Top Items:
Jack Kuenzie / WIS-TV:
Eight arrested in Michael Phelps case — Updated: — COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - New details have emerged about a party where Olympic champion Michael Phelps was spotted. — On Feb. 2, a British tabloid published a picture of the 14-time Olympic gold medalist using a water pipe to smoke marijuana.
The White House:
Liveblog: Ft. Myers, FL townhall — 1:12 p.m.: Wrapping up. President is shaking some hands and greeting the crowd. — 1:10 p.m.: Question from an enthusiastic young man named Julio who says he has worked for McDonald's for four years but hasn't seen his benefits improve.
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The Huffington Post:
Administration Officials Met With Laughter At Bailout Briefing — Administration officials were greeted with sarcasm and laughter Monday night when they briefed lawmakers and congressional staff on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's new financial-sector bailout project, according to people who were in the room.
Discussion:
The Swamp
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Michael Grabell / ProPublica:
The Stimulus Bills: House vs. Senate — If all goes as expected today, the Senate will pass an $838 billion economic stimulus plan that follows a compromise reached over the weekend. But before the package can go to President Obama's desk, the Senate will have to resolve differences with the House and its $819 billion version.
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CNN:
Senate, House begin work on stimulus compromise — (CNN) — The Senate passed its economic recovery package Tuesday, setting the stage for what could be a bitter battle with the House as the two chambers try to reconcile the differences between their versions of the plan.
Wall Street Journal:
Details Scarce in Rescue Plan — WASHINGTON—The Obama administration Tuesday announced a wide-ranging financial sector rescue plan that could send $2 trillion coursing through the financial system. — The plan, which is designed to involve a mix of government and private capital …
Discussion:
Megan McArdle, CNBC.com, Real Time Economics, TigerHawk, Indecision, Donklephant and Jules Crittenden
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Quinnipiac University:
Connecticut's Rell Is Queen Of The Hill At Midterm, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Dodd Has Worst Approval Ever — Halfway through her first elected term as Connecticut Governor and one week after a grim budget message, Jodi Rell has a 75 - 19 percent approval rating and tops …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Politico, The New Republic, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call, Democracy in America, MyDD and Swing State Project
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Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Poll: Lieberman Would Lose 2012 Re-Election In Landslide
Poll: Lieberman Would Lose 2012 Re-Election In Landslide
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Media Matters for America:
Fox passes off GOP press release as its own research — typo and all … During the February 10 edition of Fox News' Happening Now, co-host Jon Scott claimed that “the Senate is expected to pass the $838 billion stimulus plan — its version of it, anyway. We thought we'd take a look back at the bill …
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
At His First Prime-Time News Conference, Obama Is Serious and Expansive — In a prime-time debut for the new Oval Office occupant and a press corps often accused of being too enamored of him, President Obama faced journalistic skepticism from the opening question.
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Walter Shapiro / The New Republic:
Impressed Me Not — On Obama's first White House press conference.
Impressed Me Not — On Obama's first White House press conference.
Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:
How The World Almost Came To An End At 2PM On September 18 — LiveLeak has caught a scary moment of previously undisclosed insight by Paul Kanjorski where he reveals some facts that have not been captured by the media previously. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds in the video below …
Paul Krugman:
The Rorschach plan (wonkish, or at least hard to read) — An old joke from my younger days: What do you get when you cross a Godfather with a deconstructionist? Someone who makes you an offer you can't understand. — I found myself remembering that joke when trying to make sense of the Geithner financial rescue plan.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, American Prospect, The New Republic, Economist's View and Real Time Economics
Haaretz:
Exit polls: Livni's Kadima leads in 2009 elections — Exit polls by Israel's three main television stations on Tuesday night showed Kadima as the leader in the 2009 general elections, with Likud coming a narrow second. — Channel 1, Channel 2 and Channel 10 polling of voters as they left …
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Bradley Burston / Haaretz:
LIVE ELECTION BLOG: Keep your eye on the Arab parties, and on the weather
LIVE ELECTION BLOG: Keep your eye on the Arab parties, and on the weather
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
Why Obama Wants Control of the Census — Counting citizens is a powerful political tool. — President Obama said in his inaugural address that he planned to “restore science to its rightful place” in government. That's a worthy goal. But statisticians at the Commerce Department …
Washington Whispers:
Busy Sarah Palin Backs Out of CPAC; Rush Limbaugh Is Still Speaking — The opening-day headliner for the annual CPAC conservative convention February 26-28, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has pulled out, citing state business in Juneau. “We're obviously disappointed,” said a CPAC official.
Discussion:
Think Progress
Catherine Philp / Times of London:
Iranian mob attacks moderate ex-president Mohammed Khatami on anniversary — Iran's former president was set upon by an angry stick-wielding mob today amid celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on the streets of Tehran. — The attack on Mohammed Khatami came …
Kevin Helliker / Wall Street Journal:
You Might as Well Face It: You're Addicted to Success — Forced to take a buyout from the Kansas City Star last summer, Paul Wenske lost his sense of identity. “I'd been an investigative reporter all my life, and then boom,” says Mr. Wenske, an award-winning journalist of 30 years.
Discussion:
Gawker
Fox News:
GOP Group Threatens to Campaign Against Republican Stimulus Backers — The National Republican Trust PAC is threatening to provide financial support for primary challengers to any stimulus-supporting Republican in the next election. — FOXNews.com — A GOP group is putting Republican lawmakers …
James K. Glassman / Commentary:
SPECIAL PREVIEW Stimulus: A History of Folly — Before he was sworn in as President, Barack Obama began to lay out his plans for reviving an American economy that, it would later be discovered, had declined 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, its worst performance in 26 years.
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity
Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Charm Isn't Working Wonders Abroad — Policy does matter after all. — Barack Obama has now been president for 21 days, following an inauguration that was supposed to have pressed the reset button on America's relations with the wider world and ushered in a new period of global cooperation against common threats.
David Hunn / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Ban on sale of St. Louis schools stirs anger — LEFT: 6651 Gravois (former Gardenville School): 58,102-square-foot building on a 1.9-acre site. It was designed by William B. Ittner and built in 1907. RIGHT: 2730 Eads Avenue (former Hodgen School): Three-story, 46,155-square-foot brick building on a 1.57-acre site.
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Fleischer And O'Reilly: Bush Didn't Call On ‘Dot Coms And Other Oddballs’ Like The Huffington Post — After President Obama's first prime time press conference last night, Bill O'Reilly asked former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer for his reaction. O'Reilly noted that Obama had a prepared list …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The 180-degree reversal of Obama's State Secrets position — (updated below - Update II) — From the Obama/Biden campaign website, mybarackobama.com, here was what the Obama campaign was saying — back then — about the State Secrets privilege: — Apparently, the operative word …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Balkinization, The Daily Dish, D-Day, Hullabaloo, War in Context, Outside The Beltway and Newshoggers.com