Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
When Obamatons Respond — On Tuesday, I wrote that the Obama budget is a liberal, big government document that should make moderates nervous. The column generated a large positive response from moderate Obama supporters who are anxious about where the administration is headed.
Discussion:
Salon, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, The Treatment, Washington Post, Time, The Plum Line, NewsBusters.org, QandO, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Capital Journal, MyDD, The Daily Dish, Blog entry, Sister Toldjah, marbury, Liberal Values, Balloon Juice, George's Bottom Line and MoJo Blog Posts
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Michelle Obama serves food to D.C. poor and homeless, but... First Lady Michelle Obama showed up Thursday as a surprise and welcome volunteer at Miriam's Kitchen, a soup kitchen for homeless poor people not far from the White House. — She brought with her some food donated by White House staff.
Discussion:
Telegraph, Michelle Malkin, The Corner, TBogg, Media Blog, Sweetness & Light, The Swamp, Connecting.the.Dots, PoliGazette and Don Surber
Jack Healy / New York Times:
651,000 Jobs Reported Lost in February — Another 651,000 jobs were lost in February, adding to the millions of people who have been thrown out of work as the economic downturn deepens. — In a stark measure of the recession's toll, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Megan McArdle, Washington Monthly, Below The Beltway, JammieWearingFool and Swampland
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Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:
Unemployment hits 25-year high — Jobless rate hits 8.1% in February as a record-high 12.5 million people are unemployed. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The U.S. economy continued to hemorrhage jobs in February, bringing total job losses over the last six months to more than 3.3 million …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, Anderson Cooper 360, The Big Picture, MSNBC and TaylorMarsh.com
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
GOP Fights Back Over Criticism of Limbaugh — White House Is Accused Of Cynicism, Hypocrisy — By one measure, Rush Limbaugh is a clear winner this week: His ratings have nearly doubled since his feud with the White House burst into the media limelight. — But the Obama administration's strategy …
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Big Dither — Last month, in his big speech to Congress, President Obama argued for bold steps to fix America's dysfunctional banks. “While the cost of action will be great,” he declared, “I can assure you that the cost of inaction will be far greater, for it could result in an economy …
Fox News:
Obama's Blockbuster Gift for Brown: 25 DVDs — While the British prime minister presented Obama with uniquely historic gifts symbolizing America's relationship with England, the president gave Brown a set of movies. — FOXNews.com — Let's hope he's a Star Wars fan.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Democracy in America, FP Passport, Swampland, Flopping Aces and Conservatives4Palin.com
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Maggie Haberman / New York Post:
WEINER'S ‘NAUGHTY’ HOTTIE$ — FOREIGN BABES GAVE ILLEGALLY — Talk about the wrong kind of foreign aid! — After he proposed to expand the visas available to foreign models so they can work in New York, Rep. Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign took contributions from some cat walkers from abroad.
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Obama Highlighting Stimulus Funds for Law Enforcement — In January, more than two dozen new police recruits in Columbus, Ohio, were sent notices that they would be laid off, even before they were sworn in as officers. The city had spent $1.4 million to train them, but like cities everywhere, Columbus was running out of money.
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Nominee for Solicitor General Revises Her Opinion on Opinions — Perhaps every nominee committed a dark, regrettable act in the past that he or she hopes will never see the light, but unfortunately for Elena Kagan, hers was discovered pretty quickly after she was nominated to be solicitor general:
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Keith Johnson / Environmental Capital:
A Heated Exchange: Al Gore Confronts His Critic(s) — The Goreacle has spoken-again. — Former Vice President Al Gore repeated his message that climate change is a planetary emergency at the WSJ's Eco:nomics conference in California. The Nobel-prize winner declined to take any questions from reporters …
New York Times:
Undisclosed Losses at Merrill Lynch Lead to a Trading Inquiry — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — One Merrill Lynch trader apparently gambled away more than $120 million in the currency markets. Others seemingly lost hundreds of millions on tricky credit derivatives. — But somehow all this red ink …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The Great Non Sequitur — The Sleight of Hand Behind Obama's Agenda — Forget the pork. Forget the waste. Forget the 8,570 earmarks in a bill supported by a president who poses as the scourge of earmarks. Forget the “2 trillion dollars in savings” that “we have already identified …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Fox News' Glenn Beck strikes ratings gold by challenging Barack Obama — His success comes as Fox News embraces the role of voice of opposition to the new administration. — Reporting from New York — Before Glenn Beck started his new show on Fox News in January, he sat down with Roger Ailes …
Michael J. Boskin / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Radicalism Is Killing the Dow — A financial crisis is the worst time to change the foundations of American capitalism. — It's hard not to see the continued sell-off on Wall Street and the growing fear on Main Street as a product, at least in part, of the realization …
Pete Harrison / Reuters:
Never waste a good crisis, Clinton says on climate — BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told an audience on Friday “never waste a good crisis,” as she highlighted the opportunity of rebuilding economies in a greener, less energy intensive model.
Robert Reich / Salon:
Is Obama responsible for Wall Street's meltdown? — “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer. — Is Obama responsible for the meltdown of the Dow? The consistently wrongheaded Wall Street Journal's editorial page says so, as does Republican Fox News, CNN's reliably demagogic Lou Dobbs, and now CNBC …
Brian Blackstone / Wall Street Journal:
Recession Job Losses Top Four Million — WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy continues to hemorrhage jobs at monthly rates not seen in six decades, a government report showed, signaling that there's still no end in sight to the severe recession that has already cost the U.S. over four million jobs.
Danny Hakim / New York Times:
Paterson Draws Fire in Shift on Emissions — ALBANY — At the urging of the energy industry, Gov. David A. Paterson has agreed to reconsider a key rule New York adopted as part of a 10-state pact aimed at reducing the threat of global warming by cutting power plant emissions.
Tim Reid / Times of London:
Barack Obama bets the farm in $4 trillion poker game — The President believes he can change US politics for a generation. If he's wrong he could bankrupt the whole country — One of the most seductive elements of Barack Obama's ascent to the White House was his unshakeable conviction …
Lynn Sweet:
New quid pro quo questions between Burris, Blagojevich. Sun-Times exclusive. — BY DAVE MCKINNEY AND CHRIS FUSCO — On the same December day then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich named Roland Burris to fill President Obama's U.S. Senate vacancy, Burris' right-hand political man, Fred Lebed …
Fox News:
Rev. Wright Cautions: Obama 'Ain't Jesus' — President's longtime minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, says his former congregant is just like any other president and that he “ain't gonna improve your child's reading score.” — SELMA, Ala. — President Barack Obama's longtime minister …
Discussion:
Political Machine
David Rogers / The Politico:
Omnibus still one vote short — Short by one vote, Senate Democrats abruptly pulled back Thursday night from completing action on a giant omnibus spending bill—forcing leaders to scramble to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government funded through next Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Associated Press, Wake up America, TPMDC, Michelle Malkin, The Politico, New York Times and Jules Crittenden