The following post is by Dealbreaker reader and commenter Infinite Guest . President Obama has nothing to gain by negotiating with Republicans in Congress in order to raise the debt ceiling. The Department of Treasury doesn’t need Congressional approval to issue more debt and it will be a long time before Treasury actually needs to exceed the debt ceiling

S.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands Alone (NYT) But [Fabrice] Tourre’s world would soon be turned upside down. In fall 2009, the S.E.C

For States, a Glimmer of Hope on Deficits (NYT) From stronger-than-expected tax collections in deficit-ridden California to projected surpluses in struggling states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, a growing number of recession-weary states are finally announcing a bit of good budget news for the first time since the downturn began. But it would probably be premature to pop the Champagne, or even the prosecco — or to otherwise declare the fiscal crisis that has hammered states to be over

IMF chief claims consent in hotel ‘attack’ (NY Post) “The evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter,” said Ben Brafman, the high-powered lawyer of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the suspect’s sensational arraignment in a packed criminal courtroom.

“I was eating souffle at Rise Restaurant with Laura and two buddies,” Bush said on Wednesday at the SALT Conference in Vegas, when asked what he was doing when he received the call from President Obama.

SEC Eyes Charges For Bond Players (WSJ) Securities and Exchange Commission officials are pushing hard as part of their ongoing probe of collateralized debt obligations and other mortgage-related products developed by Wall Street to bring charges against individuals, such as executives involved in selling the deals or outsiders who managed the assets, these people said. While the situation remains fluid, the agency also could file civil charges against hedge-fund managers who helped structure certain mortgage-bond deals but then bet against them.

“Once the steam stopped coming out of my ears, I’d be dropping so many subpoenas,” Spitzer told Matt Taibbi of the Levin report.

Defenders of Goldman have been quick to insist that while the bank may have had a few ethical slips here and there, its only real offense was being too good at making money. We now know, unequivocally, that this is bullshit. Goldman isn’t a pudgy housewife who broke her diet with a few Nilla Wafers between meals — it’s an advanced-stage, 1,100-pound medical emergency who hasn’t left his apartment in six years, and is found by paramedics buried up to his eyes in cupcake wrappers and pizza boxes

Holy Lilith Fair, Lesbian Chic is all the rage in Thailand.

“I am really honored, frankly, to have played such a big role in hopefully, hopefully, getting rid of this issue,” Trump told reporters, his helicopter sitting behind him. He said he still wants to see the birth certificate, released while he was en route to New Hampshire, but now wants to talk about weightier issues such as oil prices. [ ABC ]