Senator Marco Rubio: "Save the Whole House or It Will All Burn Down"

◼ Sen. Rubio Beat a Dead Horse in the Senate Today. His Name Is John Kerry. - Redstate

Sen. Marco Rubio [R-FL] took to the Senate floor for a 15 minute speech on the Debt Ceiling debate. Around 7 mins in Sen. John Kerry [D-NVA] thought he would try and debate him. Hilarity ensued.

◼ ‘We either save this country or we do not. And to save it, we must seek solutions.’ - The Corner

◼ Be aware: Journolist Lives: The Democrat-Media Complex's Hostage Meme (you hear Kerry try to pull it in the clip) - Doug Ross

◼ FULL TEXT OF SENATOR RUBIO'S REMARKS

Republican states balancing their budgets

◼ Their success should be a model for overspenders in Washington - Frank Donatelli -The Washington Times

At a time when Washington continues to struggle to trim deficits that approach $1.5 trillion annually, Republican-led states, along with a few Democratic officials, continue to take the tough steps necessary to balance their state budgets without tax increases. Here are a few of those states and the policies they have put in place to achieve these impressive results:

In Virginia, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell stood firm against tax increases last year and balanced his state’s two-year budget. Virginia taxpayers were rewarded when Mr. McDonnell recently announced a surplus of $311 million for the fiscal year just completed because of higher-than-expected tax receipts....

In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal and the first Republican legislative majority since Reconstruction passed a $25 billion budget that closed a $1.5 billion hole without tax increases.....

Missouri’s Republican-dominated legislature adopted a 2012 state spending plan of $23.2 billion - $500 million lower than last year. This figure includes an additional $170 million of cuts implemented by Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, making Missouri an example of bipartisan cooperation in spending restraint....

At least two states saw no such bipartisan cooperation, yet in both cases, small-government forces triumphed. In North Carolina, the first Republican legislative majority since the 19th century enacted a balanced-budget plan that closed a $2.5 billion deficit (12 percent of the total budget) and allowed “temporary” sales and income tax increases enacted by the Democratic majority in 2009 to expire....

In Minnesota, the Republican majority faced off against the very liberal Gov. Mark Dayton. Mr. Dayton, of course, proposed to increase taxes on the “wealthy.” The Legislature stood firm against any tax increases, resulting in a shutdown of state government for nearly three weeks. The final agreement closed a $5 billion deficit without raising taxes... MORE at the link

While only three Fieldbrook residents commented Friday, the turnout was substantial compared to the last few meetings, officials said. After a decent turnout at the first meeting, in Eureka, a good turnout in Scotia -- which was attended by many Southern Humboldt residents -- and in Blue Lake, officials said the turnout at the second Eureka meeting and Arcata's meeting was dismal.

◼ Humboldt County redistricting committee to begin drawing maps - Times Standard

Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass said she's not sure why residents are not attending, but the silence may be a sign of apathy... ”I'm trying to figure out a better feeling for what people want,” she said, adding that she thinks the redistricting committee has made great efforts to collect comments.

By now, the Obama “leadership” style should be blindingly apparent: Do nothing, lie in wait, and then counter-attack. Never present a plan if you can possibly help it, but deal exclusively in bromides and platitudes as you stake out the moral “high ground” and get ready to ambush the other guy.

◼ Think of it as the Permanent Insurgency campaign. - Michael Walsh at National Review

Meanwhile, have your media allies, talking parrots, and court lickspittles prepare the ground with standard-issue talking points — “The Tea Party Republicans are terrorists,” for example....

Use the bully pulpit as a bludgeon against your political enemies. Make cheap, demagogic appeals to your dwindling base of supporters to do your lobbying work for you. Say the same thing over and over, no matter how much TV time you need to pre-empt.

Adamantly refuse to be pinned down about the specifics of anything, and have your platoon of Baghdad Bobs continue to insist (as good liberals always do) that up is down, black is white, and wishes are really horses, if not actual unicorns.

Flashback: Tim Geithner on the U.S. Debt Rating in February 2010

◼ According to a Bloomberg.com article dated February 10, 2010, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. is in no danger of losing its AAA debt rating even though the Obama administration has predicted a $1.6 trillion budget deficit in 2010. - American Thinker

"Absolutely not," Geithner said, when asked in an ABC News interview broadcast yesterday whether a downgrade is a concern. "That will never happen to this country."

Who Is Scaring Californians Away From Signing Petitions For Ballot Initiatives?

◼ Who Is Scaring Californians Away From Signing Petitions For Ballot Initiatives? - Redstate

Coincidentally, though a spokesman says the SEIU is not involved with the radio ad, the purple behemoth is sending out its thugs personnel to “persuade” Californians not to sign petitions.
◼ California: Shadow group begins to interfere with initiative signature gathering

◼ Radio ad claims signing initiatives increases risk for identity theft - Sacramento Bee

The 60-second spot, which is airing on at least one Southern California radio station, features a man telling his spouse she should not have signed a petition at the grocery store.

"The Legislature called it an identity theft starter kit. Now we really need to watch our bank statements and credit information," he says.

"That's it, I'm not signing any more petitions," the woman responds. "I guess the lesson here is not to give our name and address to anyone we don't know."

The identity of the group behind the ad remains a mystery, but the timing of the launch suggests its aim is to derail one of several high-profile measures currently trying to qualify for the 2012 ballot.

The spot claims to be paid for by a group called "Californians Against Identity Theft." The coalition has no website and has not filed a campaign committee with the Secretary of State, though the content of the ad likely would not trigger disclosure requirements because it does not mention a specific measure or candidate....

SEIU California is dispatching its own representatives to the streets to persuade voters not to sign petitions. The union has sent members a toll-free number to report canvassers circulating petitions for the measure, urging them to dial in "if you see someone trying to fool voters in your community into signing away our rights."

SEIU California spokesman Christopher Calhoun said the union's effort is intended to "make sure folks get a chance to hear our side of the story" before signing the petitions.

He said the union is not involved in the radio ad.

It's IMPORTANT to know that: Under state law, it is illegal to use initiative signatures for anything other than the initiative petition. Election code also prohibits felons ineligible to register to vote from serving as signature gatherers.

Redistricting Maps Approved: Thompson Out

◼ Redistricting Maps Approved: Thompson Out - Ryan Burns at The Journal

Congressman Mike Thompson’s home of St. Helena has been excised from our district (along with Clearlake, Napa and Davis) in favor of hoity-toity Marin County... Humboldt County still falls within the district boundaries of State Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata), though their respective political landscapes have shifted somewhat, with Evans’ district picking up Marin and Del Norte counties and Chesbro’s acquiring a hunk of Santa Rosa.

◼ New Calif. political maps to favor Democrats - Times-Standard

The citizens commission established by voters to create an independent process for drawing California's legislative and congressional districts has delivered on its first set of maps, voting to adopt new boundaries that appear to increase the reach of majority Democrats.... Final certification is due by Aug. 15, allowing time for technical fixes.

◼ California redistricting panel got earful about draft maps - LA Times

Passionate input from across California amounted to an extended conversation about what makes a community and what unites and divides the state's residents.

Boehner: "This House has acted."

◼ speaker.gov
◼ End This Crisis - John Boehner at National Review Online

The people’s House has spoken — not once, but twice — presenting the other chamber with legislation certified by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office as cutting trillions of dollars in spending over the next decade while providing an immediate increase in the national debt limit.

In contrast, in the six months since President Obama formally requested that the debt ceiling be raised, the Senate has passed nothing.

Time is now of the essence. The quickest way for Congress to eliminate the possibility of default and ease the growing turmoil in our economy is for the Senate to take up the House-passed bill and send it to the president today. As Senate Democrats themselves noted today, a House bill that has been sent to the Senate and then tabled is “still pending” — meaning it can be taken up and passed at any time.

Both parties have been entrusted with power in Congress. Neither party has been authorized to take risks with the full faith and credit of the United States.

For the sake of our country, and the sake of our economy, the House has passed a responsible bill that can pass the Senate. Now it’s time for our colleagues in the Senate to pass it, send it to the president, and bring this crisis to an end.

House passes GOP debt bill over objections of Obama, Democrats; Senate votes to table

◼ The vote was 218 to 210 in favor of a bill offered by House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). After revising the plan and intensively rallying Republicans to support it, Boehner was barely able to muster the 217 votes need for passage, but Democrats were united in opposing it. Twenty-two Republicans joined 188 Democrats in voting “no.”

President Obama warned earlier in the day that the House GOP plan had “no chance of becoming law.” - Washington Post

◼ Boehner 3.0 Tabled - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

"Are we better off that the Boehner bill passed the House? I say absolutely, the narrative is that the House passed a debt ceiling extension and the Senate killed it."

◼ Why The Tea Party & House GOP Are NOT Failing, But Succeeding - Strata-sphere

218-210

◼ Boehner Debt-Ceiling Bill Barely Passes House 218-210; Twenty GOP ‘No’ Votes The Other McCain
◼ Boehner 3.0 Passes House - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

C-SPAN LIVE FEED

◼ http://cspan.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/

Obama Approval Drops to New Low of 40% Similar to his approval rating for handling the debt ceiling negotiations

◼ President Obama's job approval rating is at a new low, averaging 40% in July 26-28 Gallup Daily tracking. His prior low rating of 41% occurred several times, the last of which was in April. - Gallup
◼ Obama Loses Re-Election Support in New Poll - Real Clear Politics

Now, just 41 percent of registered voters say they would send the president back to the White House while 40 percent prefer to elect a Republican candidate, according to a Pew Research Center survey. In May, the president led a generic Republican, 48 percent to 37 percent.

The Pew poll suggests independent voters are driving this drop. In May, 42 percent of independents supported Obama's re-election, while 35 percent preferred his challenger. Now, that figure is upside down: 31 percent of independents are inclined to vote for him in 2012 while 39 percent want to replace him with a Republican.

Additionally, 54 percent of independents disapprove of Obama's job performance while 36 percent say he is doing a good job as president, down 13 points since May. Among all registered voters, his approval ratings are under water, 48 percent to 44 percent.

Boehner plan comes out on top in new CBO analysis requested by GOP

◼ The debt-ceiling plan authored by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) cuts the deficit by more than the plan by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if an assumption about war funding is removed from the Reid bill. - The Hill

Without assuming a drawdown in military activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Reid bill only cuts the deficit by $909 billion. That's $8 billion less than the $917 billion Boehner plan. With the war funding factored in, the Reid plan cuts $2.176 trillion over 10 years....

The newly revised Boehner plan has the potential for even greater savings because it would require a balanced budget be enacted. Depending on how it is structured, a balanced budget could require many trillions of dollars in deficit cuts to achieve.

◼ Boehner gets standing ovation from Senate Rs - ABC

4.9% unemployment in Mexico vs. 9.4% in US... Illegal Aliens Head South to Mexico in Search of 'American Dream'

◼ Improving Mexican economy draws undocumented immigrants home from California - Sacramento Bee via Drudge

Obama White House TWITTER campaign against Republicans

◼ New York Times reporter advises White House media staff on Twitter - Daily Caller

(New York Times’s Jennifer) Preston tweeted her own suggestion to a White House flack, saying “@macon44 Hi there. I heard the President ask the people to tweet re: debt ceiling. Are you guys using specific hashtag?”

A minute later, she tweeted a followup to White House flack Jesse Lee, saying, “Hi Jesse, what’s the hashtag that you guys are urging people to use in their tweets to Congress re: debtceiling.” Lee is the White House’s s director of progressive media & online response. (RELATED: New WH talking point: Boehner is the Grinch, and he’ll steal your Christmas)

At 11.04, the White House’s press shop announced a new hashtag for Democrats to use when targeting GOP members of Congress. The message read: “@NYT_JenPreston People responding to POTUS shld use #compromise. As he said, it is ‘time for #compromise on behalf of the American people’”

◼ Obama Takes to the Cyber-Bully Pulpit - National Journal

When President Obama said to tweet your lawmakers and ask them to compromise on raising the debt ceiling earlier on Friday, he really meant it.... Obama's campaign Twitter account, @BarackObama, has set out to spread the word of congressional Republicans who are on Twitter. "You heard the President. So here's what we're doing: throughout the day we'll post the Twitter handles of GOP lawmakers in each state," the account tweeted....

Earlier on Friday, Macon Phillips, the White House director of digital strategy, tweeted that "#compromise" was the hashtag of the day for tweets of this nature.
The campaign is also crowdsourcing, asking followers to tweet them additional handles of GOP lawmakers.

But could this strategy have an unintended consequence for the president? With 9.4 million followers, Obama's campaign account is one of the most followed. Mentioning GOP foes to Obama's followers could help boost their followings on Twitter.

By midafternoon on Friday, that seemed to be the case.

"Thanks @BarackObama for pushing @RoyBlunt over 11,000 followers today!" tweeted Amber Marchand, communications director for Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

"Looking forward to all the new followers @BarackObama sends my way today in his Twitter spam campaign," tweeted Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.

Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment, but a House Republican staffer thought Obama was making a mistake.

"He’s going to be jumping into a dogfight, given that 80 percent of our conference, and 90 percent of the freshmen are on Twitter," said the staffer, who is not authorized to talk to the media. "Does he really want to go there?"

Would mandate that the second hike of the ceiling could only occur after a balanced-budget amendment passed both chambers of Congress and went to the states for ratification.

◼ New Boehner bill likely to pass the House - HotAir
◼ DOCUMENT: Latest Version of House Speaker Boehner's Debt Plan - National Journal
◼ Support shifts as Boehner adds balanced-budget amendment - The Hill

House Republicans will link passage of a balanced-budget amendment to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) last-ditch debt-ceiling plan, which GOP lawmakers said would move the measure to passage in a high-stakes vote later on Friday.

Republican lawmakers voiced confidence the enhanced bill would pass muster with conservatives, as Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) predicted the balanced-budget amendment change would bring 10 to 20 more GOP members on board....

(Democrat Harry) Reid has also vowed to hastily kill the Boehner plan, should it make its way through the House.

Barack Obama’s Secret Plan to Save America, Solve the Debt Crisis, and Fight the Freemasons

Earlier on Friday, Macon Phillips, the White House director of digital strategy, tweeted that "#compromise" was the hashtag of the day for tweets of this nature.
The campaign is also crowdsourcing, asking followers to tweet them additional handles of GOP lawmakers.
But could this strategy have an unintended consequence for the president? With 9.4 million followers, Obama's campaign account is one of the most followed. Mentioning GOP foes to Obama's followers could help boost their followings on Twitter.
By midafternoon on Friday, that seemed to be the case.
"Thanks @BarackObama for pushing @RoyBlunt over 11,000 followers today!" tweeted Amber Marchand, communications director for Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
"Looking forward to all the new followers @BarackObama sends my way today in his Twitter spam campaign," tweeted Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.
Katie Hogan, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment, but a House Republican staffer thought Obama was making a mistake.
"He’s going to be jumping into a dogfight, given that 80 percent of our conference, and 90 percent of the freshmen are on Twitter," said the staffer, who is not authorized to talk to the media. "Does he really want to go there?"

GDP at 1.3

◼ Weak growth raises worry, debt fight poses risk - Reuters

The U.S. economy came perilously close to flat-lining in the first quarter and grew at a meager 1.3 percent annual rate in the April-June period, leading economists to warn of recession if a stand-off over U.S. debt does not end quickly....

The U.S. economy in the first quarter expanded at just a 0.4 percent pace, a sharp downward revision from the previously reported 1.9 percent increase. While the recovery stepped-up in the second quarter, economists had expected a stronger 1.9 percent reading.

Fourth-quarter growth was revised to a 2.3 percent rate from 3.1 percent.

"The second quarter disappointed, but the first-quarter downward revision is more disturbing. It advances the pangs of concern. The debt ceiling nonsense is not going to help us. We're already in an economy that is subpar," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

◼ Gold soars, Dow plunges... - CNBC

◼ Apple Now Has More Cash Than The U.S. Government - Business Insider

According to the latest daily statement from the U.S. Treasury, the government had an operating cash balance of $73.8 billion at the end of the day yesterday.

Apple's last earnings report (PDF here) showed that the company had $76.2 billion in cash and marketable securities at the end of June.
In other words, the world's largest tech company has more cash than the world's largest sovereign government.

That's because Apple collects more money than it spends, while the U.S. government does not.

◼ Consumer Sentiment Falls to Lowest Level Since March 2009 - CNBC
via Drudge

Nobody smiles when they talk about Mr. Obama.

◼ They've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Obama still has supporters, but theirs is a grim support. - Peggy Noonan/Wall St. Journal

Home Depot CEO says Obama is frighteningly divisive, unpresidential

◼ Home Depot mogul hammers O over 'fat cat' talk - New York Post

"The debt ceiling will be raised . . . by next week," he said. "They'll come to some juncture where they're going to say, 'This is not what I wanted, but it's the best I can get.' "
But "the destruction he is inflicting by his behavior will carry on long after we have settled the debt limit."
"Divide us and we all lose. And this has got to stop," Langone pleaded. "And if he's listening, or one of his people are listening, and you can quote me exactly for what I say, he is not acting presidential, he is behaving in a way designed, in my opinion, to divide us and make us look at each other with skepticism, with suspicion.
"That's the end of America as we know it when that happens."

UPDATE: Boehner Yanks Debt-Ceiling Bill at Last Minute! Vote Postponed

◼ link - The Other McCain



Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) announcing her support of the bill: Few freshmen in Congress can rival Ellmers’s credentials as the total Tea Party conservative, so her support of the bill is highly significant.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m. ET: It’s complete madness on Capitol Hill, folks. One GOP staffer says they got the news about the delay via an e-mail sent out by the Democrat whip team. Meanwhile, they’ve heard nothing from Republican whip, Kevin McCarthy, who is said to be still twisting arms to get votes for the Speaker’s bill.

And here’s the scary thing: McCarthy was the head of the GOP’s “Young Guns” candidate recruitment program in the 2010 mid-terms. There are freshmen who owe McCarthy big-time, so if the vote had to be delayed because he can’t promise 218 . . . Dude.

So it’s a total clusterfark in the GOP caucus at this point, although they still expect to have a vote tonight.

◼ Boehnergeddon; Update: Vote delayed; Update: Boehner may hold vote whether he has the votes or not - HotAir

A note of hope from NRO’s Andrew Stiles: “Paul Ryan tells me they’re gonna pass this thing. Says he’s confident.”

Sarah Palin to Congressional Freshmen: For Such A Time As This

◼ Republicans campaigned on a promise to rein in out-of-control government spending and to repeal and replace the massive, burdensome, and unwanted health care law President Obama and the Democrat Congress passed earlier this year in defiance of the will of the majority of the American people. These are promises that you must keep.

C-SPAN LIVE FEED

◼ http://cspan.org/Live-Video/C-SPAN/

Harry Reid spokesman: ‘Boehner’s bill dies tonight’

◼ “Boehner’s bill dies tonight,” Reid communications director Adam Jentleson wrote on Twitter. “Forever.” - Daily Caller

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the legislation today. Reid said Thursday afternoon he plans to put the bill up for a vote in the Senate afterwards.

“As soon as the House completes its vote, the Senate will move to take up that bill,” Reid said, “and it will be defeated tonight.”

“No Democrat will vote for a short-term Band-Aid that would put our economy at risk and put the nation back in this untenable situation a few short months from now,” he said.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, shot back in an email to The Daily Caller: “House Republicans will vote today on a second bill to raise the debt limit and end this crisis, while Senate Democrats have failed to pass any bill to do so. Why can’t Senate Democrats say ‘yes’ to this reasonable, responsible and bipartisan solution?”

Speaker Boehner: Let's Pass This Bill & End This Debt Limit Crisis

MItch McConnell Offers Strong Support for Speaker's Deficit Reduction Plan

No time for political bluffing

◼ Letters to the Editor - The Times-Standard

Earlier this week, President Obama said he couldn't be sure Social Security checks would go out on Aug. 3 if the debt ceiling weren't raised by Aug. 2. This was a scare tactic intended to frighten seniors, and thus Congressional Republicans. Mr. Obama has yet to present publicly a list of cuts in federal costs he will support. He insists that a package must include tax increases, not because they are needed to reach a cost-reduction goal, but because he believes in income redistribution. Republican negotiators have said they would agree to some revenue raising by way of curbing some subsidies, exemptions and deductions, but not an increase in tax rates when the economy is as weak as it is. Thus, the two sides should be able to come together. It is time for the president to engage in straight-forward negotiating. This is no time for political bluffing. He knows the Social Security checks will go out, come what may.

Peter Hannaford
Eureka
Chairman, Humboldt County Republican Party

Congressman Mike Thompson: ”Make no mistake -- I'm not afraid to cut spending where it's deserved,” Thompson said. “In fact, I've voted to cut more than $100 billion in spending this year alone and am prepared to vote for more reductions."

◼ Thompson: No budget that ruins Medicare, Social Security

CONTACT U.S. Representative Mike Thompson
Cannon House Office Building
Room 415
Washington D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3311
317 3rd St., Suite 1
Eureka, CA 95501
Eureka phone: 269-9595 Fax: 269-9598
http://mikethompson.house.gov/ (contact via webform)

Locally: Supervisors punt rezone decision to next month; board action puts county in breach of lawsuit settlement

◼ Rezoning decision awaits Supes today; after marathon meeting, board continues discussion - Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard

After a marathon session Tuesday high on acrimony and disagreement but short on decisions, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will continue meeting today to determine the fate of a massive effort to rezone properties throughout the county for multifamily housing developments.

◼ Supervisors punt rezone decision to next month; board action puts county in breach of lawsuit settlement - Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors opted Wednesday to put off a final decision on its multifamily rezoning effort for about a month in a vote that puts the county in breach of a recent legal settlement and jeopardizes hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding.

Voting 4-1, with 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace dissenting, the board delayed a decision on whether to approve a massive plan to rezone dozens of parcels throughout the county to accommodate multifamily housing developments until its Aug. 23 meeting. The board made the decision to allow more time to consult with the McKinleyville Community Services District, which stands staunchly opposed to the plan that would place 45 percent of the rezoned properties within its service area.

At the start of Wednesday's meeting, Lovelace also took a moment to apologize to the Humboldt Association of Realtors, after saying Tuesday the group seemed to have “lost its soul.” Lovelace deemed the remark “unwarranted and unhelpful,” saying it was made in frustration.

The county's plan -- plagued by a tight timeline -- seeks to rezone about 55 parcels throughout the county to allow for the development of more than 1,000 multifamily units, a little more than half of which would be designated for low-income families. Under state law, the county needs to rezone enough properties to provide for the construction of at least 980 multifamily units.

"Those aren't bumps, Mr. President, they are 20 million real Americans whom your policies have failed. With unemployment near 9% and half a million people looking for work, Ohio deserves better”

◼ In his June visit to Ohio, President Obama explained that rising unemployment rates were just “bumps on the road to recovery”. Governor Romney responded, "Those aren't bumps, Mr. President, they are 20 million real Americans whom your policies have failed. With unemployment near 9% and half a million people looking for work, Ohio deserves better”, he continued. “President Obama said if he didn't turn around the economy in three years, he would be looking at a one term proposition. He's right."

Having already deployed the heavy weapons from the presidential arsenal, including a national address on Monday night and a veto threat, Mr. Obama is in danger of seeming a spectator at one of the most critical moments of his presidency.

◼ President on Sidelines in Critical Battle Over Debt Ceiling - NYT

“I don’t think a president is ever completely helpless, but having said that, my interpretation of the nationally televised address that he gave was that he had no arrows left in his quiver,” said Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration official and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a research organization. “If he’d had another card to play, that was surely the time to play it. He’s the ultimate decider but, on the other hand, I think his capacity to shape what gets to his desk has been substantially reduced” as Republicans stand their ground, Mr. Galston said.

◼ Obama 'Unpresidential,' 'Petulant' 'Dividing Us': Langone - cnbc

President Barack Obama's conduct during the debate over the debt ceiling has divided the country and will inflict damage that will last well after the battle is over, former New York Stock Exchange director and Wall Street stalwart Ken Langone said.

While he believes a debt deal will get done and in fact favors a plan closer to what the Democrats are proposing, Langone told CNBC that Obama's behavior has been "unpresidential."

"He is dividing us as a nation," Langone said. "He's not bringing us together. He's willfully dividing us. He's petulant."

“Why doesn’t he have a plan?” Simple: Because he can’t. The minute the President evinces a budget plan, the game is up. No liberal budget will stand up to scrutiny.

◼ The Man Without A Plan - Roger L Simon at Pajamas

There is no money left for deficit spending in our aging society. The welfare state is kaput. It’s gone — probably for generations to come...

Plans are dangerous because someone might scrutinize them. Someone might point out that social security was enacted in 1935 when life expectancy was 61.7 (It is now 77.9 and increasing) and, if it isn’t overhauled, it’s finished. No, you better stay away from these plans. Better to have vague theories and pronouncements. (No, I’m not going to say “hope and change,” but you know I was about to.)

All is not lost, however, in this most unPanglossian world. When you are finally able to shake free of liberal-statist ideas or, as Miniter explains, are forced to abandon them because the state itself is broke (not yet Greece, but close enough), you get a tremendous bonus: the pleasure of self-reliance.

When finally free from the bromides of their ultra-bourgeois ideology, even liberals realize you feel better when you do things for yourself. Most of us know from our own families and friends that the happiest people are those who have made their own way, not those who have had life handed to them, either by inheritance or from the state. Another MUST READ

◼ Why the Democratic Party is Doomed - Richard Miniter at Forbes

A downgrade of the United States' AAA credit rating is a bigger risk than a default and could over time add up to 0.7 percentage point to bond yields, members of a U.S. securities industry group said on Tuesday.

◼ Downgrade seen adding $100 billion to U.S. funding costs - Reuters

CBO scores Boehner’s new bill: $22 billion in savings this year, $917 billion over 10 years

◼ The new bill does, at least, keep his promise to produce savings in an amount greater than or equal to the amount of the debt-ceiling increase... - HotAir
◼ ‘The Best We Have Available’ - National Review

Rep. Bill Flores (R., Texas), a freshman member of the House Budget Committee, tells National Review Online that support for House Speaker John Boehner’s (R., Ohio) deficit plan is “really growing.”

“It’s not a perfect plan, but it is the best plan that we have available,” he says on his way out of a weekly meeting between GOP leaders and freshman members. “Those of us that are very concerned about the future of our country and for our kids and grand-kids think that it’s the right thing to do to pass this bill.”

Flores was one of 39 House Republicans to a sign a pledge promising not to vote to raise the debt ceiling unless “Cut, Cap, and Balance” legislation was enacted. He has since, along with several others, including Rep. Allen West (R., Fla.), backed off the pledge, arguing that Boehner’s plan “reflects the principles” of “Cut, Cap, and Balance.”

◼ Boehner says revised debt plan yields greater cuts - Reuters

Palin to Keynote Labor Day Tea Party Rally in Iowa

◼ The Labor Day weekend visit to the nation's first voting state comes after Palin indicated during an appearance on Fox News earlier this month that she would make her decision about whether to launch a campaign in August or September. - Real Clear Politics

All signs now point to September as the month when Palin would throw her hat into the ring, as logistical concerns ranging from fundraising to getting her name on the ballot in various states would likely preclude further delay....

One of the Tea Party of America's co-founders, Charlie Gruschow, had previously founded the Des Moines Tea Party before splintering off to start a new group with some like-minded colleagues.

Gruschow praised the work of a highly motivated group of volunteers who have been setting the groundwork in Iowa for a Palin campaign, which almost all of them deem to be inevitable.

"I can only surmise that she's very, very popular here," Gruschow said of Palin's level of support among Republican caucus-goers in Iowa. "And it didn't hurt at all when she introduced her movie in Pella. The feedback I've gotten was it was an awesome movie, and there are more people becoming more endeared to her."

Republican activists from New Hampshire plan to visit Texas next week to encourage Gov. Rick Perry to run for president

◼ "Most of the folks who will be going down have seen what Gov. Perry stands for and his strong conservative track record," Mahoney said Wednesday. "And I think there's a large bloc of New Hampshire Republicans who feel like his stance on the issues are exactly what the country needs right now." - AP via Drudge

◼ Gallup: Perry would start in second place

Balance the Budget

As former President Ronald Reagan says in this video, “Most Americans understand the need for a balanced budget and most have seen how difficult it is for the Congress to withstand the pressures to spend more. … We tried the carrot and it failed. With the stick of a balanced budget amendment, we can stop government’s squandering and overtaxing ways and save our economy.”

90 Seconds to National Debt Crisis

CFRW on Jerry Brown's State Supreme Court nomination

◼ Jerry Brown never disappoints. He has just nominated Goodwin Liu to the State Supreme Court. The Republicans in the U.S. Senate just blocked Liu’s appointment to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is very far left and has basically been a professor.

If this person could not make it through the U.S. Senate, why do we want him on the State Supreme Court?

Nominations to the State Supreme Court must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. That commission is made up of the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court, the Attorney General and the Senior Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (415) 865-7000
◼ http://www.courts.ca.gov/courts.htm

Attorney General Kamala Harris
(916) 322-3360
◼ http://oag.ca.gov/

Senior Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeals Joan Dempsey Klein

(213) 830-7000 leave a voice message (you will never speak to the Judge)

You can also send a note or a post card with comment to:
300 S. Spring St. North Tower
Los Angeles, CA 90013-1230.

OR to:
Administrative Office of the Courts
455 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, Ca 94102.

These people do need to hear from Republican Women.

Thanks for all you do.

Edelweiss Geary
Legislative Issues Chair
Northern Division - CFRW
www.cfrwnd.org

In a news conference on July 11, President Obama answered a reporter's question on public skepticism about the value of raising the national debt ceiling by saying, "The public is not paying close attention to the ins and outs of how a Treasury option goes."

◼ Whether or not Americans were paying attention then, they sure are now, especially if they watch Fox News Channel. - LA Times

Among those tuning into cable news to see the president's latest speech on the debt ceiling at 6 p.m. PT on Monday, FNC viewers outnumbered those watching competitors CNN and MSNBC by a comfortable margin.

Over 3.5 million watched the president's address on FNC, with a slight uptick to 4 million for....

...the GOP response from Speaker of the House John Boehner (with over 1.2 million in the coveted Adults 25-54 demographic). CNN came in second, with just over two million viewers for both the speech and the response. MSNBC brought up the rear with nearly 1.6 million for the speech and slightly less for Boehner's comments.

While CNN's ordinarily anemic primetime ratings normally spike during speeches, conventions and other political events, it may have lost some viewers because the speech came smack in the middle of network primetime...



FNC viewers were treated to a particularly tart response to Obama's remarks from contributor Charles Krauthammer, who said, "I thought I was cynical until I heard that speech."

MSNBC's Chris Matthews pointed out the president didn't "make news," as presidents usually do when they ask for a primetime TV slot, and said, "the President should not have gone on national television to give a political address."

CNN senior political analyst David Gergen labeled both addresses as "partisan."

And, finally, taking off his comedian hat for a moment and putting on his political pundit hat, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart, under the title of "Armadebtdon 2011: The End of the World as We Owe It," commented on the Commander in Chief's request for Americans to call their congressional representatives by asking, "Did the president just quit?"

ATF Manager says he shared Fast and Furious Info with White House

◼ Congressional investigators obtained an email from Newell to O'Reilly in September of last year in which Newell began with the words: "you didn't get this from me." - CBS

"What does that mean," one member of Congress asked Newell, " 'you didn't get this from me?' "

◼ Let me just list the stuff that we’ve learned this week - Redstate

Issa: Getting to the Bottom of Who Authorized & Knew About Deadly Operation Fast & Furious

Of the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling we have now, $4.5 trillion got added by Democrat-controlled Congresses since taking control in 2007. That corresponds exactly with the expansion in spending by Democratic Congresses over the same period:

◼ Who owns the debt-ceiling issue again? - HotAir

◼ Since 1990, the debt limit has been raised a total of $10.1 trillion, but nearly half of that increase has occurred since September 2007. - Heritage.org

Both parties have a great deal of responsibility for bringing us to where we are today. However, the assertion that it’s more the fault of George Bush and Republicans rather than Barack Obama and Democrats is patently absurd. These charts show exactly where spending increased, by how much, and the actions taken by Congress under control of each party — and every one of them shows the rate of increase in discretionary and mandatory spending rising faster under Democrats than Republicans, and the debt-ceiling hikes going up significantly faster.

All of this misses the point, however. We elected this Congress to change the way the federal government operates. Trimming $71 or $74 billion a year in spending won’t turn the tide on debt aggregation; we need fundamental, structural reform of spending that reduces to zero the amount of money we have to borrow on an annual basis to pay our bills.

Democrats have no plan

◼ REID VOWS TO KILL HOUSE GOP DEBT PLAN... - AP

Even as House Republican leaders work to retool their deficit reduction package, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the plan will not get a single Democratic vote in the Senate, dooming it to fail.

◼ Dem lawmaker: 'Nobody I know' has seen Reid plan... - The Hill

"I'm not going to commit to something that nobody I know has seen and had a chance to analyze," Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) said. "I want to see it."

◼ House Democratic leader urges Obama to raise debt ceiling without Congressional approval... Politico

Rep. James Clyburn and a group of House Democrats are urging President Barack Obama to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling if Congress can’t come up with a satisfactory plan before the Tuesday deadline.

◼ Boehner, Reid both back at drawing board

RNC: Change Direction

Obama’s Battleground-State Blues

◼ The president’s national poll numbers aren’t good, but they’re worse in battleground states. - National Journal (image source)

President Obama’s job approval rating in the latest national polls has been in the danger zone, ranging from 42 percent (Gallup) to 47 percent (ABC News/Washington Post), with every survey showing him with higher unfavorables than favorables. Needless to say, it’s not a good place for a president to be, especially since his numbers have worsened over the past two months.

The race for president isn’t a national contest. It’s a state-by-state battle to cobble an electoral vote majority. So while the national polls are useful in gauging the president’s popularity, the more instructive numbers are those from the battlegrounds.

Those polls are even more ominous for the president: In every reputable battleground state poll conducted over the past month, Obama’s support is weak. In most of them, he trails Republican front-runner Mitt Romney. For all the talk of a closely fought 2012 election, if Obama can’t turn around his fortunes in states such as Michigan and New Hampshire, next year’s presidential election could end up being a GOP landslide.

Governor Tim Pawlenty's Statement on Speaker Boehner's Debt Limit Proposal

◼ Statement on Speaker Boehner's Debt Limit Proposal

"President Obama has run up a dangerous amount of debt since taking office, and I greatly appreciate Speaker Boehner for courageously leading the fight to stop him from running up even more. Speaker Boehner has now put forth two plans; that would be exactly two plans more than what the President has offered. The debt limit is a line in the sand where Republicans can force the tough decisions to fix our nation's finances, and taxpayers cannot afford for us to back down now. I am for the plan that will cut spending, cap it, and pass a balanced budget amendment, but unfortunately this latest bill does not accomplish that."
__________________
Tim Pawlenty

Democrats’ game plan: Split GOP

◼ Democrats are trying to drive a debt-limit wedge between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). - The Hill
◼ 'The Key is McConnell': White House Looks to GOP Senate Leader for Help - Jake Tapper/ABC

With debt negotiations locked in what President Obama last night referred to as a “stalemate,” the president is looking to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, for help.

Specifically, the president hopes McConnell will be able to persuade House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to support legislation that will raise the debt ceiling and reduce the deficit – and that can pass the House and Senate and be signed by the president.

“The key is McConnell,” a senior White House official tells ABC News.

Whether that would mean McConnell is able to “move” Boehner to support the bill being offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., or a version thereof after Boehner’s legislation fails to pass in the Senate, as many assume may happen, will be dictated by circumstances, the official said.

But Senate GOP sources say that the White House should likely look elsewhere.

McConnell worked with the Speaker on the Boehner bill and strongly supports it. The GOP leader believes that at the end of the day the choice will be between Boehner’s legislation and possible default, and the president will be forced to sign Boehner’s legislation, which would force $1.8 trillion in additional cuts in 2012.

Reid’s plan, Republicans say, not only couldn’t pass the House, it can’t sustain a filibuster in the Senate.

6:09 Minutes: "Show Us The Plan!": White House Press Corps vs. Carney on Obama's Debt Plan

◼ WH press corps hammers Carney: How come Obama hasn’t produced his own debt-ceiling plan? - HotAir
◼ "Show Us The Plan!": WH Press Corps vs. Carney on Obama's Debt Plan - Greg Hengler /Townhall

White House to FOXNEWS: 'Tell your viewers there's nothing to worry about'

◼ Hours after urging compromise: Obama team threatens to veto Boehner debt plan "The speaker's proposal cannot pass the Senate, will not pass the Senate, will not reach the president's desk," said White House spokesman Jay Carney. - USA Today

...Carney said today, "It's time for Democrats to give, for Republicans to give, to reach a solution that's not ideal for anyone, except for the country."

If they can't reach a consensus, what's Plan B? "We're working on Plan B," Carney said....

◼ Obama Calls for Compromise on Debt: Americans Fed Up With 'Partisan Three-Ring Circus' - ABC via Drudge

...With the clock ticking toward what he called a “reckless and irresponsible” default, the president said he has told both leaders to come up with a “fair compromise” in the coming days that can pass both houses of Congress.

However, Obama did not outline what that compromise might be....

◼ OBAMA SECRETLY SIGNALS BANKS: 'NO DEFAULT'...

While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned.

◼ Desperate Obama tells followers to pressure lawmakers as he pushes new plan... - CNN via Drudge

◼ BORGER: 'Nobody today is talking about tax increases -- except Barack Obama'... video - CNN

◼ PANIC: WH'S PFEIFFER SAYS DEFAULT COULD LEAD TO 'DEPRESSION'... - Real Clear Politics

◼ White House to FOXNEWS: 'Tell your viewers there's nothing to worry about'... - Real Clear Politics

Reminder: Obama's last venture into public specificity was his February budget, which proposed accelerating the nation's descent into debt. It was rejected by the Senate 97-0.

◼ Congress Reminds Obama He's President, Not King - George Will for Investor's Business Daily

Between 6 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday, the nation began a constitutional course-correction. The current occupant's vanity and naivete — a dangerous amalgam — are causing the modern presidency to buckle beneath the weight of its pretenses. And Congress is reasserting its responsibilities.

Gunwalker/Fast&Furious: Issa: Obama admin intimidating witnesses in ATF gun probe

◼ The Obama administration sought to intimidate witnesses into not testifying to Congress on Tuesday about whether ATF knowingly allowed weapons, including assault rifles, to be “walked” into Mexico, the chairman of a House committee investigating the program said in an interview Monday. - Stephen Dinan and Chuck Neubauer-The Washington Times

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, said at least two scheduled witnesses expected to be asked about a controversial weapons investigation known as “Fast and Furious”received warning letters from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to limit their testimony.

Mr. Issa's committee is set to hear testimony from six current or former ATF employees, including agents and attaches assigned to the bureau’s offices in Mexico, about the operation — in which, federal agents say, they were told to stand down and watch as guns flowed from U.S. dealers in Arizona to violent criminals and drug cartels in Mexico....

Mr. Issa also said he is certain the Fast and Furious operation was known by most top officials at the Justice Department and that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. either knew and misled Congress, or was so out of the loop that he’s guilty of mismanagement.

“How is it that the No. 2, 3, 4 at Justice all knew about this program, but the No. 1 didn’t?,” Mr. Issa said. “Is it because he said ‘don’t tell me’? Is it because they knew what they were doing is wrong, and they were protecting their boss? Or is it that Eric Holder is just so disconnected … ?

“Whichever it is — he knew and he’s lied to Congress, or he didn’t know, and he’s so detached that he wasn’t doing his job — that really probably is for the administration to make a decision on, sooner not later,” Mr. Issa said.

◼ Discussion at Lucianne

◼ The National Scope of the Gunwalker Scandal. Lanny Breuer & four border state ATF SACs implicated in report. "Lions! And tigers! And bears! Oh, my!" - sipseystreetirregulars

◼ Witnesses to ATF gunrunner operation to name names - 'By the end of this, they'll prove that orders came from the very top' - WorldNetDaily

"Nothing will ensure that Obama is held accountable except the American people and their demand that we get to the bottom of this. This is a bottom-up scandal. I mean, it was broken by alternate media on the internet," (Investigative journalist and Second Amendment analyst Mike) Vanderboegh observed.

"The ATF agents themselves broke it on their web site and [it was] picked up by me and David Codrea. Then we used that information to get U. S. senators to send people out to talk to the Whistleblower agents," Vanderboegh said.

House GOP revolts against Boehner plan

◼ House Republicans do not have enough support to pass their debt-ceiling increase plan on their own, a top conservative said Tuesday as his party’s leaders tried to cobble together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to put the bill over the top. - Washington Times

“There are not 218 Republicans in support of this plan,” Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who heads the powerful conservative caucus in the House, told reporters Tuesday morning....

Mr. Boehner’s bill would reduce future discretionary spending by $1.2 trillion, grant an immediate debt increase of $1 trillion, and set up a committee to work on trillions of dollars in future deficit reduction either through more spending cuts or tax increases, which would then earn another future debt increase. It would also require both the House and Senate to hold votes on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

But conservative Republicans in the House, many allied to the tea party movement, said they don’t just want votes on the amendment, they want an assurance it will be sent to the states. Mr. Jordan and other conservatives said they would prefer the Senate vote on the debt increase the House passed last week, that includes deeper spending cuts and requires both chambers approve a balanced budget amendment and submit it to states for ratification before any debt increase happens.

MacIver Institute: "Wisc. Assembly Democrats Would Have Added $1.7 Billion in Spending, Created $1.4 Billion Deficit."

◼ "Wisc. Assembly Democrats Would Have Added $1.7 Billion in Spending, Created $1.4 Billion Deficit." - Althouse
◼ Analysis of Budget Amendments - MacIver Institute
As it was passed by the legislature, the new state budget erased the structural deficit and is scheduled to leave the budget $300 million in the black.

However, had the Assembly Democrats been successful in their attempts to amend the budget, the plan would have left the state with a $1.4 billion deficit going into the 2013-2015 budget deliberations. Read the report

Reactions: Obama's Speechifying

◼ The president stumbled four times over the past week. - National Review Online
◼ OBAMA: AFTER 2 1/2 YEARS, A HAS-BEEN - Powerline

The President was the Obama we have all come to expect: hyper-partisan and divisive, to a degree I have never seen in any other chief executive. And I go back to Eisenhower. His talk was full of transparent lies. And Obama is an economic illiterate, which has resulted in most Americans writing him off as a failure. A plurality of Americans regard him as a terrible president. So one wonders whether anyone was listening to him tonight with an open mind.

Obama’s performance was, in my view, awful. Why? Because, as the president has revealed himself to be inept on one issue after another, the lingering question has always been: is he, nevertheless, some sort of political genius? After all, his one undoubted talent is fundraising; he is the greatest money-machine in the history of American politics.

But tonight–and this is the point I really want to make–Obama dispelled any idea that lurking behind his incompetence on matters of policy and administration is a gleam of political shrewdness

◼ House speaker says Obama won't get 'blank check' - AP

◼ Two speeches, two visions - Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post

President Obama’s decision to give a speech tonight was proof that things have not gone well for him. He threw (another) tantrum in the Friday news conference, he turned down a bipartisan deal presented to him Sunday and thereby took himself out of the limelight. Tonight’s speech was not intended to “solve” the impasse but to make sure Obama would get credit if a deal is struck and avoid blame if it is not.

The speech itself was part panic attack, part platitudes and a whole lot of class warfare (corporate jets! hedge fund managers!). He stood awkwardly at the East Room podium, minus any press corps. He began with a ponderous recap of the budget train wreck, and then described his grand bargain (light on the details, because, of course, he never put a concrete plan out there). He ridiculed the Republican plan...

◼ Chris Matthews: Obama ‘Shouldn’t Have Gone On National TV To Give A Political Address’ - Mediaite

Chris Matthews argued that he considered using primetime television space for a political debate a bit of an error, and after going into detail on how the aesthetics of Speaker John Boehner’s speech were off, lamented that President Obama had gone on TV to give that sort of speech.

Prompted by O’Donnell’s question about the President’s decision to use primetime space for what he admitted was a debate and not a new development, Matthews noted that “there’s some concern in the media, our media, about that,” because the President “openly stated that this is a debate” and by Republicans being given a direct response, “it did put the President almost on an equal level.”

Ron Paul gets big endorsement ahead of crucial Iowa contest

◼ Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has fresh bragging rights after picking up what is surely a coveted endorsement on Monday. - CNN (image source)

Cory Adams - the Republican chairman of Story County in Iowa – endorsed the Texas congressman's presidential bid at a campaign event in Ames, Iowa.

That's significant for a few reasons. Ames is the largest city in Story County, home to over 50,000 residents. And it is in this city that a widely-watched showdown between the GOP presidential candidates will play out on August 13. The Ames Straw Poll will test the candidates' popularity and could be a sign of their electability.

Having the endorsement of such an influential political figure in and around Ames will surely give Paul's campaign something to boast about as it aims for a strong showing in that contest.

__________________
Ron Paul

House GOP revolts against Boehner plan

◼ House Republicans do not have enough support to pass their debt-ceiling increase plan on their own, a top conservative said Tuesday as his party’s leaders tried to cobble together a coalition of Republicans and Democrats to put the bill over the top. - Washington Times

“There are not 218 Republicans in support of this plan,” Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who heads the powerful conservative caucus in the House, told reporters Tuesday morning....

Mr. Boehner’s bill would reduce future discretionary spending by $1.2 trillion, grant an immediate debt increase of $1 trillion, and set up a committee to work on trillions of dollars in future deficit reduction either through more spending cuts or tax increases, which would then earn another future debt increase. It would also require both the House and Senate to hold votes on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

But conservative Republicans in the House, many allied to the tea party movement, said they don’t just want votes on the amendment, they want an assurance it will be sent to the states. Mr. Jordan and other conservatives said they would prefer the Senate vote on the debt increase the House passed last week, that includes deeper spending cuts and requires both chambers approve a balanced budget amendment and submit it to states for ratification before any debt increase happens.

CO. Of Humboldt: Redistricting MEETING TOMORROW

◼ humboldt.ca.us/election...

July 27, 2011L 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.; Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, 3750 Harris Street, Eureka

Speaker Boehner’s Website Crashes After Debt Plan Speech – Too Many Hits

◼ Speaker Boehner‘s website crashed tonight during his speech to the nation. via Gateway Pundit

◼ Obama spoke on the debt crisis again tonight, and Boehner spoke too. - Althouse

Speaker John Boehner: Address to the Nation on GOP Plan to Address America's Debt Crisis w/TRANSCRIPT

TRANSCRIPT: Before I served in Congress, I ran a small business in Ohio. I was amazed at how different Washington DC operated than every business in America. Where most American business make the hard choices to pay their bills and live within their means, in Washington more spending and more debt is business as usual.

Good evening. I'm John Boehner. I serve as Speaker of the whole House -- of the members of both parties that you elect. These are difficult times in the life of our nation. Millions are looking for work, have been for some time, and the spending binge going on in Washington is a big part of the reason why.

I've got news for Washington -- those days are over.

President Obama, continuing to make use of his White House bully pulpit, will address the nation on Monday night on the “stalemate over avoiding default and the best approach to cutting deficits,” Jay Carney, the press secretary, announced in a Twitter message late in the afternoon.

◼ Obama asks for more TV airtime tonight - will address the nation at 9 p.m. ET (6:00 here) - NYT via Drudge

-21 DISAPPROVAL NEARS RECORD HIGH...

◼ The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll

23% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-four percent (44%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21... Forty-four percent (44%) of Democrats Strongly Approve while 75% of Republicans Strongly Disapprove. Among those not affiliated with either major party, 18% Strongly Approve and 42% Strongly Disapprove.

"This is a person of unique substance"

Blogger's Briefing: New Palin Film "The Undefeated" 38.33 minutes

◼ "The Undefeated" - pro and con - Discussion at Althouse

Blue Dog Democrat Mike Ross to leave seat wide open for Republicans

◼ The ranks of the Blue Dogs have already dwindled significantly, thanks to the 2010 midterm election, in which a number of moderate incumbents met defeat. According to the WSJ, “mod Dems” in the House shrank from 51 in the 110th Congress to just 25 in the 111th. - HotAir

From a certain nostalgic, idealistic perspective, the shrinking numbers of Blue Dogs is truly lamentable. How nice it would be if our senators and representatives still met over friendly meals and met in the middle on controversial issues! But from a practical, forward-thinking perspective, the increasing polarization at least makes the choice between big-government and small-government advocates clearer (especially when Republicans actually hold the conservative line — but more on that in another post!).

It’s certainly encouraging to see the congressional delegation of a conservative state like Arkansas actually reflect the conservatism of the state. Ross’ exit opens the door for a complete transformation of that delegation.

Obama kills bipartisan deal, then Reid resorts to smoke and mirrors - Endorses New Plan with 'Sham' Savings...

◼ Obama still pushing for tax hikes... - AP

The president made his comments to the National Council of La Raza on Monday as congressional leaders struggled against time to come up with a plan to meet an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the nation's debt ceiling.

◼ Obama kills bipartisan deal, then Reid resorts to smoke and mirrors - Endorses New Plan with 'Sham' Savings... - Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post via Drudge

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is devising a sham that will never pass muster in the House. A Capitol Hill source with knowledge of the plan tells me: “It includes $1.2 trillion in OCO [Overseas Contingency Operations] savings . . . which was assumed anyway, $1.2 trillion (over $1.1 trillion less than [Majority Leader Eric] Cantor identified in the Biden talks) and $300 billion in interest savings.” A Senate aide says dryly that Reid “has about a trillion in ‘savings’ from ending the war in Iraq that’s already going to end.” And a disgusted House adviser bluntly tells me that Reid’s plan “isn’t real.”

We shouldn’t be too harsh on Reid. HE DID reach a bipartisan deal with the House. But the president squashed it. (Note to Congress: Next time don’t ask, just pass it and leave town.) Now we are back to gamesmanship.

◼ 'Cuts' include money not spent in Afghanistan over next 10 years... - FOX
◼ BOEHNER: Plan 'full of gimmicks'... - AP

Washington Times: Is Obama a pathological liar?

◼ His late-evening news conference Friday was a tour de force of flat-out, unadulterated mendacity — and we’ve gotten a first-hand insider’s view of the president’s long list of lies. - Washington Times/ANALYSIS/OPINION

Obama administration's charm offensive fails to win over business groups

◼ The Obama administration’s push to mend its relationship with business has gone cold only six months into the effort. - Peter Schroeder and Bernie Becker/The Hill

Complaints abound about the regulations pouring out of federal agencies to implement the federal healthcare and financial regulation laws.

There’s also fear that labor-friendly policies emerging from the National Labor Relations Board and tax-reform legislation expected in 2012 will further hold back growth.
“With the Obama administration, it just seems to be relentless,” said David Rhoa, owner of a bulk-mailing facility based in Kalamazoo, Mich. “I’ve become accustomed to the fact that this pummeling keeps coming.”

ACORN's newly renamed chapters in New York (New York Communities for Change), California (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), Missouri (Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment), and Washington state (Organization United for Reform) make no secret about their participation in the scheme.

◼ BREAKING: ‘New’ ACORN Groups Join SEIU’s Economic Terrorism Campaign - Matthew Vadum at American Spectator

...Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) boasts that 22 activists were arrested protesting foreclosures outside a Chase office in Los Angeles. "These banks are terrorists," said Peggy Mears. "They terrorize us by threatening to take our homes."

In South L.A., ACCE and SEIU held a mock trial outside a Chase office. ACCE organizer Evelyn Gutierrez said her group targeted Chase because it lent money to poor people, which is exactly what ACORN pressured it to do in recent decades.
ACCE wants the bank to "forgive" all the principal borrowed, said JPMorgan Chase spokesman Gary Kischner. "We've done over one million loan modifications and we've had outreach events like the one we did at the Convention Center in January...."

America needs to know that ACORN is restructuring in time to help re-elect President Obama in 2012. Obama used to work for ACORN and represented the group in court as its lawyer. These radical leftists who use the brutal, in-your-face, pressure tactics of Saul Alinsky want to destroy America as we know it and will use any means to do it.
__________________
Subversion Inc., a new book by investigative reporter Matthew Vadum. at Amazon and in Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million bookstores. Visit the Subversion Inc. Facebook page. Follow Matthew Vadum on Twitter.

Time to Fire Eric Holder

◼ Time to Fire Eric Holder - Human Events
...more than 150 Mexicans and at least one U.S. government agent, are dead because of Gunwalker. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) videotaped the sale of the gun that killed Border Patrol agent and military veteran Brian Terry. Weapons waltzed into Mexico under its “Operation Fast and Furious” have begun turning up in American cities. A second program called “Operation Castaway” has been discovered, walking guns into Honduras. MS-13, the most dangerous gang in the world, has strong ties to Honduras.

Operation Fast and Furious was run out of Phoenix. Operation Castaway bubbled forth from the Tampa office of the ATF. Some of the ostensible gunrunning “targets” of these operations turned out to be paid FBI informants. The programs enjoyed funding from the Obama “stimulus” package. These factors combine to make regional ATF supervisors, or acting ATF Director Ken Melson, unsuitable as fall guys.

Ken Melson doesn’t want to be a fall guy. He’s cooperating with congressional investigators, but their requests for information have been stonewalled by Attorney General Eric Holder at every turn.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R.-Calif.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R.-Iowa) of the Judiciary Committee have sent an increasingly testy series of letters to Holder, most recently demanding he move the Justice Department “from spin mode to disclosure mode” and stop treating the Gunwalker scandal as “merely a public relations problem.” Nevertheless, Holder continues to pump out billowing clouds of blue smoke, fill committee chambers with fun house mirrors and wipe out 80% of the documents he hands over with the dreaded black marker of redaction....

◼ Discussion at Lucianne

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders suggests its time for Obama to face primary challenge

◼ “And I think one of the reasons President Obama has moved as far to the right as he has is he thinks he can go all the way and no one will stand up to him,” Sanders continued. “So, Tim I don’t want to tell you more than that but this is an issue I am – we are beginning to talk about a little bit.” - Daily Caller

Obama and Biden Cancel Many Fundraisers Outside of Washington

◼ Ann Compton reports: Tonight, one fundraiser in a private home here in Washington has been cancelled, and another in a hotel will get Vice President Biden instead of a presidential appearance. - Jake Tapper/ABC News

Obama campaign officials confirm to ABC News that actual cancellations are now in effect for more than a half dozen political fundraisers that were to take President Obama to the West Coast and Vice President Biden to three cities across the South.

Iowa Politics Insider: Pawlenty tops field in cash-in-jar poll

◼ The winner of the Dallas County GOP "put your money where your mouth is" jar poll at the county fair last weekend: Tim "T-Paw" Pawlenty. - desmoinesregister.com

Perry gives first NH interview

◼ The man who appears to be on the verge of shaking up the Republican presidential race is proud of his fiscal and economic record, but is equally outspoken and “unapologetic” about his social conservatism and deep Christian faith. - John Distaso/UnionLeader.com

◼ Rick Perry Eyes Late August Campaign Launch - Real Clear Politics

Washington Post: "Sen. Reid took the bipartisan plan to the White House and the President said no.”

◼ White House stokes debt-ceiling crisis - Jennifer Rubin Washington Post
◼ Debt Negotiations Proceed Without an Adult in the Room; Update: A Reid Plan w/no Tax Increases?
◼ As deadline looms, both parties craft debt plans - Coburn: Short-term deal the ‘only answer’ - Washington Times
Drudge headline: SENATE DEMS CAVE: REID TO OFFER $2.7 TRILLION IN SPENDING CUTS, NO TAX INCREASES...

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is working on a plan to raise the debt limit by $2.7 trillion, coupled with an equal reduction in projected future spending. In a concession to Republicans, he said that plan would not include tax increases, but that the new debt level would last through the 2012 elections.

That date has become a critical marker for Democrats — so much so that President Obama’s advisers said he would veto any bill that doesn’t last that long.

◼ Boehner preparing to move on debt limit - AP

Officials said Boehner's legislation would likely add about $1 trillion to the debt ceiling, enough to last about six months, accompanied by a slightly greater amount of spending cuts and the prospect of more savings later - in effect a dare to the Senate and Obama to reject it. Those elements were part of a plan that congressional and White House negotiators discussed over the weekend but never completed because of clashes over how the future, deeper spending cuts would take effect.

"I would prefer to have a bipartisan approach to solve this problem," Boehner said on Fox News Sunday. "If that is not possible, I and my Republican colleagues in the House are prepared to move on our own."

◼ Boehner Weighs Balanced-Budget Amendment

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner told fellow Republicans on Sunday that he is considering a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution as part of a bill that would raise the debt ceiling, a source who heard his message said.
That could be a sign that the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate remain far apart in tense negotiations to avoid an Aug. 2 default.

"A balanced approach"

◼ The Power Line Prize jury met via conference call yesterday afternoon and selected the winners of the Power Line Prize contest. This is a short video called “Goldfish” that fell just short of the top ten, but was much liked by the judges

CO. Of Humboldt: Redistricting MEETING TOMORROW

◼ http://co.humboldt.ca.us/election/docs/public%20hearing%20schedule%202011.pdf

July 26, 2011; 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.; Scotia Fire Hall, 145 Main Street, Scotia

Obama ... claimed to have a $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan. The court eunuchs of the press corps were impressed, and went off to file pieces hailing the president as "the grown-up in the room." There is, in fact, no plan. No plan at all. No plan whatsoever, either for a deficit reduction of $4 trillion or $4.73. As is the way in Washington, merely announcing that he had a plan absolved him of the need to have one.

◼ Steyn Ridicules Press's Insistence on Calling Budget Ideas 'Plans'; Now It's Ginned-up Fears of Stock-Market Plunge - Mark Steyn

Congress ditches Obama on debt talks

◼ link - Politico (image source)

First came the Biden talks. When those blew up, the Obama-Boehner talks took center stage. And when that failed, the McConnell-Reid talks looked promising. And after they faltered, the Obama-Boehner talks tried to find a new life.

Now it’s all come down to the Boehner-Reid-Pelosi-McConnell talks to solve the debt crisis. Notably absent? The president.

◼ No debt deal in sight, parties go separate ways - Politico

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told his colleagues in a Sunday afternoon conference call that a debt deal with Obama is not the way forward. He said on the call that a plan that “reflects the principles” of the conservative “Cut, Cap and Balance” proposal that the Senate rejected will serve as the model for any legislation coming out of the House. The speaker, though, did acknowledge that the plan itself is a non-starter.

“So the question becomes – if it’s not the Cut, Cap and Balance Act itself – what can we pass that will protect our country from what the president is trying to orchestrate,” Boehner said, according to a source familiar with the call.

Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), according to several sources on the call, implored his colleagues to “stick together” to enact a budget deal that they can support. Boehner said an agreement “will require some of you to make sacrifices.” He told his colleagues that they shouldn’t worry about winning the battles, but rather the war, according to a source on the call.

◼ Still No Deal, GOP Will Move Own Plan - National Review Online

As Andy notes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) looks like he’ll be bringing his own plan forward in the Senate, which would allow for a single increase that would ensure that Congress doesn’t have to vote on one again until after the 2012 election.

◼ Dollar Drops As Asia Opens; Debt Talks Weigh On Market - Wall Street Journal
◼ Tim Geithner Refuses To Tell Chris Wallace What Happens If Debt Ceiling Isn’t Raised - Mediaite

Despite persistent questioning from Chris Wallace, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner refused to acknowledge what his plans were just in case the debt ceiling is not raised before August 2nd. Insisting that his plan was only to get Congress to raise the debt ceiling, Geithner seemed to demonstrate just how fearful he is of what might happen by hesitating to even discuss the possibility of any contingency plan.

◼ Boehner's office: Two-step process to raise debt ceiling now 'inevitable' - The Hill

The Undefeated Coming to Video on Demand, Pay-Per-View, ‘Special Edition’ DVD

◼ “Since the film opened in select markets across the country on July 15th we have been inundated with requests from people wanting the film to be made available in their market. - Big Hollywood

ARC Entertainment, the distributor of “The Undefeated,” the film about Gov. Sarah Palin’s rise from obscurity to national prominence, announced today that beginning on September 1st the film will be available to 75 million homes via Video on Demand and Pay-Per-View access through national and regional cable and satellite operators. The DVD will launch on October 4th and will be available at traditional and online retailers nationwide. ARC is estimating its initial unit shipment to be approximately 250,000 units. A “Special Edition” DVD will contain additional new content and will only be sold in Walmart stores. ARC will continue to expand the limited engagement theatrical release nationwide throughout August and September as demand across the country remains high.