memeorandum: Halter joins Democratic ‘outsiders’ (Alex Isenstadt/The Politico)

12:35 PM ET, March 2, 2010

Top Items:

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

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Health care by Easter? — With AP suggesting that nine “no” Democrats in the House could switch to “yes,” Inside Health Policy has a timeline: — According to [a] Democratic memo, the timeline may be: Step one: The House passes the Senate's health reform bill by March 19.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Politico

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

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

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

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Wake up America, Wonk Room and SENATUS

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!

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Memo Outlines Possible Easter Recess Timeline

Discussion: Firedoglake and National Review

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: Pollster.com All Content, Firedoglake, Betsy's Page, Outside The Beltway, RedState, The Impolitic, Israel Matzav, The Other McCain, Wilshire & Washington, Alas, a blog and Roger Ailes

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:

Kf Caught in the Act — The rollout didn't go as my team of highly paid media consultants* had planned— L.A. Weekly got it way before it was supposed to. Heads will roll around here. But I did go down to the local registrar's office Monday and take out nomination papers to run in the primary for U.S. Senator against Barbara Boxer.

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Feel the Kausmentum — With the valuable Glenn Reynolds …

Discussion: The Corner on National …

Kevin Roderick / LA Observed:
Kaus clarifies his candidate status

Discussion: Townhall.com

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, Swampland, PoliBlog, Don Surber, 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: Washington Post, CBS News, The Humble Libertarian, Right Wing Nut House, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Left Coast Rebel, Prairie Weather, The Hill, Firedoglake, WLKY-TV, The Lonely Conservative, The World Newser and Taylor Marsh

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Bunning's fiscal hardball jams GOP — Fresh off last week's high-profile White House summit, Republicans were eager to continue the health care debate they think they've been winning for months. — Then came Jim Bunning. — The Kentucky GOP senator's unilateral decision to block …

Discussion: The Note, Bloomberg, Washington Post, RedState and The Hill

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Collins joins Dems in urging Bunning to drop benefits objection

Discussion: The Politico and Wonk Room

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.

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: Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Caucus, Top of the Ticket, CNN and The Washington Independent

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.

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: Left Coast Rebel, Commentary, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, JustOneMinute, New York Magazine, Another Black Conservative, The Moderate Voice and Coffee Party

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Coffee Party Parasites

Discussion: The Jawa Report and The Moderate Voice

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Hopes for Senate Seat Open Rifts in Calif. G.O.P.

Discussion: NewsReal Blog, American Power, Townhall.com, LGBT POV and Israel Matzav

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

Marist Poll:
3/2: Most Voters Don't Want Paterson to Resign But Question His Ability to Govern

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and The Daily Politics

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: pandagon.net, Liberal Values, At-Largely, The BRAD BLOG, Weasel Zippers, Ben Smith's Blog and The Lonely Conservative

Founding Blogger / Founding Bloggers:
The Best DA Money Can Buy? ACORN DA Lets ACORN Off The Hook

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Greenroom and Gateway Pundit

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: Althouse and JammieWearingFool

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

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: USA Today, Politics Daily, AOL News Collection and Don Surber

Reeve Hamilton / The Texas Tribune:

In Closing: Rick Perry — In his 1990 bid for agriculture commissioner, Rick Perry recalls, “I had a very, very small staff. I flew everywhere myself. I didn't have anybody that went with me.” If that campaign was a 9.5 on the political Richter Scale of difficulty …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket

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: Associated Press, SpeakEasy, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay

Lachlan Carmichael / Agence France Presse:

Clinton appears to extend timeline for Iran sanctions — BUENOS AIRES — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday it could take months for new UN sanctions against Iran, as she prepared for talks in Argentina and Brazil about the perceived Iranian nuclear threat.

Discussion: Power Line and Commentary

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:

Halter joins Democratic ‘outsiders’ — With Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter's announcement Monday that he will run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Senate Democrats now have three colleagues facing serious primary challenges from candidates embracing distinctly anti-Washington platforms …

Discussion: Commentary, CNN and Firedoglake

Sasha Issenberg / Boston Globe:

D.C. journalist provided 'writer's advice' — A prominent Washington journalist and former Globe reporter is among the many advisers and political experts who helped Mitt Romney write “No Apology,” according to the book's acknowledgments. — “Nina Easton, the noted journalist and commentator …