Top Items:
Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy — For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.
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Ben Frumin / TPM LiveWire:
Obama Makes Birther Joke At Prayer Breakfast (VIDEO)
Obama Makes Birther Joke At Prayer Breakfast (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Newsalert
Chicago Sun Times:
Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestric violence arrest — Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Jrichardson's blog, JammieWearingFool, The Capitol Fax Blog, Newsalert and PoliBlog
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Philip Terzian / Weekly Standard:
Clarence Thomas on Why He Skips the State of the Union — I don't go because it has become so partisan. — One final contribution to the post-mortem on the State of the Union address. — In a question-and-answer session at Stetson University College of Law in Florida this week …
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justice Defends Ruling on Finance — WASHINGTON — In expansive remarks at a law school in Florida, Justice Clarence Thomas on Tuesday vigorously defended the Supreme Court's recent campaign finance decision. — And Justice Thomas explained that he did not attend State of the Union addresses …
Discussion:
Commentary, The Lonely Conservative, Law Blog, Gateway Pundit, Conventional Folly and The BLT
Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Comedian Jon Stewart takes the hot seat with Bill O'Reilly — In a vigorous, policy-laden debate, ‘The Daily Show’ host blasts Fox's ‘panic attack’ coverage of Obama and the economy. O'Reilly says ‘the narrative of a couple of guys’ doesn't represent the whole network.
Discussion:
The Fix, Macleans.ca, Another Black Conservative, Don Surber, Left Coast Rebel, TVNewser, American Power, Mediaite, The Swamp, Taylor Marsh and The Wire
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Tough talk comes after Obama exits — Senate Democrats held back from asking President Barack Obama about healthcare reform during a carefully scripted question-and-answer session in front of television cameras. — With the cameras rolling, a group of senators selected in advance …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Plum Line, Another Black Conservative, Baltimore Sun, New York Times, New York Times, Ruby Slippers, Commentary, Wake up America, The Swamp, Stop The ACLU, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Booman Tribune, Mother Jones, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Hullabaloo, Wall Street Journal, Wonk Room, Pundit & Pundette, The Hill and Ezra Klein
Jim Treacher / The DC Trawler:
Last night I got hit by a car and broke my knee — Sometime between 7 and 7:30, not long after I got home from work, I walked to the CVS on 22nd and M to get some bread, milk, and a SmartTrip card. I was right across the street from the CVS, and I waited for the crosswalk light to tell me to go before I crossed.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Moe Lane, Media Blog on National …, Jules Crittenden and Confederate Yankee
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Off-message, Biden recasts the Obama agenda — Vice President Biden is tired of seeing the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan demeaned, derided and dismissed, and he wanted to talk about it. — But a funny thing happened in the course of an interview at Biden's White House office on Tuesday afternoon.
The Politico:
Dems protect backroom deals — The health care bill is in trouble, but a series of narrow deals — each designed to win over a wavering senator or key interest group — is alive and well, despite voter anger over the parochial horse-trading that marked the rush toward passage before Christmas.
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Sherrod Brown: Obama must push Dem lawmakers harder on healthcare
Sen. Sherrod Brown: Obama must push Dem lawmakers harder on healthcare
Discussion:
Glenn Thrush's Blog
Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Medicare vouchers — Ross Douthat surveys and evaluates the debate over Paul Ryan's “Medicare vouchers” plan. Here Ezra interviews Ryan. — I am very interested in voucher plans but here is one source of my unease. Let's say you are given a voucher for a health insurance plan …
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Larry O'Connor / Big Journalism:
James O'Keefe vs. Max Blumenthal: How the Left Distorts, Invents and Lies — It started with a blog post at something called One People's Project, in which someone named Daryle Jenkins claimed: … The photograph that One People's Project shows as its proof (above) is cropped and just shows O'Keefe from the shoulders up.
Ben Webster / Times of London:
IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri under pressure to go over glacier error — The head of the UN's climate change body is under pressure to resign after one of his strongest allies in the environmental movement said his judgment was flawed and called for a new leader to restore confidence in climatic science.
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Walter Russell Mead / Walter Russell Mead's Blog: UK Greenpeace Chief Calls on Pachauri to Resign: Al Gore Still Silent
Kristi Keck / CNN:
Fractures emerge as Tea Party convenes — (CNN) — As the Tea Party's first national convention gets under way, members are united in their anger but divided over the future of the movement. — The convention is marketed as an opportunity to bring Tea Party leaders from across …
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Corey Pein / Santa Fe Reporter:
BORN POOR? — SANTA FE ECONOMIST SAMUEL BOWLES SAYS YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT — Consider these two numbers. Don't worry, there won't be a quiz. — The first number is 3,500. — The second is 32. — The first is how many jobs Santa Fe County lost in 2009, according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
Gail Collins / New York Times:
Florida, We Have a Problem — The Obama administration's proposed budget holds many surprises. — O.K., you have to be kind of dorky to make that statement. — Still, how can you not be fascinated when the White House announces it wants to cancel plans to put an American on the moon by 2020?
Discussion:
JustOneMinute
Ariane De Vogue / ABCNEWS:
White House Prepares for Possibility of 2 Supreme Court Vacancies — SCOTUS Watchers Believe Justices Stevens and Ginsburg Could Decide to Step Aside — Lawyers for President Obama have been working behind the scenes to prepare for the possibility of one, and maybe two Supreme Court vacancies this spring.
Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
NAACP flunks GOP on civil rights — The NAACP is out with its annual report card, and Republicans have been awarded F's virtually across the board, thanks to their position on a variety of civil right issues, most notably their killing of the DC voting rights bill. — [PDF of the rankings.]
Discussion:
Naked Politics
Los Angeles Times:
Congressional Democrats are nay-saying Obama's budget — Lawmakers are railing against certain items as a campaign strategy, establishing their distance from controversial aspects of the administration. — Reporting from Washington - As Congress begins picking through President Obama's …
Discussion:
Dennis the Peasant
Kate Hoit / The Huffington Post:
The Hurt Locker Doesn't Get This Vet's Vote — Military personnel everywhere should be celebrating: the war flick The Hurt Locker has been nominated for nine Oscar's. American's were so curious about the war and the soldiers who fight in it they bought 10 dollar movie tickets.
Christopher S. Rugaber / Associated Press:
First-time jobless claims rise unexpectedly — Buzz up! — WASHINGTON - The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce. — The rise is the fourth in the past five weeks.