memeorandum: Texas infanticide bill would decriminalize murdering an infant (Cas/Cassy Fiano)

8:55 AM ET, May 6, 2009

Top Items:

Senate Democrats Deny Specter Committee Seniority — The Senate dealt a blow tonight to Sen. Arlen Specter's hold on seniority in several key committees, a week after the Pennsylvanian's party switch placed Democrats on the precipice of a 60-seat majority. — In a unanimous voice vote …

Discussion: Hot Air, Riehl World View, PoliGazette, pourmecoffee's posterous, Buck Naked Politics, Raw Story, The Politico, Betsy's Page, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Sundries Shack, AMERICAblog News and Daily Kos

Bart Jansen / CQ Politics:

Specter Says He 'Misspoke" on Minnesota Senate Race — The political whirlwind that surrounded Sen. Arlen Specter 's switch from the Republican to Democratic party had him forgetting which team he is rooting for in 2010. — But after voicing support for Republican Norm Coleman …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Gun Toting Liberal, Daily Kos, TPMDC and Eye on 2010

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Party Switch Costs Specter His Seniority on Senate Committees — The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats. — In announcing his move across the aisle last week …

Discussion: The Note, Outside The Beltway, AmSpecBlog and Taylor Marsh

Deborah Solomon / New York Times:

Specter Backs Coleman for Senate — I hear you're giving me 10 minutes for this interview, which is some kind of record for shortness. Was that your decision? — No, but it sounds all right to me. — In that case, I must ask that you keep your answers short and try not to filibuster.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix, Philly.com, Washington Times, The Caucus, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Talking Points Memo, Whiskey Fire, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh and The Washington Independent

John Stanton / Roll Call:

Specter Will Be Junior Democrat on Committees — Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Don Surber and Flopping Aces

Randyj / The Page:
Specter: I Want a Coleman Win

Discussion: Open Left, www.washingtonexaminer.com, The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, ABCNEWS, MyDD, D-Day, Hot Air, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, No More Mister Nice Blog, Scorecard's Blog, Salon, Moe Lane and Hullabaloo

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WHY DID ARLEN SPECTER BECOME A DEMOCRAT?

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Specter Wants Coleman To Win In Minnesota

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Buck Naked Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Wonkette and Democratic Strategist

New York Times:

U.S. Says Bank of America Needs Cushion of $33.9 Billion — The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank. — If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion …

Discussion: Clusterstock, Bronte Capital, MoJo Blog Posts and The Big Picture

Wall Street Journal:
BofA Faces $34 Billion Gap

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, Clusterstock, Financial Times, naked capitalism and The Page

WSB-TV:

College Student Shoots, Kills Home Invader — COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A group of college students said they are lucky to be alive and they're thanking the quick-thinking of one of their own. Police said a fellow student shot and killed one of two masked me who burst into an apartment.

Discussion: Clayton Cramer's BLOG, QandO and Michelle Malkin

New York Times:

Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No Prosecutions — WASHINGTON — An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, The Politico, The Atlantic Politics Channel, No More Mister Nice Blog, Obsidian Wings, Congress Matters, RebelReports, New York Times, Prairie Weather, KIKO'S HOUSE, Balkinization, George's Bottom Line, The Daily Dish, The Page and JammieWearingFool

Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Former Bush Officials Work to Soften Ethics Report on Interrogations

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Fox News, The Washington Independent, Newsweek Blogs, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, TPMMuckraker, Think Progress, Salon, D-Day, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air and Prairie Weather

Chris Isidore / CNNMoney.com:

Chrysler won't repay bailout money — An administration official confirms that a $4 billion bridge loan and $3.2 billion in bankruptcy financing won't be paid back by Chrysler following bankruptcy. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Raw Story and Clusterstock

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Chrysler Won't Pay Back Government Money Loaned So Far.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Founding Bloggers and Vox Popoli

WorldNetDaily:

Banned by U.K., Savage hits back — Radio talk star blocked from visits, along with terrorists, neo-Nazis — Talk radio host Michael Savage is considering legal action against Britain's top homeland security official after she released today a list grouping him with terrorists …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, New York Times, Agence France Presse, Theo Spark, Maggie's Farm and Crooks and Liars

Press | Home Office:
Home Office name hate promoters excluded from the UK

Discussion: Washington Post, Pam's House Blend and ImmigrationProf Blog

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

John Edwards's Wife Speaks About His Affair — In often blunt terms, Elizabeth Edwards is going public with her account of how her husband's affair rocked their marriage and left his political career in tatters. — In an interview with Oprah Winfrey and in excerpts from a new book …

Michael Saul / NY Daily News:
Elizabeth Edwards doubts husband's denials on baby's paternity

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Liberal Values, Salon and Time

Cas / Cassy Fiano:

Texas infanticide bill would decriminalize murdering an infant — Is there a more despicable crime than murdering a baby? I mean, really... think hard. Murder is always apalling and deplorable and sickening. But no matter what, murdering a baby would be, in my book, the most disgusting, horrible thing a person could do.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

MSNBC Hides Obama's Dijon Mustard (aka Dijongate) — MSNBC, Obama's favorite network, reported on Obama's trip with Joe Biden to get a burger. Just two wild and crazy guys out for some red meat. Andrea Mitchell (does she have nothing else to do?) reported that Obama ordered a burger and mustard.

Discussion: NBC Los Angeles, TBogg, Liberal Values, Gateway Pundit, The TrogloPundit, NewsBusters.org and The Sundries Shack

David Barstow / New York Times:

Inspector at Pentagon Says Report Was Flawed — In a highly unusual reversal, the Defense Department's inspector general's office has withdrawn a report it issued in January exonerating a Pentagon public relations program that made extensive use of retired officers who worked as military analysts for television and radio networks.

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Birther civil war — The vast, but rather low-impact, movement of people who believe (without evidence) that Barack Obama was born outside the United States appears — in the way of such movements — to have developed its own internal divisions. — In particular, its East Coast faction …

Discussion: Salon, Unqualified Offerings and The Washington Independent

Eamon Javers / The Politico:

Congress to vote on finance probe — The blue-ribbon panel is a much-maligned Washington cliché — it is said that you appoint one when you don't really want anything to be done. — But sometimes, as with the 9/11 Commission, such bodies actually produce substantive results.

Discussion: Macsmind and The Page

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:

Behind the Judicial Blindfold — Should the judge be an umpire or an empathizer? — Chief Justice John Roberts memorably likened the judge to a baseball umpire, dispassionately applying existing rules to call balls and strikes. — President Obama is more, well, touchy-feely.

Discussion: Bench Memos and Commentary

Eli Lake / Washington Times:

EXCLUSIVE: Secret U.S.-Israel nuclear accord in jeopardy — President Obama's efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons threaten to expose and derail a 40-year-old secret U.S. agreement to shield Israel's nuclear weapons from international scrutiny, former and current U.S. and Israeli officials and nuclear specialists say.

Discussion: Commentary and Israel Matzav

Tim Craig / D.C. Wire:

Barry Warns of “Civil War” Over Gay Marriage — D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), the only council member to vote against the bill today to legalize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere, predicted today there could be a “civil war” in the District if the Council decides …

Discussion: Don Surber, That Minority Thing, Joe. My. God. and Pam's House Blend

Amity Shlaes / Bloomberg:

Obama Democrats Accent Bullying Over Governing: Amity Shlaes — So Michele Bachmann's version of history is “from another planet.” Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, is “chronically stupid.” And Eric Cantor of Virginia, the second-ranking Republican in the House, is “busy lying constantly.”

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Balloon Juice, The Poor Man Institute, Whiskey Fire, alicublog, Don Surber, Sadly, No! and GayPatriot

Wall Street Journal:

Fed Directors' Ties to Banks Scrutinized — The 12 regional Federal Reserve banks have conflicting practices regarding directors who are board members of banks and own shares of bank-holding companies, heightening calls to overhaul the policies at these financial institutions.