THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Chaplain Rutherford.  Please be seated.  Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the White House as we present our nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, to an extraordinary American soldier —- Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry.

This is a historic occasion.  Last fall, I was privileged to present the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta for his heroism in Afghanistan, and Sal joins us this afternoon. Where's Sal?  Good to see you.  

So today is only the second time during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq —- indeed, only the second time since Vietnam —- that a recipient of the Medal of Honor from an ongoing conflict has been able to accept this medal in person.  And having just spent some time with Leroy, his lovely wife Ashley, their wonderful children, in the Oval Office, then had a chance to see the entire Petry family here -- I have to say this could not be happening to a nicer guy or a more inspiring family. 

Leroy, the Medal of Honor reflects the deepest gratitude of our entire nation.  So we’re....

Debt ceiling:

Urging others to avoid opportunistic political scare tactics in the stalemated debate over raising the debt limit or shutting down the government, President Obama warned Tuesday that, by golly, as the nation's chief executive he just couldn't guarantee now that those Social Security and Veteran's Administration entitlement checks would be going out as scheduled in early August if they don't get a deal.

It's that bad.

And on Tuesday afternoon comes a new Gallup Poll with what appears to be voters' reaction: OK, if you don't cut spending big time.

The new Gallup survey finds 42% of Americans are just fine with not raising the debt ceiling.

That's nearly twice the 22% who want their member of Congress to vote in favor of approving the debt-ceiling increase from $14.3 trillion to something even more unimaginable.

In the 903 days since Obama took office, the national debt has risen about $4 trillion, a pretty good spending clip even for Chicago pols. Of course, it's all due to what's-his-name from Texas.

And since spending $787 billion for economic stimulus didn't get the country's unemployment rate down (it just went back up to 9.2%), maybe some more spending will.

Obama clearly thinks he's got the conservative House Republicans over a political barrel, since they being Republicans want budget cuts and no new taxes and the Democrat being the Democrat would prefer the opposite.

The fight in the next two weeks leading up to the arbitrary deadline may be over the 35% of Americans Gallup finds are unsure about raising the legal authority of the federal government to spend even more money that it doesn't have.

Republicans are most unified over opposing the increase: 60% No, 11% Yes, 29% Unsure.

Independent voters, a crucial part of Obama's victory coalition in 2008, are almost equally opposed to the increase now: 46% No, 18% Yes, 36% Unsure.

Even Democrats seem a tad uncertain, if you can believe that: 21% No, 39% Yes, 40% Unsure.

Asked another way, Americans are even more opposed to the debt-ceiling increase.

Gallup asked which concerns you more, raising the debt limit without planning major spending cuts or encountering a major economic crisis if you don't.

Perhaps noting that Minnesota has not exploded after a two-week government shutdown, the country comes down on the side of more concern for not cutting federal spending (51%) to Tim Geithner's threatened economic crisis (32%).

In the 2007-08 campaigns, then-candidate Obama promised to bring bipartisanship. Well, now he's got it.

Voters are thinking in a bipartisan fashion over Obama's spending and shutdown threats: Democrats (45%), Independents (52%) and Republicans (57%) all agree that not having spending cuts is worse than any hypothetical economic problems later. Seeing as how we've had economic problems for a few years now and Air Force One still seems capable of plenty of flying.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo illustration: Andrew Malcolm

Sarah Palin is the subject of a new film that opens Friday. John Wilson, the founder of the Golden Raspberry Awards, which annually recognize the worst movies of the year, seemingly can't wait for "The Undefeated."

"She's the political equivalent of what the Razzies are all about and she's hysterically funny if you don't stop and think, 'Oh, my God, she could've been vice president!' " John Wilson told Tom O'Neil at the Awards Tracker blog.

Past winners of Razzies for "worst actress" include such luminaries as Pia Zadora, Bo Derek and the Spice Girls.

"Sarah Palin exhibits ineptitude and an indefensible grasping after other people's ideas, calling them her own. Just like Hollywood filmmakers who can't make an original movie. She wants you to put on rose-colored glasses instead of 3-D glasses, but there is still a surcharge you should not pay," Wilson quipped.

Palin took to Facebook this month to refute a British tabloid's report that the hockey mom was in tears after seeing the premiere in Iowa.

"Obviously we’ve seen our share of media lies, but the latest fabrications circulated take a big slice of the cake. The UK Daily Mail reports that I was 'in tears' as Todd 'rages over Hollywood stars ripping' me in the new film 'The Undefeated.' Huh? Really?" Palin wrote.

Houston Press film critic Pete Vonder Haar attended an advance screening in Texas and wrote that viewers just might learn something about the maverick from the movie.

Ron Paul, the 75-year-old Texas conservative affectionately known as Dr. No, is saying no to another term in Congress, he said on his Facebook page Tuesday.

Paul, a long-shot GOP presidential hopeful, says he would like to spend his time, attention and finances on that race instead of also seeking a ninth term in the House.

“I felt it was better that I concentrate on one election,” Paul told his hometown newspaper, the Facts. “It’s about that time when I should change tactics.”

Yvonne Dewey, who chairs the Brazoria County Republican Party, said Paul's announcement was unexpected.

“I’m surprised,” Dewey said, noting that Paul, who has held his District 14 seat since 1996, was reelected without much fuss over the last few years.

“He has won very handily in the last few elections. He’s hung in there all these years,” she said.

Even though Paul does quite well in online polling and straw votes, thanks to his enthusiastic and tireless base who admire his Libertarian ideals, he faces stiff competition with more mainstream opponents such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and the sitting president of the United States, Barack Obama.

While trailblazing measures such as an attempt to decriminalize marijuana may energize some pockets of the electorate, it terrifies others.

Although the congressman raised more than $4 million in the last quarter, that figure pales in comparison with the "money bomb" he received in 2007, when supporters sent him more than $6 million in one day. Is there an equivalent money bomb in Paul's future?  He'd better hope so, especially now that Michele Bachmann is gaining steam.

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-- Tony Pierce
twitter.com/busblog

Photo: Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas waits in a campaign vehicle after an appearance in Freedom, N.H., this month. Credit: Brian Snyder / Reuters

Monday our buddy Tony Pierce wrote here about an idea to create a 51st state out of 13 Southern California counties. It's so crazy it just might work.

That would mean carving a brand-new L.A.-free red state out of what in recent years has been a politically blue wasteland in national politics riven with fiscal crises and legislative deadlocks.

According to calculations by the idea's sponsor, Jeff Stone, a Republican member of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, the new geographic entity would contain about 13 million residents, making it the fifth most populous state ahead of such dumps as Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Of its 13 existing counties, 11 have consistently voted Republican.So, unemployment would be low and the golf courses well-manicured.

Everyone over 18 could still vote. But for a refreshing change, surviving Democrats would experience the frustration of their presidential ballots being flushed down the toilet every four years.

One advantage of adding a 51st state is that President Obama would be a little less wrong when he refers to 57 states.

The new boundaries would also stick Nancy Pelosi's Bay Area California in with Los Angeles. The two crowded, polluted urban areas deserve each other, and their residents could chat all they want about wine and NPR without boring hardworking conservative neighbors who can't afford maids.

The change would ease the Democratic president's political fundraising trips because he'd no longer have to throw in a town hall to feign that he was on the left coast for presidential duties to cover the cost of Air Force One.

As for water, the new state would simply follow Southern California tradition and steal it from others.

Hollywood celebrities attempting to cross the new state for Las Vegas would encounter outrageously high tolls equivalent to twice the current price of a movie ticket or combo pack at the concession stand. (Tom Selleck, Patricia Heaton and Jerry Bruckheimer would be exempt from such levies.)

Barstow could be the new state's summer capital. With its triple-digit temperatures, no one in their right mind would stay there longer than it takes to fill a gas tank and escape back onto the 15 or 40 to somewhere else.

With legislators shunning an uninhabitable capitol, the new government would save millions on their per diem expenses and the cost of ridiculous new laws that begin as pilot programs and metastasize into never-ending budget items with their own self-perpetuating constituencies.

The winter capital could be San Diego, which would be renamed St. David.

The new state would, of course, get the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, the Miramar Naval Air Station and the San Diego naval base, including the nuclear sub facilities.

That's because with the GOP always in charge of the 51st state there would finally be some serious border security with old Mexico, possibly modeled on the Korean DMZ.

A new Republican state cobbled from the smartest part of old California would also benefit the nation, creating a solid southern defense line of GOP-run states from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

A mutual interstate defense pact would protect the country's southern border against further illegal gun-running operations into Mexico by U.S. federal authorities.

However, let's be honest, "South California, Not as Bad as You Might Think" is just a lame name. That implies some kind of parity with another California. So does California Adjacent. Flyover California doesn't sing. The Other California could confuse. We're working on alternate names and seek Ticket readers' input as well.

Valetland is a non-starter. Uruguay is already taken. New California could perhaps work. West Arizona might be good, reflecting the conservative politics of the new state and its Grand Canyon neighbor. Not Nevada has possibilities.

The state of Good California has a nice contrasting sound with what's there now. Maybe English Mexico could be a nominee. Or Newer Mexico.

What's your idea for the new state's name?

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-- Andrew Malcolm

Speaking of health, don't forget to follow The Ticket's Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon / Reuters (South Korean troops patrol the DMZ with North Korea, file); Map of the proposed 51st state, South California Credit: Los Angeles Times.

A clinic owned by GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, is being accused of telling homosexuals that they can "pray away the gay."

Andrew Ramirez was a patient at Bachmann & Associates, a Christian counseling clinic in Lake Elmo, Minn., in 2004. He claims he was told by one of the clinic's counselors that if he read the Bible and prayed to God, he "would no longer be gay," according to ABC News.

Ramirez told the Nation that the therapist tried to "cure" him of his homosexuality. “He basically said being gay was not an acceptable lifestyle in God’s eyes,” and offered the assistance of an ex-lesbian as a mentor, Ramirez said.

Undercover video at Bachmann's clinic taped by gay rights advocates reportedly showing therapists engaged in treatment similar to what Ramirez claims will be shown on "Nightline" on Monday, ABC says.

Bachmann is no stranger to anti-gay rhetoric. Her strategist-husband last year said homosexuals were barbarians who needed to be disciplined.

"We have to understand: Barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps," Marcus Bachmann said as a guest on the Christian-based "Point of View" radio talk show on May 12, 2010.

Bachmann's clinic has collected over $137,000 in annual Medicaid payments for the treatment of patients since 2005, NBC News said.

It will be curious to see whether the allegations damage the momentum Bachmann has enjoyed over the last few weeks.

The conservative congresswoman from Minnesota, who grew up in Iowa, found herself leading the pack in a poll released Monday. Bachmann received 25% of the support of the 500 likely caucus voters polled by the Iowa Republican in the state from June 26 through June 30. Mitt Romney came in a close second with 21%; Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain were next with 9% each.

Bachmann, a "tea party" darling who recently signed a controversial anti-gay pact, had the highest favorability number (76) while getting the lowest unfavorable figure (11). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich received the highest unfavorable number at 52.

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Michele Bachmann signs anti-gay pact that says times were better for black kids during slavery

-- Tony Pierce
Twitter.com/busblog

Photo: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) campaigns in Iowa. Credit: Jeff Haynes / Reuters

It's good to be first lady.

Michelle Obama has become the nation's foremost advocate for restaurant menu reform and healthier eating to reduce obesity, especially among children. 

She has made much of the need for Americans to routinely pack away fewer calories and carbs, more veggies, fruits -- that sort of stuff.

Plus, of course, get more exercise.

But alas one of those annoying media types, a reporter from the Washington Post, happened to be on the scene in Washington today.

Of course, it's hard to miss when a busy street and a new diner are totally shut down to the public for its normal bustling traffic of lunch-hour customers for the benefit of one VIP eater.

While her husband was telling the country it's time to eat its peas and address the staggering national deficit, Mrs. Obama went out for lunch.

But the healthy-eating advocate was nabbed doing 60 in a 35 zone: At today's lunch Mrs. Obama downed a good-sized ShackBurger.

And french fries.

And a milk shake of the chocolate variety.

According to the Shake Shack's website, that adds up to a whopping 1,700 calories for one meal.

Obama has said that occasional indulgences are OK. This obviously was one.

And Obama may have forgotten that today is July 11 as in 7/11 or 7-Eleven. As such, it is the annual midsummer day when that national convenience store chain offers free Slurpees over in the sticky-floor corner.

However, to make up for the 1,700-calorie indulgence, the first lady did cut back on the cals for her second luncheon drink. She had a diet Coke.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Speaking of health, don't forget to follow The Ticket's Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or click this: @latimestot. Our Facebook Like page is over here. We're also available on Kindle. Use the ReTweet buttons above to share any item with family and friends.

Photo: Associated Press (First Lady Obama leaves Air Force One on a vacation).

The 51st state should be named South California, says Jeff Stone, a Republican on the the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. But the proposed 13 southern California counties that would split off from the Golden State would not include Los Angeles.

Stone told the Times' Phil Willon that the ommission is intentional and is part of a plan that would make for a new conservative Californian state.

"Los Angeles is purposely excluded because they have the same liberal policies that Sacramento does. The last thing I want to do is create a state that's a carbon copy of what we have now,'' Stone said.

"Los Angeles just enacted a ban on plastic grocery bags. That put three or four manufacturers out of business,'' Stone, a pharmacist from Temecula, said.

Stone plans on formally proposing secession Tuesday during a meeting of the Board of Supervisors.

South California would encompass  Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare counties, totaling approximately 13 million people.

The proposed 51st state would be the fifth largest by population, more populous than Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. South California would take nearly a third of the population away from California, making the Golden State the second-largest state after Texas.

Eleven of the 13 proposed counties in South California traditionally vote Republican, a fact noticed by California Gov. Jerry Brown's office.

"If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona," Brown spokesman Gil Duran said.

ALSO:

In 2009 Gov. Rick Perry said Texas may secede from union over Obama spending

Tennessee gubernatorial candidate floats secession; rival calls him crazy

-- Tony Pierce
twitter.com/busblog

Map of the proposed 51st state, South California Credit: Los Angeles Times

 President Obama's news conference on deficit talks with Republicans, as provided by the White House

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. I want to give a quick update on what's happening with the debt negotiations, provide my perspective, and then I'm going to take a few questions.

As all of you know, I met with congressional leaders yesterday. We're going to be meeting again today, and we're going to meet every single day until we get this thing resolved.      

The good news is that all the leaders continue to believe, rightly, that it is not acceptable for us not to raise the debt ceiling and to allow the U.S. government to default. We cannot threaten the United States' full faith and credit for the first time in our history. We still have a lot of work to do, though, to get this problem solved. And so let me just make a couple of points. 

First of all, all of us agree that we should use this opportunity to do something meaningful on debt and deficits.  And the reports that have been out there have been largely accurate that Speaker Boehner and myself had been in a series of conversations about doing the biggest deal possible so that we could actually resolve our debt and our deficit challenge for a long stretch of time. And I want to say I appreciate Speaker Boehner's good-faith efforts on that front.

What I emphasized to the broader group of congressional leaders yesterday is now is the....

Herman Cain found himself in hot water Monday with Latino Republicans after telling an audience that his solution to illegal immigration along the Mexican border would include a Great Wall of China-like electrified fence that would rise 20 feet high above a moat filled with alligators.

"We call on Herman Cain to drop his candidacy for president. His recent comments and lack of practical solutions to solving illegal immigration show he’s not a serious candidate," the Somos Republicans group wrote in a statement released Monday.

"Many Hispanics find his recent comments comparing immigrants to 'invading Huns' offensive, and also insensitive when thousands of immigrants died crossing the desert. We’re looking for practical and humane solutions, and find Cain’s pandering to xenophobes disgusting. Apparently nativist tea has been served up at many tea parties! Hispanics are a key swing vote, and whichever GOP candidate succeeds in winning the nomination cannot win the general election without the Hispanic vote. Cain needs to leave the field open to more serious candidates," Somos demanded.

Apparently the Arizona-based organization, which claims to be "the fastest growing Hispanic Republican group in the nation," was not impressed with the inspiration the former Godfather's Pizza chief executive received on a recent trip to Asia.

"I just got back from China," Cain told potential voters in Pella, Iowa, in early June. "Ever heard of the Great Wall of China? It looks pretty sturdy. And that sucker is real high. I think we can build one if we want to! We have put a man on the moon, we can build a fence!"

"Now, my fence might be part Great Wall and part electrical technology," Cain continued. "It will be a 20-foot wall, barbed wire, electrified on the top, and on this side of the fence, I'll have that moat that President Obama talked about. And I would put those alligators in that moat!"