memeorandum: Perry team raising money, supporter says announcement next week (Aaron Blake/Washington Post)

11:15 AM ET, August 8, 2011

Top Items:

On S&P, Downgrades, and Idiots — This is not going to be one of those posts that laments S&P's decision to downgrade the US, but then says that S&P was probably right about our oh-so-dysfunctional political system. — No, S&P was flat-out wrong — no caveats.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Free exchange, Felix Salmon, Associated Press, Paul Krugman, American Spectator, Wizbang, NewsBusters.org blogs and Politics

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Credibility, Chutzpah And Debt — To understand the furor over the decision by Standard & Poor's, the rating agency, to downgrade U.S. government debt, you have to hold in your mind two seemingly (but not actually) contradictory ideas. The first is that America is indeed no longer the stable, reliable country it once was.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Democracy in America, Global Public Square, FiveThirtyEight, It's All Trivial …, Associated Press, Politics and Firedoglake

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Markets open low as White House pushes back on S&P downgrade — Washington's lawmakers and policymakers anxiously watched the open of financial markets in Asia, Europe and New York Monday to determine the impact of the nation losing its AAA credit rating. — The downgrade of the nation's …

Discussion: The Hill and The Reaction

Patrick Allen / CNBC:

No Chance of Default, US Can Print Money: Greenspan — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday ruled out the chance of a US default following S&P's decision to downgrade America's credit rating. — “The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers and LewRockwell.com Blog

Robert Pear / New York Times:
S.&P. Downgrade Is Seen as Adding Urgency to Debt-Cutting Panel

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, Online NewsHour, Wake up America, GOP.com and The Daily Caller

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
“Tea Party Downgrade”? They Can't Possibly Sell That

Discussion: The Caucus, TPMDC, Somewhat Reasonable, Weasel Zippers, Instapundit and Don Surber

Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Stocks Slump in First U.S. Trading Since Downgrade

Discussion: Global Public Square, The Curious Capitalist, Money & Company, The Page and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

LEAP OF FAITH … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Concord Monitor, New York Magazine, The Wire, The New Republic, msnbc.com, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Iowa Caucuses, Towleroad News #gay, Right Wing Watch and FrumForum

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Michele Bachmann's development and formation

Discussion: The Note and The Daily Caller

Molly Ball / The Politico:
All eyes turn to Ames

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Page

Michelle Malkin:

The Conservative Crazy Eyes Cliche & Other Stupid MSM Photo Tricks — Sigh. Seriously, Tina Brown? — Yes, I'm talking about you, Oxford University-educated Newsweek/Daily Beast editor Tina Brown. — You've resorted to recycling bottom-of-the-barrel moonbat photo cliches …

Discussion: Big Journalism

Lauri Apple / Gawker:

Michele Bachmann Looks, Um, Surprised to Be on Newsweek Cover — Congresswoman and Republican presidential candidate/shoo-in Michele Bachmann's made the cover of the latest [Cosmo] Newsweek—an honor that comes with a new if not entirely original nickname ("the Queen of Rage") and complimentary #QueenOfRage Twitter hashtag.

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Runnin' Scared, The New Civil Rights Movement and NewsBusters.org blogs

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Rep. West: Geithner ‘should move on’ from Treasury job — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner should not have decided to stay on in his current post, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said Monday. — “When you open that refrigerator door, the lights don't come on. I really think he should move on,” West said on Fox News.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

The Note:
Michele Bachmann Doubles Down On Tim Geithner: He ‘Must Resign Immediately For The Sake Of Our Country’

Discussion: The Hill, National Review and Gawker

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Geithner tells Obama he will remain as Treasury secretary

Discussion: The Politico, Shakesville, JammieWearingFool, Scared Monkeys, Sky Dancing, Balloon Juice, New York Magazine and White House Dossier

Daily Mail:

Explosive Jackie O tapes ‘reveal how she believed Johnson killed JFK and had affair with movie star’ — Jackie Onassis believed that Lyndon B Johnson and a cabal of Texas tycoons were involved in the assassination of her husband John F Kennedy, ‘explosive’ recordings are set to reveal.

Discussion: Mudville Gazette, Scared Monkeys, The Wire, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Change of Subject, Pajamas Media and Don Surber

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Perry team raising money, supporter says announcement next week — Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at The Response, a call to prayer for a nation in crisis, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011, in Houston.. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip - AP) Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) …

Discussion: GOP 12, Outside the Beltway and Politics

David Catanese / The Politico:

Wis. Dem memo: Victory predictions “dangerous” — MADISON Wis. — Democrats on the ground here are increasingly confident they will pick-up two state Senate seats, but are warning that winning the third necessary for a takeover is a tenuous prospect. — Despite hype from some in the party apparatus …

Discussion: Althouse and National Review

Kevin Diaz / Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Pawlenty changes his approach on health care — He favored exchanges and was ‘open to’ mandates. Then he ran for president. — WASHINGTON - In his presidential campaign autobiography, “Courage to Stand,” former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty recalls a man in a wheelchair who approached him at an airport in Mankato.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Morning Sentinel, Washington Post, Kaiser Health News, Iowa Caucuses and The Politico

Paul Krugman:

A Self-Fulfilling Euro Crisis? (Wonkish) — There will probably be big action in the euro zone tomorrow; so, some quick analytical notes. — The big question, I believe, is whether the Italian and maybe Spanish crises are the kind of thing that might be brought under control by ECB bond purchases.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Free exchange, Money & Company, Financial Times, FT Alphaville, It's All Trivial …, Reuters, ecb.int, naked capitalism, Marginal Revolution, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Calculated Risk

John Harwood / The Caucus:

Voters Want a Change Politicians Can't Deliver — WASHINGTON — Here is the bad news for President Obama and incumbents in both parties: it can get worse — and stay that way for a long time. — That might sound like catastrophic thinking after Mr. Obama's nerve-jangling birthday week …

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, The Huffington Post and Prairie Weather

Abby Phillip / The Politico:

Duncan to issue ‘No Child’ waivers — Seeing “no clear path” toward reauthorizing the “No Child Left Behind” education law, the Obama administration will unilaterally issue waivers to states, exempting them from some of the law's regulations. — “Today we're less than a month from the start …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Political Punch:

The Presidential Planner: Obama Spends Monday Behind Closed-Doors — ABC News' Mary Bruce (@marykbruce) reports: — President Obama will spend today in closed-door meetings at the White House, no doubt tackling the fallout from Standard & Poor's decision Friday to downgrade the nation's credit.

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

New York Times:

A.I.G. to Sue Bank of America Over Mortgage Bonds — The American International Group is planning to sue Bank of America over hundreds of mortgage-backed securities, adding to the surge of investors seeking compensation for the troubled mortgages that led to the financial crisis.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Magazine and naked capitalism

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

Second Recession in U.S. Could Be Worse Than First — If the economy falls back into recession, as many economists are now warning, the bloodletting could be a lot more painful than the last time around. — Given the tumult of the Great Recession, this may be hard to believe.

Discussion: The Raw Story

Nouriel Roubini / Financial Times:

Mission impossible: stop another recession — The first half of 2011 showed a slowdown of growth - if not outright contraction - in most advanced economies. Optimists said this was a temporary soft patch. This delusion has been dashed. Even before last week's panic …

Discussion: Economix, FT Alphaville and AMERICAN FUTURE

New York Times:

Palestinians and the U.N. — In little more than a month, the Palestinians are expected to ask the United Nations to recognize their state. We have sympathy for their yearning and their frustration. For years, they have been promised a negotiated solution — President Obama called …

Discussion: Israel Matzav and Pajamas Media