Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force — WASHINGTON — President Obama told Congressional leaders on Tuesday that he would not substantially reduce American forces in Afghanistan or shift the mission to just hunting terrorists there, but he indicated that he remained undecided …
Discussion:
Salon, Weekly Standard, Commentary, Los Angeles Times, Politics Daily, Washington Post, TPMDC, The Enterprise Blog, CNN, The Corner on National …, The Huffington Post, The Cable, The New Republic, Taylor Marsh, Think Progress, McClatchy Washington Bureau, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog, Christian Science Monitor, Enduring America, The Faster Times, QandO, Jules Crittenden, The Politico, First Draft, Wonk Room, Wake up America, Guardian, Outside The Beltway, Riehl World View, American Power, marbury, Foreign Policy Watch, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, Matthew Yglesias, New York Times and George's Bottom Line
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Wall Street Journal:
Battle of Books Rages in Afghan Debate — WASHINGTON — The struggle to set the future course of the Afghan war is becoming a battle of two books — both suddenly popular among White House and Pentagon brain trusts. — The two draw decidedly different lessons from the Vietnam War.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Neptunus Lex, The New Republic, msnbc.com, Jules Crittenden, The Corner on National …, The Caucus and The Hill
Aunohita Mojumdar / Christian Science Monitor:
‘Code Pink’ rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout — In Afghanistan, the US women's activist group finds that their Afghan counterparts want US troop presence - as well as more reconstruction. — KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - — When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend …
Anne / BackyardConservative:
Bill Ayers No Dream — There I was, sitting in Reagan National Monday morning, sipping a Starbucks by the United counter before going through security. I had a little time, so I was browsing through the news. Some military guys had borrowed a chair from my table.
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Examiner:
Bill Ayers admits writing ‘Dreams’ to conservative blogger — Last Friday we posted an article on these pages asserting Bill Ayers' authorship of President Barack Obama's ‘Dreams From My Father,’ based on claims made by Obama biographer Christopher Andersen.
Scott / Power Line:
Whose Dreams? — In the run-up to the election, Jack Cashill framed a speculative argument that Bill Ayers wrote Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father. Cashill first ventured his thesis in “Who wrote Dreams From My Father?” Cashill cited Obama's sophomoric stabs at poetry from his days at Occidental.
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Will Obama Deny Bill Ayers' Accusation? — Anne Leary from Illinois blogs at Backyard Conservative. I've had a lot of contact with Anne, mostly because of my interest in the Rod Blagojevich fiasco last winter. Anne strikes me as a completely straight shooter.
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Ayers: I wrote Obama's book!
Ayers: I wrote Obama's book!
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, American Thinker, The Washington Independent and The Corner on National …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Latest Internal Whip Count: Nearly Three-Fourths Of House Dems Support Robust Public Option — Still more grounds for cautious optimism about the public option: — I've got the latest internal whip count numbers from Dem Rep. Raul Grijalva, the co-chair of the Congressional Progressional Caucus …
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Washington Post:
White House Gets Republican Backing for Bipartisan Reform
White House Gets Republican Backing for Bipartisan Reform
Discussion:
The Politico, Daily Kos, Democratic Strategist, msnbc.com, Prescriptions, SFGate, The Hill, TPMDC and Blog entry
Michael B. Oren / The New Republic:
Deep Denial — Toughened by their frontier ethos, steeled by serial wars, Israelis are not prone to flattery. Most, in fact, eschew using the closest equivalent to the Hebrew word for flattery—chanupa— in favor of the derisive Yiddish-derivative, firgun.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Haaretz, TPMCafe, Ezra Klein, Commentary, Jeffrey Goldberg and The Majlis
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Israeli Ambassador Says Richard Goldstone is Worse than Ahmadenijad
Israeli Ambassador Says Richard Goldstone is Worse than Ahmadenijad
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Approval of U.S. Congress Falls to 21%, Driven by Democrats — Lowest rating for Congress since January — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' approval of the job Congress is doing is at 21% this month, down significantly from last month's 31% and from the recent high of 39% in March.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Hill, WILLisms.com, RedState, TalkLeft, Salon, QandO, The Daily Dish, Gawker, Wake up America and Scared Monkeys
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Parties Nearly Tied for Congress in 2010 — Voter preferences for Congress split 46% Democratic vs. 44% Republican — PRINCETON, NJ — Roughly a year before the 2010 midterm elections, Gallup finds the Republican and Democratic Parties nearly tied in the congressional ballot preferences of registered voters.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Swamp, The Plum Line, Taegan Goddard's …, Commentary and RedState
carter.house.gov:
Carter Joins New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Buffalo News, Minneapolis Star-Tribune in Calling for Chairman to Step Down — (WASHINGTON, DC) - House Members Wednesday will have to cast a recorded vote on whether it is acceptable …
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Rep. Waters: ‘Many members’ suffer from disclosure problems like Rep. Rangel — “Many members” of Congress suffer from the same disclosure issues as the embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), one of his congressional allies suggested Wednesday. — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) …
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The Supreme Court mauls the law banning animal-cruelty videos. — Witness the American deputy solicitor general in his natural habitat—the Supreme Court. As Neal Katyal roams softly across the cool marble chamber, he has no idea what awaits him. He is here to protect his tribe …
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David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court weighs free speech vs. animal cruelty
Supreme Court weighs free speech vs. animal cruelty
Discussion:
Opinion L.A., Hit & Run, USA Today, The Huffington Post, SCOTUSblog, New York Times, Hot Air and Washington Post
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE CARPER COMPROMISE.... The Wall Street Journal reports today that a public option compromise measure crafted by Sen. Tom Carper (D) of Delaware seems to be gaining steam. The piece noted that Carper's measure “won praise from some in his party Tuesday as a way of bridging differences among them.”
Discussion:
Prescriptions
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Tony Romm / The Hill:
FEMA halts ACORN grant, GOP lawmakers approve — The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday announced it would halt its $1 million fire prevention grant to ACORN — a decision Republican lawmakers have since praised. — The Department of Homeland Security initially earmarked …
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Gary Grado / East Valley Tribune:
Feds strip Arpaio of immigration authority — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has stripped Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio of his authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants based solely on their immigration status. — But Arpaio said Tuesday he plans to continue his controversial …
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Support Builds for Tax Credit to Help Hiring — The idea of a tax credit for companies that create new jobs, something the federal government has not tried since the 1970s, is gaining support among economists and Washington officials grappling with the highest unemployment in a generation.
Michael R. Bloomberg / The Huffington Post:
Gun Show Undercover — Ever wonder how criminals are able to get guns so easily? It's depressingly simple. On any given weekend, at dozens of gun shows held in states across the country — criminals can buy guns from “private sellers” who are not required to perform background checks.
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
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David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Exclusive: Gun show dealers caught on video selling to people …
Exclusive: Gun show dealers caught on video selling to people …
Discussion:
nyc.gov
Mark Preston / CNN:
First on the Ticker: Obama enlists Hollywood in new ad — WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Obama is turning to a handful of Hollywood stars to judge a contest that asks grassroots supporters to create a television commercial promoting health care reform. — Musician Will.I.Am, actor John Cho …
Discussion:
TPMDC
Tankerbabelc / From Cow Pastures to Kosovo:
Survivors in Afghanistan Need Immediate Help - 56 Soldiers Lost EVERYTHING — UPDATE as of 6 OCT 09 2130 hrs — I'm still working through a list of emails from so many of you. THANK YOU. And thank you for your patience. I don't have the speadsheet update in full yet but I do know that we are mostly still in need of:
Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Rep. Louie Gohmert: Hate crimes bill will lead to Nazism, legalization of necrophilia, pedophilia, and bestiality. — Led by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) last night, lawmakers convened for a special session of floor speeches urging a repeal of Don't Act Don't Tell.
Discussion:
Law Dork
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCaughey And Me — I said my piece about this on this blog a while back. I do not think it's professional to air the specifics of internal battles after the fact, and I take full responsibility for being the editor of the magazine that published the piece. I accepted an award for it.
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Rep. Ryan admits GOP was negligent on health care for 12 years: ‘We should have fixed this under our watch.’ — In an CNBC debate with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) today, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) railed against a government takeover of health care until CNBC host John Harwood interjected and asked him …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Amanda Carpenter / Washington Times:
A new mommy tax — When Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus proposed taxing medical devices to raise $40 billion over the next 10 years for his health care plan, opponents started digging in and looking at what would be taxed. It turned out feminine products, like tampons …
Paul Krugman:
Still chasing shadows? — This article on the continued troubles in credit markets was informative. But it raised a puzzle. Call me naive, but why does Fed policy seem to assume that the only way to repair credit markets is to return to the status quo ante, circa January 2007?
Discussion:
New York Times, MoJo Blog Posts, The Baseline Scenario, Felix Salmon and naked capitalism
Washington Post:
Cartels Face an Economic Battle — U.S. Marijuana Growers Cutting Into Profits of Mexican Traffickers — ARCATA, Calif. — Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades …