memeorandum: Axelrod Struggles To Explain Why Obama's Spending Freeze Doesn't … (Faiz Shakir/Think Progress)

11:40 AM ET, January 29, 2010

Top Items:

White House orders Justice Department to look for other places to hold 9/11 terror trial — White House officials have told the Justice Department to consider other venues for the 9/11 terror trial that was to be held in lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned.

New York Times:

Administration Considers Moving Site of 9/11 Trial — WASHINGTON — Facing mounting pressure from New York politicians concerned about costs and security, the Obama administration on Thursday began considering moving the trial of the chief organizer of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks out of Manhattan, administration officials said.

Discussion: American Prospect, JustOneMinute, Townhall.com, democracyarsenal.org, CNN, Commentary, The Foundry, Guardian, New Jersey Online, TalkLeft, BuzzFlash.org, Main Justice, Gothamist, The Washington Independent, Ben Smith's Blog and USA Today

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
KSM trial move from NY considered

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Newburgh mayor wants terror trials

Julie Pace / Associated Press: White House Preps ‘Plan B’ for 9/11 Terror Trial in NYC

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FOURTH QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE ESTIMATE) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, (that is …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Dish, Washington Post, MyDD, Daily Kos, The Glittering Eye, FT Alphaville, Calculated Risk and The Consumerist

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

U.S. Economy Grew at Fastest Pace in 6 Years Last Quarter — The United States economy grew at its fastest pace in over six years at the end of 2009, but a sluggish job market is still souring economists on the sustainability of the recovery. — Gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate …

Discussion: White House.gov Blog Feed, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and Associated Press

Jeff Bater / Wall Street Journal:
GDP Expands at 5.7% Rate

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
U.S. economic growth jumps 5.7 percent in fourth quarter of 2009

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp and Ben Smith's Blog

Washington Post:

After Obama speech, Democrats confused about path ahead — A day after President Obama called on them to renew efforts to pass his ambitious agenda, congressional Democrats remained in disarray Thursday about how to move forward, with at least some pointing at the White House as the cause …

Discussion: The Note, The Politico, Washington Times, Mother Jones, TPMDC, USA Today, Riehl World View, The Plum Line, Crooks and Liars and The Hill

New York Times:
His Health Bill Stalled, Obama Juggles an Altered Agenda

Discussion: The Plum Line, USA Today, Bloomberg, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, AMERICAblog Gay, The Democratic Daily, Associated Press, TPMDC, AMERICAblog News and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Health care moves to back burner

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The Page

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
White House Didn't Have MA-Sen Health Care Contingency Plan

Discussion: Hot Air, The Note, Wonkette and No More Mister Nice Blog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HEALTH CARE REFORM LIVES — MAYBE.... It can get a little confusing.

Discussion: Prescriptions, The Politico and Commentary

WISH-TV:

Congressman Buyer won't seek reelection — 24-Hour News 8 has learned Indiana Congressman Steve Buyer (R-4th District) will announce he will not seek reelection during a news conference Friday. — Buyer is perhaps best known for his 1998 role as a prosecutor in President Clinton's impeachment hearings.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Page, Hotline OnCall, Politics Nation, TPMDC and The Washington Independent

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Steve Buyer to retire in Indiana

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Salah Nasrawi / Associated Press:

Bin Laden blasts US for climate change — Buzz up! — CAIRO - Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden has called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming, according to a new audiotape released Friday.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Stop The ACLU, LewRockwell.com Blog, Swampland, National Review Online, The Daily Caller and RedState

Aljazeera:

Bin Laden deplores climate change — Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader, has condemned the US and other industrial economies, holding them responsible for the phenomenon of climate change. — In an audio tape obtained by Al Jazeera, bin Laden criticised George Bush, the former US president …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, AmSpecBlog, The Long War Journal, BBC, Another Black Conservative, Raw Story, Sweetness & Light, JammieWearingFool and YID With LID

John Tlumacki / Boston Globe:

Scott Brown interview transcript — Massachusetts' new senator talks about his campaign, the issues — and signing a supporter's head — Senator-elect Scott Brown sat down with Boston Globe reporters Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz in his State House office for a half-hour interview.

Discussion: The Page

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Brown on Romney: 'He's changed' — One Washington habit Scott Brown doesn't seem to be adopting is message control. — Some highlights from his wide-ranging interview,with the Globe, in which he seems to stake quite a bit on his and others' personal qualities, include a description …

Discussion: GOP 12

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

March of the Peacocks — Last week, the Center for American Progress, a think tank with close ties to the Obama administration, published an acerbic essay about the difference between true deficit hawks and showy “deficit peacocks.” You can identify deficit peacocks, readers were told …

Discussion: Daily Kos, QandO, The Business Insider, Dennis the Peasant, Prairie Weather and Pacific Views

Fox News:

Palin to Obama: Stop the Fingerpointing — This is a rush transcript from “On the Record,” January 28, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin right here, right now! She joins us from Wasilla, Alaska.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Taegan Goddard's … and The Washington Independent

David Sessions / Politics Daily:
Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn Back Out of Tea Party Convention

Discussion: Prairie Weather, American Power and Little Green Footballs

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The handling of the Christmas Day bombing suspect: the scandal grows — The real scandal surrounding the failed Christmas Day airline bombing was not the fact that a terrorist got on a plane — that can happen to any administration, as it surely did to the Bush administration …

Discussion: Sadly, No!, Betsy's Page and American Thinker

Wall Street Journal:
Congress and Terror Trials

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Commentary

PewResearch.org:

Public Knowledge: Senate Legislative Process a Mystery to Many — Political News IQ Update — The public has consistently expressed strong interest in the health care debate, but relatively few Americans can correctly answer two key questions related to the Senate's consideration of health care legislation.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Raw Story, Open Left, The New Republic and The Eye

Ezra Klein:
David Axelrod: “Reconciliation is a tool that is there to be used.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Ta-Nehisi Coates

New York Times:

Citing 9/11, Blair Defends Legacy at Iraq Inquiry — LONDON — Almost seven years after he ordered British troops to join the American-led invasion of Iraq, former Prime Minister Tony Blair testified Friday before an official inquiry into the conflict, offering a spirited defense of his legacy …

Discussion: Guardian, The Corner on National … and The Page

Matthew Moore / Telegraph:
Tony Blair at the Iraq Inquiry - live

Discussion: Guardian, Corrente and Suburban Guerrilla

Karina Grazina / Reuters:

Pork better for sex than Viagra? — Buzz up! — BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's president recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra Wednesday, saying she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork. — “I've just been told something I didn't know …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Has Obama become bored with being president? — This is about the time Barack Obama becomes bored with his job. — He's in his second year as president, and he's discovered that even with all the powers of office, he can't do everything he wants to do, like remake America. Doing stuff is hard.

Discussion: Moe Lane

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Democrats cry injustice — Senate Democrats are furious with Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito — and Alito's silent State of the Union rebuke of the president is the least of their concerns. — Democrats say Alito crossed the line when he mouthed the words …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Caucus

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Axelrod Struggles To Explain Why Obama's Spending Freeze Doesn't Include Defense Funding — Yesterday, ThinkProgress joined a handful of journalists for a wide-ranging discussion with David Axelrod, Senior Adviser to President Obama. In his State of the Union address on Wednesday night …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill and Firedoglake

Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:

Dumbest. Bill. Ever. — A pair of entrepreneurial Tennessee Republicans figured they would get the national yokels to bite on their “Ben Nelson Act to Ensure Political Integrity” — an attempt to fan the partisan flames on Nelson's deal to exempt Nebraska from state Medicaid spending hikes.