memeorandum: TR: The conservatives' new demon (Michael Gerson/Washington Post)

5:05 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, Liberal Values, Top of the Ticket, Think Progress, Wonk Room, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, RedState, Indecision Forever and Grim's Hall

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

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: Daily Kos and TPMDC

Reuters:
Jim Bunning Repeatedly Blocks Unemployment Benefits Extension …

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

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Greenwald, Weiner Talk Health Care on Morning Joe: No Reason …

Discussion: Economix

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPM LiveWire and Daily Kos

Political Punch:
Is There a Plan C?: …

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

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, Jules Crittenden, Los Angeles Times, Suburban Guerrilla, Blue Virginia, Prairie Weather, TalkLeft, GOP.gov Blog, The Atlantic Online, 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: Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, Pundit & Pundette and QandO

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

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

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

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

Tunku Varadarajan / The Daily Beast:
What Was Obama Thinking?

Discussion: Newsweek Blogs, Power Line and Weekly Standard

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

Discussion: Times of London, Time, The Foundry, Swampland and Political Wrinkles

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
David Gergen on the summit: Republicans had their best day in years

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters.org, theblogprof, CBS News, RedState, Commentary, Slate, DaTechguy's Blog, The Confluence, The Other McCain, Outside The Beltway and FrumForum

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

The Politico:
Desiree Rogers will resign

Discussion: Gawker and Wilshire & Washington

CNN: White House social secretary to step down

Peter Baker / The Caucus:
Obama Gives Cheney a Call

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Politics Daily and New York Magazine

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 …

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

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

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

New York Times:
Paterson Drops Out of Governor Race

Discussion: USA Today, Wonkette, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Truthdig, The Save Jersey Blog and The Page

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

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 …

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

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

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Gregg: Reconciliation Is The Rule Of The Senate (VIDEO) — Republicans are doing everything they can to convince the media and the public that using the budget reconciliation process to finish health care would be a grave crime against democracy. — But reconciliation is part of the Senate rules.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ezra Klein:
Judd Gregg: 'If you've got 51 votes, you win'

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Open Congress and Guardian

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

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

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

Discussion: Blue Virginia

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, Associated Press, ABCNEWS, TPMMuckraker, The Corner on National … and TPMDC

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

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

Erica Ogg / CNET News:

Al Gore a lightning rod at Apple shareholder meeting — CUPERTINO, Calif.—The presence of one of the world's pre-eminent environmentalists at Apple's shareholder meeting Thursday was the subject of much of the morning's pointed discussion. — As expected, Apple's attitude on environmental …

Discussion: Another Black Conservative and Gateway Pundit

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 and Silicon Alley Insider

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Pawlenty heading back to Iowa — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) will travel to the key presidential nominating state of Iowa for a rally on taxes. — Pawlenty will keynote an event sponsored by Iowans for Tax Relief on Saturday, April 17th, the group announced Friday.

Discussion: CNN and Ben Smith's Blog