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

11:10 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Unconstitutional — Holder Overrode Ruling That Measure Is Unconstitutional — Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional …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 and Bench Memos

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, Riehl World View, The Raw Story, Don Surber and Gateway Pundit

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

Hulk Smash Indictment? DOJ to Drop All Charges Against Ted Stevens — Lego Hulk via dunechaser. — NPR's Nina Totenberg reports that DOJ sources say Ted Stevens' indictment will be dismissed this morning by AG Eric Holder. This would, effectively, end pending criminal sentencing from Stevens' trial.

Discussion: At-Largely

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: TalkLeft, Law Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Holder abandons Stevens prosecution — Attorney General Eric Holder has decided to abandon the criminal prosecution that brought an end to the political career of one of Washington's most powerful figures: former senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. — Stevens, 84, was convicted in October …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Feds drop case against former Sen. Stevens

Discussion: Agence France Presse, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Wizbang

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Ted Stevens Conviction Voided

Discussion: The Agitator

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, The Hill, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Gawker

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.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, The Opinionator, TPMDC, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Monthly, Albany Times Union, Washington Post, Sister Toldjah, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Capitol Confidential, Clusterstock, PoliBlog, TIME.com, DownWithTyranny! and Truthdig

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: Think Progress, Taegan Goddard's … and TPMDC

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

Irene Jay Liu / Capitol Confidential:
Race too close to call

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Daily Politics, MSNBC, The Campaign Spot, WNYT-TV and Runnin' Scared

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Breakthrough on US-Russian Relations? “We're Not Looking Into Anybody's Soul,” Says US 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, democracyarsenal.org, New York Times, USA Today, FP Passport and D-Day

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

Discussion: Time and TIME.com

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: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Wire, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Ben Smith's Blog and Townhall.com

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

Discussion: MSNBC

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

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: RedState and Comments from Left Field

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

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: Vox Popoli, Wizbang, Pundit & Pundette and Chicago Boyz

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

David A. Patten / NewsMax.com:

NY GOP Moves To Block Franken-Style Vote Grab — New York Republicans Tuesday slapped the state's Election Board with a wide-ranging injunction to prevent Minnesota-style snafus seen in the Al Franken-Norm Coleman race from disrupting the hard-fought 20th congressional district race in upstate New York.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, City Pages and Political Machine

New York Times:
Franken Wins Ruling in Minnesota Senate Race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, City Pages, Media Matters for America, Law Blog, Political Machine, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Ta-Nehisi Coates, TPMDC, Gawker, PoliticalBase.com Blog, Taylor Marsh, Buck Naked Politics and The Reaction

Times of London:

Brown and Obama deny G20 splits as protesters scuffle with police — Anti-capitalist protesters scuffled with police outside the Bank of England today as Gordon Brown received a series of world leaders in Downing Street to prepare for tomorrow's G20 summit.

Discussion: Reason and naked capitalism

Guardian:
Obama arrives in Downing Street for talks with Brown

Discussion: CBS News, New York Times and TIME.com

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

Bloomberg:

Obama Said to Find Bankruptcy Likely for GM, Chrysler — President Barack Obama believes a quick, negotiated bankruptcy is the most likely way for General Motors Corp. to restructure and become a competitive automaker, people familiar with the matter said. — Obama also is prepared …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Finance, Wizbang and Clusterstock

Martin Wolf / Financial Times:

Why G20 leaders will fail to deal with the big challenge — The summit of the Group of 20 leading high-income and emerging countries in London on Thursday seems set to achieve progress. But achievement must be measured not just against past performances, but against “the fierce urgency of now”.