The Senate will vote on the debt ceiling compromise at noon
(TPM)
The House left for August recess immediately following the debt
limit vote.
President Obama will meet with the AFL-CIO executive committee
before the bill is voted on (Politico)
Former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick released from jail
(Detroit
News)
Congress no closer to resolving FAA shutdown, workers could be
furloughed through August (The
Hill)
Rep. Gabby Giffords returns to Congress for the debt ceiling
vote:
Cognitive
Dissonance by W. James Antle, III: The
clashing and contradictory narratives driving the debt ceiling
debate.
American
Tipping Point, by Jeffrey Lord: The view from Hobbitville as
House passes debt ceiling and Tea Party principles are the new Hush
Puppies.
The Extraordinary Case of Farewell, by Richard V. Allen: Thirty
years ago this summer French President Mitterrand made Ronald
Reagan an offer he couldn’t resist.
Military
Rule in Burma, by Doug Bandow: The elections meant nothing.
There is no democracy. Political prisoners have not been
released.
Brainy
Power, by Roger Kaplan: The Czechs have it. The Germans
yesterday did not.
Can’t Read: The Tea Leaves, by Jay D. Homnick: A “deal” that
sinks, probably forever, any chance that the government could ever
be reined in meaningfully.
DeMint Fights the System, by Ned Ryun: Considering the genre,
Senator Jim DeMint’s new book is a great and timely read.
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause
and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress
impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist
surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our
culture.
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it,
makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so
many people seem to be hostile to it?