Going Nowhere Fast: Debt Talks Stagnate While 2012 Wildcard Emerges (The Note)

By MICHAEL FALCONE ( @michaelpfalcone ) and AMY WALTER ( @amyewalter )  

It was a familiar refrain from House Speaker John Boehner’s office on Sunday: “Conversations have continued throughout the weekend, but there is no news or progress to report.”

So goes the long, hot summer of debt ceiling negotiations in Washington -- talks that ABC’s Jonathan Karl points out will follow a predictable path toward an unpredictable conclusion this week.

In a preview of things to come, the House plans to move forward with the Republican “cut, cap and balance” plan and the Senate will likely vote on it as well as another balanced budget amendment later this week. The failure of those proposals could give way to the compromise deal hashed out between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

As Karl, notes, the McConnell-Reid plan is almost certainly a choice the overwhelming majority of Republicans will reject. But now there are fresh signs that a “big deal” -- once thought to be dead in the water -- is back on the table.

ABC’s David Kerley hears from Capitol Hill sources that President Obama and Speaker Boehner are again talking about reducing the deficit by more than $4 trillion over roughly the next decade. Boehner reportedly wants the president to lay out specific cuts to entitlement programs. http://abcn.ws/orjEJU

But the challenge for any of the proposals remains rounding up enough votes to get them through Congress.

2012 WATCH. While lawmakers and the White House may be at a standstill on the debt negotiations, Texas Gov. Rick Perry sounds like he’s moving forward with a presidential bid.

Perry told the Des Moines Register in a recent interview that he feels “called” to run for president but insisted he’s not ready to make an announcement just yet.

“I’m not ready to tell you that I’m ready to announce that I’m in,” Perry told the Register in a phone interview last week. “But I’m getting more and more comfortable every day that this is what I’ve been called to do.  This is what America needs.”  http://abcn.ws/r4PbjV

What would Perry’s entry mean for the field? He's an immediate threat to Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty in Iowa. And even though he won't even be in Ames on August 13 (he's slated to appear at a conference in that other battleground state of South Carolina), he starts as an early frontrunner in the straw poll. The most recent Quinnipiac poll found that just 38 percent of Americans approved of the job the president was doing on the economy and just 27 percent were “satisfied” with the direction of the country. Polling done by ABC News-Washington Post and CBS-New York Times in June found similar results on both counts. Even so, President Obama’s job approval in the Quinnipiac Poll was 47 percent, a full nine points higher than the 38 percent who thought he was doing a good job on the economy. In the ABC-Washington Post poll, his overall approval rating was seven points higher than his approval rating on the economy. In the CBS-New York Times poll, the gap between his overall approval rating and his handling of the economy was 8 points. Obama’s job approval ratings defy political gravity. The only question now, is if they can do so for much longer. Psychologists talk about “cognitive dissonance,” the tension that people feel when their thoughts are inconsistent with one another.  In this case, it’s feeling as if the president is doing a pretty lousy job on the economy, but still giving him decent (though not glowing) marks when it comes to his overall presidency. At some point, psychologists will tell you, relief from the tension comes only when you try to restore consistency. In this case, it means that either voters need to start feeling better about Obama’s handling of the economy or they will start to feel worse about his overall ability to handle of his job. http://abcn.

VA RIGHT BLOGGER INVITED TO RADTKE FUNDRAISER! HE LIKES WHAT HE ...

Virginia Right blogger Sandy Sanders was specially invited to a Jamie Radtke fundraiser at the Powhatan County home of Pat and Wendy McSweeney tonight and he likes what he heard.

Admittedly a skeptic on the Radtke campaign due to electability against the Democratic candidate, former Governor Kaine, he asked Radtke about her chances of beating Kaine.  She suggested that she did not have a long record in the Senate as being part of the problem.  I also discussed my favorite political subject, ICLEI and Agenda 21 as well.  She is firmly opposed to the property rights grab Agenda 21 represents.

After a rousing introduction by McSweeney, who was one who encouraged Radtke to run, Radtke spoke on a number of issues:

Jamie Radtke has a Masters degree in public policy at William & Mary (The same place Rep. Bachmann got her advanced law degree!) and has extensive experience.  She is married and has three kids.  In her quietly dynamic speech, Radtke cited her five point “Radtke Road to Recovery”:

Radtke also might have some surprises for the campaign and you should hear about them right here at VA Right! One hint:  GET ON THE RADTKE BUS!

Tea Party and Ron Paul conservatives will have to choose – vote for one who may win the general election to prevent liberal Tim Kaine to win or vote for principle.  That is a tough choice.  I would say the jury is still out.  Let’s give Jamie Radtke a chance.

The Southeastern reporter

History of the Cherokee Indians and their legends and folk lore

The trail drivers of Texas

The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Gospel plays, operas, and later dramatic works

Generations