Top Items:
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.
Discussion:
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
The White House's Brain Freeze — First reactions aren't always the best ones, but my first reaction to tonight's news is that it's a mistake on par with John McCain's “suspending my campaign” gaffe. Politico: … I'll let the economists talk about the wisdom of curtailing government spending …
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 …
Discussion:
The Politico, Opinion L.A., Firedoglake, Rortybomb, The Confluence, Outside The Beltway, TalkLeft, The Swamp, Clusterstock, The Mahablog, The Glittering Eye and TPMCafe
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) …
Discussion:
Donklephant
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Obama Budget to Call for Freeze in Non-Security Discretionary Spending — On an exciting phone call with progressive internet writers earlier this evening, a senior administration official outlined the Obama administration's plan to call for a freeze in non-security discretionary spending spending starting …
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:
Discussion:
The Hill, The Note, Ben Smith's Blog, America's Right, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air and AmSpecBlog
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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 …
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 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Times, Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, The Politico, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Ezra Klein and The Hill
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Mark Mooney / ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: Obama Would ‘Rather Be Really Good One-Term President’ — Obama Tells Diane Sawyer That Health Care Bill Had Political Cost — President Obama, buffeted by criticism of his massive health care reform bill and election setbacks, said today he remained determined to tackle health care …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, First Thoughts, Hot Air, Betsy's Page, The Fix, Wizbang, Commentary, Scared Monkeys, MyDD, Gawker, QandO, Reaganite Republican, NewsBusters.org, Political Punch, TBogg and Mediaite
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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 …
Patterico's Pontifications:
Newspaper Editors Begin to Address Pro-Obama Astroturfing — One of the principal functions of political blogs is to keep Big Media in check. If you are concerned by the discovery this past weekend of a spate of pro-Obama Astroturfing, it's because you agree that political persuasion …
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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:
Washington Monthly, Top of the Ticket, Mother Jones, Wonkette, The Politico, Politics Daily and The Monkey Cage
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 …
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 …
Sharyl Attkisson / CBS News:
Congress Went to Denmark, You Got the Bill — Exclusive: CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson Follows the Money from Copenhagen to the U.S. Taxpayer — (CBS) Thanks to a recently filed Congressional expense reports there's new light shed on the Copenhagen Climate Summit in Denmark and how much it cost taxpayers.
New York Times:
A Payroll Tax Break for Jobs — WITH the national unemployment rate at 10 percent, and more than 15 million Americans looking for work, ideas to spur job creation are at the forefront of everyone's minds. While we may represent different political philosophies, we recognize that high unemployment …
Rush Limbaugh / The Onion:
I Don't Even Want To Be Alive Anymore — I know there are a lot of people out there who are upset about some of the things I've been saying on my radio program lately. My comments about the situation in Haiti have hurt and angered many Americans who genuinely care about the plight of the Haitian people …
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, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Politics Daily, Commentary, ABCNEWS, Top of the Ticket, The Caucus and Washington Post
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
In What Culture is Having a Shoe Thrown At You a Sign of Respect? — Couldn't have happened to a less-nice guy but it seems someone through a shoe at Sudanese dictator Omer Hassan Al-Bashir: … My continuing question about this shoe-throwing business is in what culture, exactly …
Discussion:
Sudan
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 …