Top Items:
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Too Dumb to Thrive — Absolutely amazing poll results from CNN today about the $787 stimulus package: nearly three out of four Americans think the money has been wasted. On second thought, they may be right: it's been wasted on them. Indeed, the largest single item in the package …
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CNN:
CNN Poll: Majority of Americans say much of stimulus wasted — Washington (CNN) - Nearly three out of four Americans think that at least half of the money spent in the federal stimulus plan has been wasted, according to a new national poll. — A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Obama to Offer Aid for Families in State of the Union Address — WASHINGTON — President Obama will propose in his State of the Union address a package of modest initiatives intended to help middle-class families, including tax credits for child care, caps on some student loan payments …
Discussion:
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Obama SOTU Plan Includes Non-Refundable Child Tax Credit Expansion
Obama SOTU Plan Includes Non-Refundable Child Tax Credit Expansion
Discussion:
American Prospect
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama's Approval Most Polarized for First-Year President — Shows much greater party differences than approval for any prior first-year president — PRINCETON, NJ — The 65 percentage-point gap between Democrats' (88%) and Republicans' (23%) average job approval ratings for Barack Obama …
Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Berry: Obama said “big difference” between '10 and '94 is “me” — Rep. Marion Berry's parting shot, published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette [no link, subscription only] offers a warning to moderate Democrats and border state moderates — warning of a midterm bloodbath comparable to the 54-seat D-to-R swing in 1994.
Patterico's Pontifications:
The Recent Evidence of Astroturfing, Summarized — This post summarizes the evidence of Astroturfing by Obama supporters that surfaced over the weekend. — Astroturfing is phony “grassroots” activity. The term refers to opinions that seem to be genuine — but, in reality, are directed by a Central Planner.
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Michelle Malkin:
Why did Beau Biden really drop out? ; Update: Cook Political Report classifies DE-Sen. race “Solid Republican” — Daddy has been grooming Beau Biden for the Senate from time immemorial. — To smooth his son's path, Joe Biden installed his old crony aide, Edward Kaufman …
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Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
Beau Biden declines Senate bid — Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden announced Monday that he will not run for the Senate in 2010, a development which puts the GOP in a commanding position to claim the seat once held by his father, Vice President Joe Biden.
Gawker:
Sources: John Edwards Has a Sex Tape — Sources have told us that, in the throes of their affair, John Edwards and Rielle Hunter made a sex tape that contains “several sex acts.” And that his aide, Andrew Young found it on an unmarked DVD. — The tape, say both our sources …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine, Mediaite, NewsReal Blog and sara in italy
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Big Babyism — Listen to an enraged Independent: … If this is the basis for revolt, what can one say? — If Obama and Bush had refused to bail out the banks, does this small business owner believe she'd be in business at all? Is she demanding - in a conservative outlet …
Discussion:
Dennis the Peasant
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Harold Ford Jr / New York Times:
Democrats, Get Down to Business — SCOTT BROWN'S victory last week in the Massachusetts Senate race, following the Republican gubernatorial triumphs in New Jersey and Virginia, marked the third time in three months that the Democratic Party has lost the support and trust of independent voters.
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James Rosen / Fox News:
Obama Administration Steers Lucrative No-Bid Contract for Afghan Work to Dem Donor — The Obama administration this month awarded a $25 million federal contract for work in Afghanistan to a company owned by a prominent Democratic campaign contributor without entertaining competitive bids, Fox News has learned.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, The Corner on National …, NewsBusters.org, America's Right and Wizbang
Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Indiana Senate — Indiana Senate 2010: Pence (R) 47%, Bayh (D) 44% — Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is another Democratic incumbent who could find himself in a tough reelection battle this fall. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds …
BBC:
‘Chemical Ali’ executed in Iraq — Ali Hassan al-Majid, a former Iraqi official known as “Chemical Ali”, has been executed by hanging, a government spokesman has announced. — Majid, an enforcer in Saddam Hussein's regime and his cousin, had earlier been sentenced to death four times for genocide and crimes against humanity.
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Bernanke Conundrum — A Republican won in Massachusetts — and suddenly it's not clear whether the Senate will confirm Ben Bernanke for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. That's not as strange as it sounds: Washington has suddenly noticed public rage over economic policies …
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Dems' Bush-bashing goes bust — After three consecutive losses in statewide races, some top Democrats are questioning a tactic aimed at boosting the party's candidates in each of those contests: Bush-bashing. — Running as much against the Bush White House as he was running against Sen. John McCain …
realtor.org:
December Existing-Home Sales Down but Prices Rise; 2009 Sales Up — After a rising surge from September through November, existing-home sales fell as expected in December after first-time buyers rushed to complete sales before the original November deadline for the tax credit.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Gibbs: Ed Schultz Misleads Viewers To “Get People To Watch His Show” — As you've probably heard, MSNBC's Ed Schultz revealed the other day that he'd torn into Robert Gibbs in a private conversation, telling him he's “full of sh*t” and that the Obama White House is “losing its base.”
Discussion:
Think Progress, Crooks and Liars, Political Punch, Raw Story, TPM LiveWire, Pam's House Blend, Mediaite and Political Byline
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
LET'S PUT THEM SIDE BY SIDE.... Throughout the lengthy debate on health care reform, Republicans refused to negotiate in good faith. Compromises were considered out of the question. Blatantly, demonstrably false claims were the norm. Perhaps worst of all, GOP leaders would embrace specific reform ideas …
Newt Gingrich / About Newsmax.com:
How I'd Create a New ‘Contract With America’ — Dear Fellow Americans: — During the past few months, a number of people have asked me about the possibility of a new Contract with America for the 2010 elections. They remember the clarity, the positive focus, and the election results of the 1994 contract.
Political Punch:
‘Make Them Filibuster’: Gov. Rendell Tells President Obama, Democrats, to Play ‘Hardball’ — Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania has some advice for his fellow Democrats skittish about health care reform in the wake of the Republican upset in that Massachusetts special election.
Tony Romm / The Hill:
Updated Bernanke whip count — Democratic leaders have whipped at least 30 votes in support of Chairman Ben Bernanke's return for a second term at the Federal Reserve Board, while 13 lawmakers remain opposed, according to The Hill's latest whip count. — Additionally, two lawmakers …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Iranian Official On Obama: “The Only Change Is That This N***er Talks About Regime Change” — Iran drops the n-bomb on Obama. — Iranian official Mohammad Javad Larijani dropped the n-word while attacking Barack Obama at a meeting with engineers. — PBS reported: … Hat Tip Winston