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 …
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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Unconstitutional — Holder Overrode Ruling That Measure Is Unconstitutional — Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional …
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:
Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Hot Air, Wake up America, Riehl World View and The Raw Story
Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Hulk Smash Indictment? DOJ to Drop All Charges Against Ted Stevens
Hulk Smash Indictment? DOJ to Drop All Charges Against Ted Stevens
Discussion:
At-Largely
Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:
U.S. Plans to Drop Case Against Former Senator From Alaska
U.S. Plans to Drop Case Against Former Senator From Alaska
Discussion:
ProPublica
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: ALL TIED UP — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
FIRST THOUGHTS: ALL TIED UP — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
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.
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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.
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.
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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:
MinnPost, JammieWearingFool, CBS News, Washington Post, The Opinionator, Capitol Confidential, Hot Air, Albany Times Union, TPMDC, FiveThirtyEight, Democracy in America, Washington Monthly, Sister Toldjah, Clusterstock, The Atlantic Politics Channel, PoliBlog, MSNBC, Riehl World View and TIME.com
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 New Republic, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Think Progress, Taegan Goddard's … and TPMDC
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Steele to GOP: Be more like me — Republican National Committee …
Steele to GOP: Be more like me — Republican National Committee …
Discussion:
Donklephant
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.
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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, Full Comment, Entertainment Weekly's …, First Draft, PoliGazette and The Curious Capitalist
Kevin Hechtkopf / CBS News:
Text: Statement From Obama, Medvedev — The big news so far from President Obama's visit to London is his just completed meeting with Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev, at left. The two leaders agreed to negotiate a new treaty designed to further reduce and limit strategic weapons.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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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.
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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 …
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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 …
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 …
Jim Pickard / Financial Times:
Obama calls for unity at G20 — Gordon Brown, British prime minister, and his wife Sarah greet Barack Obama, US president, and first lady Michelle in London — Barack Obama on Wednesday urged the world's biggest nations to work together to tackle the economic downturn and forget their occasional differences on how to go about this.
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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.
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” …
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.
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 …