Top Items:
New York Times:
U.S. Plans to Curb Executive Pay for Bailout Recipients — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is expected to impose a cap of $500,000 for top executives at companies that receive large amounts of bailout money, according to people familiar with the plan.
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Washington Post:
Bank Rescue Would Entail Triage for Troubled Assets — The Obama administration's emerging rescue plan for the banking system would amount to financial triage, with the Treasury Department playing the delicate role of deciding which of the trillions of dollars in troubled assets plaguing the economy to buy …
Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
Obama administration to issue executive pay limits — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration plans to mandate new executive pay limits on Wednesday for government-assisted financial institutions in a new get-tough approach to bankers and Wall Street. “If the taxpayers are helping you …
Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:
Why Daschle Withdrew His Nomination — Tom Daschle and his team went to bed last night believing they had had a good day after a horrible weekend. — Monday's Senate Finance Committee meeting was not easy. (Ranking Republican Chuck Grassley pushed Daschle hard on his relationship …
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Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Analysis: Daschle debacle humbles Obama — WASHINGTON - Two weeks into his presidency, Barack Obama proved that even a clearly gifted politician cannot escape the gravitational pull of Washington forces that have humbled many of his predecessors. — The new president, seen by some as arrogant, was anything but on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Financial Times, The Politico, Agence France Presse, Reuters, Sister Toldjah, Bloomberg and Riehl World View
Ben Feller / Associated Press:
On a tough day, Obama escapes for a while — WASHINGTON (AP) - On the rockiest day of his young administration, President Barack Obama did what surely made him happy for a while. — He left. — With little notice, the president and first lady Michelle Obama bolted the gated compound …
Kevin Duchschere / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Recount trial: Judges rule thousands of ballots can be considered — The court order applies to about 4,800 rejected absentee ballots and indicates that any that complied with state law should be counted. — Nearly 4,800 rejected absentee ballots may be reconsidered in the U.S. Senate recount trial …
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Times of London:
President Obama to water down ‘Buy American’ plan after EU trade war threat — Obama seeks Russia deal to slash nuclear weapons 80 per cent — The European Union warned the US yesterday against plunging the world into depression by adopting a planned “Buy American” policy, intensifying fears of a trade war.
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Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Did WH encourage defiance of Pelosi? — Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) — one of the lead Blue Dogs — made a startling admission to lefty Liberadio today, suggesting the White House quietly encouraged him to buck House leadership on the stimulus. — Cooper was one of 11 Dems to vote no — joining every GOP House member.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Riehl World View, Moe_Lane's blog, RedState, The Corner, Erick's blog and Hot Air
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
McCain Sends Out E-Mail Petition Against Stimulus Bill — John McCain is now adding his voice to the Republican activism against the stimulus bill, sending out an e-mail to his supporter list that asks recipients to sign a petition opposing it. — McCain's e-mail complains …
Discussion:
MyDD, CNN, Washington Monthly, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Politico and USA Today
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The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Czar Mitt — President Obama could do worse. Romney has a bad reputation among Congressional Democrats, so I can't imagine they'd cotton to this. In fact, it's highly unlikely. But what Romney, in a bipartisan fashion, was able to do in Massachusetts — even with caveats …
Discussion:
The Treatment, Don Surber, Liberal Values, Time, Swampland, Whiskey Fire, MyDD and Hot Air
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Yepsen Leaves The Register — Every presidential year since 1975, one political reporter — just one — catapults himself to the top of the profession. David Yepsen, 58, spent twenty years as the chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register, 33 years as the host of Iowa's top television chat show …
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Tim Johnson / Burlington Free Press:
Ben Stein responds to UVM flap — Calls commencement flap ‘pathetic,’ denies he's anti-science — Ben Stein described the brouhaha over his selection as commencement speaker at the University of Vermont as “laughable” on Tuesday called the whole episode “pathetic.”
Paul West / Maryland Politics:
Obama HHS pick: Mikulski? — Unconfirmed rumors began seeping out of Capitol Hill late today that Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski is under consideration for the suddenly vacant position of Secretary of Health and Human Services. — A spokeswoman for Mikulski did not immediately return email …
John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
Naked Obama Unicorn-A-Rama — Via Boing Boing comes the single most disturbing Naked Obama/Unicorn pic yet. In fact, it's so “right up against the line” that I'm actually going to stick it beneath the fold. If you click through, don't say you weren't warned.
Paul McDougall / InformationWeek:
IBM Offers To Move Laid Off Workers To India — Big Blue wants to help redundant U.S. employees relocate to developing markets, according to an internal document. — The climate is warm, there's no shortage of exotic food, and the cost of living is rock bottom.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Vitter: GOP Senators are “scared to death” of Obama and his polling numbers — A quickie from this morning's chat with Laura Ingraham courtesy of her producer, Tom Elliott. [...] Read the rest »
Tom Gjelten / NPR:
U.S. Officials: Al-Qaida Leadership Cadre ‘Decimated’ — Listen Now — · CIA-directed airstrikes against al-Qaida leaders and facilities in Pakistan over the past six to nine months have been so successful, according to senior U.S. officials, that it is now possible to foresee a …
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Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WHO KILLED DASCHLE? — I think Steve Clemons gets this wrong. Daschle wasn't taken down by Republicans. No senators, to my knowledge, came out against his appointment. Major columnists didn't have time to attack his ethics. Moreover, these revelations didn't come from Republican oppo researchers.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Slate, The Plank, The Washington Note, The Opinionator and The Daily Dish
Owen Thomas / Gawker:
Rahm Emanuel's Illegal D.C. Basement Rental — He's the cheapskate of staff. Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's right-hand man, lives in a basement apartment on Capitol Hill rented to him by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Just one problem: He's not allowed to live there.
Matthew Roth / Streetsblog:
It Gets Worse: Boxer/Inhofe to Request $50B More for Highways — Barbara Boxer and infamous global warming denier James Inhofe will present an amendment to the Senate stimulus plan that could funnel as much as $50 billion in additional funding to highways, Streetsblog has learned.
Jeff Poor / The Culture and Media Institute:
The Godless Stimulus — Bill Language Would Forbid Practice of Religion in College and University Buildings Given Renovation Money — Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...unless your institution of higher learning …
Discussion:
Erick's blog
Jonah Goldberg / USA Today:
Day 15 of Obama's honeymoon — One doesn't have to break a sweat searching for examples of the news media's ongoing love affair with our president. In this, he is like FDR. — Barack Obama and his supporters have been relentlessly comparing the new president to Franklin Roosevelt.
Discussion:
Democracy in America
Scott Collins / Show Tracker:
Rod Blagojevich with David Letterman: ‘I sound like Christian Bale’ — Set your TiVos, people! On tonight's “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS, Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former governor of Illinois, jokingly compares himself to the tantrum-susceptible “Dark Knight” star Christian Bale.
Kara Scannell / Wall Street Journal:
Frank Backs Regulator for Systemic Risk — WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said the first priority in overhauling financial regulation is to set up an entity to oversee systemic risks of the kind that walloped Wall Street last year.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
Michelle Malkin:
Letter from Paducah, Kentucky — I've been trying all day to get a hold of Senator McConnell but the line is busy. I guess that is a good sign. Out of frustration I called his local line here in Paducah, Kentucky and if anyone can't get through to his Washington office they can call:
The Politico:
Lynch names Newman to Gregg's seat — J. Bonnie Newman knows a thing or two about short-term gigs. — In 2006, she was plucked from retirement and brought back to the University of New Hampshire, the school where she began her professional career, to serve as its interim president.
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Obama Justice Department Re-Hires Attorney Fired By Goodling Because Of Lesbian Rumor — In October 2006, Leslie Hagen, who was working as the liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys' committee on Native American issues, was informed that despite her “outstanding” …