Top Items:
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Limbaugh's latest attacker: RNC's Steele — On the same night he was offering the keynote address to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Rush Limbaugh drew criticism from an unlikely source: Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. — In a little-noticed interview …
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Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Pelosi's list: Who's on her bad side? — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — Nancy Pelosi likes to keep lists. — As a young political protégé of her father, Baltimore Mayor Tommy D'Alesandro, the preteen speaker-to-be would spend hours leafing through …
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
RNC Chair Michael Steele on Limbaugh: 'Yes, it's incendiary. Yes, it's ugly.' — Last night, RNC Chairman Michael Steele appeared on D.L. Hughley's show on CNN and disputed Hughley's statement that Rush Limbaugh “is the de facto leader of the Republican Party.” “I'm the de facto leader of the Republican Party!”
Discussion:
George's Bottom Line, Riehl World View, Salon, Wonkette, AMERICAblog News, CBS News and Macsmind
The New Republic:
Sympathy for the Limbaugh — Rush Limbaugh is drawing some ridicule for saying, “One thing we can all do is stop assuming that the way to beat [the Democrats] is with better policy ideas.” But I think he's basically right. Good ideas are meritorious. But being meritorious isn't what wins elections.
Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Moderate Dems confront Pelosi — In a private meeting last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi laid down a challenge to her moderate members who were complaining about a provision in the housing bill. Stand up and air your grievances, she said. — A handful of those moderate members did just that …
CNN:
GOP chairman says he leads party, not Rush Limbaugh — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele is taking issue with the notion that Rush Limbaugh is the de facto leader of the GOP, calling the conservative radio talk show host an entertainer whose comments can be ugly.
Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
AP Newsbreak: CIA destroyed 92 interrogation tapes — WASHINGTON (AP) — New documents show the CIA destroyed nearly 100 tapes of terror interrogations, far more than has previously been acknowledged. — The revelation Monday comes as a criminal prosecutor is wrapping up his investigation in the matter.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress, The Washington Independent, The Daily Dish and Daily Kos
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GrassrootsPA:
TOOMEY: SENATE RUN ‘BACK ON THE TABLE’ — GrassrootsPA has learned that former Congressman Pat Toomey, the current Club for Growth President, just announced this morning on Bobby Gunther Walsh's 1-On-1 Show, WAEB, 790AM, that a Primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter is ‘now back on the table’...
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Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Limbaugh misquotes Constitution while arguing Obama policies are ‘bastardization’ of Constitution. — During his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Rush Limbaugh got some of his loudest applause when he declared that President Obama's policies represent a “bastardization of the Constitution.”
Discussion:
Political Machine
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Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Obama taps DeParle as health czar — President Barack Obama is rounding out his health-care overhaul team Monday by naming Nancy-Ann DeParle, a veteran of the Clinton administration, as the White House health czar. — DeParle will be announced with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius …
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Monica Davey / New York Times:
A Line Forms to Succeed Burris — CHICAGO — As Roland W. Burris, the junior senator from Illinois, took his first turn presiding over the Senate last week, hired staff members to fill his Washington office and announced co-sponsorship of a measure commemorating the role of slaves in building the Capitol …
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James Baker / Financial Times:
How Washington can prevent ‘zombie banks’ — Beginning in 1990, Japan suffered a collapse in real estate and stock market prices that pushed major banks into insolvency. Rather than follow America's tough recommendation - and close or recapitalise these banks - Japan took an easier approach.
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Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:
Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan — President Would Slap More Taxes on Those Who Make Over $250K to Fund Health Care — President Barack Obama's tax proposal - which promises to increase taxes for those families with incomes of $250,000 or more …
CNSNews:
Pelosi Snowed-Out of Global Warming Rally — (CNSNews.com) - Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had to cancel an appearance Monday at a global warming rally in Washington, D.C., that was hit by a snowstorm because her flight was delayed, her office told CNSNews.com.
Washington Post:
‘Potential’ Disruption? — REP. DAVID R. Obey (Wis.) and other congressional Democrats should spare us their phony concern about the children participating in the District's school voucher program. If they cared for the future of these students, they wouldn't be so quick as to try to kill …
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Repudiating Bush — From his inauguration address forward, President Obama hasn't pulled any punches in criticizing the record of his predecessor, George W. Bush. In that process—which reached a new peak with the release of the administration's budget plan last Thursday …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
NO PASTA. JUST RICE. — Israel, it seems, has been denying shipments of pasta headed for Gaza. Senator John kerry, who'd been visiting Israel, heard about the idle trucks filled with food aid and asked around. “Israel does not define pasta as part of humanitarian aid,” he was told.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:
Iran Clenches Its Fist — The danger is that direct talks may facilitate, not reduce, threats to U.S. interests. — As Iran prepares to fire up its Bushehr nuclear reactor — and as the International Atomic Energy Agency governing board meets this week, again confronted with further progress …
Discussion:
UN Dispatch, Atlas Shrugs, YID With LID, Israel Matzav, Jihad Watch and Real Clear Politics
Jose Antonio Vargas / Washington Post:
Web-Savvy Obama Team Hits Unexpected Bumps — Issues of Technology, Security and Privacy Slow the New Administration's Effort to Foster Instant Communication — The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
ACTION: Tell Speaker Pelosi To Stand Up to Ellen Tauscher and the Bank Lobbyists She Represents — On Saturday I wrote a post about the efforts of former Wall Street investment banker Ellen Tauscher to gut legislation that would allow bankruptcy judges to write down mortgages …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News, D-Day, Brendan Calling, Congress Matters, TaylorMarsh.com and DownWithTyranny!
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Is Obama embracing the lawless, omnipotent executive? — As I detailed over the weekend, the Obama administration — in the case brought by two American lawyers and their charity-client claiming that their conversations were illegally intercepted by the Bush administration …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Revenge of the Glut — Remember the good old days, when we used to talk about the “subprime crisis” — and some even thought that this crisis could be “contained”? Oh, the nostalgia! — Today we know that subprime lending was only a small fraction of the problem.
Clive Crook / Financial Times:
The budget reveals the liberal Obama — Barack Obama's first budget is a revelation. The US president's plans will not come to pass in the form he suggests. Congress writes the laws and will make a hash of it. Still, this first full statement of intentions speaks volumes, and leaves me in a paradoxical position.
Ari Melber / The Huffington Post:
How The Insiders Failed Obama — President Barack Obama is on a roll — and Washington's pundits are struggling to keep up. — Commentators spent weeks body-slamming the administration's vetting and second-guessing Obama's legislative strategy. One stimulus and a few polls later …