memeorandum: Ted Stevens Conviction Voided (James Joyner/Outside The Beltway)

11:55 AM ET, April 1, 2009

Top Items:

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

Sources: Sen. Stevens Conviction To Be Voided — Audio for this story will be available at approx. 9:00 a.m. ET — · NPR's has learned that the Justice Department will drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. — A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts …

Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:

Some in Justice Department See D.C. Vote in House as Unconstitutional — Holder Overrode Ruling That Measure Is Unconstitutional — Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional …

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Note, The Corner, The Foundry, Commentary, Bench Memos and AmSpecBlog

Reuters:

U.S. to drop charges against former Sen. Stevens: report — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has decided to drop all charges against former Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens amid accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, NPR reported on Wednesday, citing Justice officials.

Discussion: Hot Air, Wake up America, Riehl World View, The Raw Story, Don Surber and Gateway Pundit

Del Quentin Wilber / Washington Post:

U.S. Seeks to Drop Case Against Former Sen. Stevens — The Justice Department filed court papers this morning asking a federal judge to toss out the conviction of former senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on corruption charges. — The move comes as a federal judge was preparing to conduct hearings …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, TalkLeft, JustOneMinute, Law Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Hulk Smash Indictment? DOJ to Drop All Charges Against Ted Stevens

Discussion: At-Largely

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Holder abandons Stevens prosecution

Discussion: TPMMuckraker

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Ted Stevens Conviction Voided

Discussion: The Agitator

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Feds seek to reverse Ted Stevens' conviction

Discussion: Agence France Presse, The Politico and DISSENTING JUSTICE

The Politico:

Obama referendum: no winner, one loser — SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - There's no winner yet in the Upstate New York special election and it might be mid-April before the race is settled. But a few things are clearer after Tuesday's contest, none of it welcome news to the Republican Party.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Ben Smith's Blog, Think Progress, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gawker and Runnin' Scared

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:

Upstate New York House Race Is Too Close to Call — A mere 65 votes separated the two candidates late Tuesday in a Congressional contest in upstate New York that received national attention and was widely seen as a referendum on the Obama administration's economic recovery efforts.

Baltimore Sun:

Steele chides GOP for infighting — Embattled Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele lashed out at GOP infighting Tuesday and urged the party faithful - some of whom have criticized his erratic statements - to be more like him: “unconventional, unpredictable ... to do from time to time the unexpected.”

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Think Progress, Taegan Goddard's …, The Plank and TPMDC

The New Republic: Vote of Confidence: Murphy Refutes Murphy's Law

Paul D. Ryan / Wall Street Journal:

The GOP's Alternative Budget — President Obama offers us the option of European big government. — Today, the House of Representatives will consider two budget plans that represent dramatically different visions for our nation's future. — We will first consider President Barack Obama's plan.

Discussion: Think Progress, Washington Wire, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Matthew Yglesias, Ben Smith's Blog, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The American Scene, Wonk Room, Democratic Strategist, Townhall.com, TPMDC and MSNBC

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

A BUDGET PERFECT FOR APRIL FOOLS' DAY.... Rumor has it that Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, is one of the House GOP Caucus' sharper members. He has a reputation for knowing what he's talking about, and doing his homework.

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
GOP has unified budget message but is split on spending

Discussion: MSNBC

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Breakthrough on U.S.-Russian Relations? “We're Not Looking Into Anybody's Soul,” Says U.S. Official, Previewing “Sober” Yet Optimistic Announcement — LONDON — Senior officials with the Obama administration tell ABC News that this morning, after a bilateral meeting between President Obama …

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel and Don Surber

Kevin Hechtkopf / CBS News:
Text: Statement From Obama, Medvedev

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
U.S., Russia Work to Reduce Nuclear Warheads

Discussion: CNN, BBC, New York Times, USA Today, democracyarsenal.org, FP Passport and D-Day

Washington Post:
Obama and Medvedev to Announce Broad U.S.-Russia Agreement

Discussion: Time, TIME.com and The Reaction

Guardian:

Twitter switch for Guardian — • Newspaper to be available only on messaging service — • Experts say any story can be told in 140 characters — Consolidating its position at the cutting edge of new media technology, the Guardian today announces that it will become …

Discussion: TalkLeft, PoliGazette, Full Comment, The Curious Capitalist, Discourse.net, First Draft, The Agonist, Harry's Place and The Sundries Shack

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

So Erick Erickson Says He Wants a Revolution — Erick Erickson is mad as hell and asks “at what point do people revolt?” … At issue here is . . . an environmental regulation relating to dishwasher detergent. — I think it's safe to say that we're not going to see violence in the streets over this one.

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
At What Point Do People Revolt?

Discussion: Donklephant, RedState and Comments from Left Field

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

The Death of England (cont) — Jay, that fire story from Doncaster is almost unbearably sad: The characteristically moronic behavior of the braindead British coppers transformed it from a family tragedy to a national metaphor. I have written recently in Canada of the disturbing passivity of the …

Discussion: Power Line, Telegraph, Vox Popoli, Pundit & Pundette, Wizbang and Chicago Boyz

Ted Barrett / CNN:

Dems could use controversial ‘fast track’ for budget — CNN Congressional Producer — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Democratic senator said Tuesday that he's not ruling out a controversial budget procedure to speed passage of President Obama's health care and global warming legislation.

The Hill:
Momentum grows among Dems for using rules to avoid filibuster

Discussion: Human Events and Michelle Malkin

CNBC:

Job Losses at 742,00 in March; Planned Layoffs Fall — Job losses in the U.S. private sector accelerated in March, more than economists' expectations, according to a report by ADP Employer Services Wednesday. — Private employers cut jobs by a record 742,000 in March versus a 706,000 revised cut …

Discussion: TalkLeft, American Street and The Strata-Sphere

Carrie Dann / National Journal Online:

Public's Sound And Fury Over Budget Are As Deafening As ‘Crickets Chirping’ — With President Obama's $3.6 trillion budget hitting the House and Senate floors this week, groups for and against the spending plan have issued strong appeals for citizens to pick up their phones and let their voices be heard on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Hill and The Plum Line

Jason Clayworth / Des Moines Register:

BREAKING NEWS: Hundreds of Iowans thrown out of public hearing — More than 500 people who are upset with a plan to change Iowa's tax laws were cleared from a hearing tonight at the Iowa House after they interrupted multiple times. — House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque …

Discussion: Sweetness & Light

Joseph E. Stiglitz / New York Times:

Obama's Ersatz Capitalism — THE Obama administration's $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America's ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal. Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Wake up America

Andrew Walden / Front Page Magazine:

Barack Obama: Born in Hawaii — A fairly impressive internet industry has sprung up claiming that Obama was born in either Kenya or Indonesia. This is nonsense which distracts from the broadly unexplored story of Obama's upbringing. This kind of nonsense has emerged because the McCain campaign chose …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and JammieWearingFool

Judd Gregg / Washington Post:

A Budget To Beggar Us — When speaking with the hardworking New Hampshire families and business owners whom I represent in Washington, I hear the same concerns echoed by Americans across the country. People are worried about keeping their jobs, their homes and their savings safe.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, PolitiFact.com statements, TPMDC and Blue Crab Boulevard

Sayed Salahuddin / Reuters:

U.S. reconciliation offer “lunatic”: Taliban spokesman — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents reject a U.S. offer of “honorable reconciliation,” a top spokesman said on Wednesday, calling it a “lunatic idea” …

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Agence France Presse, JammieWearingFool, Bloomberg and Associated Press

Libby Purves / Times of London:

Brian Barry: philosopher and political scientist — Brian Barry was one of the most influential British political philosophers of the postwar era. He had been an academic wanderer, holding positions at the universities of Birmingham, Keele, Southampton, Oxford and Essex …