Top Items:
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The “Americans want bipartisanship” myth — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — As part of that New York Times online discussion in which I participated yesterday regarding whether Obama should continue to pursue “bipartisanship,” I wrote:
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Room for Debate, Time, Booman Tribune, Jules Crittenden, The Mahablog, Washington Post, New York Times and Balloon Juice
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Washington Times:
GOP governor: Congressional leadership ‘inconsequential’ — S.A. Miller and Stephen Dinan, THE WASHINGTON TIMES — NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: — The Republican governor of Utah on Monday said his party is blighted by leaders in Congress whose lack of new ideas renders them so “inconsequential” …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A RUDE AWAKENING.... Congressional Republicans seem to be feeling pretty good about themselves. They're voting in lock step, dominating the cable chatter, and releasing Aerosmith-backed videos bragging about their opposition to the economic recovery package. The GOP had discovered its mojo and was finally where it wanted to be.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Poll: Majority Doesn't Want Obama To Be Bipartisan — You routinely hear it asserted that the public wants bipartisan comity in Washington, but some striking numbers buried in the internals of the new New York Times poll find that in the current context, precisely the opposite is true:
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Louisiana's Jindal, Set to Give GOP Response to Obama, Took Fast Track …
Louisiana's Jindal, Set to Give GOP Response to Obama, Took Fast Track …
Rupert Murdoch / New York Post:
STATEMENT FROM RUPERT MURDOCH — As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me. — Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Michael Steele Threatens To Withhold RNC Funds From GOP Senators Who Backed Stimulus — This one passed unnoticed last night, but it's definitely noteworthy — yet another measure of the degree to which the Republican Party has bet all its chips on opposing the stimulus package.
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The Huffington Post:
McCain Confronts Obama On Marine One (VIDEO) — At the closing session of the president's fiscal responsibility summit on Monday, high-ranking members of Congress were asked to put on their reportorial hats, quizzing Barack Obama on various aspects of his economic priorities.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Political Punch and The New Republic
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San Francisco Chronicle:
Newsom sneaking around and sipping out of a bottle? — Is the Green Mayor holding out on us? — This week, the City Insider spotted an almost empty case of bottled water in the back of Mayor Gavin Newsom's hybrid sport utility vehicle as it was parked in front of City Hall.
Discussion:
Power Line, Sister Toldjah, Don Surber, JammieWearingFool, Right Wing News and Sweetness & Light
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Gibbs hints at ‘Reaganesque’ speech — President Barack Obama won't speak until prime-time, but his aides fanned out to the morning shows Tuesday morning to talk up his first speech before a joint session of Congress. And the word they used to preview it: “Reaganesque.”
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Jack Shafer / Slate:
Plus, J. Edgar Hoover on how to spot a homosexual. — When Bill Moyers left his show Now With Bill Moyers at the end of 2004, he told the Associated Press that his immediate project would be a book about the year he worked for Lyndon B. Johnson. Upon returning to PBS in the spring of 2007 …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Pajamas Media, The Daily Dish, At-Largely, NewsBusters.org and Mondoweiss
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
The Painfully Ridiculous End to the NYU Revolution — The final, farcical moments of the failed Revolutionary NYU Food Court Occupation were caught on film by one of the protesters. And then shown to the world, despite being—by any standard—incredibly embarrassing. — “You may not come in here.
Fox News:
Rogue Financier Stanford Linked to Fund Run by Bidens — A fund of hedge funds run by two members of Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by companies controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission accusations of engaging in an $8 billion fraud.
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
The 92 Percent Solution — Feel the anger - here is a website dedicated to the 92 percent of Americans who are making their mortgage payments. The mission statement reads more like the Declaration of Independence; the intro: — The 92% Group Charter — 1. The sole purpose …
Lynn Sweet:
Burris and Durbin to meet Tuesday afternoon. Scoop: Burris not resigning but signaling won't run in 2010 — WASHINGTON—Embattled Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) meets with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Tuesday afternoon. Burris understands that he needs to try to mollify Durbin and he will attempt to do that.
Felix Salmon / Wired News:
Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street — A year ago, it was hardly unthinkable that a math wizard like David X. Li might someday earn a Nobel Prize. After all, financial economists—even Wall Street quants—have received the Nobel in economics before …
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Jim Cooper Not Invited to Fiscal Responsibility Summit — digg it — Here's a weird one. Obama agreed to host a “fiscal responsibility summit” because Jim Cooper was pushing for one in December, and it was a way to get Blue Dog support for the stimulus bill.
Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
Clients of raided lobby shop rake in the earmarks — Clients of a defense lobby shop under investigation are continuing to score earmarks from their patrons in Congress, despite the firm being on the verge of shutting its doors permanently. — Several clients of The PMA Group …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
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Jonathan Allen / CQ Politics:
House to Vote on Earmark Ethics Probe as PMA Clients Show up in Omnibus
House to Vote on Earmark Ethics Probe as PMA Clients Show up in Omnibus
Discussion:
Hot Air
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Clooney: W.H. to appoint Darfur envoy — Actor George Clooney emerged from an Oval Office meeting with President Barack Obama Monday night to say the White House will appoint an envoy to Darfur, the Sudanese region ravaged by war and famine. — “They said they would appoint a full-time …
Discussion:
The Plank, Washington Post, TIME.com, Agence France Presse, The Plum Line, Political Machine, Associated Press and Reuters
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Eric Bailey / Los Angeles Times:
Taxing pot could become a political toking point — An Assemblyman from San Francisco argues that it's time to tax and regulate the state's biggest cash crop in the same manner as alcohol. Opponents say it would create new costs for society. — Reporting from Sacramento …
Allen Salkin / New York Times:
That Old Master? It's at the Pawnshop — Last fall, Annie Leibovitz, the photographer, borrowed $5 million from a company called Art Capital Group. In December, she borrowed $10.5 million more from the same firm. As collateral, among other items, she used town houses she owns in Greenwich Village …
Toby Harnden / Toby Harnden's blog listings:
How politics works: Senator Christopher Dodd and his cosy Irish cottage — An intriguing item here from the dogged Kevin Rennie of the Hartford Courant that highlights a classic example of why ordinary citizens become cynical about politicians and the way business in Washington is conducted.
Discussion:
The Corner
TMZ.com:
Bailout Bank Blows Millions Partying in L.A. — A bank that received $1.6 billion in bailout money just spent a fortune last week in L.A. hosting a series of lavish parties and concerts with famous singers ... and TMZ cameras caught it all. — Northern Trust, a Chicago-based bank …