Top Items:
Washington Post:
Poll finds most Americans are unhappy with government — Two-thirds of Americans are “dissatisfied” or downright “angry” about the way the federal government is working, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. On average, the public estimates that 53 cents of every tax dollar they send to Washington is “wasted.”
RELATED:
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Voters Divided Over Obama vs. Republican Candidate in 2012 — Republicans most often mention Romney, Palin as preferred candidate — PRINCETON, NJ — Registered voters are about equally divided as to whether they would more likely vote to re-elect Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, or vote for the Republican candidate.
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Sarah Palin displays her pitch-perfect populism — The snows that obliterated Washington in the past week interfered with many scheduled meetings, but they did not prevent the delivery of one important political message: Take Sarah Palin seriously. — Her lengthy Saturday night keynote address …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, Salon, PoliBlog, Hullabaloo, The Washington Independent, Firedoglake, RedState, Taylor Marsh, Left in the West, Commentary, No Sheeples Here, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Note, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Media Matters for America, TBogg, MyDD and Sadly, No!
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
The Sarah Palin Surge (and why it's overblown) — In the wake of her keynote address at the national tea party convention in Nashville, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's presidential prospects have seemingly soared. — Time's Joe Klein, in a piece entitled “It's Her Party …
Rich Miller / Bloomberg:
Obama ‘Agnostic’ on Deficit Cuts, Won't Prejudge Tax Increases — Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit. — Obama, in a Feb. 9 Oval Office interview …
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David Rogers / The Politico:
Can Gregg help W.H. save health bill?
Can Gregg help W.H. save health bill?
Discussion:
The Note, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Wonk Room and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Roland S. Martin / CNN:
Time for Obama to go ‘gangsta’ on GOP
Time for Obama to go ‘gangsta’ on GOP
Discussion:
POWIP, Dennis the Peasant, Erick's blog, No Sheeples Here, Pajamas Media, Media Blog on National …, Weasel Zippers and NewsReal Blog
The Right Scoop:
Debra Medina is a 9/11 Truther — Ok, her politician answer was that she didn't have enough proof to take a side on whether or not the government had anything to do with causing the twin towers to fall. Really? How in the hell do you not take a side on that issue?
RELATED:
Debra Medina / Debra Medina for Texas Governor:
Medina Campaign Responds to Glenn Beck Interview — I was asked a question on the Glenn Beck show today regarding my thoughts on the so-called 9/11 truth movement. I have never been involved with the 9/11 truth movement, and there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11.
Jason Embry / Austin American-Statesman:
Medina says she doesn't have position on whether U.S. government …
Medina says she doesn't have position on whether U.S. government …
Carl Hulse / The Caucus:
Baucus, Grassley Propose New Jobs Bill — The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate tax-writing committee today unveiled the main elements of a new jobs and economic recovery measure, hoping to put some rare bipartisan momentum behind major legislation.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE HOBSON'S CHOICE OF JOBS BILLS.... The top two members …
THE HOBSON'S CHOICE OF JOBS BILLS.... The top two members …
Discussion:
Newsweek Blogs
Matthew Weaver / News: News blog:
Iran protests: live blog — Protesters clashed with the security forces and a number of opposition figures were rough-up, as the regime stamped its authority on the 31st anniversary of the revolution. Read how the day unfolded — 8.00am: — The Iranian opposition has been gearing …
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Jared Allen / The Hill:
Democrats rush to curb corporate election spending before Nov. vote — Democrats are hoping to fast-track a set of sweeping new campaign finance regulations to prevent the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision from affecting the November midterm elections.
Discussion:
The Politico
RELATED:
The Note:
Dems Want CEOS On-Camera in Corporate-Financed Political Ads
Dems Want CEOS On-Camera in Corporate-Financed Political Ads
Discussion:
The Corner on National …
Steven T. Dennis / Roll Call:
Pelosi Makes Her Case: A Majority Is 51 Votes
Pelosi Makes Her Case: A Majority Is 51 Votes
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Hill, Think Progress, StarkReports.com, Real Clear Politics, msnbc.com and The Politico
CBS News:
Support for Gays in the Military Depends on the Question — Posted by Kevin Hechtkopf A new CBS News/ New York Times poll finds that the wording of the question is key when it comes to determining whether Americans support allowing gays to serve in the military.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC and Swampland
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Joe Biden update: Iraq one of Obama's ‘great achievements’ — Who knew? — Thank goodness, Vice President Joe Biden went on CNN to chat with Larry King Wednesday night. So many think things are not going so well for the Democrat administration, as The Ticket chronicled here.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Lincoln Diaz-Balart to retire — Florida Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart will call it quits today, retiring after nine terms representing a heavily Cuban-American district in the Miami area, according to a source briefed on the decision. — Diaz-Balart, whose younger brother, Mario …
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Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
Feds push for tracking cell phones — Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the “Scarecrow Bandits” that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves. — FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding …
Sebastian Jones / The Nation:
The Lobbying-Media Complex — President Obama spent most of December 4 touring Allentown, Pennsylvania, meeting with local workers and discussing the economic crisis. A few hours later, the state's former governor, Tom Ridge, was on MSNBC's Hardball With Chris Matthews, offering up his own recovery plan.
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Tunku Varadarajan / The Daily Beast:
The Right's Top 25 Journalists — Blogs and Stories — From Instapundit and Laura Ingraham to O'Reilly and Beck, Tunku Varadarajan counts down the most influential right-wing media figures in the country. — In these times of bare-knuckle political partisanship, opposition …
ABCNEWS:
Elizabeth Edwards Threatens Husband's Ex-Aide With Lawsuit — Andrew Young May Be Sued for Allegedly Contributing to Failure of Edwards' Marriage — Elizabeth Edwards may be preparing to sue her husband's longtime aide for allegedly contributing to the demise of her marriage.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Speechwriter: Edwards cut ‘I lied’ from statement — Wendy Button, a former Edwards speechwriter, writes that she worked on Edwards' statement admitting that he was the baby's father — and that he then changed and weakened it. — It was very different compared to the one he and I had worked on over the summer.
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Wendy Button / The Huffington Post:
My Story of John Edwards's Mess
My Story of John Edwards's Mess
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Freedom's Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose — I don't know that I'd make too much of this, but tracking the Congressional Democrats' approval ratings in Quinnipiac polling over the past six months — they're now down to just 28 percent overall, including 19 percent (!) among independents — is interesting in this respect.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein