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The Fine Print on the Debt Deal — If Democrats read the fine print on the debt deal struck by President Obama and Congressional leaders, they'll find that it's a little better than it appears at first glance. — That's not to say that the deal is a good one for them.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Cato @ Liberty, The New Republic, Washington Times, Hit & Run, The Hill, Calculated Risk, nation.foxnews.com and Guardian
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CBO ANALYSIS OF AUGUST 1 BUDGET CONTROL ACT — Letter to the Honorable John Boehner and the Honorable Harry Reid — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as posted on the Web site of the House Committee on Rules on August 1, 2011.

Five Things for Liberals to Like in the Debt Ceiling Deal
Discussion:
Liberal Values, Booman Tribune, Salon, Daily Kos, Newshoggers.com and Suburban Guerrilla

Both the Left and Right Sour on Debt Deal
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

The debt-ceiling deal in one flowchart
Discussion:
Cato @ Liberty, Free exchange and Naked Politics

Mitt Romney opposes compromise deal on the debt ceiling
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller, Maggie's Farm, Weasel Zippers, The Note, Ben Smith's Blog and ThinkProgress

Quick summary of the Budget Control Act
Discussion:
The Huffington Post and White House.gov Blog

House approves debt-ceiling bill as Giffords makes dramatic return — The House on Monday approved bipartisan legislation to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and reduce long-term budget deficits, endorsing the agreement President Obama struck with Republican leaders.
Discussion:
The Other McCain
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House Passes Bill on Debt Ceiling — WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Monday passed the landmark compromise to raise the debt ceiling and sharply cut spending, drawing a solid majority of the Republicans, along with a about half of the Democrats, to push through a package …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish


Giffords's Return Marks Moment of Unity in Divided House — The clock was running down, and the debt ceiling compromise did not yet have enough ayes to pass. Then, slowly, applause started trickling through the House chamber. The clapping grew over the next half minute, until finally …
Discussion:
Jezebel


Biden: Tea partiers like ‘terrorists’ — Vice President Joe Biden joined House Democrats in lashing tea party Republicans Monday, accusing them of having “acted like terrorists” in the fight over raising the nation's debt limit. — Biden was agreeing with a line of argument made by Rep. Mike Doyle …
Discussion:
Power Line, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, CBS News, CNN, The Sundries Shack, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Mudville Gazette, Don Surber, The POH Diaries, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Conservatives4Palin, The Gateway Pundit, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, TPMDC, Dependable Renegade, The Daily Caller, Political Punch, National Review, The Right Scoop, TheBlaze.com, Gawker and Verum Serum
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Krugman Quibble — I agree with most of what Paul Krugman has to say about the debt deal-with one crucial exception. He's right that Obama should have included raising the debt ceiling in last December's tax deal...but he's wrong, I think, about the President using what we'll call …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice
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The President Surrenders — A deal to raise the federal debt ceiling is in the works. If it goes through, many commentators will declare that disaster was avoided. But they will be wrong. — For the deal itself, given the available information, is a disaster, and not just for President Obama and his party.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune, theblogprof, Left in the West, Ricochet Conversation Feed, The Daily Caller, Hullabaloo, Democracy in America, neo-neocon, Don Surber, The Moderate Voice, CNN, The Reaction, Questions and Observations, The BRAD BLOG, The Huffington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Guardian, The New Republic, Mediaite, Pajamas Media, Simply Left BehindThe …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Cafe Hayek, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Enterprise Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, Washington Monthly, Jack & Jill Politics, The Atlantic Online, Taylor Marsh, Big Government, Colorlines, p m carpenter's commentary, DownWithTyranny!, Weasel Zippers, Salon, Connecting.the.Dots, Indecision Forever, Shakesville, Sky Dancing, AMERICAblog News and The Other McCain

Ransom Paid — Anyone who characterizes the deal between …
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DISSENTING JUSTICE, Taylor Marsh and Jared Bernstein

Did Obama Get Rolled? — The debt ceiling agreement is a horrible piece of legislation.

The Diminished President — By rights, Barack Obama …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, AmSpecBlog, Outside the Beltway, The Atlantic Online and New York Times


Most of Newt Gingrich's Twitter Followers Are Fake — Yesterday Newt Gingrich laid out a new argument for why he should be the GOP presidential nominee: He's got the most Twitter followers. But according to a former Gingrich staffer, he bought them. — Gingrich complained yesterday …
Discussion:
Pharyngula, Mock, Paper, Scissors and Mediaite

Health industry fears double whammy in Medicare cuts — The deal reached by congressional leaders to raise the debt ceiling sets up a one-two punch in which healthcare industries will likely face two rounds of major Medicare cuts later this year. — The agreement spares Medicare for the time being …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
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Bolton Speaks — John Bolton has just issued a thoughtful …
Discussion:
CBS News, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Salon, AmSpecBlog and ThinkProgress


Pamela Geller Deletes Racist Caption, Hides Comments — Today we find that anti-Muslim lunatic Pamela Geller is editing her posts again, to remove evidence of blatant racism. — In her despicable post from yesterday, in which she attacked the victims of Oslo terrorist Anders Behring Breivik …
Discussion:
American Power
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The Winner of the Power Line Prize Is... “The Spending Is Nuts,” by Justin Folk: — “Squirrels,” as we call it informally, is a beautiful piece of work. (View it on YouTube in HD here.) We asked Justin to share his thoughts on the contest and his video:
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin and Pajamas Media

WHIP COUNT: Debt-limit bill appears to have the votes to clear Congress — The debt-limit deal announced on Sunday night is expected to attract more than 60 votes in the Senate, but its outlook in the House is much more cloudy. — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will need Democratic votes to clear the bill through the lower chamber.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, The Politico, The Right Scoop, Guardian, JustOneMinute, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland


GETTING BIN LADEN … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE
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Hot Air, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, Mediaite, GayPatriot, Politics, Outside the Beltway, Ben Smith's Blog and SWJ Blog

U.S. Political Ideology Stable With Conservatives Leading — Most Republicans are conservative, but one in five is “very conservative” — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' political ideology at the midyear point of 2011 looks similar to 2009 and 2010, with 41% self-identifying as conservative, 36% as moderate, and 21% as liberal.


The red and the black — Where federal taxes are raised and spent — SOME American states receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes; others receive less. Over twenty years these fiscal transfers can add up to a sizeable sum. From 1990 to 2009 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress

AFP Wisconsin ballots have late return date — Americans for Prosperity is sending absentee ballots to Democrats in at least two Wisconsin state Senate recall districts with instructions to return the paperwork after the election date. — The fliers, obtained by POLITICO …
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TPMDC, JSOnline, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Gawker

Budget talks in a word: ‘Ridiculous,’ ‘disgusting’ and ‘stupid’ top poll — Americans give overwhelmingly negative reviews to the fierce budget debate that has transfixed Washington over the past few weeks, and large numbers now think less favorably about the country's political leaders …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog, AMERICAblog News, Wonkette and Left Coast Rebel


Putin says U.S. is “parasite” on global economy — (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States Monday of living beyond its means “like a parasite” on the global economy and said dollar dominance was a threat to the financial markets.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, FP Passport and This ain't Hell …


Gaga on Clinton: Leave her alone — (CNN) - When it comes to fashion, Lady Gaga has Hillary Clinton's back. — Gaga defended the secretary of state Monday in response to recent criticism by “Project Runway” star Tim Gunn, who stirred controversy when he made fun of Clinton's pantsuit-heavy wardrobe last week.

GOP Rep. Lamborn: Associating With Obama Is Like ‘Touching A Tar Baby’ — Appearing on the Caplis and Silverman radio show last Friday, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) said, “Now I don't even want to have to be associated with [Obama], it's like touching a tar baby and you're stuck, you're part of the problem now.
Discussion:
Speakeasy and TPM LiveWire

Two Things About Huntsman's Mail Piece — Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman returns to New Hampshire this week hoping to try again after a campaign launch that appeared to have more buzz before than after. — In the last two weeks, his campaign manager and longtime friend have now left the campaign.
Discussion:
The Note and Salt Lake Tribune


Kelsey Grammer may run for office in New York — Imagine Kelsey Grammer as the next resident of Gracie Mansion. — The “Frasier” star — a longtime conservative Republican — now says he plans to run for office, perhaps right here in New York, when he gives up acting.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

CBS News' Norah O'Donnell: ‘Where are the Tax Revenues?’, ‘We Got Nothing’ — “We”? Who is “We”?
Discussion:
The New Republic, Mediaite, Datechguy's Blog and The Other McCain