Top Items:
David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
Ruling Kills an Option for Moving Health Bill — The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress' original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.
Discussion:
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Democrats.senate.gov:
Reid, In Letter To McConnell, Outlines The Path Forward On Health Reform — Washington, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explaining the path forward on health insurance reform. In the letter, Senator Reid details the steps …
The Note:
Dem Rep. Lynn Woolsey: House May Pass Senate Bill Without Recorded Vote — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: As House Democrats press for final passage of a health care bill, a legislative scenario has emerged whereby the House wouldn't have to take a formal roll call vote to endorse the Senate version of the legislation.
Ezra Klein:
Senate parliamentarian rules that bill must pass before reconciliation can be used — The thinkable has happened, and the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the president must sign the health-care reform bill before the House and Senate can act on a reconciliation package.
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up as healthcare reform moves forward — More than two dozen Democrats are expected to vote against the healthcare reform bill that will hit the House floor in the coming weeks. — At least 25 House Democrats will reject the healthcare reform legislation …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN THROWS A CURVEBALL.... House Dems have a fear …
SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN THROWS A CURVEBALL.... House Dems have a fear …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …
Roll Call:
Senate Liberals Dissed on Health Bill — Senate Democratic leaders are concerned about the amount of mischief their own Members could create if or when a health care reconciliation bill comes up for debate. And sources said some supporters of creating a public insurance option are privately worried …
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Bernie Sanders: I'm Prepared To Introduce Public Option Amendment — The public option just might get its straight up-or-down vote after all. — Senator Bernie Sanders, in a brief interview in the Capitol just now, confirmed to me that he's willing to commit to introducing an amendment …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, TPMDC, Shakesville and The Political Carnival
Washington Post:
Reid's wife and daughter sent to hospital after car accident — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's wife and daughter were in a serious car accident Thursday afternoon on Interstate 95 in Fairfax County, and police said they are being treated at an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
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Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Reid's wife, daughter seriously injured in car accident UPDATE — Harry Reid's wife, Landra, suffered a broken neck, back and nose and his daughter, Lana, also sustained serious injuries in a chain-reaction car accident in Fairfax, Va. on Thursday according to Reid's spokesman.
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Reid to McConnell on healthcare: ‘We will finish the job’
Reid to McConnell on healthcare: ‘We will finish the job’
Discussion:
CNN
Laura Rozen / Laura Rozen's Blog:
What Biden told Netanyahu behind closed doors: “This is starting to get dangerous for us” — Publicly, Vice President Joe Biden tried to keep up a positive tone in his good will visit to Israel this week. But privately, the Israeli press reports, he had sharper words for Israeli decisions Biden …
Noah Shachtman / Wired:
How Andrew Breitbart Hacks the Media — Andrew Breitbart has been waiting 45 minutes for a filet mignon. He drums his fingers on the table in this plush Italian restaurant off Times Square, a place where the media types he regularly trashes used to flaunt their expense accounts — back when they still had them.
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Barney Frank confirms key detail in Massa saga — Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) confirmed a key detail that was allegedly reported to the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) regarding allegations of Eric Massa's improper behavior. — The Washington Post reported Thursday that Joe Racalto …
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi's office was told of concerns about Eric Massa
Nancy Pelosi's office was told of concerns about Eric Massa
Discussion:
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Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
The Scandalous Scott Brown Lawsuit that No One Told You About — Did you know that Scott Brown—the new star Republican Senator—was accused of harassing a female campaign worker in 1998? We have the documents to prove it. Did the Democrats blow an opportunity to keep their 60th Senate seat?
New York Times:
Holder Failed to Disclose Brief on Detainee Policy — WASHINGTON — During his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. failed to disclose that he had signed a brief urging the Supreme Court not to uphold President Bush's claim that he could imprison …
Discussion:
Main Justice, Washington Wire, Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, Maggie's Notebook, ATTACKERMAN and Keep America Safe
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Mike Levine / Liveshots:
Holder Failed To Alert Senate To Old Brief
Holder Failed To Alert Senate To Old Brief
Discussion:
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The Hill:
House GOP votes to ban all earmarks — House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday, one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks. — The Republicans' moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee's ban …
James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:
Texas Hearing Considers Deeper Conservative Stamp on Textbooks — AUSTIN, Tex. — Even as a panel of educators laid out a vision Wednesday for national standards for public schools, the Texas school board was going in a different direction, holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum …
Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online:
Get Woody — By: Jonah Goldberg — As anyone who's read my book knows, I am a member in good standing of the Woodrow Wilson Haters Club. The exciting news is that almost everyone wants to be a member these days. Glenn Beck — partly influenced by my book — has been on a jihad against Wilson for a while now.
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The Huffington Post:
Sanders: Obama Has Tragically Lost The Youth, Antagonized Unions — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — A trio of the Senate's leading progressives expressed concern on Wednesday that President Obama has squandered the transformational political coalition that propelled him into office, concluding that he will pay a price for it.
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Beck: Fox News executive told me ‘you are the key’ to surviving ‘a global economic holocaust.’ — Fox News host Glenn Beck has made a trademark of propagating outlandish conspiracy theories and far-right rhetoric, but his employers at Fox have long claimed that his views do not reflect the network's.
Eric Alterman / The Nation:
Money for Nothing — On February 23 the New York Times reported that ABC News had decided to reduce its staff by a whopping 300 to 400 people, or approximately a quarter of its workforce. Three days later, the paper ran a full-page ad featuring a Photoshopped crowd of the network's biggest and best-compensated celebrities.
Discussion:
The Wire
Jazz Shaw / The Moderate Voice:
What I Learned at the Tea Parties — Both the media and many high profile politicos still seem to be flailing around trying to find some way to label, quantify and pigeonhole the myriad tea party groups which are springing up all around the country. Even Karl Rove, during a stop to promote his new book …
Dr. Milton R. Wolf / Washington Times:
Obama family health care fracas — A doctor savages his cousin Barack's reform plan — “Primum nil nocere.” First, do no harm. This guiding principle is a bedrock of medical care. Sadly, those politicians who would rewrite our health care laws do not live in the same universe …
Amanda Covarrubias / L.A. NOW:
Divided appeals court rules Pledge of Allegiance doesn't violate Constitution — A divided federal appeals court Thursday reversed itself, ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance doesn't violate the constitutional prohibition against state-mandated religious exercise even though it contains the phrase “one nation under God.”