Top Items:
Joseph Curl / Press Association:
Bush takes swipes at Obama policies — Defends interrogations — Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were within the law, declaring the private sector not government will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Fix, Think Progress, Weekly Standard, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, White House Watch, Swampland, Top of the Ticket, Political Punch, Gawker, Fox News, DISSENTING JUSTICE, QandO, Wolf Howling, Mises Economics Blog, Raw Story, And So it Goes in Shreveport, msnbc.com and Tammy Bruce
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New York Times:
Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care — A substantial majority of Americans say President Obama has not developed a strategy to deal with the budget deficit, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, which also found that support for his plans to overhaul health care …
Discussion:
Think Progress, CBS News, Top Stories from CQ, Reuters, The Swamp, msnbc.com, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Atlantic Business Channel, The New Republic, No Sheeples Here!, Swampland, Pundit & Pundette, Outside The Beltway, AMERICAblog News, Scared Monkeys, The Foundry, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Strata-Sphere, WSJ.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Cato @ Liberty, Philly.com, American Thinker and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE RETURN OF ROSS PEROT?
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE RETURN OF ROSS PEROT?
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Chicago Tribune:
Senator questions firing of 3 inspectors general — Removal of 2 inspectors general prompts questions — WASHINGTON - — He was appointed with fanfare as the public watchdog over the government's multi-billion dollar bailout of the nation's financial system.
Discussion:
American Spectator, Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, The Anchoress and And So it Goes in Shreveport
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Washington Times:
A witness to Walpin-gate — The White House excuse for firing an IG falls flat — The belated White House explanation for firing the AmeriCorps inspector general doesn't ring true. — The White House claims Inspector General Gerald Walpin was effectively away without leave …
Dan / Riehl World View:
Not Just Walpin - 3 IG Firings Being Questioned — Another update: A witness to Walpin-gate. The Wash. Times isn't buying it. It is pretty thin gruel. — (Just a note — Why are we reading about this in the Chicago Tribune? Perhaps his local paper doesn't have an Oba-worship problem?)
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama has fired 2 IGs in 2 weeks, leashed another — The firing of Gerald Walpin as Inspector General was not an isolated incident, as the Chicago Tribune reports today. Two more IGs have been dismissed in the past two weeks, and Senator Charles Grassley has started demanding answers.
The Independent:
Robert Fisk: Secret letter ‘proves Mousavi won poll’ — They were handing out the photocopies by the thousand under the plane trees in the centre of the boulevard, single sheets of paper grabbed by the opposition supporters who are now wearing black for the 15 Iranians who have been killed in Tehran …
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Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
U.S. Struggling for Right Response to Iran — Obama Seeks Way to Acknowledge Protesters Without Alienating Ayatollah — The political unrest in Iran presents the Obama administration with a dilemma: keep quiet to pursue a nuclear deal with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader …
Discussion:
Undiplomatic, Power Line, Matthew Yglesias, Blogs and Stories, JustOneMinute, Newsweek, PoliGazette, MoJo Blog Posts, Commentary, msnbc.com, ATTACKERMAN and WillCollier.com
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John Kerry / New York Times:
With Iran, Think Before You Speak — THE grass-roots protests that have engulfed Iran since its presidential election last week have grabbed America's attention and captured headlines — unfortunately, so has the clamor from neoconservatives urging President Obama to denounce the voting …
Ezra Klein:
Health Care Reform in Danger — Health reform is, I think it fair to say, in danger right now. The news out of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee was bad. The Congressional Budget Office had scored a partial bill and the result was a total fiasco.
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The GOP Can Stop ObamaCare — The public is in no mood for drastic changes in current coverage. — Printer — Friendly — It's extremely unlikely that Republicans will be able to pass their own health-care plan in this Congress. But in politics you can't beat something with nothing …
Politics in Minnesota:
Two sources: Supreme Court ruling on U.S. Senate race to arrive tomorrow! — PIM has now heard from two sources on different sides of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race recount scene that the final Minnesota Supreme Court ruling is expected to arrive tomorrow, Thursday, June 18th.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Alas, a blog, The Fix and Campaign Silo
Kirit Radia / ABCNEWS:
Hillary Clinton Fractures Her Elbow — The Secretary of State will undergo surgery to repair the damage next week — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fell down on her way to the White House late Wednesday afternoon, fracturing her right elbow, her Counselor and Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills …
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Shawna Flavell / The PETA Files:
Obama and the Fly — Well, I guess it can't be said that President Obama wouldn't hurt a fly. The commander in chief was recently pestered by a fly during an interview. He swatted at the insect and killed the little guy instantly. — Believe it or not, we've actually been contacted …
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The Huffington Post:
Obama Boost: New Poll Shows 76% Support For Choice Of Public Plan — New poll numbers from NBC/Wall Street Journal produce two major and potentially conflicting story lines when it comes to the Obama administration's efforts for a health care overhaul. On the one hand, the American public …
Blaine Harden / Washington Post:
Global Insurance Fraud By North Korea Outlined — Government Has Collected Millions Of Dollars on Large, Suspicious Claims — For Kim Jong Il's birthday, North Korean insurance managers prepared a special gift. — In Singapore, they stuffed $20 million in cash into two heavy-duty bags and sent them …
Discussion:
The Awl
Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Court rejects DNA access claim — Splitting 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that an individual whose criminal conviction has become final does not have a constitutional right to gain access to evidence so that it can be subjected to DNA testing to try to prove innocence.
Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:
Bailout Costs vs Big Historical Events — It is exceedingly difficult to convey exactly how much we are spending on all these bailouts. Whenever I start talking trillions (versus mere billions), I get puzzled looks from people. Humans have a hard time conceptualizing any number that large.
Discussion:
Bob McCarty Writes
Drudge Report:
ABC REFUSES OPPOSITION ADS DURING WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL — ABC is refusing to air paid ads during its White House health care presentation, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, including a paid-for alternative viewpoint! — The development comes a day after the network denied a request …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The washington times Blogs, Mises Economics Blog, Moonbattery and Fausta's Blog
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Overwhelming majority oppose preventive detention without charges — A new NYT/CBS News poll just released today asked a question designed to test support for Obama's proposal to indefinitely detain Guantanamo detainees without charges — and it found overwhelming opposition to that plan (click to enlarge):
Discussion:
FAIR
Jared Allen / The Hill:
Bipartisan group wants reconciliation off table — A bipartisan group of House members is demanding that special budget rules allowing Democrats to pass healthcare legislation by a simple-majority vote be taken off the table. — Democratic leaders have signaled they are open to using reconciliation …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Carrie Johnson / Washington Post:
Months After Ted Stevens Debacle, Justice Department Corruption Unit in Disarray — Two months after prosecutors abandoned the criminal conviction of former senator Ted Stevens, the Justice Department unit that polices public corruption remains in chaos, coping with newly discovered evidence …
Discussion:
Law Blog
Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Demands Answers on Voter Intimidation Case Dismissal — As was commented upon here at CONTENTIONS, and widely reported and remarked upon elsewhere, the Obama Justice Department took the unusual action last month of dismissing a default judgment …