Top Items:
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Obama Has Upper Hand in Stimulus Fight — Obama's 67% approval rating on the stimulus is more than twice that of Republicans — USA - Congress - Democrats - Government and Politics - Leadership - Republicans - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Huffington Post, The New Republic, Pollster.com, The Washington Independent, Taegan Goddard's …, The Other McCain, MyDD, The Fix, TPMDC, Sound Politics, Washington Post, Real Time Economics, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Washington Wire, Eunomia, Hot Air, Swampland, MSNBC and Boston Globe
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Washington Post:
Republicans See Long-Term Victory in Defeat on Stimulus Plan — Three months after their Election Day drubbing, Republican leaders see glimmers of rebirth in the party's liberation from an unpopular president, its selection of its first African American chairman and, most of all …
CNN:
Obama's approval is high — but the stimulus isn't as popular — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll suggests that three out of four Americans approve of the job Barack Obama's doing as President — but the economic stimulus package he's trying to push through Congress is not nearly as popular.
Pew Research Center:
Support for Stimulus Plan Slips, But Obama Rides High
Support for Stimulus Plan Slips, But Obama Rides High
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Ross Douthat:
The Trouble With Centrism — The liberals are angry, and not without reason. You can imagine a world in which “centrist” Senators used their awesome deal-making powers to forge compromises that incorporate ideas from the left and right alike. A world in which moderate “gangs,” …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Democratic Strategist, The New Republic, Obsidian Wings, AmSpecBlog, Megan McArdle, Marginal Revolution and Hot Air
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Destructive Center — What do you call someone who eliminates hundreds of thousands of American jobs, deprives millions of adequate health care and nutrition, undermines schools, but offers a $15,000 bonus to affluent people who flip their houses? — A proud centrist.
Huma Khan / Political Punch:
Obama Administration Maintains Bush Position on ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ Lawsuit — From Jake Tapper and Ariane de Vogue: — The Obama Administration today announced that it would keep the same position as the Bush Administration in the lawsuit Mohamed et al v Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.
Discussion:
Salon, ACLU, The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Think Progress, Media Blog, Newshoggers.com, The Raw Story, Ben Smith's Blogs and NPR
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Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Attorney general is reviewing state secret claims
Attorney general is reviewing state secret claims
Discussion:
TIME.com
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Stumps for Stimulus in a City Hit Hard by Downturn — ELKHART, Ind. — President Obama took his case for an $800 billion economic recovery package to one of the most distressed places in America on Monday as he opened a series of campaign-style events intended to press Congress to approve the plan by week's end.
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Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blogs:
Manley sacks Shuler — Harry Reid spokesman Jim Manley on Heath Shuler's comment that Reid and Nancy Pelosi “failed” on bipartisanship. — It's a good one: … In four years as an NFL QB — three with the Redskins, one with the Saints — Shuler threw 32 INTs while tallying only 15 TDs.
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Mike Baker / Associated Press:
Shuler hits Democratic leaders on bipartisanship
Shuler hits Democratic leaders on bipartisanship
Discussion:
Oliver Willis
Bloomberg:
U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailouts as Senate Votes — Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — The stimulus package the U.S. Congress is completing would raise the government's commitment to solving the financial crisis to $9.7 trillion, enough to pay off more than 90 percent of the nation's home mortgages.
Jon Ward / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Partisan dirt-digger joins WH office — Resume lacks legal training — Amid the furor over controversies regarding Cabinet-nominee tax problems and the seismic battle over a nearly trillion-dollar economic rescue bill, President Obama made a little-noticed appointment that is now generating intrigue.
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Obama's Unscreened Town Hall Audience Is Clean Break From Bush's Supporters-Only Public Events — Today, President Obama hosted a town hall meeting in Elkhart, IN — which faces the nation's fastest-rising unemployment rate — to promote his recovery and reinvestment plan.
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Eric Ostermeier / Smart Politics:
Coleman Says ‘God Wants Me to Serve’ — While Al Franken remains fairly elusive, Norm Coleman is keeping a high profile these days as his court challenge of the Minnesota U.S. Senate recount plods along. — Coleman is adept, somewhat too adept, his critics might say …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:
Newsweek Plans Makeover to Fit a Smaller Audience — When US Airways Flight 1549 glided safely onto the Hudson River last month, Newsweek did what news organizations have done for more than a century — it sent reporters and photographers to the scene. Considerable effort yielded …
Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
Meg Whitman, EBay's former CEO, joins California governor's race — Whitman's chief rival for the GOP nomination is state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. Other potential successors to replace Schwarzenegger in 2010 are Democrats Garamendi, Brown and Newsom.
Discussion:
The Caucus
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Justin Fox / The Curious Capitalist:
Comparing this recession to the last five — The dramatic chart Nancy Pelosi's office put out comparing job losses so far in the current recession with those in 2001 and 1990-1991 has gotten a lot of play in the Internets. As well it should-it paints a dramatic picture (job losses in the current recession have been much more severe).
Betsy McCaughey / Bloomberg:
Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan: Betsy McCaughey — Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) — Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama's stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy. — Tragically, no one from either party …
Daily Mail:
High-ranking Foreign Office diplomat arrested over anti-Semitic gym tirade … A high-ranking diplomat at the Foreign Office has been arrested after allegations that he launched a foul-mouthed anti-Semitic tirade. — Middle East expert Rowan Laxton, 47, was watching TV reports of the Israeli attack …
The Huffington Post:
Leahy: Investigate Bush Now — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy insisted on Monday in firm and passionate terms that a comprehensive investigation be launched into the conduct of the Bush administration, saying anything less would prevent the country from moving forward.
Walter Shapiro / The New Republic:
Meet the Press — What were JFK's fabled press conferences really like? — With Barack Obama's first news conference slated for tonight at 8 p.m. eastern, it is a safe bet that—like on Inauguration Day—the most over-used word in the English language Monday will be “Kennedy-esque.”
Max Blumenthal / Blogs and Stories:
Porn Star for Senate — An Interview with the Porn Star Running Against Sen. David Vitter by Max Blumenthal — Blogs and Stories — Sen. David Vitter's phone number was found in the records of the notorious D.C. madam. Now he faces re-election (and massive karmic payback) against a sultry adult entertainer named Stormy.
John B. Taylor / Wall Street Journal:
How Government Created the Financial Crisis — Research shows the failure to rescue Lehman did not trigger the fall panic. — Many are calling for a 9/11-type commission to investigate the financial crisis. Any such investigation should not rule out government itself as a major culprit.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
GOP Leaders Taking Cues From Malkin On Stimulus, Call It ‘Generational Theft’ — In early January, when President Obama first proposed his American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin balked at the proposal's name, writing that it should be called “The Generational Theft Act of 2009.”
Wall Street Journal:
Amazon Raises an E-Book Specter — Amazon.com Inc. is announcing a new version of its Kindle e-book reader on Monday. And, in a sign that the electronic book is gaining clout in the publishing world, Amazon is also expected to say it has acquired a new work by best-selling novelist Stephen King …
Glenn R. Simpson / Wall Street Journal:
Plouffe to Donate Speaking Fee — President Barack Obama's former campaign manager intends to give away the fee he received from a paid private speech he made Monday in the oil-rich but authoritarian nation of Azerbaijan. — The speech was arranged by lobbyists working with a group …
Discussion:
TIME.com
Associated Press:
Obama faces tough question over Cabinet picks — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — ELKHART, Ind. - President Barack Obama wanted to talk about his economic proposal he says would save or create more than 3 million jobs. One woman in the audience instead wanted …
Discussion:
The Politico
Emily Anthes / Boston Globe:
Climate change takes a mental toll — Last year, an anxious, depressed 17-year-old boy was admitted to the psychiatric unit at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. He was refusing to drink water. Worried about drought related to climate change, the young man was convinced that if he drank, millions of people would die.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Gitmo Detainee's ‘Genitals Were Sliced With A Scalpel,’ Waterboarding ‘Far Down The List Of Things They Did’ — Last week, two British High Court judges ruled against releasing documents describing the treatment of Binyam Mohamed, a British resident who is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.