memeorandum: S&P cuts Fannie and Freddie credit rating (Washington Examiner)

4:35 PM ET, August 8, 2011

Top Items:

Rick Perry to make 2012 intentions clear Saturday — Rick Perry intends to use a speech in South Carolina Saturday to make clear that he's running for president, POLITICO has learned. — According to two sources familiar with the plan, the Texas governor will remove any doubt …

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

LEAP OF FAITH … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

First Read / msnbc.com:

Bachmann attends church service denouncing homosexuality — WAUKEE, IA — Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann yesterday attended a church here in Iowa, where the pastor called homosexuality “immoral” and “unnatural,” and later showed a testimonial video from a man who claimed …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Minnesota Independent, The New Civil Rights Movement, Little Green Footballs, Joe. My. God., TPMDC, Towleroad News #gay, Iowa Caucuses, Politics and Silenced Majority Portal

The Daily Beast:
Bachmann: Tea Party Queen

Discussion: GOP 12, nation.foxnews.com, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, Wonkette and The Daily Dish

John McCormick / Bloomberg:
Republicans Who Want to Replace Obama Will Focus Attacks in Iowa This Week

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, The Daily Caller and GOP 12

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Perry to visit NH and SC while presidential candidates gather in Iowa

Discussion: CNN, The Note, GOP 12, Pajamas Media and The Page

Economics of Contempt:

On S&P, Downgrades, and Idiots — This is not going to be one of those posts that laments S&P's decision to downgrade the US, but then says that S&P was probably right about our oh-so-dysfunctional political system. — No, S&P was flat-out wrong — no caveats.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Paul Krugman, No More Mister Nice Blog, Free exchange, American Spectator, The Huffington Post, peoplesworld, Modeled Behavior, Felix Salmon, AmSpecBlog, Coffee & Markets, Wizbang, NewsBusters.org blogs and Politics

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
DNC chairwoman blames Tea Party ‘tyrants’ for US credit-rating downgrade

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Weasel Zippers

Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:
VIDEO: Tea Partiers Cheer the Downgrade of America's Credit Rating

Discussion: Power Line, Bloomberg, PERRspectives, The Heritage Foundation, Crooks and Liars, Gawker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Gateway Pundit and Mother Jones

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
S&P's History of Relentless Political Advocacy

Discussion: Global Public Square, Online NewsHour, Hullabaloo, TPMDC and Associated Press

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Truthdig, The Atlantic Online, Prairie Weather, Global Public Square, Democracy in America, It's All Trivial …, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Associated Press and Politics

David Jackson / USA Today:
Obama: Downgrade should create ‘renewed sense of urgency’

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com and Doug Ross

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Allen West Claims S&P Downgrade ‘Has Nothing To Do With Increasing Revenues’ — S&P Disagrees

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Erick's blog and Daily Kos

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Job Approval 50% or Higher in 16 States and D.C. — Idaho residents least approving, at 27% — PRINCETON, NJ — Residents of 16 states and the District of Columbia gave President Obama approval ratings of 50% or higher during the first half of 2011, led by the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Post, Hotline On Call, Swampland, Weasel Zippers and TPMDC

A.Killough / CNN:
CNN Poll: Obama approval rating remains steady in mid 40s

Discussion: National Review

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico: Barack Obama on credit rating downgrade: U.S. ‘always will be a triple-A country’

Brianna Keilar / CNN:
Obama says U.S. has ‘always been and always will be a triple-A country’

Discussion: CNNMoney.com and New York Magazine

Paul Krugman:

Aaauuuggghhh! Market Commentary Edition — Carnage in stock markets as I write — and all of the headlines I see attribute it to S&P's downgrade. — They really are trying to make my head explode, aren't they? — Once again: S&P declared that US debt is no longer a safe investment …

Discussion: Modeled Behavior, Talking Points Memo, AMERICAblog News and Economist's View

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Disconnect — This piece on CNN Money says that “market observers tried to say the downgrade by itself shouldn't matter — that it was expected and that the United States still has a strong credit rating ... But the market wasn't buying it.” And then it goes on to note that investors are rushing to buy up US Treasuries.

Discussion: CNNMoney.com

New York Times:
Stocks Plummet in Flight From Risk

Discussion: Firedoglake, New York Times, CNBC, New York Magazine, The New Republic, TalkLeft, Runnin' Scared, Global Public Square, Facing South, Mogulite, Money & Company, Economix, The Page and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Michelle Malkin:

The Conservative Crazy Eyes Cliche & Other Stupid MSM Photo Tricks — Sigh. Seriously, Tina Brown? — Yes, I'm talking about you, Oxford University-educated Newsweek/Daily Beast editor Tina Brown. — You've resorted to recycling bottom-of-the-barrel moonbat photo cliches …

Discussion: Washington Post, Big Journalism, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, NewsBusters.org blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog, The New Civil Rights Movement, Runnin' Scared, Althouse and American Power

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Does The Michele Bachmann Newsweek Cover Make Her ‘Look Crazy’? — Conservative media watchdog Newsbusters is helpfully defending GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) honor against those serial cover photo offenders at Newsweek, excoriating the magazine for using …

Discussion: Gawker

Rasmussen Reports:
Iowa Caucus: Bachmann, Romney and Paul on Top

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, 2012 Campaign Trail Report, GOP 12 and National Review

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Drew Westen's Nonsense — There are some strong criticisms to be made of the Obama administration from the left, especially concerning Obama's passive response to the debt ceiling hostage crisis, and his frightening willingness to give away the store to John Boehner. I've made many of these criticisms myself.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Monkey Cage, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, A plain blog about politics, Change of Subject and Marbury

The Daily Beast:
Hillary Told You So — As Democratic disgust with Obama's …

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, Shakesville, The Monkey Cage, Pajamas Media, nation.foxnews.com, NO QUARTER, DISSENTING JUSTICE and No More Mister Nice Blog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
The Westen piece — It's not exactly a secret that there is …

Discussion: Democracy in America, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Daily Caller

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Waiting For A Landslide — In 1955, a political scientist named V. O. Key published an essay entitled “A Theory of Critical Elections.” He argued that realignments in American politics are usually punctuated by transformative elections, in which the old order suddenly gives way and a new majority emerges in its place.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Caucus, The Mahablog, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The New Republic and American Power

Shira Ovide / Deal Journal:

Berkshire, Other Insurers Get ‘Negative’ Tag from S&P … Cue the music from “Jaws.” — After Standard & Poor's bit an appendage from the U.S.'s credit rating, the credit-rating firm is smelling blood in the water at Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. — S&P today is marking down ratings …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Corrente

JeeYeon Park / CNBC:
Stocks Off Lows, Dow Above 11,000; Vix Soars

Discussion: Modeled Behavior, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Pajamas Media

Washington Examiner:
S&P cuts Fannie and Freddie credit rating

Discussion: Questions and Observations, TigerHawk and JammieWearingFool

Paul Krugman:

It's a Growth Scare — FTalphaville has been saying this all day, and it's right. The action in the markets looks nothing like worries about US solvency; it looks exactly like what you expect to see when markets suddenly realize that the economy's growth prospects look terrible.

Discussion: Grasping Reality …

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Obama's horrifyingly bad speech — He was a half hour late. His head turned from side to side as if he were attending a tennis match. He practically never looked in the camera, as if he were averting our gaze. And those were the strong parts of President Obama's disastrous speech.

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Poor People Own Appliances Because They're Cheap — My colleagues Melissa Boteach and Donna Cooper have a great piece on the Heritage Foundation's “poor people aren't actually poor because they own cheap electronics” theory of poverty. This infographic nicely highlights the silliness …

Discussion: Eschaton

John R. Bolton / Human Events:

On Deck: Why I May Run for President — Adam Smith wrote in The Wealth of Nations that “the first duty of the sovereign, that of protecting the society from the violence and invasion of other independent societies, can be performed only by means of a military force.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Atlas Shrugs, The Daily Caller, LewRockwell.com Blog and Pajamas Media

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

House leaders end page program — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced they were ending the House page program. — As of Aug. 31, the program — which employs nearly 70 high school students to serve as messengers and couriers …

Discussion: The Politico