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Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Greenwald, Weiner Talk Health Care on Morning Joe: No Reason Not to Vote on Public Option — I still don't think the Senate/White House bill is going anywhere, either with or without a public option, for reasons I've outlined before — though some seem to be hell-bent on forcing House Democrats to throw themselves on its funeral pyre.
Discussion:
Economix
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Ezra Klein:
Judd Gregg: 'If you've got 51 votes, you win' — “The point is this,” Sen. Judd Gregg says in this 2005 defense of the Republicans' use of the budget reconciliation process. “If you've got 51 votes, you win.” — The idea “that it is outside the rules to proceed within the rules,” Gregg laughs, “is a very unique view on the rules.”
Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:McCain Warns Dems on Health Care
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News, Hot Air, The Impolitic, The Foundry, George's Bottom Line and The Note
Mike Stark / StarkReports.com:
Bipartisanship is dead — At yesterday's health care discussion, Louise Slaughter told a moving story. — An elderly woman needed dentures but couldn't afford them. Her sister had dentures. When she passed, the surviving sister “inherited” the dentures and used them as her own.
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Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Rep. Trent Franks: African-Americans were better off under slavery. — Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) — one of the most conservative member of Congress, according to a new National Journal ranking — decried the strained state of political discourse in an interview today with blogger-activist Mike Stark.
Walid Zafar / Media Matters Action Network:Rep. Trent Franks: Blacks Better Off Under Slavery
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun Times:
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to step down — WASHINGTON—White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers told me Friday she will step down next month, after presiding over 330 events in the White House in 14 months. — Rogers is departing after achieving a major goal …
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The Politico:
Desiree Rogers will resign — White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will leave her post next month, according to a White House source, months after she drew criticism for a major security breach at a state dinner in November. — The leading candidate to replace Rogers is Julianna Smoot …
Tuathadedannan / Associated Press:
Unemployment Extension Fails in Senate — GOP Sen. Jim Bunning Blocks Action over Concerns About Swelling Deficit — (AP) The Senate failed late Thursday to extend programs for laid-off workers, jeopardizing unemployment benefits scheduled to expire over the weekend.
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The Politico:
Dems call for Rangel's gavel — After months of holding ranks, Democrats are finally turning on House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) in the wake of an ethics committee finding that he violated House rules by accepting a Caribbean junket. — Early Friday, Rep. Paul Hodes …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN, Associated Press, The Corner on National …, TPMMuckraker, TPMDC and USA Today
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Jared Allen / The Hill:Pelosi sticks with Rangel, notes ethics committee ‘did not take action’
Discussion:
The Politico, Big Government, The Hill, Atlas Shrugs, The Lonely Conservative and The Page
New York Times:
Under Fire, Paterson Ends His Campaign for Governor — Gov. David A. Paterson ended his campaign for election on Friday amid crumbling support from his party and an uproar over his administration's intervention in a domestic violence case involving a close aide. — Post-Paterson, how can the mess in Albany be made manageable?
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NY Daily News:Gov. David Paterson makes it official: He's not running
Discussion:
New York Post, Gateway Pundit, The Washington Independent, Right Pundits, AOL News Collection, Top of the Ticket, Another Black Conservative, Wonkette, New York Magazine, FiveThirtyEight, Advocate, Clusterstock, Ben Smith's Blog, Don Surber, Jules Crittenden, Gawker, Firedoglake and TPM LiveWire
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Ben Nelson: Dems may have to abandon comprehensive health bill, go step-by-step — Democrats may have to abandon their effort for comprehensive healthcare legislation in favor of a piecemeal approach, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Friday. — Nelson, a centrist Democrat whose vote is critical …
Mihemed Eli Zalla / hrtribune.net:
Hundreds of Chilldren Found in Mass Grave — A number of Kurdish coffins found in a mass grave in the South of Iraq — Three mass graves were discovered in the sub district of Dubiz in Kirkuk. Announced the Kurdish daily news paper ASO on Sunday, Feb.21st.
Discussion:
Pundit & Pundette
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Professor Obama schools lawmakers on health-care reform — Republicans had been hesitant to accept President Obama's invitation to participate in Thursday's White House health-care summit. Their hesitance turned out to be justified. — An equal number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers …
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Michelle Andrews / Prescriptions:
Deaths Rising for Lack of Insurance, Study Finds — As members of the Obama administration and Congress met on Thursday to try to find common ground on health care, a new report warned that without comprehensive legislation, more than 275,000 adults nationwide will die over the next decade because of a lack of health insurance.
The Atlantic Online:
Thoughts on the Health Care Summit — So, the health care summit. What do we think? — Well, like the rest of the press, I think it was a phenomenal waste of time, if you thought we were maybe going to make some kind of policy progress. What did we learn from the summit?
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Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Pawlenty: Let ER's turn away patients to cut costs — I missed this the other night but Phoenix Woman over at FDL didn't. Isn't this special? Governor Gutshot to Impoverished ER Patients: Get the Hell out!: … From The Hill — Pawlenty: Let ER's turn away patients to cut costs:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Bush endorses Cheney role — For the first time, former President George W. Bush has said publicly that he approves of former Vice President Dick Cheney's high-profile role in defending the past administration's national security policies. — “I'm glad Cheney is out there,” …
Dan Zak / Washington Post:
Coffee Party activists say their civic brew's a tastier choice than Tea Party's — Furious at the tempest over the Tea Party — the scattershot citizen uprising against big government and wild spending — Annabel Park did what any American does when she feels her voice has been drowned out …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, No More Mister Nice Blog, Left Coast Rebel, Moonbattery, The Caucus, American Power, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org and Coffee Party
Donna Bowater / Daily Express:
WEATHER: HOTTEST JANUARY EVER SAY CLIMATE EXPERTS — CLIMATE scientists yesterday stunned Britons suffering the coldest winter for 30 years by claiming last month was the hottest January the world has ever seen. — The remarkable claim, based on global satellite data …
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American Conservative …
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