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:
Hot Air, New York Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, The Glittering Eye, Michelle Malkin, The Lonely Conservative, FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, Left Coast Rebel, QandO, Washington Wire, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Commentary, The Hill, Prairie Weather, Wake up America, Newsweek Blogs, Open Left and CNN
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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.
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:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Guardian, Firedoglake, Dennis the Peasant and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
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 …
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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.”
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Obama > Congressional Democrats > Congressional GOP
Obama > Congressional Democrats > Congressional GOP
Discussion:
The New Republic
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, Osborne Ink, Commentary, The Daily Caller, The Hill, 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, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, GOP 12, Newshoggers.com, The Huffington Post and msnbc.com
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Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
Politico : We're part of the Palin problem ...
Politico : We're part of the Palin problem ...
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 …
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:
Politics Daily, Josh Gerstein's Blog, Daily Kos, The Swamp, YID With LID, Another Black Conservative, The Plum Line, Commentary, The Washington Independent, The Caucus, Emptywheel, The Hill, Main Justice, The Page, The Corner on National …, New York Magazine, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Ezra Klein
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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, PoliBlog, Jules Crittenden, Michelle Malkin, The Fix, New York Times, American Power, Riehl World View, The Other McCain, DC Agenda, Hot Air, Wake up America, Gateway Pundit, No Sheeples Here, Scared Monkeys, Pam's House Blend, Fausta's Blog, Gawker, Confederate Yankee, The Moderate Voice and The Democratic Daily
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Washington Post:
75% back letting gays serve openly — Three-quarters of Americans say that they support openly gay people serving in the U.S. military, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a finding that could lend momentum to the Obama administration's effort to dismantle the policy known as “don't ask, don't tell.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, ACS Blog, PostPartisan, This ain't Hell …, AMERICAblog News and Truthdig
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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:
Ezra Klein, The Atlantic Business Channel, Capital Gains and Games blogs, NOW! Blog and Prairie Weather
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Shocking True Tales of Media Bias — I don't begrudge anyone their living, so if people get attractive job offers to go work at Pete Peterson's new Fiscal Times more power to them. But as we move into a world where more-and-more journalism will be financed on a non-profit basis …
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 Left, Open Congress, The Page, Daily Kos, The Politico, MyDD, TPMDC and The Hill
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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David Brooks / New York Times:
What's Next, Mr. President? — By 2008, Americans were disgusted with their government. They were sick of partisan gridlock and general incompetence. Along came Barack Obama offering to usher in a new era. It was time, he said, to put away childish things. — There were actually two elements to the Obama campaign.
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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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).
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Tim Pawlenty offers a stinging critique of GOP — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty criticized his party in an interview with Esquire magazine. Photo by Jay Premack/Bloomberg News — In the upcoming issue of Esquire magazine, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) offers a harsh rebuke …