memeorandum: GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job (The Huffington Post)

11:10 AM ET, March 2, 2010

Top Items:

Dennis Romero / LA Daily:

CORRECTED: Mickey Kaus Takes Out Papers For U.S. Senate Run — Pioneering political blogger Mickey Kaus took out papers [filed] to run for U.S. Senate in California, he told LA Weekly. The Venice resident said he'll run this year against Barbara Boxer for her seat.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Kausfiles, LA Observed, Firedoglake, Betsy's Page, Outside The Beltway, RedState, Wilshire & Washington, The Other McCain, Alas, a blog and Roger Ailes

Harold Ford Jr / New York Times:

Why I'm Not Running for the Senate — WHEN it was reported two months ago that I was thinking seriously about running for the United States Senate from New York, Democratic Party insiders started their own campaign to bully me out of the race — just as they had done with Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel and others.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, USA Today, Associated Press, OpenSecrets.org, Commentary, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Politics, Ben Smith's Blog, National Review Online, Real Clear Politics and The Corner on National …

Michael Barbaro / City Room:

Ford Decides Not to Run — Under intense pressure from Democratic Party officials, Harold E. Ford Jr., the former Tennessee congressman, has decided not to challenge Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand in the primary this fall, according to two people told of his plans.

Discussion: The Reaction, TPMDC, Open Left, The Confluence, Campaign Diaries, Politics Daily, Gawker, TPM LiveWire, USA Today, The Page, New York Magazine, Swing State Project, MyDD, Newshoggers.com, The Daily Caller, The Eye and DealBook

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Ford bolts; Zuckerman rises — Harold Ford gave many reasons for his decision not to launch a primary challenge against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, but he didn't mention a decisive one: The emergence of a richer, stronger center-right challenger whom many of Ford's potential supporters …

Discussion: The Caucus, Mediaite, The Washington Independent and CNN

Jason Horowitz / Washington Post:

Hotheaded Emanuel may be White House voice of reason — Rahm Emanuel is officially a Washington caricature. He's the town's resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration.

New York Times:

Obama to Highlight Cost in New Health Bill Push — WASHINGTON — President Obama this week will begin a climactic push to rally restive Congressional Democrats to pass major health care legislation by hammering the argument that the costs of failure will be higher insurance premiums and lost coverage for individuals and businesses.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, JustOneMinute, The Hill, Connecting.the.Dots, Washington Post, Agence France Presse and Dennis the Peasant

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Health care by Easter?

Discussion: The Politico

Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Obama looks to undecided Dems for health backing

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Monthly, Washington Times, The Politico, Right Pundits and The Page

Charles Lane / PostPartisan:
Is Pelosi right on health care and jobs?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Matthew Yglesias

The Huffington Post:

GOP Sen. Kyl: Unemployment Benefits Make People Not Want To Get A Job — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — A debate on the Senate floor Monday over unemployment compensation crystallized, at least for a moment, the divide between the two parties in Washington. — Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Don Surber, PoliBlog, Swampland, Economist's View, Raw Story, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Hullabaloo

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Who really gets hurt when GOP's Bunning blocks this bill? — WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation furloughed nearly 2,000 employees without pay Monday as the government began to feel the impact of Republican Sen. Jim Bunning's one-man blockage of legislation that would keep a host of federal programs operating.

Discussion: CBS News, The Humble Libertarian, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, Left Coast Rebel, TPMDC, The Hill, Firedoglake, WLKY-TV and The Lonely Conservative

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Bunning's fiscal hardball jams GOP

Discussion: RedState and The Hill

The World Newser:
Sen. Bunning is Angry: ‘This Is a Senators Only Elevator!’

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Bunning Blockade Leads To 21 Percent Fee Cut For Doctors

Discussion: Washington Post, PERRspectives, SpeakEasy, democracyarsenal.org, Liberal Values, Guardian, Open Left, CNN, The Moderate Voice and Top of the Ticket

Orrin Hatch / Washington Post:

Reconciliation on health care would be an assault to the democratic process — America's Founders gave us a system of governance designed to limit government power and maximize liberty. The legislative branch is different from the executive, and the Senate is different from the House.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wonk Room, The Plum Line and Capital Gains and Games blogs

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Kent Conrad Rips Media: Yes, We Can Do Reform Via Reconciliation

Discussion: Congress Matters, The Page, Ezra Klein and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
GOP Girding for Battle Over Reconciliation

Discussion: Wake up America, Wall Street Journal, Wonk Room, Row 2, Seat 4 and SENATUS

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Postal Service expected to announce ‘significant changes’ — The U.S. Postal Service will release projections Tuesday that confirm for the first time the suspicion that mail volume will never return to pre-recession levels. In response, the agency is pushing anew for a dramatic reshaping …

Discussion: Politics Daily, AOL News Collection and Don Surber

Donna Leinwand / USA Today:
Postal Service seeks 5-day delivery

Discussion: CBS News

Scott Collins / Los Angeles Times:

Roger Ebert takes to Twitter to give tea party followers a thumb's down — The film reviewer is aiming barbs at Sarah Palin and other conservatives. — Who's the biggest scourge of the tea party movement these days? It might be film critic Roger Ebert, who lately has been tossing brickbats …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Althouse

Gerard Couzens / Daily Mail:

Baby girl survives after being shot in the chest in parents' ‘global warming suicide pact’ — A seven-month-old baby girl survived three days alone with a bullet in her chest beside the bodies of her parents and toddler brother. — Argentines Francisco Lotero, 56, and Miriam Coletti, 23 …

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, Scared Monkeys, NewsReal Blog and thedanashow.wordpress.com

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Baby Survives 3 Days With Shot in Chest After Parents Commit Global Warming Suicide

Discussion: The Humble Libertarian, The Jawa Report, Moonbattery, Left Coast Rebel, The Strata-Sphere, Telegraph, theblogprof and Sadly, No!

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu — Fed up with government gridlock, but put off by the flavor of the Tea Party, people in cities across the country are offering an alternative: the Coffee Party. — Growing through a Facebook page …

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, Another Black Conservative and Coffee Party

Daily Mail:

Barack Obama should drink less alcohol and try harder to kick his smoking habit, doctors say — Barack Obama should not only try harder to kick his smoking habit, his team of doctors warned, but they also recommended ‘moderation of alcohol intake’. — It would seem the pressure of the U.S. presidency …

Discussion: Moonbattery and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:

Paterson Said to Direct Aides to Influence Abuse Case — ALBANY — Gov. David A. Paterson personally directed two state officials to contact the woman who had accused his close aide of assaulting her, according to two people with direct knowledge of the governor's actions.

Discussion: Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Politico, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, PostPartisan, TPMMuckraker, City Room, Alas, a blog, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Gawker, Politics Daily, The Daily Politics, New York Magazine, The Page and Swing State Project

Bernie Quigley / Pundits Blog:

The Vichy Republicans: Striving for mediocrity ... The New York Times's venomous and possibly deranged Frank Rich, who associated Sarah Palin with terrorism in his Sunday column this week, borrows from his previous archrival George Will in the claim that the White She Devil is a critter from hell and anyway, she will never be elected.

Teddy Davis / ABCNEWS:
Texas Titans Battle for GOP Nod in Governor's Race

Discussion: The Note, Austin American-Statesman, CNN, Dallas Morning News, PoliBlog and New York Times

Scott Shifrel / NY Daily News:

B'klyn ACORN cleared over giving illegal advice on how to hide money from prostitution — Brooklyn prosecutors on Monday cleared ACORN of criminal wrongdoing after a four-month probe that began when undercover conservative activists filmed workers giving what appeared to be illegal advice on how to hide money.

Discussion: Founding Bloggers, pandagon.net, At-Largely, Liberal Values, The BRAD BLOG, The Greenroom, Ben Smith's Blog, Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

William Wan / Washington Post:

Same-sex marriage leads Catholic Charities to adjust benefits — Employees at Catholic Charities were told Monday that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex partners of its workers — the latest fallout from a bitter debate …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Top Republican expects final healthcare vote before end-of-month recess — Republicans expect a final vote on healthcare around the easter holiday this year, the Senate's second-ranking Republican said Monday night. — Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said he expected Democratic leaders …