White House: S&P downgrade is why Obama ‘pushed for grand bargain’  —  The White House reacted to the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by calling for more bipartisan compromise to “put our nation on a stronger fiscal footing.”  —  But the administration didn't miss the chance to say, in essence, “I told you so.”

Copter Downed by Taliban Fire; Elite U.S. Unit Among Dead  —  KABUL, Afghanistan — In the deadliest day for American forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter on Saturday, killing 30 Americans, including some Navy Seal commandos …

Perry prays for the U.S.  —  HOUSTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry prayed with more than 20,000 worshipers at an all-day Christian gathering here — and while he talked about God, not the Oval Office, he repeatedly hit on the themes that would drive his potential presidential campaign.

The Tea Party, Take Two  —  In the four months since I began writing an Op-Ed column, the thing that has most surprised me is how darned liberal I sound sometimes.  I know that seems like a strange thing to say, so let me explain.  —  Growing up in heavily Democratic Providence, R.I. …

Mystery Mitt Romney donor comes forward  —  The anonymous donor behind the headline-making $1 million contribution to a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC is a former Bain Capital official with long ties to the candidate, who's asking the outside group to amend its filings, POLITICO has learned.

Former Obama Economic Adviser on Downgrade: We're ‘Pretty Darn F—ked’  —  Christina Romer, the former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Friday offered a rather strong opinion concerning the announcement by Standard & Poor's that the credit rating agency downgraded America's debt to AA+.

The Madman Theory  —  I had breakfast this week with one of Hollywood's most ferocious, self-confident and successful doers of deals.  He was still steamed about what an unforgivably lousy negotiator his president had been on the debt ceiling agreement.  —  One particular Obama move he found appalling above all the rest.

Standard and Poors versus Mitch McConnell  —  Putting aside the question of whether we should accord any credibility to Standard and Poors' downgrade, it's hard to see how conservatives can claim S & P's report as a political victory when it says this:

Obama and the Narcissism of Big Differences  —  ‘He becomes visibly agitated. . . . He does not like to be challenged on policy grounds,’ says the House majority leader of the president.  —  New York  —  Whatever the rhetoric that preceded this week's deal, the debt-ceiling debate was never really about the debt at all.