Top Items:
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks — Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, according to multiple reports this evening. The hold means no nominations …
Discussion:
Coop's Corner, Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, National Journal Online, Emptywheel, Think Progress, Ezra Klein, The New Republic, FederalTimes.com, al.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Daily Kos, Newsweek Blogs, Eunomia, Lawyers, Guns and Money, AMERICAblog News, race42008.com, DownWithTyranny!, Balkinization, Democracy in America, The Huffington Post, Outside The Beltway, New York Magazine, Open Congress, Capital Gains and Games blogs, PoliBlog, Progressive Fix, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Conventional Folly and Left in the West
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Ezra Klein:
What is a ‘hold’? — The news of the day, as I mentioned earlier, is that Richard Shelby has decided to place a hold on everything that eats, breathes or moves unless Alabama gets a couple billion more in pork. Before we take a step further on this, it's worth noting that Shelby is doing exactly …
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Senate Shark Jump Announced — You've seen the reports that Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama has taken the perhaps unprecedented step of placing holds on ALL of President Obama's nominees until he gets the money for a couple of big earmarked pork barrel projects he feels entitled to back in his home state.
Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Another Day, Another Disappointing Political Ploy Obstructing Progress — Yesterday, just hours after the Senate voted 96-0 to confirm Martha Johnson as the Administrator of the GSA after a pointless 9-month delay, we learned that Sen. Richard Shelby from Alabama has placed a blanket hold on all nominees …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Federal Eye, Firedoglake, The Plum Line and Daily Kos
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPM LiveWire:
Full Statement From Shelby's Office On The Blanket Hold — Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) spokesperson Jonathan Graffeo sent TPM the following statement this morning on Shelby's decision to place holds on a number of Obama's nominees Thursday: — Sen. Shelby has placed holds on several pending nominees due …
ABCNEWS:
‘Tea Party’ Fireworks: Speaker Rips McCain, Obama, ‘Cult of Multiculturalism’ — Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo Suggests ‘Civics, Literacy Test’ Would Have Foiled Obama's Election; High-Priced National ‘Tea Party’ Convention Stirs Debate Among Factions — The opening-night speaker …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, The Washington Independent, The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Time, The Note, American Power, Capitol Confidential, Washington Post, Swampland, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Little Green Footballs, The Fix, MyDD, USA Today, TPMMuckraker, Indecision Forever, The Huffington Post, Riehl World View and Joe. My. God.
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Susan Davis / Washington Wire:
Tom Tancredo to Tea Partiers: ‘Thank God John McCain Lost’ — If Tea Party activists are unhappy with President Barack Obama, it would have been a lot worse under President John McCain, Tom Tancredo declared Thursday in opening remarks at the convention in Nashville, Tenn.
John Zogby / The Huffington Post:
Boiling Tea — The attitude toward the Tea Party movement is an emerging division in the American electorate. Those who support and those who oppose the Tea Party agenda are often as different as conservatives and progressives. The Tea Party attitude is more predictive …
Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Tancredo says Obama won because we lack a 'literacy test before people …
Tancredo says Obama won because we lack a 'literacy test before people …
Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:
Sarah Palin takes $100,000 for populist Tea Party speech
Sarah Palin takes $100,000 for populist Tea Party speech
Discussion:
CNN
Bill Dedman / msnbc.com:
Palin e-mails reveal a powerful ‘first dude’ — Nearly 3,000 pages of e-mails that the first gentleman, Todd Palin, exchanged with state officials draw a picture of his influence on policy in the Sarah Palin administration. Other e-mails are still being withheld by the state of Alaska.
Gerard Alexander / Washington Post:
Why are liberals so condescending? — Every political community includes some members who insist that their side has all the answers and that their adversaries are idiots. But American liberals, to a degree far surpassing conservatives, appear committed to the proposition that their views are correct …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Taylor Marsh, The Confluence, Open Left, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Conventional Folly and American Power
The Hill:
Patrick Kennedy: Scott Brown's candidacy ‘a joke’ — Sen. Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) election has been shown to be “a joke,” the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Thursday. — Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) castigated Brown for having pushed to be sworn in ahead of schedule …
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, No Sheeples Here, Boston Globe, The Hill, Sister Toldjah, Another Black Conservative, TPMDC and Gateway Pundit
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Palin to Post: I'm not ripping Rush — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is criticizing a report on a Washington Post blog claiming that she is going after conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh. — On Thursday the Washington Post blog “The Plum Line” posted an item under the headline …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Daily Kos, Hot Air, The Daily Dish and Political Punch
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Fiscal Scare Tactics — These days it's hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on a news program without encountering stern warnings about the federal budget deficit. The deficit threatens economic recovery, we're told; it puts American economic stability at risk; it will undermine our influence in the world.
Discussion:
Free exchange, Ezra Klein, DailyHowler.com, Progressive Fix, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org, The Glittering Eye and Prairie Weather
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Rep. Weiner jokes: Lieberman is a ‘d*ck’ — Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) appeared on the Daily Show last night to chat with his old friend and roommate Jon Stewart. — Aside from the friendly ribbing and references to incriminating photographs of each other, Weiner took a shot at his healthcare nemesis Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)
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John Cook / Gawker:
'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon …
'I'm Not Saying Your Mother's a Whore': How Fox News Censored Jon …
Discussion:
The BRAD BLOG
The Politico:
Cornyn: No thanks to Obama Q & amp; A — Senate Republicans don't have much of an appetite to give President Barack Obama their version of question-and-answer time - not after seeing how Obama handled House Republicans last week. — “We're always happy to hear from the president …
The Smoking Gun:
Harold Ford Superstar — U.S. Senate wannabe's tour rider anticipates swarms of adoring fans — Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama Suggests Possibility That Health Reform May Not Happen — Maybe I'm misreading this. But if you look at the transcript of Obama's remarks at a fundraiser last night, it seems like the President was at least raising the possibility that health reform may not happen.
Discussion:
Prescriptions, TPMDC, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, The Corner on National …, Raw Story and RedState
Igor / Think Progress:
Ollie North On What Happens If Gays Are Allowed To Serve Openly In Military: ‘NAMBLA Members’ Are Next — Last night, Oliver North, the retired U.S. Marine Corps officer-turned-Fox News contributor, appeared on Hannity's America to condemn the administration's decision to overturn “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Clarification — and Mea Culpa — on James O'Keefe and ‘Race and Conservatism’ — On Wednesday, I wrote a post reacting to Max Blumenthal's story “James O'Keefe's Race Problem” and was too quick with a description of the August 30, 2006 Robert Taft Club event on “race and conservatism.”
Discussion:
Big Journalism, Little Green Footballs, Crooks and Liars, Max Blumenthal, NewsBusters.org, Shot in the Dark and Verum Serum
Rachel Monahan / NY Daily News:
Queens girl Alexa Gonzalez hauled out of school in handcuffs after getting caught doodling on desk — A 12-year-old Queens girl was hauled out of school in handcuffs for an artless offense - doodling her name on her desk in erasable marker, the Daily News has learned.
Associated Press:
GOP Chairman Steele: ‘after taxes, a million dollars is not a lot of money’ — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele and potential Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. agreed Thursday that Americans want action now on health care reform, but disagreed about how to achieve it.
Discussion:
The Hill
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
J. Thompson: Fox's Wallace owes Palin an apology — Jeri Thompson blasted Fox News host Chris Wallace on the Fred Thompson show today, calling his joke that he hoped Sarah Palin would sit on his lap during an interview with him “inappropriate” and “insipid,” and demanding “action from Fox.
Rasmussen Reports:
Americans Reject Keynesian Economics — Richard Nixon once said, “We're all Keynesians now.” But that was a long time ago, and it's certainly not the case anymore (if it ever was). — While influential 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes would say it's best to increase deficit spending …
Elizabeth Benjamin / The Daily Politics:
Protecting Paterson — A reader pointed out an unusual letter to the editor in this morning's Post from State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt, who defends his boss, Gov. David Paterson, against alleged “lies” that have been perpetuated in the press of late.
Discussion:
Capitol Confidential, Hot Air, Mediaite, Gothamist, New York Magazine, The Awl, Gawker and Joe. My. God.
Tony Romm / The Hill:
Republican governor reverses course on stimulus cash; requests education funds — Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) has changed his mind and is now requesting his state's share of a popular education grant authorized as part of last year's federal stimulus. Sanford originally declined the money.
Discussion:
The Politico
Bruce Horovitz / USA Today:
Focus on the Family buys pre-game ad time for Super Bowl — There's a new Super Bowl surprise from Focus on the Family: a second ad. — The evangelical group that bought ad time in the CBS game telecast will announce today that it has bought time in the pregame show to air a second ad four times.
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Loans — WASHINGTON — Four months ago, it appeared all but certain that the White House and Democrats in Congress would succeed in overhauling the student loan business and ending government subsidies to private lenders.