Top Items:
The World Newser:
Sen. Bunning is Angry: ‘This Is a Senators Only Elevator!’ — ABC's Jonathan Karl and Z. Byron Wolf report from Washington: — An angry Senator Jim Bunning refused to answer questions from ABC News about his decision to block a bill extending unemployment benefits.
Discussion:
The Swamp, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, The Plum Line and Washington Post
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CNN:
Republican senator gives journalist the middle finger — An angry Sen. Jim Bunning refused to answer questions from CNN and ABC News Monday afternoon. An ABC News producer who was there says Bunning gave him the middle finger in response to a question. — Washington (CNN) …
Discussion:
Raw Story
The Note:
Sen. Bunning Single-handedly Causes 2,000 Federal Worker Furloughs — ABC News' Lisa Stark reports: Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., didn't just stop extensions of unemployment and health insurance benefits with his “hold' on these funding measures last week, he also stopped an extension of the Highway Trust Fund for 30 days.
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Top Democrats look to shame Bunning on unemployment benefits filibuster — Top Democrats sought to shame Republican Sen. Jim Bunning (Ky.) for holding up a 30-day extension in unemployment benefits before the Senate. — Democrats took Bunning to task for what they said was an “abuse” …
Discussion:
The Politico
The Huffington Post:
Bunning Objects To Extending Unemployment Insurance AGAIN (VIDEO)
Bunning Objects To Extending Unemployment Insurance AGAIN (VIDEO)
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Confluence, AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly, Swampland and Open Left
Major Garrett / Row 2, Seat 4:
Obama to introduce health care bill Wednesday, “much smaller” than House version — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday President Obama will soon propose a health care bill that will be “much smaller” than the House bill but “big enough” to put the country on a “path” toward health care reform.
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The Note:
Pelosi Catches a Break: House Magic Number Set to Drop to 216 — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Democrats may or may not be advancing the ball on health care reform. But the goal line is set to move a little closer. — Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., announced today that he plans to resign his seat …
The Politico:
Pelosi's brutal reality check — Asked this weekend to grade her performance as speaker, Nancy Pelosi gave herself an “A for effort.” — But Pelosi knows that the real test is still to come. — Pelosi is inarguably one of the strongest speakers in modern history …
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Roll Call, Hit & Run, Don Surber, Ruby Slippers, Commentary, The Lonely Conservative, Wall Street Journal, The Moderate Voice, The Foundry, The Caucus, Raw Story, Jules Crittenden, The Note, Pundit & Pundette, Riehl World View, The Corner on National … and American Power
Ezra Klein:
A reconciliation primer — It is amazing how few reporters understand what the budget reconciliation process is: Either how it works, or what it's traditionally been used for, or what Democrats are proposing to use it for. That confusion creates comical exchanges like this one …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Washington Monthly, Politico Live's Blog, Open Congress, PERRspectives and Washington Post
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Ann Althouse / Althouse:
How many beers a day would Obama need to be drinking before his doctor would recommend “moderation of alcohol intake”? — Drudge picks out this bit from Obama's health report: — The link goes to this report — which stresses the advice to “continue smoking cessation efforts” (which means he's still smoking, apparently) — and ends:
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Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:
Doctors tell Barack Obama to quit smoking — The american president has been trying to kick the habit for sometime, apart from the smoking he is in excellent health — Barack Obama is still struggling to kick smoking, according to his first medical examination since becoming president.
Steven R. Hurst / Associated Press:
Analysis: Republicans setting filibuster record — WASHINGTON — The filibuster — tool of obstruction in the U.S. Senate — is alternately blamed and praised for wilting President Barack Obama's ambitious agenda. Some even say it's made the nation ungovernable. — Maybe, maybe not.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, AMERICAblog News, Baltimore Sun, MyDD, Ezra Klein, Daily Kos, PERRspectives, Taegan Goddard's … and ACS Blog
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Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Halter declares against Lincoln — Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is moving ahead with a primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, he announced Monday. — “Washington is broken,” Halter said in a video on his campaign website. “Bailing out Wall Street with no strings attached …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Crooks and Liars, ArkansasTimes, TPMDC, FiveThirtyEight, RedState, Hot Air, Politics Daily and Daily Kos
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Gun case presents quandary for Supreme Court justices — As a member of the Junior ROTC, teenager Antonin Scalia toted his rifle on the subway ride back and forth to Queens. As a hunter, he speaks lyrically of stalking wild turkeys. And as a justice, he may have reached the pinnacle …
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Ross Douthat / New York Times:
A Republican Surprise — Set a group of plugged-in conservatives to talking presidential politics, and you'll get the same complaints about the 2012 field. — Mitt Romney? He couldn't make the voters like him last time ... Sarah Palin? She'd lose 47 states ... Mike Huckabee?
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Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
The Photo That Could Doom the Democrats — Blogs and Stories — Nancy Pelosi is protecting Rep. Charles Rangel, who failed to pay taxes on his Caribbean villa, among other miscues. But the ethically challenged congressional baron is endangering the Democrats' control of Congress.
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama's Drop — Barack Obama now has a negative approval rating in every state he flipped from the Bush column to his in 2008. In each of those places his level of support is now in the 44-46% range. It's probably a good thing he doesn't have to run for reelection this year.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Financial Reform Endgame — So here's the situation. We've been through the second-worst financial crisis in the history of the world, and we've barely begun to recover: 29 million Americans either can't find jobs or can't find full-time work. Yet all momentum for serious banking reform has been lost.
New York Times:
Network News at a Crossroads — ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct. — “I just looked out at the next five years and was concerned that we could not sustain doing what we were doing,” said David Westin …
Discussion:
Michael Calderone's Blog, Media Decoder, Outside The Beltway, QandO, Mediaite, NewsBusters.org, Gawker, New York Magazine, Romenesko and EW.com
John Yoo / Philly.com:
Closing Arguments: Finally, an end to Justice Dept. investigation — I've been under investigation for more than five years for legal advice that I gave in the immediate wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This month, the Justice Department's top career lawyer finally put an end to the farce.
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Buffett would scrap health bill — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett advised President Barack Obama on Monday to scrap the health care bill and start over. — In an interview with CNBC, Buffett said the current bill does not focus on controlling costs, which he sees as the central problem …
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Hoyer: Raising taxes a realistic option for cutting $12 trillion debt — Tax increases may be necessary to rein in $12 trillion in federal debt, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday. — Hoyer emphasized the need to reform Social Security and Medicare …
New York Times:
Rulings Restrict Clean Water Act, Hampering E.P.A. — Thousands of the nation's largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act's reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.
Taniel / Campaign Diaries:
Where the House stands on health-care — A lot of attention has been devoted to the Senate in recent months, but as we approach make-or-break time in the health-care debate it has become clear that the suspense lies in the House. — The approach Democrats are now openly pursuing …