memeorandum: McCain Warns Dems on Health Care (Huma Khan/ABCNEWS)

6:05 PM ET, February 26, 2010

Top Items:

Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’ — Senate Democrats spent Thursday night hammering away at Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) for single-handedly holding up action in the upper chamber - but he blurted out a message to one of them on the Senate floor: “Tough s—t.”

Discussion: The Caucus, TPMDC, Swampland, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, Democracy in America, Top of the Ticket, Think Progress, Wonk Room, Liberal Values, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Indecision Forever, RedState, Grim's Hall and Raw Story

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Top Dem chairman signals House will act first on healthcare — The House could act first to pass a healthcare bill within the next month, a top House chairman signaled Thursday. — Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a close ally …

Discussion: TPMDC, CNN, The Politico, The Swamp, Citizentube, RedState and AmSpecBlog

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

Reuters:

Jim Bunning Repeatedly Blocks Unemployment Benefits Extension, Tells Dem ‘Tough S**t’ — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos and Clusterstock

Tuathadedannan / Associated Press:
Unemployment Extension Fails in Senate

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Reconciliation Ball Moves Forward...

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPM LiveWire, Daily Kos and CNN

The Politico:
Sen. Jim Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’

Discussion: Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Democratic Strategist

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 …

Discussion: Time, Boston Globe, The Corner on National …, About.com US Liberal Politics and NewsBusters.org

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Afflicting the Afflicted — If we're lucky, Thursday's summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill. If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Ezra Klein, Roll Call, Washington Post, Suburban Guerrilla, Los Angeles Times, Jules Crittenden, TalkLeft, Blue Virginia, Prairie Weather, The Atlantic Online, GOP.gov Blog, Dennis the Peasant, The Other McCain and The Corner on National …

Darleen Click / protein wisdom:

Full speed off the cliff — A roundup of reactions of Obama's Kabuki Theatre yesterday here. — Not that any minds were changed. Obama kept trying to strike a pose for the cameras as Serious Contemplator — stroking his chin, pursing lips, scribbling notes, picking his nose …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Michelle Malkin and NewsBusters.org

Brooks Jackson / FactCheck.org:
Health Care Summit Squabbles

Discussion: Hit & Run and Washington Post

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
At summit, Republicans prove they aren't putting America's health first

Discussion: New York Times, The Washington Independent, The Politico, USA Today, The Moderate Voice and Ezra Klein

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU.... The stated goal of the White House summit …

Discussion: TPMDC, The Plum Line, The Fix, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CBS News, Shakesville, Balkinization and The Moderate Voice

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 …

Discussion: Politics Daily, ABCNEWS, Michelle Malkin, Ben Smith's Blog, Vanity Fair, The Lonely Conservative, New York Magazine, Swampland, Newsweek Blogs, The Page, Mediaite, No Sheeples Here and Political Punch

The Politico:
Desiree Rogers will resign

Discussion: The Swamp, Gawker and Wilshire & Washington

CNN: White House social secretary to step down

Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:

Gov. David Paterson pulls plug on election bid, but will not resign: insider — Embattled Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday. — Paterson will announce the decision later Friday. — Paterson has been under fire for having contacted …

New York Times:
Paterson Drops Out of Governor Race

Discussion: USA Today, Room for Debate, Main Justice, RHRealityCheck.org, Wonkette, The Nation, The Daily Beast, The Save Jersey Blog, The Page, Truthdig and Newsweek Blogs

Danny Hakim / City Room:
Paterson to Drop Out of Race for Governor

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Guardian, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Fix, SpeakEasy, Above the Law, Politics Daily, The Note, Mediaite, The Hill, TPM LiveWire, The Lonely Conservative and MyDD

NY Daily News:
Editorial: For everyone's sake, please go, Gov. Paterson

Discussion: Hotline On Call, New York Times, Gothamist, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Ben Smith's Blog

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:

McCain Warns Dems on Health Care — Former GOP Presidential Candidate Says Democrats Need to Start Over on Health Care — President Obama's health care summit was a good opportunity for Americans to consider the contentious issue, but passing a Senate bill with 51 votes …

Discussion: The Impolitic, AMERICAblog News, The Foundry, Hot Air, George's Bottom Line and The Note

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

MEET THE NEW WAY FORWARD (SAME AS THE OLD WAY FORWARD).... The road to legislative success on health care reform has been readily apparent for several weeks: the House passes the Senate bill, the Senate approves changes through reconciliation. It's been the pass-the-damn-bill solution since last month's unpleasantness in Massachusetts.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Mike Allen / The Politico:
One last health-reform sprint: House, Senate race to an Easter …

Discussion: CNN, Swampland, The Note, Think Progress, Mediaite and White House.gov Blog Feed

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.”

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Open Congress and Guardian

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Gregg: Reconciliation Is The Rule Of The Senate (VIDEO)

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Bill Frist / Wall Street Journal:
A Historic and Dangerous Senate Mistake

Discussion: The Politico, Matthew Yglesias, Think Progress, New York Times and The Hill

Teddy Partridge / Firedoglake:
Judd Gregg Loved Reconciliation, Defended It on Senate Floor in 2005

Discussion: Blue Virginia

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 …

Discussion: The New Republic

Political Punch:
Is There a Plan C?: …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Commentary and The Corner on National …

Jared Allen / The Hill:
Democratic leaders scramble to find support for Senate job-creation bill

Discussion: The Politico

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: CNN, Don Surber, Associated Press, ABCNEWS, TPMMuckraker, The Corner on National …, TPMDC and USA Today

Jared Allen / The Hill:
Pelosi sticks with Rangel, notes ethics committee ‘did not take action’

Discussion: The Politico, The Hill, Big Government, The Page, The Lonely Conservative, Atlas Shrugs and Commentary

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.

Discussion: The Hill, Think Progress and TPM LiveWire

Walid Zafar / Media Matters Action Network:
Rep. Trent Franks: Blacks Better Off Under Slavery

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

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,” …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Weasel Zippers and HotAirPundit

Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:

Facebook Patents The News Feed (Updated) — On Tuesday, Facebook was awarded a major patent for “Dynamically providing a news feed about a user of a social network”. This is a huge deal for a number of reasons, most significantly that it grants Facebook the opportunity to pursue …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Scripting News and Silicon Alley Insider