Top Items:
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
RNC member calls on Steele to quit — Michael Steele should resign as Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, according to a committee member from North Carolina. — In an e-mail to fellow RNC members obtained by The Hill, Dr. Ada Fisher, North Carolina's national committeewoman …
Discussion:
Baltimore Sun, American Power, The Huffington Post, Political Machine, TPMDC, Riehl World View, DownWithTyranny! and NewsBusters.org
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Cyrus / E-Voter Institute:
RNC-YA — Washington, DC — Two years ago I left a prominent technology company in Silicon Valley to join the Republican National Committee as e-campaign director to elect the next Republican president. We lost, but there was more than a software glitch that contributed to our November 2008 defeat.
Michelle Malkin:
New Rush Derangement Syndrome project: A DNC-funded billboard — Just arrived in my emailbox from the DNC: Solicitations for a new anti-Rush Limbaugh billboard the Democrat Party plans to put up in Palm Beach, Florida. Do Democrat donors really think this is the best use of their money?
Ben Smith / The Politico:
For GOP: all pain, no gain
For GOP: all pain, no gain
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Machine, Booman Tribune and Capital Journal
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
THE BANALITY OF PROGRESS. — The speech ended. “Let's get to work,” the President said. The attendees — a mixture of congressmen, advocates, stakeholders, and analysts — filed down the long hall to their breakout sessions. Another reporter turned to me. “What did you think of the speech?”
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
IS HEALTH CARE A ‘PRIVILEGE’ FOR SOME? — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro — The president may be holding a health-care summit today at the White House, in an effort to cull ideas for health-care reform, but some Republicans are making it clear they aren't going to stand for it.
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Rep. Wamp: Healthcare Is A ‘Privilege,’ Not A ‘Right’ For All Americans
Rep. Wamp: Healthcare Is A ‘Privilege,’ Not A ‘Right’ For All Americans
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Presidential Bait-and-Switch — What Obama once promised, and what he's delivering.
Presidential Bait-and-Switch — What Obama once promised, and what he's delivering.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Associated Press, The Politico, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, YID With LID and CBS News
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
McConnell: No gov't health insurance
McConnell: No gov't health insurance
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Swamp, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Open Left, Associated Press, MyDD and Bloomberg
Jim Cramer / Mainstreet.com:
My Response To The White House — When I come to work each day, whether as a commentator for TheStreet.com or a host of Mad Money With Jim Cramer, I have only one thought in mind: helping people with their money. — I fight to help viewers and readers make and preserve capital.
Discussion:
Say Anything, Wizbang, PoliGazette, Clusterstock, YID With LID, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Capital Commerce
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Tahman Bradley / Political Punch:
Obama Hosts Bipartisan ‘Timeout’ Dinner at White House
Obama Hosts Bipartisan ‘Timeout’ Dinner at White House
Discussion:
White House Watch
Michael Gove / Times of London:
First Lady Michelle Obama shows even she has a gift for the gaffe — It was all going so well. The dresses, the brains, the Vogue cover shoot - everything so far about Michelle Obama has left us wide-mouthed in admiration. It seemed there was no end to her fabulousness. Then Mr and Mrs Brown came to stay.
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Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Obama's safety net: the TelePrompter — President Barack Obama doesn't go anywhere without his TelePrompter. — The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president's prepared remarks follow him wherever he speaks. — Resting on top of a tall, narrow pole, they flank his podium during speeches …
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Townhall.com, JustOneMinute, Say Anything, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RedState
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Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Obama Preferred Over Reagan — In Fox News Poll — Are we still a center-right nation, as many Republicans continue to insist? And can the GOP revive itself through a return to the spirit of Ronald Reagan, as Rush Limbaugh has said? — Check out this question from the new Fox News poll …
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Tom Jacobs / Miller-McCune:
Sex Appeal May Have Hurt Sarah Palin — In a Sept. 4, 2008 column, just after Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for vice-president, Will Wilkinson wrote admiringly of her “sexual power,” adding: “I think she is a tremendously sexy woman. How this will affect the race, I have no idea, but it's just got to.”
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Schumer Privately Tells White House He's Concerned About Freeman On Israel — Senator Charles Schumer has privately expressed concerns directly to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel about Chas Freeman, the Obama administration's pick to head the group that prepares some of the intel community's …
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Daley leaning toward Illinois Senate bid — Former Commerce Secretary William Daley is leaning toward running for the Senate seat President Obama once held, sources close to Daley tell The Hill. They characterize the decision as all but finalized. — Daley would likely be an instant front-runner …
Megan McArdle:
GM is toast — After today's annual report, I don't think there's any question of GM's staying out of bankruptcy. The company's revenue fell from $180 billion in 2007 to $149 billion in 2008, with the worst crash in the fourth quarter. Car sales have continued to plunge into the new year.
Think Progress:
Bachmann: GOP Must ‘Do Everything We Can To Thwart’ Obama From Securing ‘A Power Base...For All Time’ — Conservative talker Bill Bennett interviewed Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) on his radio show this morning. During the interview, Bennett asked, “Why [is Obama siding] …
Discussion:
TPMDC
Bill Sammon / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE: Rove Warns of ‘Show Trial,’ Says Dems ‘Would Love to Have Me Barbecued’ — Karl Rove tells FOX News he is looking forward to telling the House Judiciary Committee about his alleged role in the firing of federal prosecutors and the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
Discussion:
Glenn Thrush's Blogs, Washington Monthly, CBS News, TIME.com, TPMMuckraker, Associated Press and Salon
Rasmussen Reports:
Minnesota Voters See Franken As Winner, Closely Divided Over Senate Race Revote — Forty-seven percent (47%) of Minnesota voters now believe Democrat Al Franken has been elected to the U.S. Senate in a race so close that it's been working its way through the state's court system for the last four months.
Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org:
D.L. Hughley Gets Ugly on Nazi GOP: CNN Boss Jon Klein Told Him ‘Anything Goes....Run Amok!’ — As Limbaugh-bashing networks like CNN and MSNBC continue to play up a Rush vs. Michael Steele feud, the diversionary tactic isn't just keeping people away from focusing on Barack Obama.
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Clinton Proposes Including Iran in Talks on Afghanistan — BRUSSELS — Setting up the possibility of its first face-to-face encounter with Iran, the Obama administration proposed a conference on Afghanistan at the end of this month that is likely to include Iran among the invited countries, American officials said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Commentary
Simon Johnson / The Baseline Scenario:
Confusion, Tunneling, And Looting — Emerging market crises are marked by an increase in tunneling - i.e., borderline legal/illegal smuggling of value out of businesses. As time horizons become shorter, employees have less incentive to protect shareholder value and are more inclined to help …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Business Channel