memeorandum: Roger Ebert takes to Twitter to give tea party followers a thumb's down (Scott Collins/Los Angeles Times)

3:35 PM ET, March 2, 2010

Top Items:

Emily Pierce / Roll Call:

Collins Tries to Stop Bunning Filibuster — Senate Republicans sought Tuesday to insulate themselves from the damage caused by Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-Ky.) filibuster of a bill that would extend unemployment and health benefits and highway programs. — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) …

Discussion: The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Swampland, pandagon.net and Top of the Ticket

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: Crooks and Liars, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Swampland, Don Surber, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Economist's View

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: CNN, The Note, Bloomberg and Washington Post

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Collins joins Dems in urging Bunning to drop benefits objection — Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) took to the Senate floor Tuesday to try to advance stalled unemployment and COBRA healthcare benefit extensions, but Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) objected again.

Discussion: The Politico, Michelle Malkin, The Swamp and Wonk Room

Hogan / hogan's Diary:

It's Not a Filibuster You Freaking Idiots — Dennis Miller once joked about those who would mispronounce certain words on the Senate floor, “now color me reactionary, but I don't think you should vote on this sh*t unless you know how to pronounce it.” Well, I think we should amend …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, JammieWearingFool, TPMDC, News Desk, The Politico and CNNMoney.com

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Who really gets hurt when GOP's Bunning blocks this bill?

The Note:
Bunning Blinks? — ABC's Jonathan Karl reports:

Discussion: The Corner on National …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
G.O.P. Splits on Senator's Move to Block Benefits

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Jim Bunning and the End of Outrage

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, TPMDC, democracyarsenal.org and Matthew Yglesias

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
One-man filibuster draws fire

Discussion: Washington Post, Roll Call and PoliBlog

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: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Washington Times, The Hill, The Politico, Michelle Malkin, Washington Post, Dennis the Peasant, JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Agence France Presse, Prescriptions, Right Pundits and The Page

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
White House downplays internal rifts

Discussion: CNN

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Feel the Kausmentum — With the valuable Glenn Reynolds and Jonah Goldberg endorsements in hand, Mickey Kaus' bid for a Democratic Party primary win is looking more solid than ever. — That said, I'm going to go counter-counterintuitive here and say that if some weird process put Mickey Kaus …

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET

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: Firedoglake, LA Observed, Pollster.com All Content, New York Times, Townhall.com, ATTACKERMAN, Moe Lane, Betsy's Page and Outside The Beltway

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
Kf Caught in the Act

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Ross Douthat

Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online: Mickey for Senate? — By: Jonah Goldberg

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

Coffee Party Parasites — The New York Times and Washington Post are promoting a group called the “Coffee Party” organized by filmmaker Annabel Park. — The Coffee Party is a political parasite which presents itself as something it is not. As reported in the NY Times [see update below] …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, JustOneMinute, Right Pundits, American Power and Pajamas Media

Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added to the Political Menu

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Commentary, skippy the bush kangaroo, Hot Air, New York Magazine, The Lonely Conservative and Another Black Conservative

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, New York Magazine, The Caucus, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Washington Independent and Top of the Ticket

Harold Ford Jr / New York Times:
Why I'm Not Running for the Senate

Marist Poll:
3/2: What Might Have Been...Gillibrand and Ford Matchup

Discussion: TPM LiveWire, Taegan Goddard's … and The Eye

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: The Politico, TPMDC, Open Congress, Open Left and New York Magazine

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

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish, Firedoglake, The Greenroom and National Review

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:
Tom Harkin: I'll Be For the Public Option Again - After I'm Against It

Discussion: TalkLeft and DownWithTyranny!

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: Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, SpeakEasy, Wonk Room, TPMDC and NRSC

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Orrin Hatch Rewrites History Of His Own Voting Record On Reconciliation

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Eschaton

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: Big Hollywood, Althouse, JammieWearingFool and Wilshire & Washington

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: John Stossel, AOL News Collection, Politics Daily and Don Surber

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

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and KCBS-TV

Patterico's Pontifications:

Debunking Some Emerging ACORN Liberal Myths — This post debunks several liberal myths about ACORN that have emerged in recent weeks — many from Eric Boehlert of Media Matters and Brad Friedman. — POSING AS PIMP AT ACORN — Liberal Myth: James O'Keefe did not pretend to be a pimp inside ACORN.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, StarkReports.com, pandagon.net, The Jawa Report and The BRAD BLOG

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, Bark Bark Woof Woof and AMERICAblog Gay

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Another American media failure — In the years after the the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the subsequent failure to find WMD, the American media flagellated itself publicly over its lack of skepticism of Bush administration cassus belli claims. We endured reams of essays about the supine nature …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Pajamas Media and NewsReal Blog

Founding Blogger / Founding Bloggers:

The Best DA Money Can Buy? ACORN DA Lets ACORN Off The Hook (UPDATED) — Today it was announced that ACORN will not face prosecution in Brooklyn. … Should anyone be surprised? The Brooklyn DA is a member of the ACORN/Working Families Party. That means he signed their pledge, and worked for their endorsement.

Discussion: NY Daily News, Outside The Beltway and At-Largely