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.
Discussion:
delawareonline, Boston Herald, Jules Crittenden, Commentary, Wall Street Journal and The Hill
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 …
Washington Post:
Democrats looking beyond health-care summit to final talks within party — Congressional Democrats are already looking beyond the White House health-care summit, reckoning that Thursday's session will amount to little more than political theater and focusing instead on a final round …
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!
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.
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 …
Washington Post:
A viewer's guide to the health-care summit
A viewer's guide to the health-care summit
Discussion:
PostPartisan, Time, Prairie Weather, The Page, Pajamas Media, The Atlantic Politics Channel and NewsBusters.org
Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: Expectations low on health summit
Poll: Expectations low on health summit
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Politics Daily, Guardian, CentristNet, Washington Post, Marathon Pundit, The Hill, Moonbattery, Political Punch, The Politico and Hot Air
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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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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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
Discussion:
Right Wing Nut House, Don Surber, Dean's World, The Strata-Sphere, Left Coast Rebel and Weasel Zippers
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David Rose / Times of London:
Stafford Hospital caused ‘unimaginable suffering’
Stafford Hospital caused ‘unimaginable suffering’
Discussion:
Power Line
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 …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, MiamiHerald.com, msnbc.com, TPMDC, USA Today, National Review Online, The Daily Caller, The Eye and Real Clear Politics
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.
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Ben Frumin / TPM LiveWire:
Weiner: Every GOPer I Know Is A ‘Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Of The Insurance Industry’ (VIDEO) — A must-watch performance on the House floor today from Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY). — “You gotta love these Republicans,” Weiner said. “I mean, you guys have chutzpah.
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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 …
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 …
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.
Fox News:
New Jobless Claims Jumped to 496,000 as Heavy Snow Caused Rise in Layoffs — The number of new claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week as heavy snows caused layoffs to rise.
New York Times:
Banks Bet Greece Defaults on Debt They Helped Hide — Bets by some of the same banks that helped Greece shroud its mounting debts may actually now be pushing the nation closer to the brink of financial ruin. — Echoing the kind of trades that nearly toppled the American International Group …
Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
Olbermann swings back at Mediaite (and Abrams) — Keith Olbermann called Mediaite “gullible” earlier this week for questioning if there's a lack of diversity on MSNBC and calling attention to a critical video from the Dallas Tea Party. And last night the “Countdown” host followed up by awarding …
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.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Not in Vermont's Back Yard — Trouble at the nuclear renaissance: … This highlights why I think all this talk about nuclear loan guarantees from the Obama administration or new subsidies as part of a climate/energy bill is a bit misguided. The problems with nuclear power in the United States …
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