memeorandum: ‘A self-inflicted wound of monumental stupidity’ (Steve Benen/Washington Monthly)

4:30 PM ET, July 29, 2011

Top Items:

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Approval Drops to New Low of 40% — Similar to his approval rating for handling the debt ceiling negotiations — PRINCETON, NJ — President Obama's job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking. His prior low rating of 41% occurred several times, the last of which was in April.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Michelle Malkin, Top of the Ticket, The Hill, GOP 12, Washington Post, The Monkey Cage, JammieWearingFool, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, TPMDC, Don Surber, Fox News, Taegan Goddard's …, Pajamas Media, CNN and HotAirPundit

The Note:

Boehner gets standing ovation from Senate Rs — ABC News' Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — Speaker of the House John Boehner just quietly ventured over to the Senate side and dropped in on a closed lunch of Senate Republicans. — The lunch - pizza, again - was in the Strom Thurmond room.

Discussion: The Politico, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

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, New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The New Republic, Bloomberg, Power Line, Wake up America, The Gateway Pundit, The Greenroom, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Page and Outside the Beltway

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.

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

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: The Right Scoop, Outside the Beltway, USA Today and AmSpecBlog

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: National Review, Politics, Hot Air and Pajamas Media

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, Politics, The New Republic and Hot Air

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

What Boehner Should Do Now — Last night, Speaker Boehner toyed with adding a gimmicky balanced budget amendment provision to the Republican budget bill in order to try to get the final handful of votes he needs for passage. He thought better of this last night, and didn't do so.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Democrats Threaten Saturday Night Debt Fever

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Taegan Goddard's …

The Note: Senate Democrats Blast Revised Boehner Debt Bill as ‘Absurd’

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico: Obama approval rating hits all-time low, according to poll

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Sen. Reid says he's moving ‘the last train’ to raise the debt ceiling

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Roll Call and The Caucus

Reuters:
With House debt ceiling bill stalled, Harry Reid makes his move

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook and Hot Air

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
GOP leader: ‘I believe there will be a vote today’ on House debt ceiling plan

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

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Gut Check Time for John Boehner

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and The New Republic

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times and Questions and Observations

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Club for Growth won't fight Boehner plan

Discussion: The Page

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
The Worst Negotiators — I cannot decide who the worst negotiators …

Discussion: RedState

David Rogers / The Politico:
They're not that far apart — As bad as Washington looks …

Discussion: Reuters and Swampland

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: Hot Air, theblogprof, Washington Monthly, International Liberty, Pajamas Media, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Scared Monkeys, PoliPundit.com, americanthinker.com and The Right Scoop

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: Rortybomb, Off the Charts Blog, Angry Bear, National Review, Econbrowser, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, FT Alphaville, naked capitalism, ThinkProgress, CRFB.org, Calculated Risk and Worthwhile Canadian Initiative

Free exchange:

Distress signal — IN 2007, the great ship of the American economy began encountering darkening skies. In 2008, it was suddenly faced with a violent storm which blew it miles off course, well south of where it ought to have been. The country's leaders didn't know how far from their charted path …

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE

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

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

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: Salon, National Review, Maggie's Notebook, Vox Popoli, ThinkProgress, The Hill, CNN, Indecision Forever and The Right Scoop

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: The Gateway Pundit, Maggie's Notebook, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Weasel Zippers and Pirate's Cove

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

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

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
G.O.P. Fervor Cuts 2 Ways for Boehner

Discussion: The Politico

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mock, Paper, Scissors, The Impolitic, The Sideshow, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Weasel Zippers and Prairie Weather

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

John Boehner's no-confidence vote — “Get your ass in line,” Speaker John Boehner had told House Republicans who resisted his plan to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default — But really, it was Boehner's butt that was on the line - and late Thursday night, he had it handed to him.

Discussion: Firedoglake

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Washington Post

Yvonne Wenger / The Post and Courier, Charleston SC:

Democrats criticize Haley's checking of ‘white’ on voter registration application — COLUMBIA — What box should Gov. Nikki Haley check when it comes to her race? — The South Carolina Democratic Party tried Thursday to make Haley out as a liar for checking “white” as her race …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Pajamas Media, The Volokh Conspiracy and Weasel Zippers

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

‘A self-inflicted wound of monumental stupidity’ — There are, regrettably, plenty of prominent media voices who insist on characterizing the Republicans' debt-ceiling crisis as a disaster brought on by “both sides.” Yes, David Gergen, I'm looking in your direction.

Discussion: Verum Serum, Balloon Juice and Mother Jones

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 …