memeorandum: White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to step down (Lynn Sweet)

11:50 AM ET, February 27, 2010

Top Items:

Alexei Barrionuevo / New York Times:

8.8-Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Chile — RIO DE JANEIRO — A massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, shaking the capital of Santiago for 90 seconds and sending tsunami warnings from Chile to Ecuador. — Chile's TVN cable news channel was reporting 78 deaths, with the toll expected to rise.

Discussion: Guardian, FP Passport, The Lonely Conservative, MyDD, Hot Air, Vanity Fair, TalkLeft, The Confluence, Breitbart.tv, Matthew Yglesias, Fausta's Blog, American Power and The Agonist

CNN:

Powerful earthquake rattles Chile; tsunami warning issued — (CNN) — An magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. — The quake's epicenter was located near the city of Concepcion, 212 miles (341 kilometers) from the capital of Santiago.

Discussion: Achenblog, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Clusterstock, EW.com, The Moderate Voice and Pam's House Blend

Robert Mackey / The Lede:

Latest Updates on Earthquake in Chile — A map showing the location of Saturday's 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Chile from the Web site of the U.S. Geological Survey. … About one hour ago, Reuters reported that a bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Gateway Pundit

Reuters:

Huge earthquake batters Chile, 78 dead — SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - A massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck south-central Chile early on Saturday, killing at least 78 people, knocking down homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami. — Buildings caught fire and residents huddled …

Discussion: Clusterstock, Scared Monkeys and Political Wrinkles

BBC:

Massive earthquake strikes Chile — A massive earthquake has hit central Chile, killing at least 82 people, the interior minister says. — The 8.8 magnitude quake struck at 0634 GMT about 115km (70 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital, Santiago.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News and Docudharma

Associated Press:

Huge quake hits Chile; tsunami threatens Pacific — TALCA, Chile - A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Fox News:

Massive Magnitude 8.8 Quake Hits Chile, Killing Over 80 — BREAKING NEWS — President Michele Bachelet declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, killing over 80. — The most powerful quake to hit the country …

Andy McCarthy / The Corner on National Review Online:

Transformation — By: Andy McCarthy — On Sean's panel last night, when the conversation turned to how nervous Democrats supposedly are over what for now is teeing up like a very bad November, I felt like I was channeling Mark Steyn, Mark Levin and Rush. That is, I think our side is analyzing …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Power Line

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Democrats to Press Health Bill With Simple Majority — WASHINGTON — Seeing no prospect of a bipartisan agreement on health care, Congressional Democrats said Friday that they would make another effort to pass sweeping health care legislation on their own. — If anything, Democrats said …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Right Pundits, The Caucus, Pundit & Pundette and Hit & Run

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Coburn warns against majority-vote tactic in weekly Republican address — Should Democrats use the budget reconciliation process to pass healthcare reform, it would fly in the face of public opinion, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said in the Republicans' weekly address.

Discussion: The Swamp, CNN and The Politico

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.

Discussion: New York Times, Salon, American Power, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Hotline On Call and Firedoglake

Mike Stark / StarkReports.com:
Bipartisanship is dead — At yesterday's health care discussion …

Discussion: Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, TPM LiveWire, The Hill and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online and Matthew Yglesias

Elizabeth Landau / CNN:

Liberalism, atheism linked to IQ — (CNN) — Political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence, a new study finds. — Evolutionary psychologist Satoshi Kanazawa at the the London School of Economics and Political Science correlated data on these behaviors with IQ …

Discussion: The Mahablog and Don Surber

Lynn Sweet:

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: Fausta's Blog, Vanity Fair, Left Coast Rebel, Michelle Malkin, ABCNEWS, Swampland, Newsweek Blogs, New York Magazine, Mediaite, The Page, The Atlantic Online, Gawker, The Lonely Conservative, Ben Smith's Blog and No Sheeples Here

The Politico:
Desiree Rogers will resign

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

Lynn Sweet / Politics Daily:
Desiree Rogers To Step Down As White House Social Secretary

Discussion: Lynn Sweet, Vanity Fair, NewsReal Blog and Political Punch

Bruce Bartlett / Forbes:

How To Clean Up The Tax Code — Does Wyden-Gregg point the way? — On Feb. 23 Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) introduced S. 3018, a bill to reform the federal income tax. Unlike utopian reform ideas such as the flat tax, which would tear the existing tax system …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online and Ezra Klein

The Politico:

Sen. Jim Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’ — Increasingly, more Democratic senators came to engage in the debate - and increasingly, those Democrats were angry. — “It is simply unfair for one senator to attempt to hold the Senate hostage on this issue,” Durbin said.

Discussion: CNN, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Democratic Strategist

Tuathadedannan / Associated Press:
Unemployment Extension Fails in Senate

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

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: Mother Jones, The Huffington Post and Daily Kos