News Nuggets 711

A Hawaiian green turtle at an aquarium in Maui.  From National Geographic.

The Debt-Ceiling Deal in One Flowchart (Ezra Klein) from the Washington Post
"Senate Republicans are circulating a useful flow chart laying out the various paths the debt-ceiling deal could lead us down:"

The Fine Print on the Debt Deal (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"If Democrats read the fine print on the debt deal struck by President Obama and Congressional leaders, they’ll find that it’s a little better than it appears at first glance."

Five Things for Liberals to Like in the Debt Ceiling Deal (Jay Newton-Small) from Time Magazine
"as the details of the compromise emerged, it seemed there was actually a lot for liberals to like about this bill. If and when the House passes the bill on Monday, it will likely be with the help of a lot of Democrats. Here’s why some liberals are actually happy with this deal:..."
Most of what Newton-Small says, while true, misses the larger picture: the debt deal virtually guarantees, in my view, a stalled economy through 2012, a worsening situation for the unemployed, the poor, and the middle class, and, at least from my perspective, left the Dems (Obama especially) with virtually nothing to run on next year.  Before this deal, I would have said Obama could at least run against the Tea Party -- but what can he say now?  He's going to sign a bill that endorses most of their philosophical positions if not, in substance, their policies.  Even in the medium term, Obama needs to be worried about his reputation as a leader and negotiator coming out of this deal.  The reviews so far from that perspective have NOT been good.

The Debt Ceiling Fight: What We Learned (Chris Cillizza) from the Washington Post
Cillizza is MUCH MORE on the mark today than he was yesterday.
"Looking back, there are several lessons to be learned for both parties going forward. A few of those lessons are below. If you’ve got lessons learned of your own, use the comments section to offer them. ... Presidents are pragmatists: The idea that Obama wouldn’t ultimately cut some sort of deal was a misread of the role of the presidency when it comes to these sort of high-profile showdowns. Nine times out of ten, a president will choose the pragmatic rather than the ideological approach when the pressure is on."

Pentagon Faces Possibility of Hundreds of Billions in Spending Cuts Over 10 Years from the New York Times
"There was at least some clarity for the immediate future: cuts in next year’s military budget are likely to be minimal or at least modest, depending on the way the counting is done. Beyond that, military budget analysts said, there was a real possibility that cuts in military spending would amount to about $550 billion over the next 10 years — or $150 billion more than what President Obama has already requested."

Chuck Todd comes closest to capturing my own sentiment:
First Thoughts: Nobody's Really a Winner (Chuck Todd et al.) from NBC News
"While Democrats lost in the particulars on the deal, Republicans lost in looking like a responsible governing party that deserves control of both the legislative and executive branches. But they still got what they wanted: a sizable bite out of government. But strikingly, just like how the left didn’t celebrate Obama’s landmark health-care achievement (even though it was the biggest expansion of the social safety net since the 1960s), the right isn’t really cheering this deal..."

Krugman Quibble on the 14th Amendment (Joe Klein) from Time Magazine
"If he had cited the 14th Amendment and simply ordered Treasury to pay the bills, he would have been impeached by the radical Republicans. This would have guaranteed that the next 16 months would have been overwhelmed by an even worse version of the silliness visited upon our nation by the poisonous Limbaugh-Tea Party nihilists."
BINGO!

That Monolithic Tea Party Just Wasn’t There from the New York Times
"Few Republicans or Democrats would disagree that the Tea Party and its designs loomed over the debate on the debt limit. But the power of the Tea Party as a singular force may be more phantom than reality."

Wake Up GOP: Smashing System Doesn't Fix It (David Frum) from CNN
"...that one-third and that one-quarter have come to dominate my party. That one-third and that one-quarter forced a debt standoff that could have ended in default and a second Great Recession. That one-third and that one-quarter have effectively written the "no new taxes pledge" into national law. There was another way."

Giffords’ Bipartisan Message (Peter Boyer) from the Daily Beast
With her surprise vote, the Arizona congresswoman rebuked the partisan rancor that has dominated the debt debate. Peter J. Boyer talks to her staff about her message of unity."
More with a video clip HERE from the Huffington Post.

Debt Ceiling Unity Belies GOP Tension with Tea Party from Politico
"Republicans treated the historic debt-limit vote as a victory for conservative principles and gave Boehner a standing ovation. He was presented with a framed Time magazine cover with his image, along with a portrait of his hero, the previous speaker from Ohio, Nicholas Longworth. But beneath the party unity, Republicans are still roiled by a dissatisfied tea party and riven by other tensions that will linger in the months ahead."

Tea Party’s War on America (Joe Nocera) from the New York Times 
"You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them. ... America’s real crisis is not a debt crisis. It’s an unemployment crisis. Yet this agreement not only doesn’t address unemployment, it’s guaranteed to make it worse."

Bulldoze: The New Way To Foreclose from Time Magazine via Yahoo News
"Banks have a new remedy to America's ailing housing market: Bulldozers."

Romney: The Cowardly Candidate (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"Mitt Romney could have grudgingly accepted the debt-ceiling deal. But instead, he’s bolstered his reputation for insincerity by pandering to the Tea Party, says Michael Tomasky."

Is S.C. GOP Set to Go Rogue? State May Abandon Front-Runners for Tea Party (Adam Beam) from The State [of South Carolina]
"Since 1980, the Republican presidential nominee has won every contested S.C. GOP primary — a record that has given the Palmetto State’s vote a kingmaker aura. Why? In part, because S.C. Republican primary voters always have backed the GOP’s establishment candidate. But that could change this year."

BEST/WORST PRESIDENTS LIST NUGGET!!
The Best and Worst of the Best and Worst List of Foreign Policy Presidents (Daniel Drezner) from Foreign Policy Magazine
"Lists are always going to engage the readers.  It's almost impossible to get them wrong. I bring this up because The Atlantic's list of the best and worst foreign policy presidents of the past century is really, really wrong."
I saw the list at the Atlantic last week and thought it so bad I chose not to post it -- but I appreciate Drezner's (and other's) responses here -- so check out the original list and look over the feedback.  I stand largely with the critics of the original list.

BASEBALL MEMORABILIA NUGGET!!
A Lou Gehrig Treasure Trove from the New York Times
"If part of the romance of baseball has often been romance, along comes one from another era. This one features Lou Gehrig, a young woman three years his junior he called “Red,” a domineering mother and a surprise ending 80 years later."