memeorandum: Obama to mark fifth anniversary of financial crisis, highlight response (Mike Lillis/The Hill)

8:50 AM ET, September 15, 2013

Top Items:

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:

U.S. and Russia Reach Deal to Destroy Syria's Chemical Arms — GENEVA — The United States and Russia reached a sweeping agreement on Saturday that called for Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by the middle of 2014 and indefinitely stalled the prospect of American airstrikes.

US Department of State:

Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons — Media Note — Washington, DC — Taking into account the decision of the Syrian Arab Republic to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention and the commitment of the Syrian authorities to provisionally apply the Convention prior …

Discussion: BBC, Belmont Club, NPR, emptywheel, The Hinterland Gazette, Telegraph, Taylor Marsh and Outside the Beltway

Bradley Klapper / Associated Press:

Obama's Larger Syria Strategy in Disarray — After 2½ years of civil war in Syria, President Barack Obama's larger policy is in disarray even as his administration, with help from Russia, averted a military showdown for the time being. — In an address to the American people …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, CNN and Politico

Anne Gearan / Washington Post:

U.S., Russia reach agreement on seizure of Syrian chemical weapons arsenal — GENEVA — The United States and Russia agreed Saturday on an outline for the identification and seizure of Syrian chemical weapons and said Syria must turn over an accounting of its arsenal within a week.

Discussion: US Department of State, Agence France Presse, Politico, Associated Press, Wonkblog, The Raw Story, Hot Air, NBCNews, The Moderate Voice, BBC, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, WorldViews and The Reaction

Conal Urquhart / Guardian:
Syria: US and Russia agree chemical weapons deal

Discussion: World News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Balloon Juice

CNN:
U.S., Russia agree to framework on Syria chemical weapons

Discussion: Business Insider

Associated Press:
US-Russia reach agreement on Syria weapons

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Arguments of the Great Recession Are Over. Hooray. — Five years after the financial crisis, the general expert consensus is that the Obama administration did a good but not great response job. The financial rescue measures saved the banking system from wreaking deep, widespread destruction …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Paul Krugman and Prairie Weather

Salon:

Mann and Ornstein: “Brighter future for politics and policy requires a different Republican Party” — The Republicans have become a party beholden to zealots — with little respect for science, facts or compromise — From the perspective of November 7, the day after the election, change looked promising.

Discussion: The Mahablog and Brad DeLong

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:

Bill Maher: U.S. looking like Zimmerman — Liberal comedian Bill Maher said Friday the U.S. is looking “more like George Zimmerman” with regards to military force and criticized arguments over intervention in Syria. — “Forget the Syria debate, we need a debate on why we're always debating whether to bomb someone.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Hinterland Gazette and Liberal Values

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Obama to mark fifth anniversary of financial crisis, highlight response — President Obama will speak Monday from the White House Rose Garden to mark the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis and highlight his administration's response to it. — Although the nation's housing market …

Discussion: Pirate's Cove and Politico

Bjørn Lomborg / Washington Post:

Don't blame climate change for extreme weather — Bjørn Lomborg, an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, directs the Copenhagen Consensus Center. He is the author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” “Cool It” and, most recently, “How Much Have Global Problems Cost the World?

Discussion: Pirate's Cove and Guardian

James J. Heckman / Opinionator:

Lifelines for Poor Children — What's missing in the current debate over economic inequality is enough serious discussion about investing in effective early childhood development from birth to age 5. This is not a big government boondoggle policy that would require a huge redistribution of wealth.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Buck Stops Here

The Atlantic Online:

How to Make School Better for Boys — Start by acknowledging that boys are languishing while girls are succeeding. — I recently appeared on MSNBC's The Cycle to discuss the new edition of my book The War Against Boys. The four hosts were having none of it. A war on boys?

Discussion: Althouse and Via Meadia

Karoli / Crooks and Liars:

John Boehner Has A Little Problem With His FEC Disclosures — Way back in 2009 I had a look at John Boehner's FEC disclosures for his Freedom Project PAC and wondered then whether anyone would take notice of how popular he was with corporate PAC donors. It's taken four long years …