memeorandum: Paterson Drops Out of Governor Race (New York Times)

9:35 PM ET, February 26, 2010

Top Items:

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

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

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

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:
McCain Warns Dems on Health Care

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

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MEET THE NEW WAY FORWARD (SAME AS THE OLD WAY FORWARD). …

Discussion: The Politico, The Huffington Post and Mother Jones

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

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

New York Times:
After the Summit — The main lesson to draw from Thursday's …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Post, Don Surber, DailyHowler.com, The Atlantic Online, USA Today, PostPartisan, The Politico and Prairie Weather

Political Punch:
Is There a Plan C?: …

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, Hit & Run, Commentary, Hot Air, Pundit & Pundette and The Corner on National …

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

Discussion: The Politico

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

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 …

Discussion: The Swamp, CNN, Swampland, Top of the Ticket, Gawker and Wilshire & Washington

The Politico:

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

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: Open Left, Crooks and Liars, The Lonely Conservative, Daily Kos, Clusterstock and Suburban Guerrilla

Tuathadedannan / Associated Press:
Unemployment Extension Fails in Senate

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Democratic Strategist and Hullabaloo

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: TPM LiveWire, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Raw Story

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

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Rep. Trent Franks: African-Americans were better off under slavery.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hotline On Call

New York Times:

Paterson Drops Out of Governor Race — Gov. David A. Paterson announced on Friday afternoon that he was ending his election campaign and would not run in November. — Gov. David A. Paterson attended a town hall event held by State Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright at a community center in Harlem on Thursday.

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

Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:
Gov. David Paterson pulls plug on election bid, but will not resign: insider

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Gateway Pundit, Top of the Ticket, Another Black Conservative, Right Pundits, AOL News Collection, FiveThirtyEight, Wonkette, Advocate, Clusterstock, New York Magazine, Don Surber, Jules Crittenden, Firedoglake, Gawker, TPM LiveWire, Michelle Malkin and PoliBlog

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Ezra Klein and Washington Monthly

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?

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Joe Klein / Swampland:
The Health Care Summit

Discussion: Time, JammieWearingFool, Times of London, Associated Press and NewsBusters.org

Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
At summit, Obama mostly hears Obama

Discussion: Townhall.com and Political Wrinkles

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: The Corner on National …, Boston Globe, About.com US Liberal Politics, NewsBusters.org, Los Angeles Times, Roll Call and The Moderate Voice

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: Associated Press, ABCNEWS, CNN, 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, Breitbart.tv, The Hill, American Conservative …, Big Government, Atlas Shrugs, The Page, The Lonely Conservative and Commentary

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

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:

Discussion: Firedoglake

Brooks Jackson / FactCheck.org:

Health Care Summit Squabbles — Summary — We tuned in to watch the president's health care summit at Blair House today — all six-plus hours of it. And we weren't surprised to hear some factual missteps in the discussion: — Sen. Lamar Alexander said premiums will go up for …

Discussion: Hit & Run