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 …
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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.
Timothy Egan:
Fears of a Clown — Once upon a time, you could drive to the most remote reaches of the United States and escape Rush Limbaugh. But from the Mogollon Mountains of New Mexico to the Badlands of South Dakota, where only the delicious twang of a country tune or the high-pitched pleadings …
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?
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?”
Discussion:
Firedoglake
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CNN:
Poll: Do Americans want government health care reform? — WASHINGTON (CNN) - As President Barack Obama hosts a Thursday summit at the White House on health care reform, recent national polling suggests that nearly three out of four Americans support government programs to improve the country's health care system.
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
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Boston Globe, Open Left, Washington Post, The Corner, Hullabaloo, Christy Hardin Smith, MyDD and Wonkette
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:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, NO QUARTER, Say Anything, JustOneMinute, Flopping Aces, RedState, Townhall.com and GayPatriot
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Washington Post:
Gupta Steps Aside — Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, will not leave his television career to become the U.S. surgeon general, he told network officials, according to sources familiar with his decision. — Gupta, who had been the leading candidate for the post …
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CNN:
Gupta opts out of surgeon general consideration — (CNN) — Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, has withdrawn his name from consideration as surgeon general of the United States, CNN confirmed Thursday. — Sources said in January that Gupta met then-President-elect Obama in Chicago …
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 and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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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Los Angeles Times:
California Supreme Court signals mixed response to Proposition 8 — As foes and supporters of the gay-marriage ban argue before the court, the justices appear ready to uphold the ban, but they also sound reluctant to invalidate same-sex marriages already performed.
Discussion:
Law Blog, D-Day, ACSBlog, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, L.A. Now and Wilshire & Washington
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Dale Carpenter / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Prop 8 challenge after today's oral argument: I'm out of the business …
The Prop 8 challenge after today's oral argument: I'm out of the business …
Discussion:
The Corner
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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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:
RedState, The Raw Story, Glenn Thrush's Blogs, TIME.com, TPMMuckraker, CBS News, Washington Monthly and Associated Press
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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] …
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.
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 …
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.
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.”
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, The Politico, Top of the Ticket, Balloon Juice, Political Machine and Gateway Pundit
Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
Geithner's Pick for Deputy Withdraws — WASHINGTON — Two candidates for top positions at the Treasury Department have withdrawn their names from consideration, dealing a blow to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner as he struggles to build his staff, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
The Politico
Jack Healy / New York Times:
Stocks Plunge on Worries Over Financial Sector — Wall Street tumbled to new lows on Thursday and shares of Citigroup, once the largest bank on Wall Street, dropped briefly below $1 as deepening worries about the financial sector and General Motors sent investors running for cover.
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 …
John / Power Line:
IS HE DOING IT ON PURPOSE? — There's a school of thought that the Obama administration is deliberately damaging the economy and gutting the stock market, on the theory that doing so will make more people dependent on the government and pave the way for a far-left regime. Doug Ross makes the argument:
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.