Top Items:
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 …
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama To GOP: It's Over — Obama listened politely for six hours, with occasional flashes of temper, but in the end, the message was clear: It's over. We're moving forward without Republicans. — Whether Obama and Dems will succeed in passing reform on their own is anything but assured, to put it mildly.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
David Gergen on the summit: Republicans had their best day in years — Via Hengler, a succinct statement of Jay Nordlinger's point and of what I suspect will be the media consensus tomorrow. Not the only kind words he had for the GOP either: … I don't think they seriously expected …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU.... The stated goal of the White House summit on health care was to have a conversation. President Obama wanted to talk with lawmakers from both parties about areas of agreement and disagreement. He may have even held out some hope that Republicans would show more flexibility …
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
At summit, Republicans prove they aren't putting America's health first — I'm not sure what else was accomplished at Thursday's Blair House summit, but surely one result is that we learned what Republican “leaders” really think about health care and health insurance.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Washington Independent, USA Today, The Politico, The Moderate Voice and Ezra Klein
Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
At summit, Obama mostly hears Obama — President Obama pledged to “listen” at the outset of his much-ballyhooed bipartisan health care summit on Thursday. Turns out he meant he'd be listening to his own voice. — By the end of the televised event, Mr. Obama had spoken for 119 minutes …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Top Dem chairman signals House will act first on healthcare
Top Dem chairman signals House will act first on healthcare
Discussion:
TPMDC
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 …
RELATED:
Danny Hakim / City Room:
Paterson to Drop Out of Race for Governor — Gov. David A. Paterson is set to announce that he will not seek election in the wake of reports that he and the State Police intervened in a domestic-assault case against a senior aide, according to a person told about the plans.
NY Daily News:
Editorial: For everyone's sake, please go, Gov. Paterson — Like most New Yorkers, the Daily News greeted David Paterson's ascension to the governorship with best wishes and fervent hope for success in endeavors suddenly assumed. Today, just shy of two years later, we urge Paterson to step down immediately.
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, New York Times and New York Magazine
Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
Paterson Gets Some Sobering Advice on His Political Future — ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday night that as he weighed his political future, he was seeking counsel from elected officials across the state. But the first few hours of that listening effort offered some sobering advice.
The Politico:
Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’ — Kentucky Republican blocks efforts to approve a series of extensions before they expire this weekend.
Discussion:
Reuters, Swampland, Top of the Ticket, The Moderate Voice, TPMDC, TalkLeft, RedState, Wonk Room and Eschaton
RELATED:
The Caucus:
Bunning Blocks Jobless Aid in Senate — Updated The Senate clash over the unemployment benefits ended just before midnight Thursday with Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, refusing to lift his objection, meaning the jobless aid - for however short a time - will run out Sunday night unless a deal is reached Friday.
Mike Allen / The Politico:
One last health-reform sprint: House, Senate race to an Easter deadline for ‘the big bill’ — Mitch ‘The Knife’ Daniels eyes '12 prez run — N.Y. tabs say Paterson must go — BREAKING — George W. Bush, whose book will be out Nov. 8, at this morning's closed-door Bush-Cheney alumni reunion breakfast …
RELATED:
Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
MSNBC Talker: Let's Rip Out Cheney's Heart — SAY HI TO MIKE — With Deranged Cheney Rant, Ed Moves Into Malloy Territory — *** CAUGHT-ON-TAPE EXCLUSIVE *** — *** NEWSBUSTERS REACTS *** — With his cable talk show preempted for Olympics coverage this week …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, The Corner on National …, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and NewsBusters.org
RELATED:
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Rangel ethics violations charged — Longtime Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York said he was “saving the best for last” when he finally was called on to speak near the end of President Barack Obama's daylong bipartisan healthcare summit yesterday. — But a long day was not over for the Democrat …
RELATED:
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Defeated congresswoman's car still in House parking lot — more than 3 years later — even though she's a registered lobbyist — Former Rep. Melissa Hart may have hit the road and gone back home to Pittsburgh in 2006 when she lost her bid for re-election, but it appears that a car …
Kim Zetter / Threat Level:
Military Monitored Planned Parenthood, Supremacists — The U.S. military monitored Planned Parenthood and a white supremacist group as part of the government's security preparations for the 2002 Olympics in Utah, according to new documents released by the Department of Defense.
RELATED:
Eric Dash / New York Times:
On Wall Street, a Romance With Curling — Wall Street trading is often described as a blood sport. But inside the great investment houses, the sport of the moment is, of all things, curling — that oddball of the Olympics that is sort of like shuffleboard on ice.
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Plan to Seek Use of U.S. Contracts as a Wage Lever — The Obama administration is planning to use the government's enormous buying power to prod private companies to improve wages and benefits for millions of workers, according to White House officials and several interest groups briefed on the plan.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Marginal Revolution, EconLog, Grim's Hall, Economist's View and Dennis the Peasant