Top Items:
Tom LoBianco / Washington Times:
Specter: GOP priorities contributed to Kemp death — Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Democrat, said part of the reason he left the Republican Party last week was disillusionment with its healthcare priorities, and suggested that had the Republicans taken a more moderate track, Jack Kemp may have won his battle with cancer.
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Dick Polman / Philly.com:
The American Debate: This party's over: Specter's departure is one more sign of the GOP's slide into immoderation and irrelevance. — Once upon a time, long before the GOP plummeted to its current status as the Southern and Rural Older White Guy Party, it actually was home to a healthy subspecies known as the Republican moderate.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
MAKE HIM WORK FOR IT — I'm generally of the opinion that it's great to have anyone as a Democrat who will caucus with the party and support its candidates. People get all bent out of shape about Ben Nelson (D-NE); and I'd count myself among the bent. But it'd be difficult …
Discussion:
The Anonymous Liberal
Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:
Specter: I did not say I'll be a loyal Democrat — You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! — (h/t David E.) — Here it comes. Been a Democrat for less than a week and already Arlen Specter is backtracking. Is it any clearer that this Faustian bargain …
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Howie Klein / Firedoglake:
Blue America Welcomes Back a Real Keystone State Democrat: Joe Sestak
Blue America Welcomes Back a Real Keystone State Democrat: Joe Sestak
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
DINO.... When Sen. Arlen Specter announced that he's switching parties …
DINO.... When Sen. Arlen Specter announced that he's switching parties …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside The Beltway, American Power, Philly.com, RedState and rubber hose
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The Ransom of Chief Specter
The Ransom of Chief Specter
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Tests of Banks May Bring Hope More Than Fear — The results of the bank stress tests to be released by the Obama administration this week are expected to include more detailed information about individual banks — assessing specific parts of their loan portfolios — than many analysts have been expecting.
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Francesco Guerrera / Financial Times:
BofA and Citi in last push on stress tests — Citigroup and Bank of America are working on plans to raise more than $10bn each in fresh capital, even as they launch last-ditch attempts to convince the US government they do not need to bolster their balance sheets.
Martin Walker / Woodrow Wilson International Center …:
The World's New Numbers — “Here lies Europe, overwhelmed by Muslim immigrants and emptied of native-born Europeans.” That is the obituary some pundits have been writing in recent years. But neither the immigrants nor the Europeans are playing their assigned roles.
Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Sotomayor Video: I have a different reaction than my co-blogger Jonathan to the video of Judge Sotomayor. Here's the transcript, as best I can tell: … As I see it, Judge Sotomayor is saying that, descriptively, the court of appeals is “where policy is made.”
Discussion:
Verum Serum, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Flopping Aces, Patterico's Pontifications and Don Surber
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Pakistan Strife Raises U.S. Doubts on Nuclear Arms — WASHINGTON — As the insurgency of the Taliban and Al Qaeda spreads in Pakistan, senior American officials say they are increasingly concerned about new vulnerabilities for Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, including the potential for militants …
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New York Times:
Interrogation Debate Sharply Divided Bush White House — WASHINGTON — The proclamation that President George W. Bush issued on June 26, 2003, to mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture seemed innocuous, one of dozens of high-minded statements published and duly ignored each year.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Falling Wage Syndrome — Wages are falling all across America. — Some of the wage cuts, like the givebacks by Chrysler workers, are the price of federal aid. Others, like the tentative agreement on a salary cut here at The Times, are the result of discussions between employers and their union employees.
Andrew Browne / Wall Street Journal:
China Forces Dozens of Mexican Travelers Into Quarantine — BEIJING — The A/H1N1 flu outbreak is leading to a potential diplomatic row between China and Mexico, as Chinese health authorities round up and quarantine scores of Mexicans — only one of whom is thus far reported to be sick — as they fly in on business and holiday trips.
Discussion:
James Fallows
John Schwartz / New York Times:
Term Limits Say New Orleans Mayor Can't Return; Residents Say They Don't Mind — NEW ORLEANS — As Mayor C. Ray Nagin approaches his final year in office, he faces scandal, an acrimonious stalemate with the City Council and the worst popularity ratings ever recorded for a mayor here.
Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
Jeb Bush, GOP: Time to leave Reagan behind — Party leaders go on ‘listening tour’ with eyes on future — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it's time for the Republican Party to give up its “nostalgia” for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing …
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Mandy Locke / The Charlotte Observer:
Feds are looking at Edwards' campaign — RALEIGH Federal investigators are sifting through the records of money that helped John Edwards' presidential campaign to determine if any was used to keep quiet his affair with Rielle Hunter. — Edwards, a Democrat and former U.S. senator …
Discussion:
Don Surber, PoliGazette, Scared Monkeys, Buck Naked Politics, The Note and Liberal Values
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