Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TIME TO REFORM THE FILIBUSTER.... One of the striking aspects of the political process on the Hill is how quickly everyone has adapted to a once-rare tactic becoming routine. Senate filibusters used to be exceedingly rare — a dramatic challenge only to be used under extraordinary circumstances.
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The New Filibuster — Kevin Drum raises an important point, namely that “The filibuster was never intended to become a routine requirement that all legislation needs 60% of the vote in the Senate to pass.” — Indeed, the filibuster was never intended at all.
Tim Shipman / Telegraph:
Barack Obama sends bust of Winston Churchill on its way back to Britain — Barack Obama has sent Sir Winston Churchill packing and pulse rates soaring among anxious British diplomats. — A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned …
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Fausta's Blog, NewsBusters.org, TigerHawk, Riehl World View, Theo Spark and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Michelle Malkin:
Taxpayer revolt: Porkulus protest in Seattle, Obama to sign theft act in Denver — There should be one of these in every town in America. What are you doing? Liberty Belle announces a taxpayer protest against the porkulus tomorrow in Seattle: … If you can get a real pig roast going, all the better!
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama's Denver signing; ‘Good as any’ — President Barack Obama will fly to Denver, the place where he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination last summer, to sign the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” into law on Tuesday. — It's “as good” a place “as any” …
Discussion:
The Politico
Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:
A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush Lawyers — From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009 — An internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, theheretik.us and Left in the West
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Satyam Khanna / Think Progress:
Gingrich's obstructionism becomes role model for House GOP.» — In 1993, former Speaker Newt Gingrich notoriously whipped the House GOP into opposing President Clinton's major initiatives, ranging from the budget to health care reform. The New York Times reports that Gingrich …
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Congress Matters:
From the files — by David Waldman aka Kagro X — What files? The insane pack-rat files, of course. — I have with me a hard copy of a collection of Republican quotes predicting doom and disaster in the wake of the 1993 Clinton economic stimulus plan, and much of the rhetoric is eerily similar to today's.
Discussion:
The Mahablog
S.D. Liddick / The Huffington Post:
Open Letter to a Craven Reporter in Iraq — I'm an independent reporter in Iraq, on assignment for a U.S. magazine (as well as a Huffingtonpost.com blogger). I've just come off a three-week civilian tour of Anbar Province, living with sheiks and Iraqi civilians, trying to get a feel …
John O'Connor / Associated Press:
Burris confirms request for Blagojevich donation — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Raising fresh questions about his appointment to Congress, Sen. Roland Burris admitted in a document released Saturday that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor named Burris as Illinois' junior senator.
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Associated Press:
WHAT'S THE RUSH? — ‘URGENT’ $TIMULUS ON HOLD FOR BAM'S WEEKEND OFF — After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway. — Obama arrived at his home in Chicago on Friday …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, Scared Monkeys, American Thinker, Sister Toldjah, Ace of Spades HQ, Riehl World View and Don Surber
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Why Americans Hate the Media — In the late 1980s public-television stations aired a talking-heads series called Ethics in America. For each show more than a dozen prominent citizens sat around a horseshoe-shaped table and tried to answer troubling ethical questions posed by a moderator.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:
Graham on Bipartisanship: 'The Country's Screwed' — Sen. Graham Open to ‘Nationalizing the Banks’ — Gregg Withdrawal Embarrasses White House — Obama's $2-3-Trillion Political Gamble — Stimulus Agreement: $789.5-Billion Price Tag — Report Card on Obama's First Presidential News Conference
Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:
Rise in Jobless Poses Threat to Stability Worldwide — PARIS — From lawyers in Paris to factory workers in China and bodyguards in Colombia, the ranks of the jobless are swelling rapidly across the globe. — Worldwide job losses from the recession that started in the United States …
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
China Is at the Heart of Clinton's First Trip
China Is at the Heart of Clinton's First Trip
Discussion:
Riehl World View