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.
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 …
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:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, TPMDC, Shakesville and The Political Carnival
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 …
Discussion:
The Politico, Fox News, Another Black Conservative, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, RedState and The Political Carnival
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.
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Capuano Suggests He's Leaning No On Health Care
Washington Post:
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Student Lending Analytics Blog, The Politico, Politics Daily, Don Surber and Washington Examiner
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 …
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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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.
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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.
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 …
Discussion:
JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Politico, Commentary, Israel Matzav, Taylor Marsh and The Huffington Post
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
How Obama spent his $1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize — You probably recall late last year on one of his autumn commutes to Scandinavia President Obama picked up the Nobel Peace Prize. We wrote about that here and here and here. His speech was well-received here. Also some fallout over here.
Discussion:
Hot Air
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?
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.
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 …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Lincoln Model — A reader writes: … Trust me. I have not forgotten. It informs every judgment I make on the guy. I remain absolutely convinced we are beyond lucky to have him st thi moment in history - and he deserves far more grass-roots support from his supporters than he's currently getting.
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 …
Eamon McNiff / ABCNEWS:
'Net Posse Tracked ‘Jihad Jane’ for Three Years — Civilian Monitors Warn of Others Like ‘Jane’ on the 'Net Who Are More Dangerous — While the rest of America was stunned to hear that a suburban Pennsylvania woman allegedly used the Internet identity of Jihad Jane and tried to join militant jihadists …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Huge Majority Of MoveOn Members Supports Passing Senate Bill — Here's a pretty clear indication that the left, whatever its disappointment with the Senate health bill, still overwhelmingly sees passing it as by far the best course of action. — As I noted here yesterday …
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
Sewell Chan / New York Times:
Dodd to Press Ahead on Financial Regulation Bill — WASHINGTON — Democrats said on Thursday that they would go it alone in an effort to pass an overhaul of financial regulation, increasing the likelihood of a bitter partisan showdown. — Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut …
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:
TalkLeft, Main Justice, Washington Wire, Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, Gawker, ATTACKERMAN, Maggie's Notebook and Keep America Safe
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.
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 …
CNN:
Sperling not yet offered OMB job — Sources tell CNN that Gene Sperling will fill the No. 2 job at the Office of Management and Budget. — Washington (CNN) - Two Obama administration sources told CNN Thursday that plans are in the works to shift Gene Sperling from a senior Treasury Department role …
CNN:
Palin to testify in e-mail case — Sarah Palin has been asked by the U.S. Department of Justice to testify against David C. Kernell. — (CNN) - Sarah Palin and her husband Todd will testify in the federal case against a Tennessee man who allegedly accessed Palin's private e-mail account during …
Discussion:
The Politico
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 …