Top Items:
Washington Post:
Obama to Discuss Guantanamo With Victims of Terror Attacks, Their Relatives — President Obama will meet today with victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the USS Cole bombing and their families as his administration reviews how to handle detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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Lindsey Ellerson / Political Punch:
Military Commission Charges Dropped Against Terrorist Suspect Al-Nashiri — As President Obama prepared to order the Department of Defense's Military Commission to withdraw charges against terrorist suspect Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri on Friday afternoon, the convening authority for the Commission …
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Military Drops Cole Bombing Charges ... For Now and Possibly Forever — Distressingly, there is more going on here than meets the eye. Suffice it to say that the Defense Department's “appointing authority,” which oversees all military commissions, has dismissed the charges against Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri …
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
“To Retain and Detain” — The president is scheduled to meet today …
“To Retain and Detain” — The president is scheduled to meet today …
The Politico:
At retreat, Obama goes on the offensive — WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A fired-up Barack Obama ditched his TelePrompter to rally House Democrats and rip Republican opponents of his recovery package Thursday night - at one point openly mocking the GOP for failing to follow through on promises of bipartisanship.
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John Cole / Balloon Juice:
You'll Never Get This 21 Minutes Of Your Life Back — Instapundit, Malkin, and Joe the Plumber discuss politics for PJTV. — There is so much to love about this, I don't know where to start, but certainly Joe the Plumber bemoaning the lack of spending cuts and general program cuts in the stimulus bill was a highlight.
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
CBO: Obama stimulus harmful over long haul — President Obama's economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday. — CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Jules Crittenden, QandO, Political Machine, The Impolitic, Macsmind, Wizbang, OpenMarket.org, Betsy's Page and Director's Blog
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CBS News:
CBS Poll: Support For Stimulus Falls — Survey Finds Half The Country Backs Bill, But Support Is Down From January; Obama Seen As Working For Bipartisanship — (CBS) Slightly more than half the country approves of President Obama's $800 billion-plus stimulus package, a new CBS News poll finds.
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Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Harry Hangs It Up For the Night; Stimulus Vote Postponed Until Tomorrow
Harry Hangs It Up For the Night; Stimulus Vote Postponed Until Tomorrow
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
On the Edge — A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to economic recovery. Over the last two weeks, what should have been a deadly serious debate about how to save an economy in desperate straits turned, instead, into hackneyed political theater, with Republicans spouting …
Think Progress:
ABC: Obama Is Hypocritical For Limiting Wall Street Pay While Having A ‘Lavish Lifestyle’ — Yesterday, President Obama instituted a pay cap on bailed out businesses after it was revealed that Wall Street doled out an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year.
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Resignations at the RNC — A Republican source says newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has requested the resignations of the entire RNC staff and signaled a dramatic turnover at the party organization. — Some aides may be retained, though Republicans …
David Gardner / Daily Mail:
'There's no reason only poor people should get malaria': The moment Bill Gates released jar of mosquitoes at packed conference … It was a show-stopping move by any standards. — Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft and a renowned philanthropist, let loose a swarm of mosquitoes …
John / Power Line:
WHAT'S THE RUSH? — As Paul notes below, neither Barack Obama nor any other Democrat has even tried to explain why the Dems' pork-fest, which appropriates hundreds of billions of dollars years in the future, needs to be rushed through the Senate in the dead of night as an “emergency.”
Discussion:
GINA COBB
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Wanted: Personal Economic Trainers. Apply at Capitol. — As long as we're about to spend gazillions to stimulate the economy, I'd like to suggest we throw in another $53.5 million for a cause dear to all business journalists: economic literacy. And what better place to start than right here in Washington.
Sharon Lafraniere / New York Times:
Possible Link Between Dam and China Quake — BEIJING — Nearly nine months after a devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province, China, left 80,000 people dead or missing, a growing number of American and Chinese scientists are suggesting that the calamity was triggered by a four-year-old reservoir built close …
Discussion:
James Fallows
Paul Romer / Wall Street Journal:
Let's Start Brand New Banks — A clean slate would keep TARP money away from bad banks. — Everyone agrees that the United States urgently needs a few good banks. Turning bad banks into good banks is a difficult and risky way to get them. It's simpler and safer to start entirely new banks.
John Podhoretz / Commentary:
The Daily Dearborn Independent Dish — Andrew Sullivan has decided that he now knows the truth about neoconservatism: … Now let us see how many errors there are in this darling little passage. — First: neoconservatives told Sullivan Palestinians could never have their own state.
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The Politico:
Rope jumping reporter ID'd — A reporter who was escorted out of a White House event by Secret Service agents on Wednesday afternoon after he approached . . . . . . President Obama to seek an autograph has been identified, officials and witnesses said. — At the end of an East Room signing ceremony …
Dean Baker / American Prospect:
Senators Go Wild!, Approve House Flipping Subsidy, Media Don't Notice — The reporters covering the stimulus have been so busy editorializing against it that they haven't had time to pay attention to what Congress is doing. Tonight Congress approved the Isakson amendment which gives $15,000 …
Jonathan Allen / CQ Politics:
White House Commerce Decision Infuriates House GOP — House Republicans are incensed about the prospect of the Census Bureau director reporting directly to the White House. — A senior White House official said the Obama administration intends to circumvent Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg …
Alan Travis / Guardian:
Lords warn against rise of CCTV — The steady expansion of the “surveillance society” risks undermining fundamental freedoms including the right to privacy, according to a House of Lords report published today. — The peers say Britain has constructed one of the most extensive …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Christine Armario / Associated Press:
Fla. doctor investigated in badly botched abortion — Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week pregnancy. — Three days later, she sat in a reclining chair …
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere, Patterico's Pontifications, Townhall.com, RedState and NewsBusters.org
Ed Kohler / The Deets:
How Village Voice Media Uses Digg to Game Their Traffic Numbers — This is the story about a girl that's actually a dude who's brought in 3.8 - 19.4 million visitors* to Village Voice Media websites by gaming Digg. — Village Voice Media appears to be running an organized reciprocal Digg …
Jacquielynn Floyd / METRO:
Dallas hardware store wants George W. Bush to be its door greeter — Former presidents get a pretty good retirement package, but there's nothing wrong with getting out of the house and earning a little extra scratch. If George W. Bush wants some useful occupation for those long …
Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
Watchdog: Treasury overpaid for bank stocks — WASHINGTON (AP) - A government watchdog group says the federal government overpaid for stocks and other assets from financial institutions under its $700 billion rescue program. — The chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel …