Top Items:
Ezra Klein:
We Ration. We Ration. We Ration. We Ration. — “Look at Canada,” says Charles Krauthammer. “Look at Britain. They got hooked; now they ration. So will we.” — So do we. This is not an arguable proposition. It is not a difference of opinion, or a conversation about semantics.
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Ronald Bailey / Reason:
Ezra Klein's Confusion Over “Rationing” — Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein is taking exception to Post columnist Charles Krauthammer's depressing op/ed on how health care “reform” will likely play out. Krauthammer's op/ed argues that the public option is dead, as is end of life counseling …
Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Bill would give president emergency control of Internet — Internet companies and civil liberties groups were alarmed this spring when a U.S. Senate bill proposed handing the White House the power to disconnect private-sector computers from the Internet. — They're not much happier …
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Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
On Cyber Bill, Skepticism Warranted — But Nuance Needed
On Cyber Bill, Skepticism Warranted — But Nuance Needed
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
The Huffington Post:
Huckabee: Kennedy Would Have Been Urged To Die Earlier Under ObamaCare — Conservative media figures are blasting Democrats for trying to draw political gain from the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. But on Thursday, it was one of their own — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — who went there.
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Huck: ObamaCare wouldn't cover Ted — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee claimed Friday that under the health-care plan proposed by President Barack Obama, Sen. Ted Kennedy would have been told to “go home to take pain pills and die” after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Discussion:
Swampland
Anna Palmer / Roll Call:
Bachmann Faces Raucous Crowd in Minnesota — LAKE ELMO, Minn. — In her first health care town hall of the August recess, Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann faced a volatile crowd looking for answers on the future of health care in America. — Hundreds of constituents packed …
Discussion:
Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Confluence, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, American Power and Minnesota Independent
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Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Local official to Bachmann: 'I'll be danged if I am going to give up my Social Security because of socialism.' — In Lake Elmo, Minnesota yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann held a “raucous” town hall meeting to discuss health care reform that was filled with “deafening cheers and a few jeers.”
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Stephanopoulos: Kennedy Would Have Agreed To Ditch The Public Option — Last night, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos appeared on The O'Reilly factor and echoed a growing conventional wisdom. — “It's pretty clear right now that there aren't the votes in the senate to pass …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Open Left, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Hullabaloo and Cynthia Tucker
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Washington Post:
Holder's Decision To Probe CIA Hints At a New Dynamic — About five weeks ago, faced with a crucial decision on how to react to brutal CIA interrogation practices, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. concluded that it would be all but impossible to follow President Obama's mandate to move forward …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Macsmind, Raw Story, The BLT, Redhot, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Firedoglake and New York Times
RELATED:
Newt Gingrich / Washington Examiner:
President Obama should fire Attorney General Eric Holder
President Obama should fire Attorney General Eric Holder
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
‘Public Option’, Rolls Off the Tongue — Nate Silver wrote a post last night flagging an AARP poll, the upshot of which is that Americans don't seem to have any idea what the ‘public option’ even is. As Silver notes, the fact that only 37% of respondents correctly identified what the ‘public option’ was …
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Charles Hurt / New York Post:
OOPS! CHARLIE FORGOT THIS $1M HOUSE — REALTY BITES TAX-THEM-NOT-ME RANGEL — WASHINGTON — Rep. Charles Rangel failed to report as much as $1.3 million in outside income — including up to $1 million for a Harlem building sale — on financial-disclosure forms he filed between 2002 and 2006, according to newly amended records.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Gateway Pundit, Runnin' Scared, A Blog For All, Michelle Malkin, The Strata-Sphere, Notepad and JammieWearingFool
RELATED:
Michelle Malkin:
Race-baiter Democrat Rep. Diane Watson praises Cuban health system, Castro & Guevara who “kicked out the wealthy” — Longtime readers of this blog will be quite familiar with race-baiting Democrat Rep. Diane Watson of California. — She attacked Ward Connerly for marrying a white woman.
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Gateway Pundit:
BUSSED IN UNION GOON BOOED OUT of Rep. Tim Bishop's Town Hall Meeting (Video) — A local union leader was booed out of Rep. Tim Bishop's town hall meeting last night in New York. — The town hall protesters did not like what Bishop was dishing out. (Newsday)
Discussion:
Hot Air
CBS News:
CBS Reporter Injured in Afghanistan — Correspondent Cami McCormick Stable after IED Explosion Hits Army Vehicle — (CBS) CBS News Correspondent Cami McCormick was injured today in Logar Province, Afghanistan, while on assignment for CBS Radio News. — McCormick was traveling with members …
bayoubuzz.com:
General Russell Honore To Run Vs David Vitter In Louisiana US Race? — In a breaking story, The Louisiana Weekly and Bayoubuzz.com have learned that the hero of Hurricane recovery, General Russell Honore is seriously considering entering the Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate seat against incumbent David Vitter.
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Reid Muddies Water: I'm For Public Option—So Long As It's Private — During a tele-townhall with constituents today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he supports a public option...but then he added an extremely important caveat. Reid said he doesn't think the public option ought …
Stephanie Strom / New York Times:
Lobbying Group Says Letters Against Climate Change Bill Were Fake — Lawyers for a Washington lobbying firm have asked federal prosecutors to investigate a former employee who the firm says sent fake letters to members of Congress urging them to oppose climate change legislation.
RELATED:
Stephen Power / Wall Street Journal:
Coal Group Says Fake Letters on Climate Bill Sent by Temp Worker
Coal Group Says Fake Letters on Climate Bill Sent by Temp Worker
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, The Huffington Post, The New Republic, DeSmogBlog, EnviroKnow and Think Progress
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Strange Hypocrisy — In 2004, Massachusetts changed its laws to prevent Republican Mitt Romney from appointing John Kerry's replacement in case he became President. Now it's 2009, the Governor of Massachusetts is a Democrat, and Ted Kennedy is dead so the state legislature is considering changing …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
BBC:
Murdoch attack on ‘dominant’ BBC — News Corporation's James Murdoch has said that a “dominant” BBC threatens independent journalism in the UK. — The chairman of the media giant in Europe, which owns the Times and Sun, also blamed the UK government for regulating the media “with relish”.
Discussion:
Biased BBC
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Anti-reform town hall attendees are unable to locate Iraq on a map. — Many town hall protesters enjoy boasting to federal lawmakers about how knowledgeable they are about public policy. For example, at a town hall meeting with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) yesterday, an attendee stood up and declared …
Discussion:
Omaha City Weekly
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
National Review Defends Its Segregationist Roots. — You'd think that National Review would be trying to put things like its proud advocacy of white supremacy during the Civil Rights Movement to rest, but Fred Schwartz wants you to know that William F. Buckley was right, dammit:
Peter Robinson / Forbes:
Ted Kennedy's Soviet Gambit — Considering the late senator's complete record requires digging into the USSR's archives. — Picking his way through the Soviet archives that Boris Yeltsin had just thrown open, in 1991 Tim Sebastian, a reporter for the London Times, came across an arresting memorandum.
Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
Opposing Gay Unions With Sanity & a Smile — The nightmares of gay marriage supporters are the Pat Robertsons of the world. The James Dobsons, the John Hagees — the people who specialize in whipping crowds into frothy frenzies, who say things like Katrina was caused by the gays.
Ben Calhoun / NPR:
‘Reading Rainbow’ Reaches Its Final Chapter … For 26 years, Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton (left) shepherded kids through the exciting world of books. The show, which fostered a love of reading, was the third longest-running program in PBS history, outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
Agence France Presse:
Rudd cites ‘orgasm’ blunder for China tensions — SYDNEY — Australia Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has sought to make light of strained diplomatic relations with China by telling an anecdote about how sentiments can easily get lost in translation. — Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former diplomat …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Davis leads in Al. poll — A source sends on to my colleague Jonathan Martin some numbers from a survey completed August 12 for the Alabama Education Association, the powerhouse local teachers union, by the state's Capital Survey Research Center. — The 900-likely voter survey shows …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Heather / Crooks and Liars:
McCain Throws in With Sarah Palin: Agrees That VHA Pamphlet is “Kind of a Death Panel” — John McCain embraces his former running mate Sarah Palin's “death panel” rhetoric on Sean Hannity's show last night and throws in a little fear mongering about socialized medicine for good measure.
Discussion:
Raw Story