, Politics, Guardian, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly and ThinkProgress

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Tea Party groups target ‘defectors’ on debt vote — Several Tea Party organizations are working to punish conservative Republicans who plan to vote yes on Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) debt ceiling proposal. — Tea Party leaders announced Thursday they are targeting Republican Reps. James Lankford …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, The Hill, The Right Scoop and National Review

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The great divide — We're in the midst of a great four-year national debate on the size and reach of government, the future of the welfare state, indeed, the nature of the social contract between citizen and state. The distinctive visions of the two parties — social-democratic vs. limited-government …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, The Daily Dish and Cato @ Liberty

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

The Worst Negotiators — I cannot decide who the worst negotiators are, Republican leaders or House conservatives. — John Boehner's plan couldn't get the votes last night so Boehner had to agree to add language conditioning a vote on a balanced budget amendment — an amendment House Republicans …

Discussion: RedState

William Yeomans / The Politico:

The tea party's terrorist tactics — It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.” But they have now become full-blown terrorists. — They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Reuters:

With House debt ceiling bill stalled, Harry Reid makes his move — With House action stalled, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday he'd take the lead and move his bill to raise the national debt limit and avert an economy-shaking default next week.

Discussion: The Politico and Hot Air

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

GOP leader: ‘I believe there will be a vote today’ on House debt ceiling plan — House GOP leaders expressed confidence Friday morning that they would move a vote on raising the debt ceiling one day after they had to pull their Speaker's measure from a planned House floor vote.

Discussion: The Politico, Outside the Beltway and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Obama urges Senate to forge compromise on debt limit, rejects House efforts

Discussion: Questions and Observations

The Note:
By The Numbers: Why It's So Hard To Get To Compromise

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, ThinkProgress and blogs.abcnews.com

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: A game of leverage

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Patterico's Pontifications

The Politico:
As clock ticks, default or deal?

Discussion: The Caucus, The Heritage Foundation, Connecting.the.Dots, Politics, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Moderate Voice, PERRspectives, The Gavel and Hot Air

New York Times:
Obama Calls for Debt Deal as Boehner Looks for Votes

Discussion: Guardian and Los Angeles Times

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Obama Rates Higher Than Boehner, Reid on Debt Situation

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos and Politics

Washington Post:
Debt ceiling deadlock: What will Mitch McConnell do?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Booman Tribune and Ballot Box

The Note:
The Note: Down The Rabbit Hole: Where Does Congress Go From Here?

Discussion: CNN, Roll Call and The Daily Beast

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Conservatives angry over Pell Grant funding in Boehner debt bill

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Dems suggest compromise on debt

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, CNN, Erick's blog, The Heritage Foundation, The Hill, RedState, The Right Scoop, Bearing Drift and The Reality-Based Community

Fox News:
Lord of the Zings: Tea Partiers Slam McCain Over ‘Hobbit’ Reference

Discussion: Riehl World View, Dependable Renegade and AMERICAN FUTURE

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Reid: The House is ‘having trouble’ conducting its work

Discussion: Boston Globe, Washington Post, NY Daily News and The Hill

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:

Weak growth raises concerns on economy — (Reuters) - The U.S. economy came perilously close to flat-lining in the first quarter and grew at a meager 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June period as consumer spending barely rose. — The Commerce Department data on Friday also showed …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mock, Paper, Scissors, PoliPundit.com, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, International Liberty and americanthinker.com

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

National Income and Product Accounts — Gross Domestic Product: Second Quarter 2011 (Advance Estimate) — Revised Estimates: 2003 through First Quarter 2011 — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States …

Discussion: Econbrowser, National Review, ThinkProgress, FT Alphaville, Daily Kos, naked capitalism, CRFB.org, Calculated Risk and Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Recovery Still Slow as New Data Show Little Growth

Discussion: The New Republic, The Confluence, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway and The Page

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Q2 GDP falls to 1.3%; Whoa: Q1 revised downward to 0.4%?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Review and The Right Scoop

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Centrist Cop-Out — The facts of the crisis over the debt ceiling aren't complicated. Republicans have, in effect, taken America hostage, threatening to undermine the economy and disrupt the essential business of government unless they get policy concessions they would never have been able to enact through legislation.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Sideshow, Shakesville, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

Financial Post:

U.S. balance now less than Apple cash — Steve Jobs is now more liquid than Uncle Sam. — While it's highly unlikely that President Barack Obama is looking to ask the founder and chief executive of Apple Inc. for a loan, it became a fact as of Thursday afternoon — the world's largest technology company …

Discussion: Fortune, CNN, Mediaite, The Next Web, The Atlantic Online, Pajamas Media and The Daily Caller, more at Techmeme »

Elissa Gootman / New York Times:

Atheists Sue to Block Display of Cross-Shaped Beam in 9/11 Museum — In the days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, some workers and mourners at the World Trade Center site seized upon a cross-shaped steel beam found amid the rubble as a symbol of faith and hope.

Discussion: Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit, 911memorial.org and How Appealing