Top Items:
The Politico:
GOP defies Obama overtures — House Republicans have proposed an alternative that leaders say would create 6.2 million jobs for only $478 billion. — “What Member can't go back his or her District and explain: Rather than voting for a bloated bill, ... I voted for an alternative …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Hot Air, Matthew Yglesias, No More Mister Nice Blog, TIME.com and Progress Illinois
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HALPERIN BLAMES OBAMA.... President Obama went to great lengths to reach out to House Republicans, trying to get them to support an economic stimulus in the midst of an economic crisis. The president not only offered them more tax cuts than seemed necessary, he also acted swiftly …
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE BIG, FAT “O” — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** The big, fat “O”: Despite Obama traveling to Capitol Hill to meet with them in private, despite including one of their former members (Ray LaHood) in his cabinet, and despite inviting their leaders …
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, The Moderate Voice, The Fix, Political Machine, Liberal Values and Capital Journal
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Dems: GOP will pay political price for stimulus vote — Democrats are blasting House Republican leaders for pressing their conference to vote against the stimulus bill and warn the party that it will face political consequences. — In a memo on the “Republican Problem” to “interested parties” …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
1993 All Over Again? — One of the goals of the unanimous Republican “no” vote on the stimulus package Wednesday was producing news analyses like this one, from The New York Times. … And we all know what happened in 1994. Still, I don't think the analogy holds up. — 1. The Obama stimulus package is popular.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, FiveThirtyEight.com, Gallup, New York Times, Outside The Beltway, AmSpecBlog, Matthew Yglesias and Eunomia
Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
Missing in Stimulus: Bipartisanship
Missing in Stimulus: Bipartisanship
Discussion:
CBS News, Donklephant, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Caucus, Washington Post and The Politico
Americans United / americansunitedforchange.org:
NEW ADS TARGET REPUBLICAN SENATORS ON RECOVERY BILL
NEW ADS TARGET REPUBLICAN SENATORS ON RECOVERY BILL
Rush Limbaugh / Wall Street Journal:
My Bipartisan Stimulus — Let's cut taxes, as I want, and spend more, as Obama would like. — There's a serious debate in this country as to how best to end the recession. The average recession will last five to 11 months; the average recovery will last six years.
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Lawrence B. Lindsey / Wall Street Journal:
How About a Payroll Tax Stimulus? — For a similar amount of money, we could give workers $1,500. — Congress and the Obama administration seem near to deciding the details of an economic stimulus package. Unlike the efforts of President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush …
Rasmussen Reports:
Public Support for Economic Recovery Plan Slips to 42%
Public Support for Economic Recovery Plan Slips to 42%
Discussion:
NewMajority.Com Scroll, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Strata-Sphere and Weekly Standard
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Dick Armey and post-partisan harmony
Dick Armey and post-partisan harmony
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Feministe and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code — WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Power Line, Weekly Standard, Michelle Malkin, The Swamp, JustOneMinute, Sweetness & Light, A Blog For All, Argghhh!, The Huffington Post, marbury, Gawker, Lost in Transition, Booman Tribune, TIME.com, Wonkette, The BLT, Rising Hegemon, Riehl World View, Green Inc., Mudville Gazette, Althouse and Brian Beutler
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The Obama White House May Be a Crowded Mess — There will be four people in my old office. — On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being “obsessed with the perpetual campaign.” As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs …
Washington Post:
Obama Signs First Piece of Legislation Into Law — Lilly Ledbetter Act Makes It Easier for Workers to Sue for Pay Discrimination — President Obama this morning signed a law that expanded the time frame in which workers can sue for discrimination they have experienced based on gender, race, national origin or religion.
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Washington Post:
Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Act — Former Goodyear employee Lilly Ledbetter of Alabama cut an ad for President Obama during his campaign for office. Today, the fair pay law named after her gets signed by the man she helped elect. Obama's statement on the law this morning:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
With Al Due Respect, We're Doomed — The lawmakers gazed in awe at the figure before them. The Goracle had seen the future, and he had come to tell them about it. — What the Goracle saw in the future was not good: temperature changes that “would bring a screeching halt to human civilization …
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New York Times:
Obama Seeks Accord With Military on Iraq — WASHINGTON — As President Obama moves to redefine the nation's mission in Iraq, he faces a difficult choice: Is he willing to abandon a campaign promise or risk a rupture with the military? Or can he finesse the difference?
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Bloomberg:
Obama's Open Records Pledge Tested Over Citigroup Guarantees — Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. government guarantees on securities totaling $419 billion for bank bailouts provide an early test of President Barack Obama's pledge to be open with taxpayers about what they have at risk in the credit crisis.
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Edward Cody / Washington Post:
Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France — ROQUEFORT-SUR-SOULZON This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war. — A village of 600 souls in a remote part of southern France, Roquefort clings precariously to the side of Combalou Rock, a promontory overlooking a deep valley …
Discussion:
FP Passport
Andie Coller / The Politico:
The power of Obama's hand — Joe Lieberman has felt it. So has Joe the Plumber. — It's the Obama Touch — the squeeze on the biceps, the pat on the shoulder or the tap on the back that signals the displeasure of the commander in chief. Let others turn on the deep freeze or lose their cool when they're annoyed.
Marc Ambinder:
The Long Tail Of Cooperation — Next week, according to administration officials, the Treasury Department will unveil a plan to buy toxic assets from banks, put them into a repository like the Resolution Trust Corporation held real estate from the S&L crisis), tend to them, securitize them …
Discussion:
Brian Beutler
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Palin, Obama to share stage — In what could be a preview of the 2012 presidential race, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama will share a stage together this Saturday night in Washington, D.C., Politico has learned. — The Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Would I Have Voted No? — That's a good question. It's also a silly one, since the odds of my being a Republican Congressman as a married man are nil (they only want you to have a stable family life if you're straight). I'm not an economist and so it's very hard for me to judge how big …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
Martin Feldstein / Washington Post:
An $800 Billion Mistake — As a conservative economist, I might be expected to oppose a stimulus plan. In fact, on this page in October, I declared my support for a stimulus. But the fiscal package now before Congress needs to be thoroughly revised. In its current form …
Chicago Tribune:
The governor speaks — As Thursday dawns, the governor of Illinois is precisely what he wants to be: the center of attention. Illinois and precincts beyond await his morning appearance in Springfield at his own impeachment trial. He will speak, and the 59 senators then will decide his political fate.