Top Items:
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The GOP Is Winning the Health-Care Debate — Gallup says independents now favor Republicans by nine points. — Printer — Friendly — Passing health-care reform could be harmful to the health of congressional Democrats. — Just look at how President Barack Obama's standing has fallen as he has pushed for reform.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The Strata-Sphere, Jezebel, National Review, Commentary, George's Bottom Line, Gateway Pundit and The Note
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Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Preliminary Analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's Mark As Amended — CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have just issued a preliminary analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's mark for the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 …
Discussion:
Another Black Conservative, The Confluence, The Atlantic Business Channel, Sister Toldjah, The Greenroom, The New Republic, Townhall.com, Ruby Slippers, Hit & Run, Capitol Briefing, Weekly Standard, Washington Monthly, On Deadline, Open Congress, Left in the West, The Foundry, QandO and Politics Daily
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL — The internet is alive with the sound of people analyzing the CBO's “scoring” of the Max Baucus aka Senate Finance Committee Health Care Bill. Before everyone gets too deeply into their thoughts, please keep in mind the following (get ready, all CAPS, bold, indented signifies a really important concept):
Ezra Klein:Meet the New Health-Care System, Not That Different From the Old Health-Care System
Discussion:
National Review, THE WEEK News & Opinion, Greg's Opinion, Liberal Values, Time and Democratic Strategist
New York Times:Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis
Discussion:
The Hill, The Note, The Faster Times, The Caucus, Indecision Forever, Prescriptions, Prairie Weather and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
Corzine Points a Spotlight at His Rival's Waistline — It is about as subtle as a playground taunt: a television ad for Gov. Jon S. Corzine shows his challenger, Christopher J. Christie, stepping out of an S.U.V. in extreme slow motion, his extra girth moving, just as slowly, in several different directions at once.
Discussion:
Jeffrey Goldberg, msnbc.com, Gothamist, City Room, New Jersey Online, National Review Online, Clusterstock and JammieWearingFool
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Corzine Attempting “Juvenile Schoolyard Taunts” Strategy — Um, really? … On the one hand, this seems like it couldn't possibly work. Who's going to be anything but repulsed from Corzine by these tactics? On the other, it does often seem that prejudice against the overweight …
Barb Shelly / Midwest Voices:
Bob Dole outs naysayer Mitch McConnell — Bob Dole supports health care reform. — “This is one of the most important measures members of Congress will vote on in their lifetimes,” the former Republican Senate majority leader and presidential candidate told an audience in Kansas City today.
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The Huffington Post:
Dems Discussing Public Option With Opt-Out Clause: The Silver Bullet? — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Senate Democrats have begun discussions on a compromise approach to health care reform that would establish a robust, national public option for insurance coverage but give individual states the right to opt out of the program.
Discussion:
Open Left, The Plum Line, Hot Air, The Greenroom, Daily Kos, TPMDC, The Huffington Post, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and Firedoglake
Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Senate GOP Folding Over Health Care Reform [updated] — I am told quite reliably that in a meeting today on Capitol Hill, Republican Senators began to rapidly move toward concessions on health care because they are afraid they cannot hold their members. Some Republicans are now thinking of supporting a government program.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
Civilian, Military Officials at Odds Over Resources Needed for Afghan Counterinsurgency — In early March, after weeks of debate across a conference table in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the participants in President Obama's strategic review of the war in Afghanistan figured …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Commentary, democracyarsenal.org, ATTACKERMAN, Hot Air, BernardFinel.com and The Washington Independent
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Steve Farley / PennLive.com:
Gun-toting soccer mom is shot dead … Meleanie Hain, the pistol-carrying Lebanon mom who received national attention for taking a loaded gun to her daughter's soccer game, was shot to death Wednesday night with her husband in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.
Discussion:
Whiskey Fire
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The high court looks again at religious symbols on public lands. — There's just one person at oral argument in Salazar v. Buono this morning who really wants to talk about whether a 5-foot cross on federal government land in the Mojave National Preserve violates the Constitution's Establishment Clause.
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:Religion Largely Absent in Argument About Cross
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, Washington Post, CNN, The BLT, The Reality-Based Community and Associated Press
David Aaronovitch / Times of London:
American troops in Afghanistan losing heart, say army chaplains — Martin Fletcher at Forward Operating Base in Wardak province, Afghanistan — American soldiers serving in Afghanistan are depressed and deeply disillusioned, according to the chaplains of two US battalions that have spent nine months …
Rachel D'Oro / Associated Press:
Father of Palin's grandson to pose for Playgirl — ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Levi Johnston is going for the ultimate exposure—his bare body. — Posing nude for Playgirl is next for the 19-year-old father of Sarah Palin's grandchild. Johnston's attorney, Rex Butler …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Another Black Conservative, Liberal Values, Gateway Pundit, Daily Pundit and Weasel Zippers
Wall Street Journal:
Intelligence Fiasco Footnote — The authors of the 2007 Iran NIE have some explaining to do. — Printer — Friendly — When it comes to politicized intelligence in the Bush years, the critics may finally have a point. Perhaps the work of America's intelligence agencies was manipulated …
Daily Mail:
Thugs attack two transvestites... who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress — Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men - when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress.
Michelle Malkin:
Fort Carson's heroes — Please take time to read the profiles of the American soldiers who died in the siege at Kamdesh. — The Colorado Springs Gazette tells their stories here and here. — Many were fathers. All were patriots. They were stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.
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New York Times:
In First Lady's Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery — WASHINGTON — In 1850, the elderly master of a South Carolina estate took pen in hand and painstakingly divided up his possessions. Among the spinning wheels, scythes, tablecloths and cattle that he bequeathed to his far-flung heirs …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Room for Debate, Townhall.com, Gawker, Jezebel, msnbc.com, No More Mister Nice Blog and Brilliant at Breakfast
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
ROMAN POLANSKI BACKERS GAVE $34K TO BARACK OBAMA, DNC — Movie industry types calling for the release of director Roman Polanski last year gave $34,000 to Obama's presidential campaign and the Democratic Party, FEC records show. — Polanski's arrest late last month by Swiss authorities …
Washington Wire:
Humor With a Political Punch: Lesson for GOP? — Alistair MacDonald reports on U.K. politics. — Here's something for the GOP to think about as the party tries to regain power in Washington: Britain's opposition Conservative Party may have lost three elections in a row, but it hasn't lost its sense of humor.
New York Times:
Leader Ousted, Honduras Hires U.S. Lobbyists — WASHINGTON — First, depose a president. Second, hire a lobbyist. — In the months since soldiers ousted the Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, the de facto government and its supporters have resisted demands from the United States that he be restored to power.
Megan McArdle:
Baucuscare: Score! — So, the CBO report is out, and my estimate of the contents is totally wrong. WonkRoom has a pretty good summary: — Old CBO Score Of Baucus Bill — New CBO Score Of Baucus Bill — Costs — Reduce deficits: $49B/10yrs — Net Cost: $500B/10yrs — Gross cost: $774B/10yrs
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