memeorandum: Biden Says Getting Deal Done on Deficit Reduction Will Be ‘Very Difficult’ (Kate Andersen Brower/Bloomberg)

1:25 PM ET, August 23, 2011

Top Items:

Conservative elites pine for 2012 hero — It's a tough time to be a conservative intellectual. — From the Weekly Standard to the Wall Street Journal, on the pages of policy periodicals and opinion sections, the egghead right's longing for a presidential candidate of ideas …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, TheBlaze.com, Booman Tribune, Online NewsHour, No More Mister Nice Blog, Erick's blog, Balloon Juice and Politics

National Review:

Five Reasons Ryan Bowed Out — Sources close to Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin tell National Review Online that the Budget Committee chairman considered a variety of factors this summer as he mulled a late-entry presidential campaign. This afternoon, he closed the door on a 2012 bid, choosing to remain in the House.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Man Are We Screwed, Patterico's Pontifications and Hot Air

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Perry takes the lead in Iowa — Rick Perry is the new leader in Iowa: — The race is pretty close four ways in Iowa but Rick Perry is the new favorite among Republican voters in the state. Among announced candidates he's at 22% to 19% for Mitt Romney, 18% for Michele Bachmann, and 16% for Ron Paul.

Discussion: GOP 12, National Review, Hot Air, Daily Kos and Hotline On Call

Paul A. Gigot / Wall Street Journal:

Huntsman's Anti-GOP Strategy — The former Utah governor tries to save his GOP presidential bid by using global warming as a wedge issue. — When Joe Manchin wanted to save his U.S. Senate campaign, the West Virginia Democrat loaded a rifle and put a bullet through a sheet of paper labeled …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics, Power Line, Althouse and YID With LID

Steve Bainbridge / ProfessorBainbridge.com:
If the trial lawyers hate Rick Perry, maybe I should reconsider him

Discussion: PointOfLaw Forum, Ricochet Conversation Feed, Law Blog and Mother Jones

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Spending, not entitlements, created huge deficit — It's conventional wisdom in Washington to blame the federal government's dire financial outlook on runaway entitlement spending. Unless we rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the conventional wisdom goes, the federal government is headed for disaster.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, UrbanGrounds and The Lonely Conservative

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Rick Perry's views on the Constitution get closer scrutiny

Discussion: Man Are We Screwed and Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Does Rick Perry still favor repeal of 16th Amendment?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Indecision Forever, Swampland, Wonkette, Politics, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story and The New Republic

Mark Knoller / CBS News:

National debt has increased $4 trillion under Obama — The latest posting by the Treasury Department shows the national debt has now increased $4 trillion on President Obama's watch. — The debt was $10.626 trillion on the day Mr. Obama took office. The latest calculation from Treasury shows the debt has now hit $14.639 trillion.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations, Scared Monkeys, Clusterstock, Doug Ross, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, National Review and Pajamas Media

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

New national debt data: It's growing about $3 million a minute, even during his vacation — Swallow all liquids in your mouth before reading any further. — Updated numbers for the national debt are just out: It's now $14,639,000,000,000. — When Barack Obama took the oath of office twice on Jan. 20 …

Discussion: Althouse, BizzyBlog and Weasel Zippers

New York Times:

Rebel Forces Invade Qaddafi Compound — TRIPOLI, Libya — Rebel fighters enteredCol. Muammar el-Qaddafi's fortified compound for the first time on Tuesday, as the crackle of gunfire and rumble of explosions spread across a confused and wary Libyan capital in spasms of renewed fighting.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, FP Passport, Gothamist and Towleroad News #gay, more at Mediagazer »

The White House:
Statement by the President on Libya Blue Heron Farm, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Discussion: Mudville Gazette, Osborne Ink, Man Are We Screwed, News Desk, The Huffington Post, Political Punch, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, White House.gov Blog, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN, The Daily Dish and Washington Monthly

New York Times:
After Uprising, Rebels Face a Struggle for Unity

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

How Democrats Hurt Jobs — The airplane's aft section arrived early Monday morning. That's what they'd been waiting for at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. They already had the wings, the nose, the tail — all the other major sections of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversation Feed, Washington Post, The Business Insider and Betsy's Page

Henry Blodget / Clusterstock:

Here's Why Bank Of America's Stock Is Collapsing Again — It's deja vu all over again. — The stock of a humongous American bank, Bank of America (BAC), is collapsing. — This is stoking fears that Bank of America will go bust, taking the whole economy down with it. — Why is Bank of America's stock tanking?

Discussion: MarketBeat, FT Alphaville, Modeled Behavior, Deal Journal and naked capitalism

Richard A. Posner / The New Republic:

Let's Be Honest: We're in a Depression, Not a Recession, And There's No End In Sight — This article is a contribution to ‘Is There Anything That Can Be Done? A TNR Symposium On The Economy.’ Click here to read other contributions to the series. — If the notion that we are merely living through …

Hoover Institution:

How Is Warren Buffett Like the Pope? — by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force) — They are both dead wrong on economic policy. — The terrible economic news from both Europe and the United States …

Discussion: National Review, Mirror of Justice, MuniLand, The Reality-Based Community, Wonkette and The Huffington Post

Felix Salmon:

How to get $12 billion of gold to Venezuela — Ever since the news broke last week that Hugo Chávez wanted to transport 211 tons of physical gold from Europe to Caracas, I've been wondering how on earth he possibly intends to do such a thing. — There are 99 tons already being held …

Discussion: Fausta's Blog

SarahPAC:

Setting The Record Straight: Wrong & Misleading — Three years ago DC pundits predicted with glee the demise of Sarah Palin's political career. This past weekend their tune changed, citing false information that she has made a decision and set a date regarding a future campaign.

Discussion: Ballot Box, CNN, GOP 12, Don Surber, Erick's blog, Iowa Caucuses, Conservatives4Palin, Man Are We Screwed, Politics and Hot Air

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Fresh Palin Tea Leaves Seem to Predict a Late September Decision

Discussion: CNN, The Other McCain and Erick's blog

Cass Sunstein / Wall Street Journal:

Washington Is Eliminating Red Tape — New reforms will save Americans billions without sacrificing public health or safety. — Early this year, President Obama ordered an unprecedentedly ambitious government-wide review of existing federal regulations, emphasizing that we must “measure …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Politico

Cass Sunstein / White House.gov Blog:
Final Regulatory Reform Plans Will Save Money, Reduce Waste

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Punch

Max Pizarro / Politicker NJ:

In LD8, Delany derailed by wife's email to Lewis — Former Assemblyman Pat Delany abruptly resigned last month from his post representing the 8th district after his wife sent a racially tinged email to senate challenger Carl Lewis, the former Olympic Gold medalist.

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Wonkette, The Raw Story, iOwnTheWorld.com, Talking Points Memo, TPM LiveWire and Dependable Renegade

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

Debbie's Very Bad Day in Iowa — During my Iowa trip, I got lots of photos and videos I wasn't able to upload at the time due to connectivity issues and the very hectic schedule. One of the items that never made it to the blog was an incident at the Iowa State Fair where DNC Chairwoman …

Patricia Mazzei / Naked Politics:

Beware the tea party, Jesse Jackson, Frederica Wilson and black Democrats say at jobs meeting — Democratic members of the Congressional Black Caucus are in Miami Tuesday to host a jobs fair, part of their five-city tour to draw attention to high unemployment, particularly in the black community.

Discussion: The Politico, Big Government, americanthinker.com, Washington Post and Chicago Boyz

Tevi Troy / National Review:

What's Obama Reading? — The reports are in about the books President Obama is looking at on his annual trip to Martha's Vineyard. According to reports from the Los Angeles Times and the AP, Obama purchased five books on his trip to the Vineyard bookseller Bunch of Grapes: Marianna Baer's Frost …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Magazine and William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

Gregory Simmons / ABCNEWS:

Gov. Sanford on Emerging From Seclusion — A scandal-plagued former governor who was once considered a potential presidential contender for 2012 is instead standing on the periphery, reflecting on what might have been and watching as the Republican primary field continues to take shape.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill, The Note and CNN

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:

FCC officially kills Fairness Doctrine, wiping it from rules — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the elimination of 83 outdated and obsolete agency rules on Monday, including the controversial Fairness Doctrine. — “The elimination of the obsolete …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Neil_Stevens's blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Don Surber, more at Mediagazer »

Kate Andersen Brower / Bloomberg:

Biden Says Getting Deal Done on Deficit Reduction Will Be ‘Very Difficult’ — Vice President Joe Biden said the special congressional committee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget savings has a chance at overcoming “very, very difficult” odds to reach an agreement by its deadline.

Discussion: TPMDC, Washington Post, The Raw Story and Clusterstock

Michael O'Brien / Ballot Box:

Warren's criticism of Wall Street poses fundraising dilemma — Elizabeth Warren's combative history with Wall Street could create a fundraising dilemma for her burgeoning Senate campaign. — Her ardent grassroots following on the left — forged during stints as TARP watchdog and as mastermind …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Shakesville and Prairie Weather

Jeff Reinitz / Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier:

NEW DETAILS: Witnesses said they heard beating victim taunted — A brutal fight that claimed the life of a Waterloo teen started with taunting, witnesses said. — Police confirmed that 19-year-old Marcellus Richard Andrews was officially pronounced dead at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Box Turtle Bulletin

John Eligon / New York Times:

Judge Orders Dismissal of Charges Against Strauss-Kahn — A judge formally ordered the dismissal of all criminal charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Tuesday, but he said his order would be stayed until an appellate court decides whether a special prosecutor should be appointed.

Discussion: New York Magazine, City Room, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FT Alphaville

Julia Preston / New York Times:

U.S. Issues New Deportation Policy's First Reprieves — The call came in the morning to the lawyer representing Manuel Guerra, an illegal immigrant from Mexico living in Florida who had been caught in a tortuous and seemingly failing five-year court fight against deportation.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, ThinkProgress, TalkLeft, Rasmussen Reports and Washington Monthly

New York Times:

It's a Flawed Settlement — The Obama administration has turned up the heat on Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, to go along with a proposed settlement with the nation's largest banks over dubious foreclosure practices. Mr. Schneiderman should stand his ground in not supporting the deal.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, naked capitalism, DownWithTyranny!, Gothamist and Salon