Top Items:
Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Readies a Fallback Proposal — Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions — President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support …
Discussion:
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Ezra Klein:
There's no plan B for health-care reform — The Wall Street Journal has a splashy piece this evening on the White House's plan B for health-care reform: a fallback approach that would cover 15 million people, do less to reform the system and cut costs, and carry a lower price tag. Call it health-care lite.
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
More of the Same, Only More Expensive — The President has wrestled control of the health care debate away from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by finally introducing his own plan. Unfortunately, the White House's proposal includes everything we found untenable about the old Senate bill - only this one is even more expensive!
New York Times:
Preparing in Great Detail for a Health Debate, and for Its TV Audience — WASHINGTON — In convening Thursday's bipartisan health session, President Obama is angling to recreate the kind of spontaneous, unscripted debate that gave him a decided advantage when he took questions on live television …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Guardian, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Wonk Room, The Fix, The Plum Line, New York Times, Althouse and Washington Post
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Will Dr. Obama go for Plan B-1, or Plan B-2? — Dems' post-summit message: POTUS was ‘thoughtful, comprehensive,’ Rs ‘insulted the summit’ — New NYT expose may finish Gov. Paterson — EXCLUSIVE — Speaker Pelosi's prepared remarks for the Blair House summit: “[I]naction and incrementalism are simply unacceptable.
Discussion:
The Page
AOL News:
Opinion: Who's Listening to the American People? — For all the ink spilled over Thursday's health care summit, it really boils down to one question: Who is listening to the American people? — Americans want Washington to scrap this job-killing government takeover of health care and start …
Washington Post:
Democrats looking beyond health-care summit to final talks within party
Democrats looking beyond health-care summit to final talks within party
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Political Punch, The Note, Washington Times, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and The New Republic
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Tilt Against Democrats' Plans if Summit Fails
Americans Tilt Against Democrats' Plans if Summit Fails
Discussion:
The Swamp
Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: Expectations low on health summit
Poll: Expectations low on health summit
Discussion:
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New York Times:
Questions of Influence in Abuse Case of Paterson Aide — Last fall, a woman went to court in the Bronx to testify that she had been violently assaulted by a top aide to Gov. David A. Paterson, and to seek a protective order against the man. — In the ensuing months, she returned to court twice …
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Ben Smith / The Politico:
NYT report could be end for Paterson — A new report that New York Governor David Paterson and his state police bodyguards personally intervened in the domestic violence case against a close aide appears likely to end the governor's tottering political career.
R. H. Potfry / The Nose On Your Face:
Photo Emerges Of Murderous Killer Whale At Tea Party Rally — Some quick investigate reporting by the folks at Daily Kos and Democratic Underground has unearthed a photo of Tilikum, the killer whale who yesterday killed a trainer at Sea World, at a Tea Party event in Omaha, Nebraska.
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Orlando Sentinel:
SeaWorld Orlando trainer killed in whale attack — An experienced female trainer at Sea World Orlando, Dawn Brancheau, was fatally injured by one of the whales. — A SeaWorld employee died this afternoon during an incident at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium, an Orange County Sheriff's Office official confirmed.
Discussion:
theblogprof, AOL News Collection, Clusterstock, New York Magazine, Dealbreaker, Truthdig and Silicon Alley Insider
Ezra Klein:
Don't get Rep. Anthony Weiner angry — You wouldn't like him when he's angry. — Watch this through to at least the third minute, by which time a Republican has pulled a parliamentary maneuver to stop Weiner and give him a chance to take back his words, and Weiner substitutes his words for, uh, other words.
Discussion:
The Corner on National …
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Erik Wemple / City Desk:
Brauchli Confirms Print Death of “The Party” by Sally Quinn — After hours of frenzied calling and e-mailing and even a little Facebook messaging, City Desk has finally gotten someone in the know at the Washington Post to comment on the whole Sally Quinn situation. That would be the Executive Editor, Marcus Brauchli.
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Frank Gaffney / Big Government:
Can This Possibly Be True? New Obama Missile Defense Logo Includes A Crescent — The Obama administration's determined effort to reduce America's missile defense capabilities initially seemed to be just standard Leftist fare — of a piece with the Democratic base's visceral hostility …
New York Times:
C.I.A. and Pakistan Work Together, but Do So Warily — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Inside a secret detention center in an industrial pocket of the Pakistani capital called I/9, teams of Pakistani and American spies have kept a watchful eye on a senior Taliban leader captured last month.
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.
Elijah Cummings / Examiner:
Thirty-one House Dems quizzing Toyota execs got UAW campaign cash — Two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives are holding hearings this week concerning allegations of sudden acceleration problems in Toyota cars and trucks sold in this country. — Among the witnesses appearing today …
Daily Mail:
Up to 1,200 needless deaths, patients abused, staff bullied to meet targets... yet a secret inquiry into failing hospital says no one's to blame — Up to 1,200 patients died unnecessarily because of appalling care — Labour's obsession with targets and box ticking blamed for scandal
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
Greek rescue in danger as deputy prime minister attacks ‘Nazi’ Germany — Greece has greatly damaged its chances of an EU bail-out by lashing out at Germany over war-time atrocities and accusing Italy of cooking its books to hide public debt. — The escalating dispute came as a general strike …
The Corner on National Review Online:
CBO Report Was Pre-Ordained to Show the Stimulus Succeeded — By: NRO Staff — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has produced a new report estimating that the $862 billion stimulus has thus far saved or created 1.5 million jobs. Yet the CBO's calculations are not based on actually observing the economy's recent performance.
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Dems say they're down but not out — Charlie Cook is predicting that Democrats will lose their House majority in November, and Republicans are beginning to get their mouths around the words “Speaker Boehner.” — But if the Democrats themselves are panicking, you wouldn't know it from talking to them.
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Samantha Lyster / Times of London:
US refuses to endorse British sovereignty in Falklands oil dispute — Giles Whittell, Washington and James Bone, New York — Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Campaign Goes After Opponents of Gay Marriage — ALBANY — Angered by the defeat last year of a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to marry, a group of well-financed gay rights advocates has started a political action committee to take aim aggressively at state senators who have opposed same-sex marriage.
Daniel Schulman / Mother Jones:
Did Blackwater Rescue Alan Grayson in Niger? — Before joining Congress, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) was the scourge of military contractors, filing dozens of whistleblower lawsuits against companies who defrauded the government in connection with their work in Iraq.
David Harsanyi / Reason:
The Ron Paul Delusion — Why the Texas congressman does not represent the future of conservatism — What are we to make of the Republican Party's future now that libertarian Rep. Ron Paul won the presidential straw poll at the well-attended Conservative Political Action Conference last week?
The Hill:
Sen. McCain 'doesn't understand' Sen. Reid's repeated attacks on him — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday he is confused about his relationship with Harry Reid (D-Nev.), noting that the majority leader has a habit of lambasting him one day and praising him the next.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Happy Hour Roundup — * I've repeatedly noted here that the pressure is on Obama to pull off a decisive win tomorrow, because if there's no clear victor — and the public perceives the summit as more Beltway white noise — Republicans will walk away satisfied.