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:
National Review, The Mahablog, The Strata-Sphere, Jezebel, Commentary, George's Bottom Line and Gateway Pundit
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Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Left claims 218 in sight — Liberal leaders told House Democrats on Wednesday that they have nearly enough votes to pass their preferred version of a government-run health insurance option, but the party's official vote-counter isn't so sure. — Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) …
New York Times:
Health Care Bill Gets Green Light in Cost Analysis — WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee legislation to revamp the health care system would provide coverage to 29 million uninsured Americans but would still pare future federal deficits by slowing the growth of spending on medical care …
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Preliminary Analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's Mark As Amended
Preliminary Analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's Mark As Amended
Discussion:
WhiteHouse.gov Blog, Wonk Room, The Politico, The Confluence, Another Black Conservative, The Atlantic Business Channel, Sister Toldjah, The New Republic, The Greenroom, Townhall.com, Ezra Klein, Ruby Slippers, Capitol Briefing, On Deadline, Hit & Run, Weekly Standard, Open Congress, QandO and Washington Monthly
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL — The internet is alive with the sound …
THERE IS NO BAUCUS BILL — The internet is alive with the sound …
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.
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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 …
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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:
Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, Open Left, Hot Air, The Greenroom, TPMDC, The Huffington Post and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
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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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Tony Romm / The Hill:
Boehner, Bunning: Post bills, committee work online
Boehner, Bunning: Post bills, committee work online
Discussion:
Sunlight Foundation
Dave Helling / KansasCity.com Prime Buzz:
Dole: Health care reform coming late this year or next; “you lost” …
Dole: Health care reform coming late this year or next; “you lost” …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Prescriptions, RedState, Wonk Room, The Huffington Post, MyDD and The Huffington Post
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Washington Sketch: A Cross in the Desert — Question: If a cross rises in the desert and no one knows about it, does it make a sound? — Answer: Only in Washington. — In 1934, veterans erected a cross on a rock in a remote part of the Mojave Desert on what is now national park land …
Discussion:
New York Times, Flopping Aces, SCOTUSblog, Los Angeles Times, Prairie Weather and Associated Press
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE UNAMBIGUOUS MEANING OF A CROSS.... Thee U.S. Supreme Court …
THE UNAMBIGUOUS MEANING OF A CROSS.... Thee U.S. Supreme Court …
Discussion:
Pharyngula
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
Quinnipiac University:
American Voters Oppose Obama Health Care Plan, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; GOP Gets Lowest Grades Since Obama Elected — American voters oppose 47 - 40 percent President Barack Obama's health care reform plan, and don't want an overhaul that only gets Democratic votes …
Discussion:
The Fix, Politics Daily, Washington Wire, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC, The Plum Line and Real Clear Politics
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
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, Gawker, Real Clear Politics, Jezebel, No More Mister Nice Blog, msnbc.com and Brilliant at Breakfast
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Burr looking better — There is probably no politician in the country whose fate better exemplifies the shift in the national political climate over the last four months than Richard Burr. — His approval this month comes in at a very mediocre 36% with an almost equal 35% disapproving of his work in the Senate.
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 …
Ann Scott Tyson / Washington Post:
Army Officers Criticize Rebuke of Gen. McChrystal — Army officers gathered at a convention in Washington this week said senior White House officials should not have rebuked Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, for saying publicly that a scaled-back war effort would not succeed.
Discussion:
Commentary
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 …
Discussion:
BuzzFlash.org
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.