memeorandum: Defection reshapes Senate (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

11:25 AM ET, April 29, 2009

Top Items:

We Didn't Have to Lose Arlen Specter — IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's …, MSNBC, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Commentary, Washington Post, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, progressiverepublican.info, Boston Globe, Pam's House Blend, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Balloon Juice, NY Daily News and Donklephant

William Kristol / PostPartisan:

Good News for Republicans! — On May 24, 2001, I wrote an op-ed for The Post in the wake of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords's party switch. I argued that the switch, which cost Republicans control of the Senate, could well turn out to be good for President Bush.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, Washington Post, pandagon.net, The Next Right, Wall Street Journal and Jules Crittenden

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Defection reshapes Senate — Sen. Arlen Specter stunned Capitol Hill on Tuesday by switching parties and bringing Senate Democrats within one seat of a filibuster-proof majority. — Specter's move shocked and angered Republicans, while Democrats rejoiced and contemplated a Congress …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Politico

The Politico:
Dems win Specter bidding war

Discussion: The Swamp, Ben Smith's Blog, CNN and Salon

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Relax, The Dems Will Screw Up

Discussion: The Rhetorican

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: 100 Days Winners and Losers

Discussion: Washington Post, Reuters, The New Ledger and PostPartisan

New York Times:
Specter Joins Democrats; Senate Count May Reach 60

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Note, Washington Post, Chris Floyd Online, The Caucus, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, McClatchy Washington Bureau, MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, Political Punch, Time and New York Times

Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
Arlen Specter's Switch

Discussion: The Hill, Nashville Post, The Washington Independent, Booman Tribune, Sadly, No!, The Moderate Voice, D-Day and TPMDC

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Steele: Specter ‘flipped the bird’ at GOP

Discussion: The Politico, GayPatriot, Pro Patria, The Democratic Daily and The Huffington Post

CNBC.com:

GDP Down 6.1%, Reflecting Continuing Economic Woes — The U.S. economy contracted at a surprisingly sharp 6.1 percent rate in the first quarter as exports and business inventories plummeted. — The drop in gross domestic product, reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday …

Discussion: Grasping Reality …, Felix Salmon and JammieWearingFool

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FIRST QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, (that is, from the fourth quarter …

Discussion: DailyFinance, BizzyBlog, Clusterstock, Donklephant and Calculated Risk

Jack Healy / New York Times:

U.S. Economy in 2nd Straight Quarter of Steep Decline — The American economy shrank rapidly in the first three months of the year, the government reported on Wednesday, a signal that the economy is likely to remain a dominant issue as the Obama administration looks beyond its first 100 days.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Agonist

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:

Economy shrinks at 6.1 percent pace in 1Q — Economy shrinks at worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace in first quarter — General Motors Corporation - , Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. - , Lockheed Martin Corporation — WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy shrank at a worse …

Discussion: Don Surber

Jeff Bater / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Economy Shrank at 6.1% Rate in First Quarter

Discussion: The Big Picture and Real Time Economics

Tabassum Zakaria / Reuters:

U.S. officials want ‘swine’ out of flu name — Source: Reuters — What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, Fausta's Blog, MoJo Blog Posts, Fox News, PoliBlog, Israel Matzav, 24Ahead, Don Surber and Washington Post

New York Times:

First U.S. Death From Swine Flu Is Reported — American authorities confirmed the first death outside of Mexico from swine flu on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed cases of the disease continued to rise in Europe. — President Obama, in a morning news conference …

Discussion: Wake up America and City Pages

Associated Press:

Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US — HOUSTON - A 23-month-old toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that has also swept Germany onto the roster of afflicted nations.

Discussion: Reuters, Politics Daily, Bloomberg, Clusterstock, Hot Air and Sister Toldjah

Doug Gross / CNN:
Regular flu has killed thousands since January

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Impolitic, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Blue Crab Boulevard and Telegraph

CNN:
First swine flu death in U.S. reported

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Donklephant

Associated Press:
Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

Discussion: pandagon.net, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Shakesville, normblog and The Corner

David P. Fidler / asil.org:
ASIL Insights — The Swine Flu Outbreak and International Law

Discussion: SF Appeal

Michelle Malkin:

100 Days of the Poser Presidency — My syndicated column commemorates Barack Obama's 100 days with the Scare Force One story as a take-off point. Imagine if this fiasco had happened under George Bush's watch. It would have made the Left's incessant carping over the “fake plastic turkey …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden

Bloomberg:
Obama Orders Review of New York Flight as Cost Put at $328,835

Discussion: Fausta's Blog, The Corner, NewsBusters.org, The Virginian, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Redhot, The New Ledger, Gateway Pundit, Clusterstock and Power Line

JammieWearingFool:
Wonderful: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic, Proceeded Anyway

Discussion: GretaWire, Hot Air and Betsy's Page

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:

Official Defends Signing Interrogation Memos — WASHINGTON — Judge Jay S. Bybee broke his silence on Tuesday and defended the conclusions of legal memorandums he had signed as a Bush administration lawyer that allowed use of several coercive interrogation practices on suspected terrorists.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Time, Hot Air, ATTACKERMAN, Newshoggers.com, Buck Naked Politics, Emptywheel, Think Progress, TalkLeft, The Volokh Conspiracy, Democracy in America and Balloon Juice

Bloomberg:

Fed Is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks — At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said. — While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government …

Discussion: The Big Picture, Wonk Room, New York Times, Clusterstock and Newsweek Blogs

Wall Street Journal:
Citi Seeks Approval to Pay Out Bonuses

Discussion: Hot Air and Clusterstock

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

A Torturous Compromise — Weighing everything, President Obama got it about as right as one could when he decided to ban the use of torture, to release the Bush torture memos for public scrutiny and to not prosecute the lawyers and interrogators who implemented the policy.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Commentary and Hullabaloo

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Senate Confirms Kansas Governor as Health Secretary — WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of health and human services on Tuesday, allowing President Obama to fill the last vacancy in his cabinet with a seasoned politician who will take charge of the fight against swine flu.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Matthew Yglesias