1.) Obama looks up at debt ceiling, blinks — Don’t call Obama’s bluff, or… his bluff will get called. TheDC’s Neil Munro and Amanda Carey report: “White House spokesman Jay Carney opened the door today to a stopgap debt-ceiling measure. ‘We believe a short-term extension absent an agreement to a larger deal is unacceptable,’ Carney told reporters at Wednesday’s press conference. ‘If both sides agree to something concretely significant, we will support the measures needed to finalize the details,’ he said, adding that ‘there is still time to get something big done.’ That’s a 180-degree turn away from President Barack Obama’s July 11 statement rejecting a stopgap deal. ‘I’m happy to consider all options, all alternatives that they’re looking at,’ Obama said in a White House press conference. ‘The things that I will not consider are a 30-day or a 60-day or a 90-day or a 180-day temporary stopgap resolution to this problem. This is the United States of America, and we don’t manage our affairs in three-month increments.'” Except when we do. Look, Obama said that a whole 10 days ago! Just because he says a particular thing doesn’t mean you should take it literally. Let him be clear, as he’s always said, make no mistake, etc. Apropos of nothing, Public Policy Polling now says: “Obama in perilous shape.” Weird, huh?
2.) Michele Bachmann gets note from doctor — TheDC’s Jonathan Strong reports: “Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann released a letter Wednesday from the House Attending Physician’s office, confirming that Bachmann suffers ‘infrequently’ from migraines ‘with aura,’ and that she can control them ‘well’ with the use of sumatriptan and odansetron, two ‘commonly used therapies’ to treat the chronic headaches. The letter’s release comes after The Daily Caller reported late Monday that Bachmann has been hospitalized on at least three occasions due to the headaches… ‘You have a well-established diagnosis of migraine headaches with aura for which you have had extensive evaluation by both my office and by a board certified consulting neurologist. Your evaluation has entailed detailed labwork and brain scans all of which are normal,’ the July 20 letter from Dr. Brian Monahan says. ‘You are overall in good general health,’ Monahan adds.” In case you were wondering, Michele Bachmann has now released more personal medical information than President Barack Obama.
3.) Democrats try to push black man around — Allen West gave Debbie Wasserman Schultz a piece of his mind yesterday, and according to the Democrats, in doing so he forgot his place. TheDC’s Caroline May reports: “Five Democratic women are calling on Florida Republican Rep. Allen West to apologize for comments he made in an email to Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz….In a letter to the GOP leadership and West, Democratic Reps. Gwen Moore (WI), Carolyn Maloney (NY), Lois Capps (CA), Donna Edwards (MD) and Jackie Speier (CA) called not only on West to repent, but also on the GOP to disavow his words. ‘By any objective viewing of her floor speech, she was well within the rules of decorum for our chamber,’ they wrote. ‘Yet, Mr. West’s response was completely out of order and an offensive personal attack with a clearly sexist tone. We call on you to disavow this response in the strongest of terms.'” Would these Democrats be saying the same thing if West were white? Probably. Sure. Wink, wink.
4.) Politico reporter makes lateral move to Democratic Party — Politico, a liberal publication based in suburban Virginia, has just lost one of its best and brightest. But he’s not going far, as TheDC’s Alex Pappas reports: “A Politico reporter who often penned stories about Sarah Palin and other Republicans has quit journalism to work with the Democratic Party in Arizona, sources tell The Daily Caller. That reporter, Andy Barr, has covered national politics for the publication since 2008. Barr leaving to help elect Democrats will likely fan the flames of critics who say Politico has a liberal bias… Barr is not the first Politico reporter to leave for a Democratic gig. Congressional reporter Jonathan Allen left Politico in 2009 to work as an aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida Democrat, but he returned to Politico in 2010… While at Politico, Barr was a prolific writer of stories about Palin…” Who just bought a house in Arizona, coincidentally enough. Anyway, congratulations to Barr for moving from the farm team to The Show!
5.) You are fat and your taxes aren’t high enough — Eating right and exercising is a good idea. Therefore, it’s the role of government to make sure people eat right and exercise. How is that whole thing, er, working out? Neil Munro reports: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday the nation’s least-fat state, Colorado, has joined the other 49 states with an obesity rate of at least 20 percent. Washington’s response to its decades of failures with anti-obesity programs is the creation of another program campaign. The White House announced Wednesday that it had persuaded several grocery chains to sell fruits and vegetables in poor areas populated by roughly 9.5 million people. ‘Make no mistake about it: This is a big deal. It is a really big deal,’ First Lady Michelle Obama said at a July 20 White House event.” Then she hit the Burger King drive-through. According to Munro, the “Healthy Food Financing Initiative” has cost $35 million, and the White House wants $330 million for next year. If a government program isn’t working, that only means we haven’t flushed enough taxpayer dollars down the toilet.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “Americans can be worse. Give many of them a caramel frappuccino and a tank of gas and they’ll forget any govt. disgraces.”
VIDEO: Spenditol: Ask your doctor or congressman
To receive TheDC Morning daily, click here.