Top Items:
TMZ.com:
Special Olympics Champ to Barack: Bring it On! — A bowling phenom in the Special Olympics has just challenged Prez Barack Obama to a White House roll-off ... and he'll probably kick Barack's butt. — Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics competitor who has bowled three perfect 300 games …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Top of the Ticket, GretaWire, The Sleuth, CNN, The Atlantic Politics Channel, A Blog For All and QandO
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The Campaign Spot:
Palin Hits Obama on ‘Special Olympics’ Joke — Gov. Sarah Palin responded to remarks made last night by President Obama related to the Special Olympics on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”: … Well, after the way his allies went after her, he really couldn't count on a full-throated defense of a boneheaded comment.
Discussion:
FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog
Michelle Malkin:
Why can't Obama tell a good joke? — Why are the president's “jokes” (scripted or not) so lame? — The answer is a three-letter-word (or is that four letters, Joe?): E-G-O. — Barack Obama is constitutionally incapable of self-deprecation, because self-deprecation requires sincere humility.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Corner, EconLog, Shakesville, American Power, Gothamist, Newsweek Blogs, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, The Swamp and Wizbang
Washington Post:
GOP Pressed on Health Care — House Democrats Set September Deadline for Compromise — House Democrats, in consultation with the White House, will give Republican lawmakers until September to reach a compromise on President Obama's signature health-care initiative — otherwise …
Discussion:
George's Bottom Line, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, Wonk Room, But As For Me, The Note, D-Day, Los Angeles Times, Brian Beutler, Blog entry, WSJ.com and AmSpecBlog
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Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Preliminary Analysis of the President's Budget
Preliminary Analysis of the President's Budget
Discussion:
The New Republic, AmSpecBlog, Ben Smith's Blog, The Washington Independent, Angry Bear, NPR Blogs and The Strata-Sphere
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
THIS FEED IS CLOSED TO THE PRESS. — Huh, I wonder why Jake Tapper, press access warrior, has blocked me from following his Twitter feed. — Time for a blogger ethics panel? — UPDATE: Tapper has also blocked Talking Points Memo. — Bonus Tapper: His exchange with White House Press …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TAPPER, TWITTER, AND ONLINE ETIQUETTE.... It was bound to be of interest to the political world anyway, but ABC News' Jake Tapper helped get the ball rolling on the Special Olympics/Obama story last night. He was first out of the gate with a news item and a report on the president's comment on his Twitter feed.
Discussion:
Greg's Opinion
Michael Lewis / Bloomberg:
Mass Hysteria Over AIG Obscures Simple Truths: Michael Lewis — Last September the U.S. government began to dole out the first of $173 billion to American International Group. A big chunk of it passed right through to banks that had bought insurance from AIG against mortgage and corporate defaults …
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Mother Jones:
Top Geithner Aide Fought CEO Pay Reform — As a Goldman Sachs lobbyist, Mark Patterson once worked against a bill to curb executive compensation. The legislation's sponsor: Barack Obama. — Post Comment — On Wednesday afternoon, as President Barack Obama was leaving the White House …
Sara Just / The Note:
Democratic Senators Tepid on Geithner Support — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: With President Obama pronouncing his “complete confidence” in Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's leadership, we thought it might be interesting to ask members of the Senate Democratic caucus whether they agree.
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Mary Ann Akers / The Sleuth:
Joe the Plumber Wants to Make Love to Washington — The Republican's Working Man hero Joe the Plumber could barely contain himself last night before a crowd of adoring, media-bashing conservatives. — “God, all this love and everything in the room - I'm horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.
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CNN:
Dodd says he was misled on bonus legislation — (CNN) — A defensive Sen. Chris Dodd said Friday that he was misled on the issue of bonuses for AIG executives. — He claimed he would not have drafted key legislative changes allowing the bonuses to move forward if he knew the purpose of those changes.
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Obama White House bars press from press award ceremony — We are not making this up: — Barack Obama was elected commander in chief promising to run the most transparent presidential administration in American history. — This achievement and the overall promise of his historic administration caused …
Paul Krugman:
AIG — Preliminary thoughts on the tax bill: — 1. It's not the way you should make policy — it's clumsy, and it will punish some innocent parties while letting the most guilty off scot-free — 2. But — there wasn't much alternative at this point. And for that I blame the Obama people.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Salon, Clusterstock, Grasping Reality …, Wonk Room, The Daily Dish, Brian Beutler and MyDD
Felix Gillette / New York Observer:
MSNBC In Discussions with Ed Schultz — The Observer has learned that MSNBC president Phil Griffin is in discussions with syndicated talk radio host Ed Schultz about possibly joining the network on a full-time basis. It is unclear what exactly the job would entail should Mr. Schultz and MSNBC come to an agreement.
Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:
The Big Takeover — The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution — It's over — we're officially, royally f**ked. no empire can survive being rendered a permanent laughingstock …
Portfolio:
CNN's March Ratings So Far: More Lamb than Lion — More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54 …
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
After Years Of Lies, WSJ Concedes That Employee Free Choice Act 'Doesn't Remove The Secret-Ballot Option' — In a stunning reversal, the anti-labor Wall Street Journal editorial page admitted today that one of the key messages in Big Business's fight against the Employee Free Choice Act is false.
RELATED:
Telegraph:
Iran responds to Barack Obama's video appeal with nuclear pledge — US President Barack Obama's appeal for a ‘new beginning’ with Iran has been met by a pledge to turn on the country's nuclear power plant this year. — Mr Obama sent Iran an unprecedented videotaped message offering …
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Palin rejects over 30% of stimulus money — 31 PERCENT: She says state can't commit to continuation. — JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin is refusing to accept over 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services.
Dan Gilgoff / US News:
Newt Gingrich Steps Up Efforts to Mobilize Religious Conservatives — The former House speaker has launched a group that aims to unite social and economic conservatives — At a time when many religious conservatives say the Republican Party is ignoring their issues and taking their support for granted …