Top Items:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Exclusive: W.H. privately plots 2012 campaign run — President Barack Obama's top advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for the 2012 reelection campaign, which is likely to be run out of Chicago and managed by White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Bloomberg, Politics Daily, CentristNet, msnbc.com, Left Coast Rebel, Jules Crittenden, The Page, Pundit & Pundette, Raw Story and The Hill
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Jay Fitzgerald / Boston Herald:
Scott Brown fumes over health plan — Rejects Obamacare II as ‘nuclear option’ that will increase taxes — Sen. Scott Brown yesterday warned the Obama administration against using the “nuclear option” of ramming through Congress a revised $1 trillion health-care bill outlined yesterday by the White House.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Rahm Emanuel takes heat over Dana Milbank column — The key paragraph contained high praise for Emanuel - at the expense of his boss: “Obama's first year fell apart in large part because he didn't follow his chief of staff's advice on crucial matters. Arguably, Emanuel is the only person keeping Obama from becoming Jimmy Carter.”
Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
From Nearly Dead To Nearly Done: How The White House Refocused On Health Care To Finish It Off — Congressional Democrats say Thursday's health care summit is likely to clear the final hurdles to passing health care reform - and say that President Obama returning to the issue with a clear focus …
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Big Questions Still Linger on Eve of Health Care Meeting — Three years ago this month, a presidential candidate — John Edwards, as a matter of fact — started a debate on health reform by announcing a plan to cover the uninsured. Since then, we've had an election, town hall meetings …
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Senate Dems warm to reconciliation
Senate Dems warm to reconciliation
Discussion:
The Swamp, DaTechguy's Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hill, CentristNet, The Note and American Conservative …
Tina Tchen / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Make Your Voice Heard — On February 6, the White House Open …
Make Your Voice Heard — On February 6, the White House Open …
Discussion:
Pundits Blog
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Robert Gibbs: Public Option Via Reconciliation Can't Pass Congress
Robert Gibbs: Public Option Via Reconciliation Can't Pass Congress
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Ezra Klein, FiveThirtyEight, NY Daily News Blogs, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Strata-Sphere, The Reaction, The TrogloPundit, Firedoglake, Democratic Strategist, CentristNet, Riehl World View, Liberal Values, TPM LiveWire, SpeakEasy, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, New York Times, The Page and Daily Kos
Washington Post:
Wall Street shifting political contributions to Republicans — Commercial banks and high-flying investment firms have shifted their political contributions toward Republicans in recent months amid harsh rhetoric from Democrats about fat bank profits, generous bonuses and stingy lending policies on Wall Street.
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Think Progress:
ThinkFast: February 24, 2010 — Van Jones is returning to the Center for American Progress as a Senior Fellow and leader of the new Green Opportunity Initiative. Jones — the target of an ongoing Glenn-Beck led smear campaign — resigned as the White House adviser on green jobs last September.
RushLimbaugh.com:
Thoughts on Mitt Romney, Scott Brown and the State of the GOP — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: To the phones. We go to Chicago. This is Ed. Nice to have you with us, sir, hello. — CALLER: Hi how you doing, Rush? — RUSH: Very well thank you. — CALLER: I just called to make a quick comment about Glenn Beck.
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R. H. Potfry / The Nose On Your Face:
Harry Reid Launches New “Vote For Me Or The Wife Gets It” Campaign — Just hours after revealing that unemployed men in Nevada “tend to be abusive” toward their wives and facing the prospect of joblessness himself with an election this fall, Harry Reid has launched a bold new …
John Yoo / Wall Street Journal:
My Gift to the Obama Presidency — Though the White House won't want to admit it, Bush lawyers were protecting the executive's power to fight a vigorous war on terror. — Barack Obama may not realize it, but I may have just helped save his presidency. How?
CNN:
Poll: Americans place blame for partisanship — Washington (CNN) — Two-thirds of Americans think that the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to cooperate with President Obama, according to a new national poll. — But a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, released Wednesday …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Rasmussen Reports:
Toplines - Texas GOP Primary - February 23, 2010 — Texas Survey of 500 Likely GOP Primary Voters — 1* Suppose the Republican Primary for the 2010 Governor's race were held today. Would you vote for Rick Perry, Kay Bailey Hutchison or Debra Medina? — 48% Perry — 27% Hutchison
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Ian Urbina / New York Times:
Fearing Obama Agenda, States Push to Loosen Gun Laws — When President Obama took office, gun rights advocates sounded the alarm, warning that he intended to strip them of their arms and ammunition. — And yet the opposite is happening. Mr. Obama has been largely silent on the issue …
Jonathan Darman / Newsweek:
The Quiet Dignity of Rielle Hunter — John Edwards's mistress has been surprisingly silent in public. — A small sampling of some of the things other people have said about Rielle Hunter in the two years since allegations first emerged that she was sleeping with married presidential candidate John Edwards.
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Business Channel:
Here's Why Government Stimulus Does Not Work — Here's why the government stimulus worked: it kept hundreds of thousands of Americans at work, at least. It added percentage points to GDP. It sent billions of dollars to unemployed and low income Americans to prop up private demand as consumption was ready to fall off a cliff.
Discussion:
Cafe Hayek
George Russell / Fox News:
Britain's Weather Office Proposes Climate-Gate Do-Over — At a meeting Monday of 150 climate scientists, representatives of Britain's weather office proposed that the world's climatologists start all over again and produce a new trove of global temperature data that is open to public scrutiny and “rigorous” peer review.
Catherine Philp / Times of London:
US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy — The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built. — The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy's Mayfair neighbours …
Julie Rovner / NPR:
Health Care No Stranger To Reconciliation Process … text sizeAAA — To reconcile or not to reconcile — when it comes to a health overhaul bill, that seems to be the biggest argument of the moment. — At issue is a process called budget reconciliation.
Reuters:
Home purchase loan demand at lowest since 1997 — NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage applications fell for a third straight week, with demand for home purchase loans sinking to the lowest level in 13 years as inclement weather weighed, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
CNN:
Contractors outnumber full-time workers at DHS; lawmakers ‘astounded’ — Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins call the hiring situation at the Department of Homeland Security ‘unacceptable.’. — Washington (CNN) - The Department of Homeland Security has more contractors working …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Robert B. Reich / New York Times:
Bust the Health Care Trusts — MY health insurer here in California is Anthem Blue Cross. So far, my group policy hasn't been affected by Anthem's planned rate increase of as much as 39 percent for its customers with individual policies — but the trend worries me, as it should everyone.
Hollie McKay / Fox News:
Miss Beverly Hills Lauren Ashley Opposes Same Sex Marriage — Former Miss California Carrie Prejean isn't the only beauty queen open to expressing her objection to same-sex marriage. Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley is also speaking out in support of traditional nuptials.