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Paul Krugman:
Obama Liquidates Himself — A spending freeze? That's the brilliant response of the Obama team to their first serious political setback? — It's appalling on every level. — It's bad economics, depressing demand when the economy is still suffering from mass unemployment.
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Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama Seeks Freeze on Many Domestic Programs — WASHINGTON — President Obama will call for a three-year freeze in spending on many domestic programs, and for increases no greater than inflation after that, an initiative intended to signal his seriousness about cutting the budget deficit, administration officials said Monday.
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Jared Bernstein / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Budget Freeze-eology 101: Hatchets vs. Scalpels — So I'm on my way to do a TV interview last night on a set of middle-class initiatives we announced yesterday, when I learn that what they really want to talk about is our proposed freeze on non-security discretionary spending.
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Bob Herbert / New York Times:
Obama's Credibility Gap — Who is Barack Obama? — Americans are still looking for the answer, and if they don't get it soon — or if they don't like the answer — the president's current political problems will look like a walk in the park. — Mr. Obama may be personally very appealing …
Ezra Klein:
The Obama administration loses the deficit — and the spending — argument — This video is not good for the White House. It shows Barack Obama repeatedly, and eloquently, rejecting John McCain's proposal for a “non-defense spending discretionary freeze.” We need a scalpel, Obama says, not a hatchet.
Brad DeLong / Grasping Reality with Opposable Thumbs:
Barack Herbert Hoover Obama? — UPDATE II: It seems that it is not a freeze in non-security discretionary outlays, but rather an overall cap on non-security discretionary—which is a diffrent animal. And it seems that it is not an overall cap on non-security discretionary outlays …
Paul Rosenberg / Open Left:
It's Official: Obama is an idiot — As noted in quick hits by BDB and rayj, [UPDATE] and by David in a diary that just caused me to push back this diary's publication time, Obama has now gone off the deep end. After passing a stimulus that most economists (not just liberal ones) …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:The White House's Brain Freeze
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David Hammer / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
ACORN gotcha man among four arrested for attempting to tamper with Mary Landrieu's office phones … Alleging a plot to tamper with phones in Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in the Hale Boggs Federal Building in downtown New Orleans, the FBI arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe …
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Rachel Slajda / TPMDC:
Lincoln, Bayh Won't Support Passing Health Care Fixes Via Reconciliation — Two Democratic senators, Evan Bayh of Indiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, have declared that they won't support a plan to have the House pass the Senate health care bill whole, then pass fixes to the bill through the reconciliation process.
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New York Times:
Decision Looms on Advancing Health Care Bill — WASHINGTON — Seeking to avert the collapse of major health care legislation, the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress face a crucial decision about whether to use a procedural maneuver that would allow them to advance the bill despite …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
GOP Strategy: Derail Health Bill Reconciliation Fix With “Free For All” Of Amendments — The GOP Senate leadership has privately settled on a strategy to derail health reform if Dems try to pass the Senate bill with a fix through reconciliation, aides say: Unleash an endless stream …
Erick Erickson / RedState:
BREAKING: Mike Pence Will Not Run for Senate — Sources are confirming for me this morning that Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) will not run for the United States Senate. — In fact, later today the Congressman will send out a letter to supporters outlining his reasons. In it he will write:
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Stephen Koff / Plain Dealer:
Ellie Light revealed: I'm Barbara Brooks, a nurse, says Pro-Obama letter writer … WASHINGTON — Ellie Light, the ubiquitous letter writer arousing blogosphere suspicions that she is a White House operative spreading the gospel of Barack Obama, is actually a registered nurse.
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Quinnipiac University:
Rubio Edges Crist In Florida Gop Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; President Obama Under Water As Voters Disapprove — Former State House Speaker Marco Rubio has squeaked past Gov. Charlie Crist in the race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, leading 47 …
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David Brooks / New York Times:
The Populist Addiction — Politics, some believe, is the organization of hatreds. The people who try to divide society on the basis of ethnicity we call racists. The people who try to divide it on the basis of religion we call sectarians. The people who try to divide it on the basis …
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Fox leads for trust — Americans do not trust the major tv news operations in the country- except for Fox News. — Our newest survey looking at perceptions of ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News finds Fox as the only one that more people say they trust than distrust.
The Huffington Post:
Double Standard For Bernanke: Only 50 Votes Needed In Senate — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — When it comes to progressive priorities in the Senate, there's one standard: 60 votes are needed. But for Ben Bernanke, there's a second standard: 50 will be just fine, thank you.
Peter Wallsten / Wall Street Journal:
Rahm Emanuel Draws Fire From Left — WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's liberal backers have a long list of grievances. The Guantanamo Bay prison is still open. Health care hasn't been transformed. And Wall Street banks are still paying huge bonuses.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Michelle Malkin, Commentary, Glenn Thrush's Blog, ABCNEWS, Top of the Ticket, The Caucus and Politics Daily
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Illinois Governor Primary Numbers — A primary loss for Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is looking more and more possible. He trails Dan Hynes 41-40 in our poll of the race. — Hynes' slight advantage is due largely to a 45-38 lead with African Americans, suggesting that a controversial ad …
Discussion:
The Hill
Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Report says Al-Qaeda still aims to use weapons of mass destruction against U.S. — When al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called off a planned chemical attack on New York's subway system in 2003, he offered a chilling explanation: The plot to unleash poison gas on New Yorkers was being dropped for …
The Note:
Obama Spending Freeze Lands on Hill with Thud — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: — The president's proposed discretionary spending freeze has hit Capitol Hill with a thud. — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said, simply, that she looks forward to “examining the details” of the proposed freeze.
Discussion:
The Page
Chris Frates / The Politico:
Koop raises specter of rationing — The 60 Plus Association, a conservative seniors' group, is airing a new ad featuring former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop telling seniors that Congress is drafting reform legislation behind-closed doors. In the spot, Koop, who served under former …
Tony Romm / The Hill:
Reid: ‘No rush’ to finish healthcare — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) stressed Tuesday there was “no rush” to complete and pass a healthcare bill in the coming days or weeks. — He instead reminded reporters at a press conference this afternoon that the 111th Congress spans two years …
Discussion:
The Swamp
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Tea Party Disputes Take Toll on Convention — A Tea Party convention billed as the coming together of the grass-roots groups that began sprouting up around the country a year ago is unraveling as sponsors and participants pull out to protest its expense and express concerns about “profiteering.”
Discussion:
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Front Page Magazine:
An Open Letter to Charles Johnson — Posted by Dennis Prager on Jan 26th, 2010 and filed under FrontPage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry … Dear Charles: — As you know, over the years …
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
CBO Releases the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2010-2020 — CBO projects, that if current laws and policies remained unchanged, the federal budget would show a deficit of $1.3 trillion for fiscal year 2010. At 9.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), that deficit …
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