memeorandum: ECB buys up Italian and Spanish debt (Financial Times)

12:25 PM ET, August 8, 2011

Top Items:

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: Free exchange, Paul Krugman, AmSpecBlog, Felix Salmon, American Spectator, Wizbang, NewsBusters.org blogs, Politics and Firedoglake

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt — To understand the furor over the decision by Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, to downgrade U.S. government debt, you have to hold in your mind two seemingly (but not actually) contradictory ideas. The first is that America is indeed no longer the stable, reliable country it once was.

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

Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:

VIDEO: Tea Partiers Cheer the Downgrade of America's Credit Rating — Is the tea party happy that Standard and Poor's, the credit rating agency, downgraded the United States' credit rating for the first time ever? — You'd think that was the case if you were in the crowd at a tea party rally …

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

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
“Tea Party Downgrade”? They Can't Possibly Sell That

Discussion: The Caucus, Somewhat Reasonable, The Daily Caller, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit

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

Discussion: CNNMoney.com and Associated Press

Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:
S&P Seen Surrendering to Tea Party Costing U.S. Taxpayer

Discussion: The Huffington Post

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, Concord Monitor, New York Magazine, The Wire, TPMDC, The New Republic, Mediaite, The Raw Story, msnbc.com, Iowa Caucuses, FrumForum, Right Wing Watch and Towleroad News #gay

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Michele Bachmann's development and formation

Discussion: The Note and The Daily Caller

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Markets open low as White House pushes back on S&P downgrade — Washington's lawmakers and policymakers anxiously watched the open of financial markets in Asia, Europe and New York Monday to determine the impact of the nation losing its AAA credit rating. — The downgrade of the nation's …

Discussion: The Hill and The Reaction

Patrick Allen / CNBC:

No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P's decision to downgrade America's credit rating. — “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers and LewRockwell.com Blog

Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Stocks Slump in First U.S. Trading Since Downgrade

Discussion: New York Magazine, Global Public Square, The Curious Capitalist, Money & Company, 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: Big Journalism and Althouse

Lauri Apple / Gawker:
Michele Bachmann Looks, Um, Surprised to Be on Newsweek Cover

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Runnin' Scared, NewsBusters.org blogs and The New Civil Rights Movement

Nouriel Roubini / Financial Times:

Mission impossible: stop another recession — The first half of 2011 showed a slowdown of growth - if not outright contraction - in most advanced economies. Optimists said this was a temporary soft patch. This delusion has been dashed. Even before last week's panic …

Discussion: Economix, FT Alphaville and AMERICAN FUTURE

Paul Krugman:
A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis? (Wonkish)

Discussion: JustOneMinute, ThinkProgress, Free exchange, Money & Company, Financial Times, Shakesville, FT Alphaville, It's All Trivial …, Reuters, naked capitalism, Marginal Revolution, Wall Street Journal, ecb.int and Calculated Risk

Financial Times:
ECB buys up Italian and Spanish debt

Discussion: Firedoglake, Via Meadia, FT Alphaville and New York Times

Jennifer Epstein / Reuters:

Exclusive: S&P's flub-filled draft press release — Ahead of its downgrade of the U.S.'s AAA rating Friday night, Standard & Poor's sent a draft press release - obtained by POLITICO - to the Treasury Department that afternoon that included several numerical errors, setting off a heated …

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos and Politics

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Rep. West: Geithner ‘should move on’ from Treasury job

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

The Note:
Michele Bachmann Doubles Down On Tim Geithner: He ‘Must Resign Immediately For The Sake Of Our Country’

Discussion: The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, New York Magazine and Gawker

Abby Phillip / The Politico:

Duncan to issue ‘No Child’ waivers — Seeing “no clear path” toward reauthorizing the “No Child Left Behind” education law, the Obama administration will unilaterally issue waivers to states, exempting them from some of the law's regulations. — “Today we're less than a month from the start …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Sam Dillon / New York Times:
Overriding a Key Education Law

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Eduwonk, American Spectator, Dropout Nation and Hot Air

Daily Mail:

Explosive Jackie O tapes ‘reveal how she believed Johnson killed JFK and had affair with movie star’ — Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal.

Discussion: Mudville Gazette, Scared Monkeys, Sky Dancing, The Daily Caller, The Wire, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Change of Subject, Pajamas Media and Don Surber

Rasmussen Reports:

Iowa Caucus: Bachmann, Romney and Paul on Top — In the Iowa caucus race for the Republican presidential nomination, five candidates are in double digits, and many voters are open to changing their mind before caucus day arrives. — The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

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

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Perry team raising money, supporter says announcement next week — Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at The Response, a call to prayer for a nation in crisis, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, in Houston.. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip - AP) Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) …

Discussion: GOP 12, Outside the Beltway and Politics

Kevin Diaz / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Pawlenty changes his approach on health care — He favored exchanges and was ‘open to’ mandates. Then he ran for president. — WASHINGTON - In his presidential campaign autobiography, “Courage to Stand,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recalls a man in a wheelchair who approached him at an airport in Mankato.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Kaiser Health News, Washington Post, Morning Sentinel, Iowa Caucuses and The Politico

David Catanese / The Politico:

Wis. Dem memo: Victory predictions “dangerous” — MADISON Wis. — Democrats on the ground here are increasingly confident they will pick-up two state Senate seats, but are warning that winning the third necessary for a takeover is a tenuous prospect. — Despite hype from some in the party apparatus …

Discussion: Althouse and National Review

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: Atlas Shrugs, The Daily Caller and LewRockwell.com Blog

Scott Adams / Wall Street Journal:

The Heady Thrill of Having Nothing to Do — Is constant stimulation hurting our creativity—and the economy? Scott Adams pays tribute to tedium — We've won the war on boredom! If you have a smartphone in your pocket, a game console in the living room, a Kindle in your backpack …

Discussion: Pajamas Media