Visual Source: Newseum
Brendan Nyhan on why debt default is Obama's problem:
In this case, it's worth thinking through the mechanics of how Republicans would be blamed instead of Obama. As Silver notes, the economy is incredibly complex. Even if there were a debt default, the process by which it would affect the economy would be difficult for people to understand. Both sides would no doubt blame each other for the outcome and create elaborate stories about why the other side is to blame, which would then be reinforced and amplified in the press. Then more than a year would elapse before November 2012, and both sides would continue to blame each other for failing to adequately address the consequences of the default. In the meantime, many people will forget the details of what happened, but will know that Obama is the president and the economy is in bad shape. Under those conditions, how likely is it that people who would normally blame Obama for the poor economy will instead blame the GOP when they show up at the polls? Presidential forecasting and approval models aren't perfect, but I think the burden of proof is on their critics to explain why we should expect a deviation from the normal pattern of economic voting.
Ross Douthat:
But last week, the Republican offensive suddenly collapsed in disarray. In the space of a few days, a party that once looked capable of pressing the White House into a deal that would have left liberals fuming found itself falling back on two less-palatable options instead: either a procedural gimmick that would try to pin the responsibility for raising the ceiling on President Obama, or a stand on principle that would risk plunging the American economy back into recession.
What went wrong? It turns out that Republicans didn’t have a plan for transitioning from the early phase of a high-stakes political negotiation, when the goal is to draw stark lines and force the other side to move your way, to the late phase, in which the public relations battle becomes crucial and the goal is to make the other side seem unreasonable, intransigent and even a little bit insane.
They are insane. They aren't "playing" and enablers like Douthat are as responsible as they are. More:
To conservatives, this has been a galling spectacle. A president who spent his first two years in office taking spending to a historic high is accusing them of fiscal irresponsibility? A president who spent the spring demagoguing House Republicans for their willingness to restructure Medicare is citing a much more modest set of cuts as evidence of his fiscal seriousness?
But this fury misses the point. Obama has been playing the reasonability card so successfully because his opponents won’t (or can’t) play one of their own.
Not won't. Can't.
Reuters:
Senator Jon Kyl, the second ranking Republican in the Senate, tells ABC's "This Week" that "If all else fails...we will not be the ones who took the country into default, the United States will not default on its debt."...
Lawmakers are under intense pressure from state governors, U.S. businesses and U.S. creditors to strike a deal and raise the debt limit. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, said on Saturday at a National Governors Association meeting in Salt Lake City, "This is a dangerous and equally ridiculous situation that's playing itself out."
The Guardian on Rebekah Brooks arrest:
The development increases the likelihood that James Murdoch will be spoken to by police, at least as a witness.
It also places in jeopardy Brooks's scheduled appearance before MPs on the culture, media and sport committee who are investigating the phone-hacking scandal. The MPs are scheduled to question her, Rupert and James Murdoch in a session that is seen as crucial to News Corporation's attempts to repair the damage to its reputation. "It has many implications for Tuesday," Brooks's spokesman said. "Over the next 24 to 36 hours her lawyers will have discussions with the select committee to see if it will still be appropriate [to attend]. She certainly wants to."
David Carr:
So far, 10 people have been arrested, including, on Sunday, Rebekah Brooks, the head of News International. Les Hinton, who ran News International before her and most recently was the head of Dow Jones, resigned on Friday. Now we are left to wonder whether Mr. Murdoch will be forced to make an Abraham-like sacrifice and abandon his son James, the former heir apparent.
The News Corporation may be hoping that it can get back to business now that some of the responsible parties have been held to account — and that people will see the incident as an aberrant byproduct of the world of British tabloids. But that seems like a stretch. The damage is likely to continue to mount, perhaps because the underlying pathology is hardly restricted to those who have taken the fall.
Read this one. It's "tip of the iceberg" stuff. Meanwhile
Cameron Calls Emergency Session of Parliament. And don't miss
our hat tip to our diarists covering this story.
Is Rick Perry running? You tell me.
The Texan with the slight Southern drawl who has called dozens of top Iowa Republican activists in the past few weeks sounds more and more like he’s about to run for president.
“I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,” Gov. Rick Perry told The Des Moines Register. “But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do. This is what America needs.”
As for
his chances...