Top Items:
The Politico:
Reid's about-face stuns Dems, W.H. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid led colleagues and the White House to believe he supported a bipartisan jobs bill — only to scuttle the plan as soon as it was released Thursday over concerns it could be used to batter Democratic incumbents, according to Senate sources.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Glittering Eye, Left Coast Rebel, The Lonely Conservative, New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, QandO, Commentary, Newsweek Blogs, Prairie Weather, Wake up America, The Hill, Open Left, CNN, Ezra Klein and Firedoglake
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The Politico:
Family feud: Pelosi at odds with Obama — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's increasingly public disagreements with President Barack Obama are a reflection of something deeper: the seething resentment some Democrats feel over what they see as cavalier treatment from a wounded White House.
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air, Christian Science Monitor, The Moderate Voice, AMERICAblog News and Wake up America
Paul Blumenthal / Sunlight Foundation:
The Legacy of Billy Tauzin: The White House-PhRMA Deal — More than a million spectators gathered before the Capitol on a frosty January afternoon to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, who promised in his campaign to change Washington's mercenary culture of lobbyists, special interest influence and backroom deals.
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
So Much For That! Bipartisan Jobs Agreement Falls Apart Almost Instantly
So Much For That! Bipartisan Jobs Agreement Falls Apart Almost Instantly
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Confluence, Guardian, Firedoglake, Dennis the Peasant and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
Ezra Klein:
A deal on nominations that even a Republican could love — The administration scored a big victory last night, or at least it thinks it did. After President Obama finally threatened to make recess appointments if Senate Republicans didn't let some of its nominees through the confirmation process …
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Obama in nominee showdown — The Senate confirmed a huge group of administration nominees on Thursday, following a tense exchange between President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). — At a White House meeting with bipartisan congressional leaders on Tuesday …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, CNN, The White House, The Hill, Osborne Ink, The Daily Caller, Commentary, TPMDC and Think Progress
The Politico:
Why the MSM loves Palin — Fox News has been making a serious charge about mainstream political reporters: They hate Sarah Palin. — This is not just wrong, it's absurd. The reality is exactly the opposite: We love Palin. — And if Palin does not exactly love us …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Newshoggers.com, The Hill, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, GOP 12, The Huffington Post and msnbc.com
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Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
Politico : We're part of the Palin problem ... ... and we're going to continue to be part of the problem. — Politico's Jim VandeHei and Jonathan Martin write that the media cover Sarah Palin too much, and take her too seriously as an important political figure:
Discussion:
American Power
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
House GOP document: We won showdown with President Obama
House GOP document: We won showdown with President Obama
Discussion:
The Corner on National …
New York Times:
Poll Finds Edge for Obama Over G.O.P. Among the Public — WASHINGTON — At a time of deepening political disaffection and intensified distress about the economy, President Obama enjoys an edge over Republicans in the battle for public support, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
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Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
‘Warning: Tea Party In Danger’: Leader Slams Palin As 'Wolf In Sheep's Clothing' — A prominent Tea Party leader from Texas is warning that the movement “is becoming nothing more than a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party,” and slamming Sarah Palin as representing “a growing insider's attack to the heart of the Tea Party.”
Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Man Charged With Stockpiling Weapons Was Tea Partier, Palin Fan — The Massachusetts man charged this week with stockpiling weapons after saying he feared an imminent “Armageddon” appears to have been active in the Tea Party movement, and saw Sarah Palin, who he said is on a …
Washington Post:
Obama will help select location of Khalid Sheik Mohammed terrorism trial — President Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Politics Daily, Another Black Conservative, Josh Gerstein's Blog, YID With LID, The Plum Line, The Caucus, Commentary, New York Magazine, The Washington Independent, Emptywheel, The Hill, Main Justice, The Corner on National …, The Page, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Ezra Klein
The Politico:
Patrick Kennedy to retire — Rhode Island Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, will announce on Friday that he is retiring, according to Democratic insiders. — Kennedy, 42, was first elected to the House in 1994. His departure will leave Congress without …
Discussion:
CNN, The Fix, Jules Crittenden, New York Times, American Power, Riehl World View, DC Agenda, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys, The Other McCain, Gateway Pundit, No Sheeples Here, Pam's House Blend, Gawker, Confederate Yankee, The Moderate Voice and The Democratic Daily
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Washington Post:
3 House retirements spur debate on whether Republicans are losing momentum — A trio of House Republican retirement announcements over the past 10 days have sparked a debate between the leaders of the two major parties over whether the GOP is losing momentum in its quest to score major gains at the ballot box this fall.
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Michael B. Mukasey / Washington Post:
Where the U.S. went wrong on the Christmas Day bomber — It seems to me unlikely that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will be known to future generations of lawyers for generating any groundbreaking legal principle or issue. But when it comes to illuminating our public discourse about the …
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Anti-incumbent heat: 2006, 1994 deja vu — In the event you haven't noticed, there is a serious anti-incumbent fervor afoot, as midterm congressional elections approach. — It's as strong as it has been in 16 years, the Pew Research Center reports today.
Discussion:
D.C. Now
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Dick Durbin Throws Weight Behind Effort To Reform Filibuster — Okay, this could be significant: Senator Dick Durbin is now throwing his weight behind a new effort to reform the filibuster, a move that could give it a boost, given Durbin's clout as a senior member of the Dem leadership.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Political Punch, Washington Post, Open Congress, Daily Kos, The Politico, MyDD, The Hill and TPMDC
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Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Reid nixes filibuster reform effort
Reid nixes filibuster reform effort
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, DownWithTyranny!, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Ezra Klein and James Fallows
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Republicans and Medicare — “Don't cut Medicare. The reform bills passed by the House and Senate cut Medicare by approximately $500 billion. This is wrong.” So declared Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, in a recent op-ed article written with John Goodman, the president of the National Center for Policy Analysis.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Business Channel, Capital Gains and Games blogs, NOW! Blog and Prairie Weather
Des Moines Register:
Appeals court: Nude dancing still considered art — Hamburg, Ia. — Nude dancing is still an art form in Iowa, at least at a strip club in the tiny town of Hamburg. — The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday dismissed the state's request for a review of the issue.
Discussion:
Caffeinated Thoughts
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Sam Dillon / New York Times:
Wi-Fi Turns Rowdy Bus Into Rolling Study Hall — VAIL, Ariz. — Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).
Jason Embry / Austin American-Statesman:
Is Medina a birther? — After ducking questions yesterday about whether the Bush administration aided in the Sept. 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, then saying she has never believed the government was involved, Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina gave a series of interviews late in the day.