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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Most of Newt Gingrich's Twitter Followers Are Fake  —  Yesterday Newt Gingrich laid out a new argument for why he should be the GOP presidential nominee: He's got the most Twitter followers.  But according to a former Gingrich staffer, he bought them.  —  Gingrich complained yesterday …

Pamela Geller Deletes Racist Caption, Hides Comments  —  Today we find that anti-Muslim lunatic Pamela Geller is editing her posts again, to remove evidence of blatant racism.  —  In her despicable post from yesterday, in which she attacked the victims of Oslo terrorist Anders Behring Breivik …

Romney's cravenness  —  As House Republicans fought amongst themselves over Speaker Boehner's budget bill last week, Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney was asked for his opinion.  He took a pass.  Romney wasn't sure which way the prevailing winds were blowing in his party …

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.  (View it on YouTube in HD here.)  We asked Justin to share his thoughts on the contest and his video:

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

Budget talks in a word: ‘Ridiculous,’ ‘disgusting’ and ‘stupid’ top poll  —  Americans give overwhelmingly negative reviews to the fierce budget debate that has transfixed Washington over the past few weeks, and large numbers now think less favorably about the country's political leaders …

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.

If I Were In The House  —  I guess I have to be explicit at this point: yes, I would vote no.  —  What about the catastrophe that would result?  Several thoughts.  —  First, what I keep hearing from people who should know is that Treasury won't actually run out of cash tomorrow, that it still has a few more days.

The red and the black  —  Where federal taxes are raised and spent  —  SOME American states receive more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes; others receive less.  Over twenty years these fiscal transfers can add up to a sizeable sum.  From 1990 to 2009 …