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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:
The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Guardian, The BRAD BLOG, Democracy in America, The Reaction, neo-neocon, Washington Post, CNN, Hullabaloo, Hit & Run, Pajamas Media, Mediaite, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Cafe Hayek, Simply Left BehindThe …, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Big Government, Questions and Observations, Real Time Economics, The Atlantic Online, Jack & Jill Politics, The Gateway Pundit, The New Republic, Colorlines, Wake up America, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, DownWithTyranny!, Connecting.the.Dots, AMERICAblog News, Weasel Zippers, p m carpenter's commentary, Salon, Don Surber, Indecision Forever, Power Line, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather, Outside the Beltway, Sky Dancing, The Other McCain, The POH Diaries, Via Meadia, Truthdig, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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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:
Guardian and Balloon Juice
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The myth of Obama's “blunders” and “weakness” — With the details of the pending debt deal now emerging (and for a very good explanation of the key terms, see this post by former Biden economic adviser Jared Bernstein), a consensus is solidifying that (1) this is a virtually full-scale victory …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos
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To Escape Chaos, a Terrible Deal — There is little to like about the tentative agreement between Congressional leaders and the White House except that it happened at all. The deal would avert a catastrophic government default, immediately and probably through the end of 2012.
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Did Obama Get Rolled? — The debt ceiling agreement is a horrible piece of legislation. It ratchets down already too-low domestic discretionary spending caps and imposes painful sacrifice on the middle class with little asked of the rich. Obviously, though, you can't assess any deal without asking “compared to what?”
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Jared Bernstein, Alas, a Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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How the Tea Party ‘hobbits’ won the debt fight — The Tea Party came under fire from all sides Friday after House conservatives nearly brought down Speaker John Boehner's debt-limit bill. John McCain went to the Senate floor to mock Tea Partyers as “hobbits,” and Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen …
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Ransom Paid — Anyone who characterizes the deal between …
Discussion:
DISSENTING JUSTICE and Jared Bernstein
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The Diminished President — By rights, Barack Obama …
Discussion:
CNN, AmSpecBlog, The Atlantic Online and Outside the Beltway
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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, The New Republic, Hit & Run, Washington Times, Cato @ Liberty, Calculated Risk, The Hill and nation.foxnews.com
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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.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Cato @ Liberty, USA Today, Director's Blog, Speaker, Club for Growth and The Daily Caller
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Mitt Romney opposes compromise deal on the debt ceiling — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) broke his silence on the congressional debt-ceiling fight on Monday, emerging to say he couldn't back the final deal announced Sunday. — Romney, who had refused to weigh in during recent weeks …
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller, Maggie's Farm, The Note, Weasel Zippers, ThinkProgress and Ben Smith's Blog
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Five Things for Liberals to Like in the Debt Ceiling Deal — As the broad strokes of the debt ceiling deal began to leak out over the weekend, progressive groups filled reporters' inboxes with outraged e-mails. “Seeing a Democratic President take taxing the rich off the table and instead push …
Discussion:
Salon, Daily Kos, Newshoggers.com, Booman Tribune and Suburban Guerrilla
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Debt Ceiling Deal—Less Than Meets the Eye
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The Atlantic Online, Guardian, The New Republic, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post and Hit & Run
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The Hostages Next Time — I remember last December sitting …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online and Biased BBC
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Why the Debt Ceiling Deal Sucks
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Daily Kos, American Power and Newshoggers.com
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A deal that found the lowest-common denominator
Discussion:
International Liberty, Bloomberg, TPMDC, The LIBERAL LAMP Post, White House.gov Blog, The Heritage Foundation, The Incidental Economist, TalkLeft, Bankrupting America, YID With LID, Orlando Sentinel, Hit & Run, CRFB.org, The Enterprise Blog, James Pethokoukis, The Sundries Shack, The Mahablog, The Reid Report and ThinkProgress
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Winners and losers: policy edition
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ThinkProgress, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, PERRspectives, The Washington Current and Right Wing News
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Not Playing the Fool — There are a lot of Republicans tonight willing …
Discussion:
Washington Post, RedState and nation.foxnews.com
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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:
JustOneMinute, The Right Scoop, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Guardian and Daily Kos
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Can debt deal pass House if Dem leaders don't whip votes?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Taegan Goddard's …
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GOP leaders, Biden scramble for House support on debt deal
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, The Note, Hot Air, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers and The Caucus
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White House, congressional leaders reach debt-limit deal
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NationalJournal.com, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, AlterNet, New York Times, The BLT, Bankrupting America and The Reid Report
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Budget Deal Doesn't Cut Spending
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Marginal Revolution, Washington Post and Bearing Drift
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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:
The POH Diaries, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, The Daily Caller, National Review, The Right Scoop and TheBlaze.com
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Running for Grown-up — The two Republicans with the best chance of beating Obama in 2012 happen to be rich, business-friendly, perfectly coiffed cousins from rival Mormon clans. No wonder there's no love lost between Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. — Jon Huntsman Jr. sits on the edge …
Discussion:
GOP 12
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Romney Breaks Debt Ceiling Silence: ‘Cannot Support This Deal’
Discussion:
Washington Post, Fox News, Weasel Zippers and Daily Kos
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Romney, Perry, Bachmann Run Close Among GOP Primary Voters
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Washington Wire, GOP 12, Pajamas Media and National Review
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Mitt Romney Opposes Debt Compromise
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Wonkette, Hit & Run, Indecision Forever and Gawker
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Romney's cravenness — As House Republicans fought amongst themselves …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and Swampland
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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 …
Discussion:
JSOnline, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
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Bolton Speaks — John Bolton has just issued a thoughtful statement raising “serious questions ... about the national-security implications of the proposed deal to raise the Federal debt ceiling.” Bolton calls attention to the worrisome short-term defense cuts that the deal makes likely …
Discussion:
CBS News, ThinkProgress, Salon, Washington Post and AmSpecBlog
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What Gets Cut If The Debt Commission Doesn't Agree?
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
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Defense and the Debt Ceiling
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The Right Scoop and Pundit & Pundette
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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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Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Politics, Ben Smith's Blog and SWJ Blog
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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.
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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. We asked Justin to share his thoughts on the contest and his video: … We also asked Justin to explain, from a technical standpoint, how he achieved such a beautiful result.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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Protesters of debt deal detained at Capitol — Up to 20 people protesting against House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) debt deal were detained Monday at the Capitol. — The protesters, including members of the National People's Action (NPA) group, disrupted debate on the House floor …
Discussion:
Mediaite