Top Items:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
House to Senate: We're Ready On Health Care If You Are — Leading Democrats in the House still insist that “all options are on the table” to move ahead on health care. But for the first time since last Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts, it's clear that they're coalescing around …
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The Politico:
Top Dems at war - with each other — President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be all smiles as the president arrives at the Capitol for his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, but the happy faces can't hide relationships that are fraying and fraught.
New York Times:
Democrats Put Lower Priority on Health Bill — WASHINGTON — With no clear path forward on major health care legislation, Democratic leaders in Congress effectively slammed the brakes on President Obama's top domestic priority on Tuesday, saying they no longer felt pressure to move quickly …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Democrats woo Snowe, Collins in hope of saving health reform legislation
Democrats woo Snowe, Collins in hope of saving health reform legislation
Harry Esteve / Oregonian:
Oregon voters pass tax increasing measures by big margin … Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services. — The tax measures passed easily …
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Washington Wire:
Book Report: ‘The Politician’ By Andrew Young — If Washington Wire readers are interested in reading Andrew Young's forthcoming tell-all on his decade behind the scenes with John Edwards, the story heats up on page 154 when Young begins to recount how the 2008 presidential hopeful …
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Bringing Sexy Back — He's The One, all right. — The handsome, athletic pol with the comely wife and two lovely daughters who precipitously rose from the State Legislature to pull us all together. — The fresh face and disarming underdog America's been waiting for …
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Mara Liasson / NPR:
NPR Poll Shows Vulnerability Of Obama, Democrats … text sizeAAA — Wednesday night's State of the Union speech is an opportunity for President Obama to reconnect to voters who are frustrated about the state of the economy and the progress he's been making toward fulfilling his campaign promises.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE INCENTIVE FOR DEMS TO HELP THE WHITE HOUSE.... The latest …
THE INCENTIVE FOR DEMS TO HELP THE WHITE HOUSE.... The latest …
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TalkLeft
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
Poll: Public fed up with Washington
Poll: Public fed up with Washington
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Igor / Wonk Room:
Ben Nelson Planned To Filibuster Conference Report, Admits Current Law Already Prevents Public Money From Funding Abortion — During last year's health care debate, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) insisted on inserting specific language into the Senate health care bill that prevented public dollars …
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Dana Priest / Washington Post:
U.S. military teams, intelligence deeply involved in aiding Yemen on strikes — U.S. military teams and intelligence agencies are deeply involved in secret joint operations with Yemeni troops who in the past six weeks have killed scores of people, among them six of 15 top leaders …
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Jennifer Fermino / New York Post:
‘Obama Girl’ now falling out of love — First, Massachusetts turned on the president. — Now, the bikini-clad “Obama Girl” — who fa mously cooed about her “crush” throughout the presidential campaign on YouTube videos — admits the thrill is gone. — Amber Lee Ettinger …
John Atlas / The Huffington Post:
ACORN Is Back in the News, but the News Still Gets it Wrong — NEW ORLEANS - This week, the FBI arrested 25-year old O'Keefe and three other men, charging them with plotting to tamper with phones in the New Orleans office of Senator Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana.
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Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Adults Only, Please — Maybe it's just me, but I've found the last few weeks in American politics particularly unnerving. Our economy is still very fragile, yet you would never know that by the way the political class is acting. We're like a patient that just got out of intensive care …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
In Speech, Obama to Admit Missteps in First Year — WASHINGTON — For all the questions circulating in Democratic quarters as President Obama tries to weather the worst storm of his administration, perhaps none is as succinct as this: Are the missteps at the White House rooted in message or substance?
Ezra Klein:
Waiting for Barack — Every Hill office I've spoken to in the past week has had the same complaint. “Where,” they ask, “is the White House?” — There's been no clear message on the way forward for health-care reform. No clear articulation of preferences. No public leadership to speak of.
Chris Brennan / Philly.com:
Poll: Toomey over Specter by 14 points — Democrats found to lack enthusiasm — Former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey has opened up a 14-point lead among likely voters in his bid to deny U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter a sixth term, according to the latest Daily News/Franklin & Marshall Poll.
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Dan Harrie / Salt Lake Tribune:
Salt Lake County GOP cancels keynote address after New Orleans arrest — Plan B » Party's big annual fundraiser will find new featured speaker instead of O'Keefe. — Salt Lake County Republicans are scrambling to line up a new keynote fundraising speaker after the arrest Tuesday …
Andrew Breitbart / Big Government:
MSM Leaping to Conclusions — While Big Government Waits for Facts — Wait until the facts are in. — Mainstream Media, ACORN, Media Matters (all the supposed defenders of due process and journalistic ethics) are jumping to conclusions over the arrest today of James O'Keefe …
Rich Lowry / The Corner on National Review Online:
Teleprompter Shot of the Day — By: Rich Lowry — Here's Obama dropping in for a chat with his middle-class task force. And people made fun of Reagan because of his notecards!
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Stephen Koff / Plain Dealer:
'I'm Ellie Light,' California man says: Obama letter writer talks … WASHINGTON — Ellie Light, the ubiquitous letter writer whose name appeared in newspapers nationwide praising President Barack Obama, appears to really be a male health care worker from California.
John Koblin / New York Observer:
After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site — In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall. The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the plunge by putting up a pay wall …
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The Huffington Post:
J.D. Hayworth A Birther? McCain Challenger Calls For Obama's Birth Certificate — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — When Chris Matthews asked J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) whether he's “as far right as the birthers,” the former Republican Congressman called on President Obama to produce his birth certificate for public inspection.
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Alan Colmes' Liberaland
cbpp.org:
Using Reconciliation Process to Enact Health Reform Would Be Fully Consistent With Past Practice — In the aftermath of the Massachusetts Senate election, Democratic congressional leaders must soon decide whether to use the reconciliation process to help pass health reform legislation.