Top Items:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Steele to Rush: I'm sorry — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says he has reached out to Rush Limbaugh to tell him he meant no offense when he referred to the popular conservative radio host as an “entertainer” whose show can be “incendiary.”
Discussion:
Say Anything, Associated Press, Think Progress, The Swamp, Salon, Townhall.com, Sister Toldjah, Atlas Shrugs, Oliver Willis, Crooks and Liars, Comments from Left Field, PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Daily Dish, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog News, Spin Cycle, Gawker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crunchy Con, The Moderate Voice, Wake up America, Hot Air, Political Punch and Balloon Juice
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The Huffington Post:
Steele Takes On Rush Limbaugh: “Ugly,” “Incendiary” (VIDEO) — Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele took umbrage Saturday night when CNN's D.L. Hughley referred to radio host Rush Limbaugh as “the de facto leader of the Republican party.” — “No he's not.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, CNN, The Gun Toting Liberal, The Huffington Post, MyDD, Pam's House Blend and PoliticalBase.com Blog
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Limbaugh blasts Steele, the GOP — 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 Saturday night …
RushLimbaugh.com:
A Few Words for Michael Steele — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: I was not going to talk about Michael Steele. I have had e-mails from the Drive-By Media. I have had interview requests to be on television shows to talk about Michael Steele and what he said about my speech Saturday night.
Discussion:
FRAMESHOP, Macsmind, Hullabaloo, Hotline On Call, Clips & Comment, The Atlantic Politics Channel and The Opinionator
Michelle Malkin:
A note to Michael Steele; Update: Steele agrees that GOP convention looked like “Nazi Germany;” Update: A non-apology apology — Scroll for updates...Steele non-apologizes to Limbaugh...No word on the “Nazi Germany"/GOP convention slur... I said positive things about RNC chairman Michael Steele …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
I'M LOVING MICHAEL STEELE — I mean, I'm not sure how else to put it. This guy has to be about the worst, most embarrassing party chair we've seen in recent memory. It's embarrassing enough that Steele is like, what? ... the third Republican to criticize Rush and then make it less …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Offered Deal to Russia in Secret Letter — WASHINGTON — President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia's president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.
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RIA Novosti:
Obama ‘ready to drop shield plans for Russian help on Iran’ — Washington has told Moscow that Russian help in resolving Iran's nuclear program would make its missile shield plans for Europe unnecessary, a Russian daily said on Monday, citing White House sources.
Discussion:
Fox News, Gateway Pundit, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, Flopping Aces, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, Babalu Blog and The Raw Story
Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Israel to present Clinton with ‘red lines’ on talks with Iran
Israel to present Clinton with ‘red lines’ on talks with Iran
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Obama kicks up White House entertaining — WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is the place to be on Wednesdays. — Since the presidency changed hands less than six weeks ago, a burst of entertaining has taken hold of the iconic, white-columned home of America's head of state. Much of it comes on Wednesdays.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, Preemptive Karma, Gawker, Agence France Presse, Jules Crittenden, Reuters and Pajamas Media
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David Rogers / The Politico:
Angry McCain slams Obama — Long delayed but not shrunken with time, a nearly $410 billion omnibus spending bill is fast becoming a great bone in the throat for Democrats and the White House, just when each hoped to put the past behind them and move onto President Barack Obama's new 2010 budget.
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Obama beats early retreat on promise to fight pork — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Despite campaign promises to take a machete to lawmakers' pet projects, President Barack Obama is quietly caving to funding nearly 8,000 of them this year …
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
THE DOW-JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE since the passage of the stimulus bill. Looks like a vote of “no confidence” to me. — UPDATE: Can you say “going John Galt?” Upper-Income Taxpayers Look for Ways to Sidestep Obama Tax-Hike Plan. “A 63-year-old attorney based in Lafayette, La. …
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Lost in Transition:
Panel Says Ron Kirk Underpaid Taxes — (Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images) — Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee this afternoon revealed that another of President Obama's nominees — U.S. Trade Representative-designate Ron Kirk — has tax problems.
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket: Another Obama pick owes back taxes, but it's OK because, now caught, he'll pay up
Associated Press:
Obama releases secret Bush anti-terror memos — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday, revealing anti-terror memos that claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers …
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Charles Duhigg / New York Times:
U.S. Likely to Keep the Reins on Fannie and Freddie — Despite assurances that the takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be temporary, the giant mortgage companies will most likely never fully return to private hands, lawmakers and company executives are beginning to quietly acknowledge.
Marilyn / Taxpayers for Common Sense:
Facebook Reddit Digg Print this article — Here's the database you all have been waiting for - the FY 2009 Omnibus with 8,570 earmarks worth $7.7 billion. Since the Senate started debate on the bill today, we tabulated the Senate recipients of earmarks - from top to bottom.
Megan McArdle:
How low will the stock market go — According to Henry Blodget, probably a lot farther: … Incidentally, if you think that people still have a vestigial view of housing as an investment asset rather than a consumption good with residual value, this implies that housing will substantially undershoot as well.
Discussion:
Clusterstock
Emily Kaiser / Reuters:
U.S. rescue efforts may risk double-dip recession — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. companies, consumers and communities may grow so addicted to government financial help that cutting them off could trigger another recession soon after the current one ends. — Between the U.S. Federal Reserve's …
Discussion:
Wizbang
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Is Obama embracing the lawless, omnipotent executive? — (updated below - Update II) — 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 …
Fox News:
Malaysia Restores ‘Allah’ Ban for Christians — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Malaysian government will issue a new decree restoring a ban on Christian publications using the word “Allah” to refer to God, officials said Sunday. — Home Affairs Minister Syed Hamid Albar said a previous Feb. 16 decree …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
Rob Stein / Washington Post:
Researchers Find Safer Way to Produce Stem Cell Alternative — Skin Cells Transformed Without Worrisome Use of Viruses — Scientists have developed what appears to be a safer way to create a promising alternative to embryonic stem cells, boosting hopes that such cells could sidestep …
US Department of Justice:
Department of Justice Releases Nine Office of Legal Counsel Memoranda and Opinions — WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today released two previously undisclosed Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memoranda and seven previously undisclosed opinions. — “Americans deserve a government …