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Morning EDition: August 4, 2011

As the debt-deal dust clears, we see a mounting body of evidence that Washington has effectively doomed any chance of a near-term, meaningful recovery.

As the debt-deal dust clears, we see a mounting body of evidence that Washington has effectively doomed any chance of a near-term, meaningful recovery. That said, not all news is bad. See: GM. Oh, and how about 100,000 new jobs? Can't hurt. Here's today's Morning EDition:

TODAY

  • Pres. Obama turns 50.

BUDGET

  • JP Morgan analyst: Washington's economic policies will devastate GDP next year. (Anyone have the formula that converts change in GDP to change in jobs? I've seen it before so I know it's out there...)
  • A Hundred Years of Showdowns.
  • House GOP Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), whose agenda involves breaking America's generational promises, predicts that America will have to break its generational promises.
  • White House got Wall St. to lobby for the debt deal. Remember when banks had to lobby our government, not the other way around?
  • Grover Norquist has already won his battle for "super committee" appointments.
  • Health-care and defense industries gear up to lobby the "super committee."
  • Sen. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says it's extremely important to appoint people who are prepared to cave.
  • Reid goes after media false equivalences, says he doesn't think people are mad at Obama.
  • The Pentagon is already on defense.
  • Poll: Tea Party doesn't think it won debt-ceiling battle. How can you win anything when you're a permanent victim?
  • Poll: Most liberals and Democrats approve of the debt deal.
  • The Ryan Plan is back, baby!

ECONOMY

CLASS WARFARE

  • Gov. Terry Branstad (R-IA) vetoes tax breaks for the poor because corporations didn't get cut in.
  • Study finds the health-care and finance industries are decimating America.
  • Study finds overdraft fees just as high as they were before reform.

JOBS

  • Number of expected layoffs reaches a 16-month high.
  • On the other hand, here comes 100,000 new jobs.
  • The White House considers a menu of teeny-tiny job-creation measures.
  • Could pivoting to jobs lead voters to punish Obama when he fails to create them?
  • By one count, this is the seventh jobs pivot so far.
  • Both parties reach a deal to clear free-trade agreements, and try to mitigate the US jobs that will be lost.

BIG OIL

  • Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) does constituent service for one of his biggest constituencies: Offshore drillers.

FAA

  • No resolution on the immediate horizon.
  • Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) calls GOP's FAA shutdown a hostage-taking.
  • VIDEO: FAA worker blasts GOP for skipping town without ending FAA shutdown.

ISLAMOPHOBIA

  • VIDEO: Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) gets it 100% right.

GAY RIGHTS

  • Boehner legal team argues there's not much history of anti-gay discrimination, because gays mostly stayed in the closet. Um.

SECURITY STATE

WISCONSIN

  • Massive amounts have been spent on next week's recall elections.
  • The case for using Wisconsin as a national model for Democrats.
  • RNC chair says Wisconsin is not a national bellwether.
  • Democrats are narrowly favored to pull it off next week.
  • VIDEO: New ad targets one of the Republicans up for recall.

2012

  • Unnamed Obama adviser tells Politico, "the numbers add up to defeat."
  • Even if the numbers don't add up to defeat, the couch may prove more alluring than pulling the lever for Obama.
  • On the opposite side of what Obama hasn't done, however, is what he has.
  • Internal NRCC memo advises members to spend August on the offensive. Unlike July? Or ever?

JON HUNTSMAN

  • Huntsman's campaign threatens to implode.

MITT ROMNEY

  • Pro-Romney group gets a million-dollar donation. From someone.

RICK PERRY

  • Christian GOP lawmaker slams Perry's upcoming religio-fest.
  • We learn that Perry used stem cells, not prayer, to treat his ailment.
  • Winning Texas might disqualify Perry from winning the US.

RIGHT-WING MEDIA

  • VIDEO: Fox anchors agree -- getting on the Fox payroll insulates you from Fox criticism.

(What I'm reading: Greg Sargent's Plum Line, Think Progress, Matt Yglesias, Talking Points MemoTPMDC, Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, the Washington Monthly, CNN's PoliticalTicker, the National Journal, Ezra Klein, Politico's Playbook and Huddle, Dave Weigel, Wonkette, Firedoglake, the NYT Caucus, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars. What Pandora has me listening to: The Saga of the West by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.) 

Follow Senior Producer Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) on Twitter