memeorandum: T-Mobile USA's Owner Weighs IPO (Wall Street Journal)

3:26 AM ET, February 5, 2010

Top Items:

Franken lays into Ax over health bill — Sen. Al Franken ripped into White House senior adviser David Axelrod this week during a tense, closed-door session with Senate Democrats. — Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration's failure …

The Huffington Post:

Obama's Engagement On Health Care Has ‘Dried Up’: Dem Senator — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Despite urging Democratic senators on Wednesday to forge ahead on health care reform, President Obama and his aides have been largely hands-off in guiding the legislative process, Senate aides tell the Huffington Post.

Discussion: Hot Air, Political Punch, The New Republic, The Moderate Voice, Commentary, Dennis the Peasant, The Plum Line, The Politico and Washington Monthly

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times: Lobbying Imperils Overhaul of Student Loans

The Huffington Post: Axelrod Pressed By Franken, Sanders On White House's Lack …

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
A slowdown on health care

Discussion: CNN

John Cook / Gawker:

There's No Good Reason the National Enquirer Shouldn't Win a Pulitzer Prize — The National Enquirer has thrown its hat in the ring for a 2010 Pulitzer Prize, seeking official recognition from the media Brahmins for its ownership of the John Edwards sex scandal. Said Brahmins are harrumphing, and here's why they're wrong.

Discussion: Majikthise, Mediaite and Romenesko

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Andrew Sullivan's Heroic Self-Appraisal — Is there some world championship for self-deceit and puffery of which I am unaware? Andrew Sullivan seems to have penned a winning entry. His theme, roughly - How I Was So Right About Sarah Palin Yet So Wrong About John Edwards. … Any day now!

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

My John Edwards Failure — I've been thinking about what seems to me a double standard in my treatment of vice-presidential frauds, with respect to Sarah Palin and John Edwards, and trying to figure out where I went wrong. No, I'm not backtracking on Palin: all I regret is not being able to expose her for real yet.

Discussion: Mediaite

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Palin Camp Rips Limbaugh, Hits His “Retard” Comment As “Crude And Demeaning” — Sarah Palin versus Rush Limbaugh! — Palin believes Limbaugh's repeated use of the word “retard” yesterday was “crude and demeaning,” her spokesperson emails. — In the wake of Palin's demand that Rahm Emanuel …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, RushLimbaugh.com, US News, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Ben Smith's Blog

Jake Gibson / Fox News:

Palin Camp Fires Back at Washington Post — Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska, Republican mega-star and Fox News contributor, was quick to fire back at Washington Post blog, The Plum Line, for a report that Palin is at war with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, The Note and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Megan Mulligan / The Daily Caller:

Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer — The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street.

Discussion: Hit & Run, TBogg, POWIP, The Awl and The DC Trawler

Jim Treacher / The DC Trawler:
Last night I got hit by a car and broke my knee

Discussion: Hot Air, Jezebel, Wonkette, Media Blog on National … and Jules Crittenden

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Our Strange Constitution — I'm not even slightly surprised to find out that the Obama administration has some kind of process in place to assassinate American citizens who it's decided are in cahoots with terrorists. I was always raised to appreciate the “out of control spies” …

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Ezra Klein

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
On the claimed “war exception” to the Constitution

Discussion: The Poor Man Institute, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Raw Story and Emptywheel

TPMDC:

Boehner Distances Republicans From Ryan Budget...But He Can't Name A Single Objection — House Republicans are at pains to point out that a far-reaching budget roadmap unveiled by their top budget guy, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), isn't their budget, but when asked today at a press conference …

Discussion: Daily Kos, PERRspectives, AMERICAblog News and Talking Points Memo

Wall Street Journal:
GOP Chases Wall Street Donors

Discussion: Firedoglake, Democracy in America, Washington Wire, The Hill, Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Political Carnival, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, New York Times, Ben Smith's Blog and Washington Post

Patrick Yoest / Wall Street Journal:
Two Senators Seek Bonus Tax at Bailed-Out Firms

Discussion: Politics Daily

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

New Hampshire independents abandoning Obama in droves: Poll — The crucial independent voters of notoriously independent New Hampshire, the ones who were so vital to Barack Obama's 2008 victory there and nationally, are fast falling out of love with the Democrat.

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

NBC Cafeteria Celebrates Black History Month With Fried Chicken Special (Update) — So who at NBC thought it would be a good idea for the special today to be, among other things, fried chicken, “in honor of Black History Month”? — Because, spoiler alert - it wasn't a good idea at all.

Discussion: Gates of Vienna, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters.org, Big Journalism, JammieWearingFool, The Political Carnival and Hot Air

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: FederalTimes.com, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, National Journal Online, Jesus' General and MyDD

CNN:

Brown to take Kennedy's office — Sen.-elect Scott Brown will be sworn in Thursday in Washington. — Washington - After Scott Brown gets sworn in Thursday afternoon, he won't just be taking Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, he will also be taking over his plush office space in the Senate Russell building.

Discussion: The Politico and The Hill

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: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Hot Air, Matthew Yglesias, The Capitol Fax Blog, Clout St, Townhall.com, Newsalert, The Glittering Eye, JammieWearingFool, TPMMuckraker, Real Clear Politics and PoliBlog

Newsdesk / Clout St:
Quinn's running mate says he has “no intention of stepping down”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Capitol Fax Blog, msnbc.com, TPMDC, The Hill, Chicago Breaking News, RedState and The Eye

Chicago Sun Times:
Lt. gov. nominee: I won't drop out of race over abuse history

Discussion: Lynn Sweet, TPMDC and Don Surber

Retracto / Big Journalism:

Correction Request: Max Blumenthal, Salon.com — In Max Blumenthal's article “James O'Keefe's race problem” for Salon.com of February 3, 2010, Mr. Blumenthal makes a number of unverifiable and provably false claims regarding James O'Keefe's attendance at a 2006 conference called “Race and Conservatism.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Runnin' Scared and Shot in the Dark

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:

Poll: Republicans Prefer Having A Deficit With Tax Cuts, Over A Balanced Budget And Higher Taxes — A new Rasmussen poll supplies a very interesting data point in the ongoing debate about the budget deficit: As it turns out, Republican voters would prefer having a deficit if it meant …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Guardian, QandO, Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Dish, Matthew Yglesias and TalkLeft

Tony Romm / The Hill:

Gibbs to Sen. Bond: Apologize to law enforcement, White House for leak claim — Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is calling on Republican Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) to apologize “to the law enforcement community and those that work in this building” for alleging the White House had leaked classified information …

Discussion: The Caucus, Political Punch, Raw Story and Connecting.the.Dots

Marc Lacey / New York Times:

Haiti Charges Americans With Child Abduction — PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten Americans who tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the country last week without the government's consent have been charged with child abduction and criminal conspiracy, as Haitian officials sought to reassert judicial control after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Discussion: The Lede, Reuters, Newshoggers.com, Truthdig, Associated Press and Jezebel

Wall Street Journal:

T-Mobile USA's Owner Weighs IPO — The owner of T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless provider, is exploring an initial public offering or spinoff of the business, according to people familiar with the matter, as it seeks ways to jump start the carrier and assuage disenchanted shareholders.

Discussion: Engadget and FT Alphaville

CNN:

Biden ponders filibuster reform — Washington - Moments after swearing in Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, whose presence in the Senate means Democrats no longer have their 60-vote filibuster-proof supermajority, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters he thinks filibusters have been abused …

Christopher Preble / Cato @ Liberty:

Charles Krauthammer, Rocket Scientist — Last evening on FoxNews, host Bret Baier reported that the Iranians had launched a rocket carrying “a mouse, two turtles, and a can of worms” into space. He asked the panelists to speculate on the implications. — Charles Krauthammer inveighed …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and Eunomia

Bloomberg:

Ken Lewis, Bank of America Sued by Cuomo for Fraud — Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Former Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis was sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for defrauding investors and the government when buying Merrill Lynch & Co. The bank agreed …

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, The Hill and Hullabaloo

The White House:

Remarks by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast — Washington, D.C. — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Please be seated. — Thank you so much. Heads of state, Cabinet members, my outstanding Vice President, members of Congress, religious leaders …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Shakesville, New Orleans Times-Picayune, White House.gov Blog Feed, New York Times and The Huffington Post

Big Government:

Sen. John Kerry Letter Supporting Code Pink's Hamas-Aid Gaza Freedom March — [Note: This is the latest segment in an ongoing series about Code Pink and its co-founder Jodie Evans. Click here to read earlier articles.] — Massachusetts senior U.S. Senator John Kerry provided a letter …

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Peterhamby / CNN:

Club for Growth targets Gingrich — Newt Gingrich is being attacked by the conservative Club for Growth. — Washington (CNN) - The conservative Club for Growth is hitting back at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for criticizing the small government group during an appearance in Utah for Republican Sen. Bob Bennett.

James Hohmann / The Politico:

Pelosi may wait on 'Don't Ask' vote — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggested Thursday that Democrats may wait on voting to repeal the ban on gays in the military until after the midterm elections and after the Pentagon has completed a full review of its “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

Discussion: The Hill, The Note and Towleroad News #gay