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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Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Tilt Against Democrats' Plans if Summit Fails — Most doubt an agreement will result from Thursday's summit — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are skeptical that lawmakers will agree on a new healthcare bill at Thursday's bipartisan healthcare summit in Washington …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Politico, Pollster.com All Content, The Moderate Voice, Swampland, New West Notes, Politics Daily, The Foundry and QandO
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.
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
The big bipartisan lie — If President Barack Obama really wanted to show he's serious about winning over Republicans on health care reform, he could offer up some key concessions at Thursday's summit, like caps on malpractice awards or allowing insurers to sell across state lines.
John Kass / Chicago Tribune:
Obama to deliver health care The Chicago Way — President Barack Obama will star in his very own televised entertainment spectacular on Thursday — let's call it Federal Health Care Kabuki Theater. — The Republicans wanted to dance. Now they'll have to step lightly.
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CNN:
The latest on Obama's health care summit
The latest on Obama's health care summit
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
At Health Care Session, Obama Stresses Areas of Agreement
At Health Care Session, Obama Stresses Areas of Agreement
Discussion:
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Ezra Klein:
Did the Congressional Budget Office find that premiums costs will go down? — Lamar Alexander and Barack Obama just had a contentious exchange on this point, so it's worth settling the issue: Yes, the CBO found health-care reform would reduce premiums. The issue gets confused because it also found …
Discussion:
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Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
First Reaction to The Health Care Summit — President Obama is so much smarter and a better communicator than members of Congress in either party. The contrast, side by side, is almost ridiculous. — Update: Good example of what I'm talking about: Lamar Alexander contradicts Obama …
CBS News:
Americans Running Out of Patience on Health Care, Polls Show — Posted by Jennifer De Pinto 4 comments - Share - - - Share - E-mail - Print - Font A recent CBS News/New York Times Poll, conducted February 5-10, finds that Americans may be running out of patience when it comes …
MiamiHerald.com:
Marco Rubio charged personal bills on GOP card — Senate candidate Marco Rubio said he reimbursed the state GOP for expenses put on an American Express card given to him by his party. — BREINHARD@MIAMIHERALD.COM — U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio charged grocery bills …
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Doug Lyons / Talk Back South Florida!:
Will Charlie Crist ditch the GOP for the U.S.Senate? — Two highly placed and independent sources, speaking strictly on background, tell me that Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for the U.S. Senate.
Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
What to Expect in November — An Update on the House of Representatives — Just about everyone agrees that Republicans will be gaining a sizeable number of U.S. House seats come November, but this far in advance, few agree on the exact number. We've seen a couple of dozen predictions so far …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Abramowitz: House Dems Doomed Even If Political Climate Changes
Abramowitz: House Dems Doomed Even If Political Climate Changes
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
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.
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 …
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City Room:
Top Paterson Official Resigns — The cabinet official who supervises the state police has resigned in the wake of a reports of intervention by the state police and Gov. David A. Paterson into a domestic-assault case against a senior Paterson aide. — The official, Denise E. O'Donnell …
Discussion:
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New York Times:
Questions of Influence in Abuse Case of Paterson Aide
Questions of Influence in Abuse Case of Paterson Aide
Discussion:
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Los Angeles Times:
Most ‘tea party’ followers are baby boomers reliving the '60s — A poll debunks assumptions about the movement, showing that it's largely middle-class, college-educated, white and male. — Oceans of ink, terabytes of blog space and an eternity of television time have been devoted …
Chris Frates / The Politico:
Truth squad: Boehner wrong to say Obama took zero GOP ideas — The office of House Minority Leader John Boehner claims that Democratic proposals “do not implement a single major GOP reform that would lower costs for families and small businesses.” — Three of the 11 pages …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Andy McCarthy / The Corner on National Review Online:
While You Are Distracted by the Summit, Obama Democrats Are Targeting the CIA — By: Andy McCarthy — The Obama Democrats have outdone themselves. — While the country and the Congress have their eyes on today's dog-and-pony show on socialized medicine, House Democrats last night stashed …
John Sides / The Monkey Cage:
CORRECTED Graph for “Conflicted Conservatives” — In comments on my first post, Marty Gilens alerts me to errors in the 2008 ANES data file that involve the spending variables that I used (noted here on their webpage). It is my fault for not having seen this.
Chris Frates / The Politico:
Republicans watching the clock — Before Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn started talking, the time of possession was: — Democrats: about 74 minutes Republicans: about 37 minutes — Post Comment — Pages — Sob stories take longer to tell than ideas and facts.
Discussion:
Townhall.com
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Michael Steele says Obama should have held a summit a year ago. Then it's pointed out to him that in fact he did. — Michael Steele went on MSNBC this morning before the health-care summit and began attacking President Obama for a “dog and pony show” — and claimed that the president …
Discussion:
Think Progress
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.
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
The Myth of the Incumbent 50% Rule — I don't like criticizing our good friends over at Pollster.com, but a Tuesday article by Pollster correspondent Robert Moran, also the Executive Vice President at StrategyOne, espouses a bit of conventional wisdom which happens to be completely wrong.
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Former police officer pleads guilty to Danziger Bridge shooting cover-up of stunning breadth — Laura Maggi and Brendan McCarthy wrote this story — Admitting a cover-up of shocking breadth, a former New Orleans police supervisor pleaded guilty to a federal obstruction charge on Wednesday …