Top Items:
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Obama's health reform gamble raises questions of judgment — On health-care reform, the strategy of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders is psychologically understandable — as well as delusional. — It is easy to imagine the internal dialogue: “Well, they voted for me, overwhelmingly.
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Conrad: Health Care ‘Dead’ Unless House Passes Senate Bill First — The Senate Democrats' top budget guy told reporters today that the Senate can't pass a reconciliation package tweaking a comprehensive health care bill unless the House passes the Senate bill first.
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Jeb Bush On Sarah Palin: If She Only Had A Brain... (VIDEO) — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has some advice for Sarah Palin: You'd be a great, if you only had a brain. — In a recent interview with Newsmax, Bush was asked whether he thought Palin was a viable candidate for president.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress, Washington Monthly and Riehl World View
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Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Bush: Crist ‘unforgivable’ on stimulus support
Bush: Crist ‘unforgivable’ on stimulus support
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Ben Pershing / Washington Post:
Senate passes $15 billion jobs bill on bipartisan vote — The Senate easily passed a $15 billion jobs bill on Wednesday morning amid hope that the measure could provide a blueprint for other items on President Obama's agenda. — The measure passed 70 to 28, with 13 Republicans joining 57 Democrats in support of the package.
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James Wolcott / Vanity Fair:
The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Salon — Vanity Fair colleague Michael Wolff, though not a licensed clinician or chiropodist, renders what seems to me an inarguable diagnosis of the current conservative condition, i.e., they've gone loco: — Having whipped themselves into dishrag fatigue …
Buford T Justice / Breitbart.tv:
OBAMA & DEMS IN ‘05: 51 VOTE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ IS ‘ARROGANT’ POWER GRAB AGAINST THE FOUNDERS’ INTENT — Biden: “I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don't make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Top Palin aide resigns — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's senior adviser and spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton has resigned, POLITICO has learned. — Stapleton has been a Palin confidant since December 2006 and one of the governor's most trusted aides since she was vaulted onto …
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:
Bloomberg, New York Times, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway, CentristNet, Swampland, Jules Crittenden, JammieWearingFool, National Review Online, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, Politics Daily, The Page, Hotline On Call, PoliBlog, The Lonely Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, msnbc.com, Pundit & Pundette, Confederate Yankee and CNN
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Arnold: Tea parties will ‘disappear’ — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that the tea party movement is “not going anywhere.” — Schwarzenegger, speaking Tuesday night with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren, said the grass-roots movement is only “an expression of anger and disappointment.”
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Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Miss Beverly Hills tries to one-up Carrie Prejean, says it's divine law that gays be put to death. — Last year, Miss California Carrie Prejean endeared herself to the right wing when she answered a question about same-sex marriage by saying that she believes marriage “should be between a man and a woman.”
Discussion:
Fox News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Lean Left, Towleroad News #gay, Feministing and Pam's House Blend
Rasmussen Reports:
Congressional Performance — 71% Give Congress Poor Rating — Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job. — That's up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago.
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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 …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
One Of Obama's Great Achievements May Be Unraveling — Was it only two weeks ago that Joe Biden explained that Iraq was on track to become “one of the great achievements” of the Obama Administration? Now Thomas Ricks, author of “Fiasco” and “The Gamble”, warns us of the fragile stability …
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Thomas E. Ricks / New York Times:
Extending Our Stay in Iraq
Extending Our Stay in Iraq
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, RealClearWorld, Mudville Gazette, Progressive Fix, Cato @ Liberty, Foreign Policy and ATTACKERMAN
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?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Commentary, PERRspectives, Gateway Pundit, BLACKFIVE, Main Justice and Raw Story
James Hider / Times of London:
Son of Hamas founder spied for Israel for more than a decade — The son of one of Hamas's founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged today.
Duke Helfand / Los Angeles Times:
Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with rate hikes in California — Executives at the health insurer and its parent firm, WellPoint, defend increases of as much as 39% in a hearing before an Assembly panel. The changes are slated to go into effect May 1.
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Matt Sucherman / The Official Google Blog:
Serious threat to the web in Italy — In late 2006, students at a school in Turin, Italy filmed and then uploaded a video to Google Video that showed them bullying an autistic schoolmate. The video was totally reprehensible and we took it down within hours of being notified by the Italian police.
Discussion:
Guardian, BBC, Cato @ Liberty, BuzzMachine, Silicon Alley Insider, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable!, NewTeeVee, TechCrunch and Gawker
George Pantos / Orange County Register:
Technology can lower health insurance costs … With his health care overhaul stalled, President Barack Obama has challenged America to come up with alternatives. “You got a better idea? Bring it on,” he recently announced. A televised summit meeting on health care ideas is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25.
Dan Senor / NY Post: Knickerbocker:
Exclusive: Ex-Bush adviser Dan Senor weighing run against Gillibrand as Republican — Dan Senor, the husband of CNN's Campbell Brown and a former Bush administration foreign policy adviser, is eyeing a run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, The Knickerbocker has learned.
Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize — The mother of a 13-year-old Montgomery County middle school student is demanding an apology from a teacher who had school police escort the youngster from a classroom for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Yelp Hit With Class Action Lawsuit For Running An “Extortion Scheme” — Two law firms, Beck & Lee from Miami and The Weston Firm in San Diego, have filed a class action lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court alleging unfair business practices by local business review and rating website operator Yelp.
Erik Wemple / City Desk:
Breaking: Could “The Party” Be Over? — Update 2:28: Newsroom rumors are running fierce right now. But it's tough to nail any sort of confirmation on where the column stands. Will keep pounding. — Update 1:45: Have made several calls to the very top crust of Post newsroom management.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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 …
Capital Journal:
Is Sarah Palin the 2012 Version of Jesse Jackson in 1988? — Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics. Click here for Mr. Brown's full bio.
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 …