Top Items:
Paul Krugman:
What the centrists have wrought — I'm still working on the numbers, but I've gotten a fair number of requests for comment on the Senate version of the stimulus. — The short answer: to appease the centrists, a plan that was already too small and too focused on ineffective tax cuts …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Monthly, D-Day, Think Progress, The Reaction and Grasping Reality …
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Ian Welsh / Firedoglake:
Senate “Moderates” Cut 1 1/4 Million Jobs from Stimulus Bill — The bottom line on the changes demanded by “centrist” gang of four Senators Collins, Specter, Lieberman and Nelson is that the compromise Senate bill will create about 728,143 fewer jobs less than the House bill.
Henri E. Cauvin / Washington Post:
Steele's Campaign Spending Questioned — Agents Contact Sister After Ex-Aide's Claims — Michael S. Steele, the newly elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, arranged for his 2006 Senate campaign to pay a defunct company run by his sister for services that were never performed …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Hot Air, D-Day, Fact-esque, Political Machine, All Spin Zone, culturekitchen, MyDD, The Caucus, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Macsmind, Oliver Willis and TIME.com
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Steve Hayward / The Corner:
Steele Hit Job — The Washington Post has quite a hit job on Michael Steele on the front page this morning, with an above-the-fold story alleging he violated a number of campaign-finance rules. Despite the purple language and frothy allegations of the story, my in-house (literally) …
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
No President Needs This Kind of Exposure — So far six audience members have stormed out midperformance of the Broadway show “You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush,” the comedian Will Ferrell's lampooning of the 43rd president, according to those keeping count at the Cort Theater.
Washington Post:
Two Sides of a Debate — THE $780 BILLION stimulus package deal reached by a bipartisan group of senators and the White House Friday was the culmination of a frenzied week that reflected two strains of politics. One embraced President Obama's attempt to rise above the partisan squabbles that too often have paralyzed Washington.
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Boston Globe:
Street artist arrested on way to event at ICA — Shepard Fairey, the controversial street artist riding a roller coaster of publicity with his red, white, and blue posters of President Obama, was arrested last night on his way to deejay an event kicking off his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art.
N. Gregory Mankiw / New York Times:
It's No Time for Protectionism — WHAT approach will the Obama administration and the Democratic majority in Congress take on international economic policy? It is too early to say for sure, but the signs so far are worrying. — Just before his confirmation as Treasury secretary …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
FIDDLING.... Matt Yglesias has raised this observation a few times in recent weeks, but it's a good point that bears repeating. … Quite right. There are differences of opinion about the merit of President Obama giving Congress a “deadline” on the stimulus package, but the fact remains …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Payroll Tax Cuts as Stimulus — It seems that J.M. Keynes himself thought this was a good idea. And, indeed, it strikes me as indefensible that a stimulus package featuring hundreds of billions of dollars of tax cuts doesn't include any FICA provisions. Payroll tax cuts wouldn't be my first choice …
The White House:
Compromise — There was bad news and then there was good news. — Yesterday we learned that in January, the country suffered its largest one-month job loss in 34 years. — But last night, the Senate struck a compromise on the economic recovery plan and put us on our way to giving …
Discussion:
Think Progress, CBS News, Gateway Pundit, The Impolitic, American Power and Financial Times
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Tim Shipman / Telegraph:
CIA warns Barack Obama that British terrorists are the biggest threat to the US — Barack Obama has been warned by the CIA that British Islamist extremists are the greatest threat to US homeland security. — American spy chiefs have told the President that the CIA has launched …
Washington Post:
Echoes From the Campaign Trail — Obama Returns to Aggressive Approach as Nominations Fail, Stimulus Teeters — President Obama retreated to the serenity of Camp David for the first time yesterday, stepping back briefly from a presidency that has quickly found itself tested by a loyal opposition …
Discussion:
TPMCafe
Orange County Register:
Mark Steyn: Obama mythology could use some stimulus — Far from walking on water, president seems all at sea. — Recommend — In The Washington Post, E.J. Dionne tried to break it gently to us: — “No occupant of the White House has ever been able to walk on water.”
Karina / The Gavel:
What 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Over 13 Months Looks Like — This chart compares the job loss so far in this recession to job losses in the 1990-1991 recession and the 2001 recession - showing how dramatic and unprecedented the job loss over the last 13 months has been.
New York Times:
Biden Signals U.S. Is Open to Deal With Russia on Missiles — MUNICH — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. said Saturday that the United States will pursue a missile defense plan that has angered the Kremlin, but he also left open the possibility of compromise on the issue and struck …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Crooks and Liars, Real Clear Politics, Guardian, Mondoweiss, Commentary, TIME.com, Lawyers, Guns and Money, FP Passport and The Politico
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Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Palin's husband, aides found in contempt by Senate — TODD PALIN, OTHERS: No punishment urged in troopergate matter. — scockerham@adn.com — JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate voted Friday to find Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, and nine Palin aides in contempt for failing to show …
Jodi Kantor / New York Times:
Back on World Stage, a Larger-Than-Life Holbrooke — Stashed in a drawer in his Manhattan apartment between snapshots of family vacations, a photograph shows Richard C. Holbrooke on a private visit to Afghanistan in 2006. He is mugging atop an abandoned Russian tank, flashing a sardonic V …