memeorandum: Hometown Makes Ortiz a Frequent Flier (Paul Singer/Roll Call)

12:50 PM ET, February 23, 2010

Top Items:

Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog Feed:

Will the Republicans Post Their Health Plan... and When? — The President believes strongly that Thursday's bipartisan meeting on health insurance reform will be most productive if both sides come to the table with a unified plan to start discussion - and if the public has the opportunity …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Hill, USA Today, TPMDC, Sister Toldjah, Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, The Daily Caller, Jules Crittenden, CentristNet, Wonk Room, The Page, The Plum Line, Commentary, Political Punch, DISSENTING JUSTICE and AMERICAblog News

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Stupak: ‘Unacceptable’ — This statement from Bart Stupak is conciliatory in tone, but not in substance, and it isn't going to make things easy in the House: — I was pleased to see that President Obama's health care proposal did not include several of the sweetheart deals provided to select states in the Senate bill.

Discussion: Firedoglake, TalkLeft, CNN, Townhall.com, CentristNet and Lawyers, Guns and Money

kff.org:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — February 2010 — The February Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds the public still split on health care reform legislation, with 43 percent in favor and 43 percent opposed. However, the poll also finds that majorities of Americans of all political leanings …

Discussion: The New Republic, Taegan Goddard's …, Behind the Numbers, Washington Post and Politics Daily

Wall Street Journal:

ObamaCare at Ramming Speed — The White House shows it has no interest in compromise. — A mere three days before President Obama's supposedly bipartisan health-care summit, the White House yesterday released a new blueprint that Democrats say they will ram through Congress with or without Republican support.

Discussion: Washington Post, Moonbattery, JustOneMinute, Betsy's Page, KeithHennessey.com and Neptunus Lex

Mike Allen / The Politico:

GOP plans dozens or hundreds of health-care amendments — Big RNC donors hit Steele for planes, Ritz, limos — Airport body scanners to finally begin rolling out in March — “Morning Joe”: Ron Paul (7:35 a.m.), Steve Hildebrand (8:40 a.m.), Frank Bruni (8:50 a.m.) ... Sarah Palin will appear …

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor and Taegan Goddard's …

Ezra Klein:

A failure of White House leadership — One other point on the public option: This has been a complete and utter failure of White House leadership. They need to give this effort their support, or they need to kill it by publicly stating their opposition. But they can't simply wait …

Discussion: Eschaton

Washington Post:
Obama stays on offense with health-care proposal

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, American Spectator, The Note, Bloomberg, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Los Angeles Times, The Politico, Political Punch and Washington Times

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:
Cantor: WH Health Care Bill a ‘Non-Starter’

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Director's Blog, MinnPost, The Other McCain, Hot Air and Planet Washington

Chris Frates / The Politico:
Gibbs may need to read the White House website more closely

Discussion: The Corner on National …, The Note, The Hill, The Swamp, Wake up America, Commentary, GINA COBB and Stop The ACLU

Kim Hart / The Hill:
White House invites Tea Party members to challenge it on transparency issues

Discussion: snooperreport.com and NPR

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

In Passage of Jobs Measure, a Glimpse of Bipartisanship — WASHINGTON — Five Republican senators broke ranks with their party on Monday to advance a $15 billion job-creation measure put forward by Democrats, a rare bipartisan breakthrough after months in which Republicans had held together …

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Moderate Voice, Boston Globe, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Hill, Shakesville, Prairie Weather, The Note and Wake up America

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
From the bluest of states, a red senator of a different color

Discussion: brownbrigade.ning.com and TRAIL BLAZERS

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Scott Brown joins Dems and votes to end debate on jobs bill

The Huffington Post:

Rockefeller Not Inclined To Support Reconciliation For The Public Plan — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.) threw a wrench into Democratic efforts to get a public option passed through reconciliation, saying that he thought the maneuver was overly partisan and that he was inclined to oppose it.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, New York Times, TalkLeft, TPMDC, Open Left, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Wake up America, Working In These Times and Swampland

Room for Debate:
Can Obama Bypass Republicans on Health?

Discussion: New York Times, The New Republic, DownWithTyranny!, Rumproast, New Mexico Independent and Dean's World

Adam C. Smith / St. Petersburg Times:

As Crist poll numbers slide, staffers leave campaign — Speaking after a White House meeting with governors on Monday, Charlie Crist said he supported stimulus spending. — In the latest sign of turbulence for Charlie Crist's wounded U.S. Senate bid, key staffers are starting to leave the campaign.

Discussion: Hot Air, Babalú Blog and race42008.com

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Rubio heading to Palmetto state

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, RedState, The Page and Hot Air

Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:

Steele's spending spree angers donors — Republican National Chairman Michael Steele is spending twice as much as his recent predecessors on private planes and paying more for limousines, catering and flowers - expenses that are infuriating the party's major donors who say Republicans need every penny …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog, The Caucus, The Daily Caller and The Page

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Romney endorses McCain …

Discussion: CNN and Politics Daily

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Reid: 'Men, when they're out of work, tend to become abusive' — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested Monday that domestic violence by men has increased due to U.S. joblessness. — Reid, speaking in the midst of a Senate debate over whether to pass a $15 billion package meant …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, snooperreport.com, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Scared Monkeys, NewsBusters.org, Shot in the Dark and Confederate Yankee

Marin Cogan / The Politico:
Harry Reid: Domestic abuse rises as jobs fall

Discussion: protein wisdom

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

Mark Levin Questions Glenn Beck's Behavior And Strategy — ‘STOP DIVIDING US’ — Levin Challenges Beck To Behave Like An Adult — *** GLENN BECK EMBRACES LIBERAL PALS, BELIEVES IN GLOBAL WARMING *** — Is Mark Levin the only major figure on the right with the guts …

Discussion: The Politico, Rumproast, The Other McCain, Another Black Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, The Lonely Conservative, Wonkette and Riehl World View

Richard Teitelbaum / Bloomberg:

Secret AIG Document Shows Goldman Sachs Minted Most Toxic CDOs — Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) — When a congressional panel convened a hearing on the government rescue of American International Group Inc. in January, the public scolding of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner got the most attention.

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, The Big Picture, naked capitalism, Real Time Economics and DealBook

Paul Singer / Roll Call:

Hometown Makes Ortiz a Frequent Flier — Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) has accepted tens of thousands of dollars' worth of trips to China from a development corporation in his hometown that he aided by securing earmarks and other federal assistance worth millions of dollars.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Las Vegas Now:

I-Team: Governor Jim Gibbons Under Oath — LAS VEGAS — Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons says he's never taken bribes or kickbacks, nor has he ever fooled around on his wife. — Gibbons had to answer questions of an extremely personal nature in a deposition taken earlier this month.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and Ben Smith's Blog

Jenna Wortham / New York Times:

Apple Bans Some Apps for Sex-Tinged Content — Apple has started banning many applications for its iPhone that feature sexually suggestive material, including photos of women in bikinis and lingerie, a move that came as an abrupt surprise to developers who had been profiting from such programs.

Discussion: New York Magazine and TechCrunch

Jennifer Fermino / New York Post:

In-Justice! Furor over O's ‘Gitmo’ appointees — The Justice Department's disclosure that nine of President Obama's appointees had either represented or advocated for Guantanamo detainees has touched off a firestorm of criticism. — The surprising admission came three months after Republican …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and JammieWearingFool

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:

Newt Gingrich Bowls Over Bill O'Reilly: Obama Is a Socialist (Video) — This was definitely not the answer Bill O'Reilly was expecting... Newt Gingrich tells Bill O'Reilly that Barack Obama is a socialist: — Bill O'Reilly: So the question becomes, “Is the president a socialist?”

Discussion: snooperreport.com and Newsalert

Fox News:

1 Dead in Shooting at Luke Air Force Base — A shooting and fatal car crash on Luke Air Force Base in Litchfield, Ariz., have left one person dead and another injured, KSAZ Phoenix reported. — At 11 p.m. Monday night two individuals ran the main base entrance gate with their car …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit and snooperreport.com

Charlie Martin / Pajamas Media:

Climategate Meets the Law: Senator Inhofe To Ask for DOJ Investigation (Pajamas Media/PJTV Exclusive) — Inhofe intends to ask for a probe of the embattled climate scientists for possible criminal acts. And he thinks Gore should be recalled to explain his prior congressional testimony.

Discussion: HillBuzz, Hot Air, Say Anything, The Strata-Sphere, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Jules Crittenden and Shot in the Dark

RushLimbaugh.com:

What I Would've Said at CPAC — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: No, Snerdley. Look, I'm going to get to it. I got an e-mail just in time ago, “Would you stop being mean to Snerdley?” Hey, e-mailer! Snerdley should stop interrupting me. He's not the host. I am.

Discussion: The Corner on National …

New York Times:

Pakistani Reports Capture of a Taliban Leader — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — In another blow to the Taliban senior leadership, Pakistani authorities have captured Mullah Abdul Kabir, a member of the group's inner circle and a leading military commander against American forces in eastern Afghanistan …

Discussion: Politics Daily, snooperreport.com, The Awl, Jon Taplin's Blog, New York Magazine and At-Largely

CNN:

Traficant will launch independent congressional bid — Former Democratic Rep. James Traficant, who in September was released from a federal prison after serving seven years on a bribery and racketeering conviction, told CNN Tuesday he will launch an independent bid to return to Congress.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Harry Joe / Margin of Error:

Republican Blizzard on the Generic Ballot — It would take a major turn of events for the Democrats to hold onto the House of Representatives. There I said it. Why the confidence on Republicans gaining 40 seats and getting to the 218 seats needed to control the House?

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Monkey Cage, Democracy in America, The New Republic and Wake up America

Sharon Begley / Newsweek:

Book Review: The Lomborg Deception — Debunking the claims of the climate-change skeptic. — In naming roustabout, lumberjack, ironworker, and dairy farmer America's “worst jobs,” CareerCast.com omitted one whose awfulness is counterbalanced only by its public-spiritedness: fact-checking Bjørn Lomborg.

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET, Boing Boing and Mother Jones

J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:

Senate sitting on 290 bills already passed by House; tension mounts — Exasperated House Democratic leaders have compiled a list showing that they have passed 290 bills that have stalled in the Senate. — The list is the latest sign that Democrats in the lower chamber are frustrated with their Senate counterparts.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News