9:45pm Video: Senator Rand Paul slams Boehner, Reid debt plans

4:30pm The Republican: The White House issues another veto threat (surprise, surprise)

4:00pm House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan: The Budget Control Act - a step forward but a long journey remains

2:45pm Rep. Lamar Alexander: Amnesty costs jobs

2:30pm The Republican: The Boehner plan: An early look at likely 'yeas' and 'nays'

2:00pm Video: Washington's 'Spenditol' addiction

1:45pm The Republican: Unsurprisingly, economic confidence falls sharply among Americans

1:30pm Reps. J. Randy Forbes, Michael Turner, Rob Bishop and Mike Conway: On the defense over defense cuts

1:15pm 'The president wants a compromise; the American people want a solution': Rep. Joe Walsh sees a larger goal in the debt debate

1:00pm The Republican: In the wake of allegations, Democrat David Wu resigns

10:30am Video:

• Kyl makes the case of 'Cut, Cap, Balance'
• How effective were Monday night's speeches?

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: As Washington debates how to increase America’s indebtedness, American families watch their wealth shrink: A lesson for lawmakers

Leaders take the debt debate to primetime as August 2 deadline draws closer - Washington Post | The Hill

David Brooks: "After the dream of a Grand Bargain officially died, the Old Guard in Washington has taken the reins and President Obama has faltered." - New York Times

Boehner on debt talks: 'I gave it my all'

"Seeking to blunt White House efforts to shift blame for a default crisis on Republicans, House Speaker John A. Boehner said that President Obama has failed to lead on cutting government spending and that his party will press ahead with its own plan to raise the debt ceiling. In a televised response to the president's address, Boehner said the GOP-controlled House has already moved through legislation to address the nation's deficit challenge, most recently the so-called "cut, cap and balance" plan. The Ohio Republican also said he "made a sincere effort" to work with Obama to reach an agreement that could pass both chambers of Congress. "I gave it my all," he said. But Obama insisted on a "blank check" for more spending, Boehner contended, saying that Obama's call for a "balanced approach" was just Washington speak that means "we spend more, you pay more."" - LA Times

"For House Republicans, the debt ceiling debate has come down to a simple question: Do they trust Speaker John Boehner?" - Roll Call ($)

> Yesterday on The Republican: John Boehner's response to Obama's speech tonight

Prodding Congress to act, Obama warns of 'collateral damage' to nation in debt fight

"President Obama on Monday issued a grave warning against prolonging the current political stalemate and specifically called on the freshmen in the House Republican caucus to bring it to an end. In an evening address to the nation, Obama asked Americans to call their members of Congress and pressure them to raise the legal limit on the federal government's borrowing power so the country can pay its bills a week from now. Americans are fed up with a system in which compromise has become a "dirty word," Obama said, in a portion of his remarks aimed directly at conservative first-term members in the House. The economy will take a dangerous turn in the next few days if Republicans and Democrats don't end the conflict now, he said." - LA Times

Speeches by Obama, Boehner achieve political ends, but little else - Dan Balz on the Washington Post

> Yesterday on The Republican: Republicans could do a lot better to talk, first, about jobs, and second, to do so with a moral richness and urgency

"House and Senate plans take tax hikes off the table but differ on amount of debt limit increase." -USA Today

• GOP lawmaker compares Congress to Amy Winehouse - USA Today
• Harry Reid's debt ceiling plan faces tough odds - Politico
• Conservatives denounce Boehner plan - The Hill

> Yesterday on The Republican: It looks like we're backing into the McConnell plan after all

"Financial markets began taking seriously the prospect of a downgrade of the U.S.'s triple-A credit rating, which it has held for nearly a century" - WSJ

Governors prepare for economic challenges

"State governments are bracing to be hit with new economic challenges no matter how the Washington debt-ceiling debate ends this week—whether in a U.S. government default, deficit-reduction deal, or debt downgrade. U.S. Treasury Department officials have warned repeatedly that Congress must raise the $14.29 trillion federal borrowing limit by Aug. 2 or the government could run out of cash to pay all its bills, including federal employee salaries, Social Security benefits, military pensions, contractor invoices, and payments to bond-holders." - WSJ

> Yesterday on The Republican: Government collects voluntary gifts from citizens to pay down the debt...and then spends it

Report: ATF guns recovered at Mexican crime scenes

"Weapons traced to a failed U.S. law enforcement operation that sought to take down violent Mexican drug cartels have been recovered at more than 48 different crime scenes in Mexico, including bloody kidnappings and gun battles that left more than a dozen Mexican police and cartel members dead last May, according to a new report by Republican congressional investigators. In one of the earliest discoveries, in 2009, authorities found more than three dozen AK-47s along the Southwest border in Sonora only one day after a straw buyer under surveillance by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had purchased the weapons at an Arizona gun shop, the report by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) said." - NPR

Report: Republicans may be winning the social media war

"Republicans may have pulled ahead of Democrats in the race to dominate the social media landscape, according to a Congressional Management Foundation report released Tuesday. In a survey of 260 Congressional staffers between October and December of 2010, Democrats reported their offices spent too little time in online communications when compared with their Republican colleagues. A quarter to a third of Republican staffers reported their offices spent too little time on Facebook, Twitter and online town hall meetings, among others. But Democrats posted much higher numbers of discontent across the board, ranging from 32 to 42 percent. “In every single category of online activity, Democrats feel…that their office spends too little time on online communications,” Bradford Fitch, president and CEO of CMF, told The Hill." - The Hill

In Florida, Texas Gov. Rick Perry leads state presidential poll

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry isn't officially a candidate for president, but the Republican leads a new Florida poll for the GOP nomination. Perry, who is likely to make a decision soon on the White House race, leads Republicans with 16% of the Florida vote, according to the survey by the American Research Group. The Texas governor is followed closely by Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, who both finished with 15%." - USA Today

• "It increasingly appears likely the Texas governor will launch a White House run." - Politico
• Perry’s 'Texas turnaround' sets stage for 2012 bid - Roll Call ($)
• Michael Gerson: "It is Gov. Rick Perry’s main appeal as a presidential candidate that 48 percent of the nation’s job creation during the recovery has come in Texas. But his main message to America is not economic but constitutional." - Washington Post

> Yesterday on The Republican: Dear elite media types: Before you write about Rick Perry, here are 8 things you should know

Bachmann skips 40 percent of votes since launching bid

"Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has missed nearly 40 percent of votes in the House since she formally launched her presidential campaign. Bachmann’s absentee rate, which is significantly higher than the two other House members running for president, could be used by her GOP opponents on the campaign trail. Bachmann, the chairwoman of the House Tea Party Caucus who has surged toward the top of the Republican presidential field, has missed 50 of 135 votes since formally announcing her candidacy on June 27 in Waterloo, Iowa. Bachmann is one of three House members seeking the Republican presidential nomination. Both GOP Reps. Ron Paul (Texas) and Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.) are waging long-shot bids for the party nod." - The Hill

Gingrich's personal finances: Tiffany's 'paid in full' - USA Today

Other news in brief:

• "The UN World Food Programme is set to start airlifting food aid to Somalia, its director says at crisis talks on East Africa's drought." - BBC News
• "The Obama administration on Monday lobbed economic sanctions against some of the world's most feared criminal organizations as part of an effort to economically cripple groups that pose a threat to the U.S." - WSJ
• "The Federal Aviation Administration has stopped work on air travel infrastructure projects across the United States after Congress failed to pass legislation re-authorizing federal ticket taxes. The taxes fund the building airport facilities such as control towers and runways." - NPR

Debra J. Saunders: Norwegian crime and punishment

"When a country's justice system dispenses with the death penalty, then life sentences, it has no mechanism to redress evil. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg actually used the word "evil" at a heartbreaking memorial service. Stoltenberg pledged that his country would respond to the evil with "more democracy, more openness, and more humanity, but never naivete." It's clear where he should start - eliminate the 21-year maximum sentence. In his manifesto, Breivik wrote, "Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike." Oslo police say that when they confronted him, he laid down his weapons and surrendered without a fight." - SF Chronicle

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