Top Items:
The Politico:
Cheney warns of new attacks — Former Vice President Dick Cheney warned that there is a “high probability” that terrorists will attempt a catastrophic nuclear or biological attack in coming years, and said he fears the Obama administration's policies will make it more likely the attempt will succeed.
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Spencer Ackerman / ATTACKERMAN:
Someone Is Lying — Barely two weeks out of office and Dick Cheney is already mongering fear. Unsurprisingly, it's about Guantanamo Bay, where he says that generic Democrats — he's intimating that he means President Obama, but he's too much of a coward to say the man's name — are …
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
TODAY'S GOP: HOPING FOR THE WORST — It occurred to me while reading Politico's interview with Dick Cheney, that the GOP's plan to regain political viability in the short term rests on two disaster scenarios: the failure of the financial rescue efforts (stimulus, TARP, and other bailouts) …
Washington Post:
Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus — Democrats Trying to Trim $900 Billion Plan to Gain GOP Support — Senate Democratic leaders conceded yesterday that they do not have the votes to pass the stimulus bill as currently written and said that to gain bipartisan support …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Megan McArdle, Marginal Revolution, Balance of Power, Free exchange, The Plum Line, LiberalOasis, The Washington Independent, Associated Press, Reason, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The Corner, The Caucus, The Plank, Wonk Room, D-Day, Gawker, Outside The Beltway, AMERICAblog News, Wizbang and Shopfloor
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Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Republicans staking early claim in 2010 Senate cycle
Republicans staking early claim in 2010 Senate cycle
Discussion:
Senate Guru
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Well, That Certainly Didn't Take Long — On 9/11, President Bush learned of disaster while reading “The Pet Goat” to grade-school kids. On Tuesday, President Obama escaped from disaster by reading “The Moon Over Star” to grade-school kids. — “We were just tired of being in the White House …
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
The wondrous ways Obama's Washington works—and doesn't get it — The night in 1865 that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln in downtown Washington not far off the recent inaugural parade route for the man who used the same red Bible for his 2009 presidential oath …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
With Attention, and Cookies, Obama Woos the Opposition
With Attention, and Cookies, Obama Woos the Opposition
Discussion:
Corrente
Ben Feller / Associated Press:
On a tough day, Obama escapes for a while
On a tough day, Obama escapes for a while
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Outside The Beltway, neo-neocon, The Campaign Spot, theheretik.us and The Strata-Sphere
Victor Davis Hanson / The Corner:
The Impending Obama Meltdown — Some of us have been warning that it was not healthy for the U.S. media to have deified rather than questioned Obama, especially given that they tore apart Bush, ridiculed Palin, and caricatured Hillary. And now we can see the results of their two years of advocacy rather than scrutiny.
Discussion:
Townhall.com
RELATED:
Rasmussen Reports:
Support for Stimulus Package Falls to 37% — Support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress has fallen again this week. For the first time, a plurality of voters nationwide oppose the $800-billion-plus plan. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Flopping Aces, Boston Globe and The Washington Independent
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Kristol: New Poll Shows Stimulus Support Sags — THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that later this morning Rasmussen Reports will release new survey data showing that a plurality of Americans now oppose the stimulus package (37-43%); two weeks ago, support for the legislation stood at 45-34%.
New York Times:
U.S. Plans $500,000 Cap on Executive Pay in Bailouts — 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. — Executives would also be prohibited …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Political Punch, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, The Atlantic Business Channel, The Mahablog, Spin Cycle, Daily Kos, Obsidian Wings, JammieWearingFool, Maggie's Farm, New York Times, Michelle Malkin, Free exchange, The Caucus, The Note, BloggingStocks, D-Day, DownWithTyranny!, Newshoggers.com, About.com US Politics, Shakesville, Vox Popoli, Marginal Revolution, naked capitalism, Washington Post, The Impolitic and Truthdig
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Barbara Slavin / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Obama backs out on Iraq appointment — The Obama administration asked retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni to be U.S. ambassador to Iraq but abruptly withdrew the appointment without explanation, Gen. Zinni said Tuesday. — Gen. Zinni, a former commander of Central Command …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Riehl World View, Sister Toldjah, The Washington Independent and ATTACKERMAN
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WHAT CHANGE LOOKS LIKE. — My reporting has been similar to that of Jon Cohn. Everyone I've spoken to in the administration has expressed total shock over Daschle's withdrawal. As recently as last night, they were counting votes and felt certain the nomination was on track for a bumpy but comfortable confirmation.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Democratic Strategist, The Daily Dish, About.com US Politics and theheretik.us
New York Times:
In Attack on Kennedy, Echo of a Spitzer Tactic — ALBANY — An administration leaks damaging information about a political figure. The leak is denounced by the governor, who says that he had nothing to do with it. — This is what happened during the tenure of Gov. Eliot Spitzer …
Keith Ervin / Seattle Times:
Ron Sims leaves legacy of change as he heads for HUD — When Ron Sims goes to Washington, D.C., he will leave King County a legacy of denser suburbs, more open space, a larger trail network and a technologically advanced sewer system designed to handle continued growth.
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Jim Tankersley / Los Angeles Times:
California farms, vineyards in peril from warming, U.S. energy secretary warns — 'We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,' Steven Chu says. He sees education as a means to combat threat. — Reporting from Washington — California's farms and vineyards …
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.
Rod Blagojevich / Wall Street Journal:
Afghanistan May See Surge in Troops — By CHIP CUMMINS in Dubai, ROSHANAK TAGHAVI in Tehran and JAY SOLOMON in Washington — WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. commanders are finalizing plans to send tens of thousands of reinforcements to Afghanistan's main opium-producing region and its porous border …
RELATED:
Nicole Winfield / Associated Press:
Vatican: Holocaust denier must recant — VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on Wednesday demanded that a prelate who denied the Holocaust recant his positions before being fully admitted as a bishop into the Roman Catholic Church. — It also said Pope Benedict XVI had not known …
Discussion:
At-Largely
Communications / OpenSecrets.org:
TARP Recipients Paid Out $114 Million for Politicking Last Year — The companies that have been awarded taxpayers' money from Congress's bailout bill spent $77 million on lobbying and $37 million on federal campaign contributions, Center finds. The return on investment: 267,208 percent.
Discussion:
Boston Globe
Financial Times:
India warns Obama over Kashmir — India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks “barking up the wrong tree” if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir. — MK Narayanan, India's national security advisor …
Discussion:
BLACKFIVE
Robert Cox / New Rochelle's Talk of the Sound:
A Barack Too Far? New Rochelle Public Schools Assign Seven Year Olds to Obama Campaign — Students at an elementary school in New Rochelle, NY, a largely Democratic suburb of New York City with a City Council and School Board dominated by Democrats, were recently assigned an in-class assignment …
Discussion:
Moonbattery
Los Angeles Times:
California Supreme Court to hear Prop. 8 arguments — The justices announce a March 5 hearing on the constitutionality of the ban on same-sex marriage. Their decision will come within 90 days of the session. — Reporting from San Francisco — The California Supreme Court announced Tuesday …
Michael McAuliff / NY Daily News Blogs:
Joe the Plumber in 2015? — You'd think Joe the Plumber's 15 minutes would be up by now. But , no, after a stint as a correspondent in Israel, he took his act to Capitol Hill today. — The first order of business: giving political advice to conservative Republican staffers at breakfast …
Associated Press:
Obama warns of catastrophe if stimulus delayed — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says the recession will turn into a “catastrophe” if the economic stimulus is not passed quickly. — Obama rejected several criticisms of the plan …
Discussion:
Reuters
Steven Leser / OpEdNews.Com Progressive, Tough Liberal:
Mark Halperin, Chris Matthews and Anderson Cooper Skew Obama Ratings … It all started with Mark Halperin's brief note in Time Magazine, http://thepage.time.com/2009/02/03/ poll-obama-approval-rating-drops/ , which stated “Poll: Obama Approval Rating Drops”.
Stephanie Simon / Wall Street Journal:
Border-Fence Project Hits a Snag — Opposition From Environmentalists, Property Owners Slows Construction of Final Leg — Construction of the final stretch of a 670-mile security fence along the southern U.S. border has hit a series of legal, political and engineering obstacles that are slowing completion of the yearlong project.