Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Harry, Louise and Barack — Is this the end for Harry and Louise? — Harry and Louise were the fictional couple who appeared in advertisements run by the insurance industry in 1993, fretting about what would happen if “government bureaucrats” started making health care decisions.
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Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Former Hospital CEO Rick Scott Leads Opposition to Obama on Health Care — Ads Cite Long Waits In Canada and Britain — The television ads that began airing last week feature horror stories from Canada and the United Kingdom: Patients who allegedly suffered long waits for surgeries …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
IS THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY ON OBAMA'S SIDE? IS OBAMA ON THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY'S SIDE? — Jon Cohn is enthused. Paul Krugman is excited. Maybe I'm just churlish. Maybe I'm getting cranky as I age. But I can't shake my skepticism about today's big health care announcement.
Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
Guess who's coming to the White House. — On Monday morning, representatives for the nation's major health care industry groups—doctors, hospitals, drugmakers, device makers, and insurers—will pay a personal visit to President Obama. But instead of pitching a fit about health care reform …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: Wanda Sykes, Rush Limbaugh and the Politics of Humor — (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images) — In politics, as in life, there is a fine line between stupid and clever — to paraphrase the great philosopher (and lead vocalist of Spinal Tap) David St. Hubbins.
Discussion:
Rough Sketch, Political Punch, New York Times, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Whiskey Fire, St. Petersburg Times, WAVE-TV and AMERICAblog News
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NY Daily News:
Meghan McCain a real pain at D.C. dinner — Political blogger Meghan McCain isn't exactly the toast of D.C. right now. — Sen. John McCain's daughter — who writes online for The Daily Beast and will soon release a book about life as a Republican — lost it after getting stopped by security …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: SCOTUS SHORTLIST? — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** The SCOTUS shortlist? According to a couple of sources in the know, there appears to be a working short list of about six names for President Obama's Supreme Court pick.
David Corn / Mother Jones:
Steele: “I'm the Gift That Keeps on Giving” — Chatting with the GOP chair—and other tales from the White House Correspondents' Dinner. — Post Comment — This past weekend at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner and the pre- and post- parties and events …
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Don't Worry.....It's OK To Laugh*
Don't Worry.....It's OK To Laugh*
Discussion:
Bloggasm
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
White House To Declassify “Holy Grail” Torture Report That Could Undercut Cheney — There's a big piece of news about Dick Cheney and torture buried toward the end of this big Washington Post piece about the torture wars. — Specifically: The White House has decided to declassify and release …
Timothy Williams / New York Times:
U.S. Soldier Kills 5 Comrades in Iraq, Military Says — BAGHDAD — The United States military said Monday that five American soldiers had been shot to death by a fellow soldier who opened fire on them at one of the biggest American bases in Baghdad, and that the suspected shooter was in custody.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, Danger Room and Townhall.com
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Greta Handling Todd — The increasingly surreal nexus between Greta van Susteren, her Hillarybot super-lawyer husband, the Super Adventure Club, the Palins and, er, journalism, just got weirder: — POLITICO started to chat with Alaska's “first dude” when Van Susteren intervened.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Obama Approval Picks Up in May — Still, only 25% say they would definitely vote to re-elect him in 2012 — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama appears to be slightly more popular with Americans at the start of his second 100 days in office than he was, on average, during his first 100.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Real Clear Politics, The Daily Dish and The Plum Line
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Damien McElroy / Telegraph:
Journalist Roxana Saberi freed by Iranian appeal court verdict — Roxana Saberi, an American journalist convicted in Iran on spying charges, is to be freed after an appeals court downgraded her sentence. — Roxana Saberi is due to be released — Lawyers for the 32-year old said the court …
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Nazila Fathi / New York Times:
U.S. Journalist to Be Freed Soon in Iran, Her Lawyer Says
U.S. Journalist to Be Freed Soon in Iran, Her Lawyer Says
Discussion:
Hot Air, Salon, Fox News, Times of London, FP Passport, The Moderate Voice and THE WEEK News & Opinion
William Douglas / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Poll: Obama, headed to Middle East, is winning Arab hearts — WASHINGTON — As President Barack Obama prepares to journey to Egypt on June 4 to address the Muslim world, his overtures to the Middle East are paying off in positive feelings towards him from Arab peoples that far outpace …
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Jimmy Orr / Christian Science Monitor:
Biden insults President Obama's dog at Syracuse — It was as though Vice President Biden time-warped back to last fall. Because on Sunday he was in full campaign attack mode. — Oh, it was an idyllic setting. Nobody saw it coming. The vice president had just finished delivering …
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Syria-Iraq Al Qaeda Pipeline Open Again — The Washington Post reports: … This development comes as President Obama conducts his much-hyped diplomatic outreach to Syria. Of course, something else also happened last October: four U.S. helicopters staged an attack inside Syria.
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Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times:
SEIU may be linked to ultimatum on withholding stimulus funds — California officials say the union may have influenced a federal requirement that a pay cut be reversed for home healthcare workers. — Reporting from Sacramento — Officials in the governor's office say a politically powerful union …
Rasmussen Reports:
Congress Pushes Cap and Trade, But Just 24% Know What It Is — The gap between Capitol Hill and Main Street is huge when it comes to the so-called “cap-and-trade” legislation being considered in Congress. So wide, in fact, that few voters even know what the proposed legislation is all about.
Martina Stewart / CNN:
Casey weighs in on Dem leaders' support for Specter — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Pennsylvania's junior Sen. Bob Casey appeared to open the door Sunday for a possible challenger to Arlen Specter, the state's senior senator and a newly-minted Democrat. — Casey seemed to part ways with his party's leadership …
Lindsey Ellerson / The Note:
U.S. Commander in Afghanistan to Be Replaced — ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports: Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to make an announcement this afternoon that Gen. David McKiernan, commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former special operations commander.
Discussion:
The Swamp
The Huffington Post:
Pete Sessions: Obama Hurting Economy To Consolidate Power — Rep. Pete Sessions, head of the House Republican committee tasked with electing more GOP members, has a unique theory as to why unemployment continues to rise: Obama wants to wipe out capitalism. — Deep into a New York Times item Monday …
Discussion:
New York Times, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, TRAIL BLAZERS and AMERICAblog News