Top Items:
Alan Greenspan / Wall Street Journal:
The Fed Didn't Cause the Housing Bubble — Any new regulations should help direct savings toward productive investments. — We are in the midst of a global crisis that will unquestionably rank as the most virulent since the 1930s. It will eventually subside and pass into history.
Stephen Labaton / New York Times:
Some Banks, Citing Strings, Want to Return Federal Aid — WASHINGTON — The list of demands keeps getting longer. — Financial institutions that are getting government bailout funds have been told to put off evictions and modify mortgages for distressed homeowners.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CBS News, TalkLeft, Connecting.the.Dots, Portfolio, Dealbreaker, The Corner, The Curious Capitalist and Riehl World View
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Buffett's Unmentionable Bank Solution — Last week's post mortem on the Fannie and Freddie takeover was received better than we might have expected. A few readers assumed Eddie Lampert and Bill Miller, fund managers who lost money when Fan and Fred were seized, and whose letters …
Discussion:
EconLog
Roll Call:
Heard on the Hill: Vitter Goes From Hookergate to Gate-Crashing — Among Members of Congress, there's a long-standing, proud tradition of the Airport Freakout. Add to the list of those who've indulged in meltdowns and temper tantrums while traveling one Sen. David Vitter …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh, Political Machine, TPMDC and Salon
RELATED:
John Byrne / The Raw Story:
GOP senator flips out at airline, sets off security alarm — The Republican senator who found himself on a DC madam's client list is drawing new attention over “impulse control.” — After missing a flight last Thursday from Washington to New Orleans, — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter opened …
Barbara Barrett / Raleigh News & Observer:
Edwards talks about poverty, stays silent on paternity — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards took another tentative step into the public spotlight tonight, speaking at Brown University about extreme poverty around the world and urging Americans to get involved in what he called a “fundamental moral issue.”
RELATED:
Camille Paglia / Salon:
Heads should roll — President Obama's clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him — and resurrecting a deflated GOP! Plus: Lay off Rush! And a Brazilian diva, up close and electric — View a slide show of Daniela Mercury at the 2009 carnival in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. — Free Barack!
RELATED:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
No quit: the campaign to boost Bush — The defense never rests. When President Barack Obama released his own policy this week on former President George W. Bush's practice of attaching controversial signing statements to legislation, a reporter quickly got a tip from a Bush loyalist …
Discussion:
Washington Times, Emptywheel, The Note, AMERICAblog News, The Politico, MSNBC and The Fix
RELATED:
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Approval of Congress Hits Four-Year High, Fueled by Dems — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' job approval rating of Congress is up an additional 8 points this month, after a 12-point increase last month, and now stands at 39% — the most positive assessment of Congress since February 2005.
Huma Khan / Political Punch:
President to Downgrade Drug Czar Position from Cabinet Rank — A Move Biden Criticized in 1989 — When Vice President Biden later today formally announces the nomination of Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as the new Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy …
RELATED:
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
ZOMBIE LIES THAT WILL NOT DIE. — We're not even going to talk about the tendentious Matrix analogy laced into this column Amity Shlaes wrote for Bloomberg. Not. Even. Going. To. Talk. About. It. I already read the thing for you. I refuse to relive it.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Time to Call It Quits — ATTORNEY GENERAL Eric H. Holder Jr. should put an end to a criminal case that should never have been brought. — The matter involves Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former officials for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
Discussion:
TPMCafe
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
The Looting of America's Coffers — Sixteen years ago, two economists published a research paper with a delightfully simple title: “Looting.” — The economists were George Akerlof, who would later win a Nobel Prize, and Paul Romer, the renowned expert on economic growth.
Pamela Hess / Associated Press:
Officials: Afghanistan Taliban leader was at Gitmo — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban's new top operations officer in southern Afghanistan had been a prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, the latest example of a freed detainee who took a militant leadership role and a potential complication …
Johanna Neuman / Top of the Ticket:
Ron Paul defends earmarks, says anti-pork McCain is just grandstanding — Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who is the darling of the Libertarian Right, has more earmarks in the pork-laden $410-billion spending bill than any other Republican. — That's not according to the MSM, or the liberal blogosphere.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Bruce Kesler / Maggie's Farm:
Top Ten Reasons For ObamaCare Are Based On False Information — George Bernard Shaw warned “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” The major overhaul of American health care pursued by President Obama and his supporters is based on many false premises and is excessive and likely to do more harm than good.
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Dem closing in key N.Y. House race — Democrat Scott Murphy has slashed into the huge lead once held by Republican Jim Tedisco in the New York special House election scheduled for March 31, according to a new Democratic-sponsored poll. — Tedisco, the state Assembly minority leader …
Howard Witt / Los Angeles Times:
Driving through Tenaha, Texas, doesn't pay for some — A lawsuit alleges that the town's police pull over motorists — especially African Americans — and extort money and valuables by threatening criminal charges or worse. — Reporting from Tenaha, Texas — You can drive into this dusty fleck …
Geoff Earle / New York Post:
REVEALED: PELOSI'S ‘AIR RAGE’ — WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone from frequent flier to jet-aircraft connoisseur, with aides berating military officials to get the best planes, e-mails revealed yesterday. — Pelosi, who clashed with the military to get nonstop service …
Sydney Morning Herald:
Obama Wiki fiddler caught red-handed — US President Barack Obama and, inset, Aaron Klein. — Asher Moses — A right-wing pundit has been caught red-handed manufacturing controversy after claiming US President Barack Obama's Wikipedia page was being whitewashed, in a scandal that fooled big news outlets including Fox News.
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
This Is Not a Test. This Is Not a Test. — It's always great to see the stock market come back from the dead. But I am deeply worried that our political system doesn't grasp how much our financial crisis can still undermine everything we want to be as a country. Friends, this is not a test.
Washington Times:
Too rosy for even a Nobel Prize winner? — The Obama administration is basing its budget forecasts on the economy growing an eyebrow-raising 15.6 percent above inflation between 2008 and 2013 - a drop of 1.2 percent this year followed by an average of 4 percent growth over the following four years.
Discussion:
EconLog
Peter Finn / Washington Post:
U.S., Israel Disagree on Iran Arms Threat — Senate Panel Told Tehran Has Not Made Decision to Pursue Nuclear Weapons — Iran has not produced the highly enriched uranium necessary for a nuclear weapon and has not decided to do so, U.S. intelligence officials told Congress yesterday …
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Senate Approves $410 Billion Bill to Fund Federal Government — The Senate gave final approval last night to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections.
José M. Guardia / Barcepundit:
IN MEMORIAM, 5 YEARS AFTER — Eva Belén Abad Quijada, Spain, 30 years old — Óscar Abril Alegre, Spain, 19 years old — Liliana Guillermina Acero Ushiña, Ecuador, 26 years old — Florencio Aguado Rojano, Spain, 60 years old — Juan Alberto Alonso Rodríguez, Spain, 38 years old
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Sebelius's ‘Choice’ — Obama's Messenger for Moral Incoherence — There is a common thread running through President Obama's pro-choice agenda: the coercion of those who disagree with it. — Obama has begun providing federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortions overseas.