Top Items:
CNN:
Ports deal opens rift between Bush, House GOP — Committee votes 62-2 to block approval of UAE takeover — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The White House faced a major rupture with House Republicans on Thursday after a House committee overwhelmingly voted to block a deal that would allow …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, New York Times, The Reality-Based Community, The Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, Flopping Aces, The Moderate Voice, Blogs for Bush, Wonkette, The Democratic Party, Peaktalk, GOP Bloggers, The Glittering Eye, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta, JunkYardBlog, The Indepundit and A Blog For All
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Washington Post:
Dubai Port Company to Divest Itself of American Holdings — The United Arab Emirates company that was attempting to take over management operations at six U.S. ports announced today that it will divest itself of all American interests. — The announcement appears to head off a major confrontation …
New York Times:
G.O.P. Plan Would Allow Spying Without Warrants — WASHINGTON, March 8 — The plan by Senate Republicans to step up oversight of the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program would also give legislative sanction for the first time to long-term eavesdropping on Americans without …
New York Times:
Dubai Company to Transfer U.S. Ports to American Company — WASHINGTON, March 9 — DP World, the United Arab Emirates state-owned company that had agreed to buy several port terminals in the United States, said today that it will transfer those properties to an American-owned company …
Discussion:
On Deadline
Fox News:
Senate Could Mirror House Rebuke of Ports Deal — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday could vote on a Democratic amendment to halt a controversial ports deal that the Bush administration still hopes to push through. — The Senate vote would come just one day after the House Appropriations …
Associated Press:
GOP Leaders Tell Bush Ports Deal Is Doomed — f15024660788@news.ap.org Republican congressional leaders told President Bush Thursday the House and Senate both appear ready to block a Dubai-owned company from taking over operations at several U.S. ports, GOP officials said.
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
Sen. Rockefeller praises the GOP's actions on the Intelligence Committee
Sen. Rockefeller praises the GOP's actions on the Intelligence Committee
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Congress Prepares for Port Showdown
Congress Prepares for Port Showdown
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack, The Carpetbagger Report, Crazy Politico's Rantings, PBD, TPM Muckraker, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog
Washington Post:
Senator Resumes Lobbyist Huddles — After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), the third-ranking GOP leader in the Senate, has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week.
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Peggy Noonan / Opinion Journal:
Boy in a Bubble — What George Clooney doesn't know about life. — Memo to: The Academy — From: Just another viewer — Re: Advice, as if you wanted more — I cannot remember a time when, in the days after the Academy Awards show, it was not criticized, and even blasted.
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity, Shakespeare's Sister, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shot In The Dark and SCSUScholars
Ezra Klein:
Against CanadaCare — As Matt alludes to here, international comparisons are a little tricky. But he's wrong to defend Canada's health care system. Now, it is true that Americans spend way more on health care, per capita, than other countries do. Taking the Canada example, our neighbors up north spend $2,535 per citizen.
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LiberalOasis:
An Iran Strategy — In January, Liberal Oasis criticized Sen. Hilllary Clinton's approach on Iran's nuclear program. — Clinton was seeking to outhawk the Bushies, accusing them of "outsourcing it to others and standing on the sidelines". — That was dumb from the get-go.
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Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Sen. Clinton slams GOP immigration bill — WASHINGTON —Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential White House candidate in 2008, said Wednesday some Republicans are trying to create a "police state" to round up illegal immigrants. — Clinton, D-N.Y., spoke out on the U.S. immigration policy …
Discussion:
Iowa Voice, Hyscience, Confederate Yankee, The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta and Riehl World View
Associated Press:
Vanity Fair: Bush Had Ties to Abramoff — WASHINGTON - Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff says President Bush knew him well enough to joke with him about weightlifting. "What are you benching, buff guy?" Abramoff said Bush asked him. The president has said he doesn't know Abramoff.
Jacob Weisberg / Slate:
The Three Stooges — Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Howard Dean. — According to the latest CBS News poll, George W. Bush's approval rating hit a personal worst of 34 percent in February, making him the most unpopular president since Nixon during Watergate.
Discussion:
TAPPED, Betsy's Page, GOP Bloggers, Random Jottings, Daniel W. Drezner and All Things Beautiful
Washington Post:
Bush: Congress 'Shortchanged' New Orleans — Touring Gulf Coast, President Calls for Restoration of $1.5 Billion for Levee Repairs — NEW ORLEANS, March 8 — President Bush, on a Gulf Coast inspection tour that included his first visit to this city's storm-shattered Lower Ninth Ward …
John Byrne / rawstory.com:
Report posits that Chris Matthews has accepted hefty speaking fees from conservative groups — A new report advanced to RAW STORY Thursday suggests that Chris Matthews, the star of the Sunday talk show circuit's Hardball, has accepted hefty speaking fees from an array of conservative trade associations.
ABCNEWS:
Faith Hill, Tim McGraw Blast 'Humiliating' Katrina Cleanup — Country Stars Lash Out in Anger Over Conditions in Storm-Ravaged States — March, 8, 2006 — Faith Hill and Tim McGraw — two stars who usually stay out of politics — blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort …
Washington Post:
Negative Perception Of Islam Increasing — Poll Numbers in U.S. Higher Than in 2001 — As the war in Iraq grinds into its fourth year, a growing proportion of Americans are expressing unfavorable views of Islam, and a majority now say that Muslims are disproportionately prone to violence …
California Conservative:
PortGate: Republicans Turn on President Bush — And What Will It Cost Us? — We make a prediction. — The AP's Liz Zidoti is eager to report: "In an election-year repudiation of President Bush, a House panel dominated by Republicans voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block a Dubai-owned firm …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Captain's Quarters, Power Line, Outside The Beltway and Confederate Yankee
Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
South Dakota's Top Paper Refuses To Editorialize On Abortion Ban — NEW YORK Although the biggest abortion rights story in 33 years is taking place in its own backyard, South Dakota's largest newspaper will not editorialize on the controversial statewide abortion ban just recently approved by its legislature.