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Winners and losers from Evan Bayh's retirement — Indiana Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh's decision not to run for re-election is a massive shock to the political system, the full ramifications of which won't be fully known for weeks or months. — But, Bayh's retirement did produce its fair share …
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Evan Bayh's Retirement Leaves Democrats Scarred And Demanding Aggression — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Senator Evan Bayh's abrupt announcement on Monday that he will retire at the end of his term has further united disparate voices within the Democratic Party behind the idea that legislative action …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Time, The Hill, The Politico, SpeakEasy, Commentary and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion


Evan Bayh: An ordinary politician — My impression of Evan Bayh was that he was a major deficit hypocrite. Despite spending all his time talking about the need to reduce spending, he'd voted for all the major spending increases in recent years. When I looked into it, that wasn't true …

Evan Bayh Blasts ‘Brain-Dead Partisanship’ — Indiana Senator Rules Out 2012 Presidential Run, Mum on 2016 Ambitions — Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, whose retirement announcement Monday stunned the political world, today assailed partisanship in Congress and said he could achieve much more in the private sector than as a senator.
Discussion:
Salon, The Note, Real Clear Politics, Mediaite, The Caucus, USA Today, The Page, The Eye and Donklephant

IN Dem Misses The Deadline — Restaurant owner Tamyra d'Ippolito (D) has enough signatures to make the ballot in the race to replace Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), she told Hotline OnCall in a brief interview, but an official in a key district says she has failed to reach the threshold.
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Would-Be Dem Replacement For Bayh: The “Machine” Is Out To Get Me!
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Erick's blog, Open Left, Ben Smith's Blog, Althouse and Chronicle of the Conspiracy

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban's Top Commander — WASHINGTON — The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.
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Laura Rozen's Blog, DAWN.COM, Bloomberg, Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, Commentary, Telegraph, Mudville Gazette, Pajamas Media, The Corner on National …, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlanticist, Time, The Long War Journal, The Agonist, Danger Room, Los Angeles Times, Newshoggers.com, Raw Story, neo-neocon, The Daily Dish, Sister Toldjah, BLACKFIVE, Washington Post, The Note, NPR Blogs, Informed Comment, Neptunus Lex, Michelle Malkin, Registan.net, Michael Calderone's Blog, GayPatriot, Shakesville, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Sweetness & Light, Washington Monthly, Scared Monkeys, Daily Kos, Betsy's Page, Enduring America and Politics Daily
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Tea Party Lights Fuse for Rebellion on Right — SANDPOINT, Idaho — Pam Stout has not always lived in fear of her government. She remembers her years working in federal housing programs, watching government lift struggling families with job training and education.
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Washington Post, Townhall.com, NewsBusters.org, Little Green Footballs, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, TPMCafe, Jack & Jill Politics, DailyHowler.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Gawker, First Draft, The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather, Right Wing Watch, LewRockwell.com Blog, Think Progress, Sadly, No!, msnbc.com and SONICFROG DOT NET


Excise Tax Loses Support Amid White House Push — WASHINGTON — An agreement to tax high-cost, employer-sponsored health insurance plans, announced with fanfare by the White House and labor unions last month, is losing support from labor leaders, who say the proposal is too high a price …
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WOULD THE WHITE HOUSE PRESENT ITS OWN BILL?.... Last summer …
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Prescriptions


Sens. seek Obama boost on campaign trail — GOP hopes to see him on stump — President Obama kicks off what might be called his “Save the Senate” tour this week, heading west to campaign for two embattled Democrats trailing badly against Republican challengers - including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics, The Politico, NewsBusters.org, QandO, New York Times, AmSpecBlog, The Lonely Conservative, GayPatriot and USA Today
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Does Dick Cheney Want to Be Prosecuted? — After he was indicted for the murder of Alexander Hamilton, vice president Aaron Burr fled to South Carolina, to hide out with his daughter. Another vice president, Spiro Agnew, kept completely silent before pleading nolo contendere on corruption charges.
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What's the Deal? — One of the most intriguing news stories of the past week is the murder of Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The team that carried out the assassination allegedly included eleven members, ten men and a woman. They were evidently traveling on fake passports …
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Election 2010: California Governor — California Governor: Brown 43%, Whitman 43% — Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman now runs dead even with likely Democratic nominee Jerry Brown in California's gubernatorial contest. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely California …
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Oh, Canada for HRC if Pres. Palin? — From NBC's Courtney KubeSecretary of State Hillary Clinton could not escape U.S. politics during her trip to Saudi Arabia. Early this morning during a town hall meeting with students at Dar Al Hekma College, a student asked Clinton if she thinks Sarah Palin …
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, ABCNEWS, CBS News, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Page and Real Clear Politics

Most Americans think Congress should start over on healthcare reform, poll says — In a brutal assessment of the Democratically authored healthcare reform bills pending in Congress and the party's approach to healthcare, more than half of the respondents to a new Zogby International-University …
Discussion:
CNN, Matthew Yglesias, AmSpecBlog, The Politico, Hit & Run, Hot Air and The Corner on National …

Another case of TSA overkill — Just when I thought I was out of the Transportation Security Administration business for a few columns, they pull me back in. — Did you hear about the Camden cop whose disabled son wasn't allowed to pass through airport security unless he took off his leg braces?

Milbank writing Beck book: ‘Tears of a Clown’ — Dana Milbank recently wrote how a Fox News star has really “captured the moment,” before posing the question: “Is Glenn Beck America?” — Milbank, who only had about 750 words to tackle that question in his Washington Post column …


Lake Erie Frozen over; First Time in 14 Years — Following a cold snap in the Northeast, Lake Erie's surface is virtually frozen over for the first time in about 14 years. — The ice ranges in thickness between paper thin along the northern shore and several inches along the southern shore, where many people are ice skating.


CNN Poll: Anti-incumbent fever at record high — Some career politicians are under attack because many think they just don't get it. AC360 asks if they're “Not Republican Enough or Not Conservative Enough,” Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET. — Washington (CNN) — Only a third of U.S. voters …


In Bid to Revive Nuclear Power, U.S. Is Backing New Reactors — WASHINGTON — President Obama told an enthusiastic audience of union officials on Tuesday that the Energy Department had approved a loan guarantee intended to underwrite construction of two nuclear reactors in Georgia, with taxpayers picking up much of the financial risk.
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog

Healthcare reform and reconciliation a bad mix, ex-parliamentarian says — The budget reconciliation process, with its arcane rules and potential for political chicanery, is not suited to healthcare reform, according to the Senate's former parliamentarian. — Reconciliation is enormously appealing …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …

McCain: GOP will debut 10 promises — Senate Republicans will lay out a 10-point election year agenda this spring, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested on Tuesday morning. — McCain said Republicans would craft a list of 10 legislative pledges which they would seek to enact within …


Bayh for President! — To state what I think should be obvious, talk of Evan Bayh somehow challenging Barack Obama for the 2012 Democratic nomination is bizarre. No incumbent president has ever been defeated in a primary. And the only “close calls” came in a tightly bunched historical period …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog


Islamic and Leftist Allies Defend Iran's Human Rights Record at U.N. Gathering — (CNSNews.com) - As the U.N. Human Rights Council scrutinized Iran's domestic rights record on Monday, Western nations raised concerns about abuses including executions, torture and mass arrests …


Beware fear's racist temptation — Don't blame your fear of the future on Obama's skin color — SPECIAL COMMENT — Finally tonight, as promised, a Special Comment on this Presidents' Day celebrating George Washington, and the Founding Fathers he represents and Abraham Lincoln, and the Emancipation he represents.


Donald Trump, citing snow, says Al Gore should lose Nobel Prize — Tycoon Donald Trump, citing the East Coast's massive snowstorms, says former vice president Al Gore should be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize, according to the New York Post. — The paper reports that the billionaire told …