Top Items:
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi's office was told of concerns about Eric Massa — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office was notified in October by then-Rep. Eric Massa's top aide of concerns about the New York Democrat's behavior, two congressional sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday night.
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Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
House rejects Kucinich's Afghan withdrawal measure — The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly rejected a symbolic resolution calling for the removal of troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year. — The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) …
Discussion:
TPM LiveWire, The Nation, NewsBusters.org, Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative and JammieWearingFool
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Patrick Kennedy: Media Doing “Despicable” Job Covering Afghanistan
Patrick Kennedy: Media Doing “Despicable” Job Covering Afghanistan
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, Gawker, Power Line, Don Surber, Hot Air, Another Black Conservative and The Other McCain
Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:
The Atlantic Home — Go — Joshua Green - Joshua Green has been a senior editor for The Atlantic since 2003. Columbia Journalism Review named him one of ten young writers on the rise. … Eric Massa's Navy Files — A couple years ago, I got a tip about Eric Massa.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Don Surber, Indecision Forever, Another Black Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, Maggie's Notebook, YID With LID, Gothamist, The Huffington Post, The Note, The Other McCain, The Hill, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Marbury, Confederate Yankee, Political Byline, TPMMuckraker, Joe. My. God., Taegan Goddard's …, Talking Points Memo, The Political Carnival, Riehl World View, The Nation, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post and The Huffington Post
New York Times:
More Messages Link Senator to Job Effort — WASHINGTON — Previously undisclosed e-mail messages turned over to the F.B.I. and Senate ethics investigators provide new evidence about Senator John Ensign's efforts to steer lobbying work to the embittered husband of his former mistress and could deepen his legal and political troubles.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Fix, Hotline On Call, Washington Post, MyDD, Politics Daily, The Politico, AMERICAblog News, Truthdig, Swampland and Prairie Weather
Dave Schnittger / GOP Leader Blog:
Democrats Prepare “Slaughter Solution” to Ram Unpopular Health Care Takeover Through Congress Without a Vote — Follow @GOPLeader on Twitter for updates. — The twisted scheme by which Democratic leaders plan to bend the rules to ram President Obama's massive health care legislation through Congress …
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Scott / Power Line:
The Slaughter solution? — I've been dubious that Nancy Pelosi lacks the juice to muscle Obamacare through the House, but her enforcers must be running into a wall. Minority Leader John Boehner's blog introduces us to the aptly named Slaughter solution via this Congress Daily report (PDF).
Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Democrats, White House close in on health bill — WASHINGTON — A final agreement nearly in hand, President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders are about to embark on one last sales job that will determine the outcome of the president's signature health care overhaul.
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Arun Kristian Das / MyFox New York:
Chefs Call Proposed New York Salt Ban ‘Absurd’ — MYFOXNY.COM - Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking. — “No owner or operator of a restaurant …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gothamist, City Room, LewRockwell.com Blog, Joe. My. God. and Hit & Run
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Glenn Beck on Massa: ‘I Almost Threw Him Out of the Studio’ — On his radio show today, Glenn Beck lit into former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) for his disastrous, rambling appearance on the Tuesday episode of Beck's Fox News Show. — “America, have you ever heard of a 50-year old man having a tickle-fight …
Discussion:
Another Black Conservative, Daily Kos, Gawker, Scared Monkeys, The Moderate Voice, TPM LiveWire, The Fix, Joe. My. God., The Eye, The Other McCain, PostPartisan and TPMDC
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Romney tops bestseller list — Mitt Romney's new book, “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness,” will debut on top of the New York Times bestseller list due out March 21, a source tells me. — Romney's book tour has, so far, attracted pretty large crowds, serving — along with the book sales …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, WBBH-TV, Boston Globe, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, AmSpecBlog and No More Mister Nice Blog
Jared Allen / The Hill:
Immigration provision has Hispanic Caucus threatening ‘no’ health vote — A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill's immigration provisions. — The scheduled meeting comes …
Mimi Hall / USA Today:
Obama's liberal base ‘disengaged’ — WASHINGTON — Is President Obama losing his base? — Liberal and progressive organizations that helped propel him to the White House are turning on him now, little more than a year after he took office. Their collective discontent …
The Hill:
Unions ramping up push against Democrats who don't toe labor line — Frustrated at seeing their legislative agenda stymied, unions are becoming increasingly active in competitive Democratic Senate primaries. — Across the country, labor groups are using their organizational muscle early …
Discussion:
Commentary
Chris Joyner / USA Today:
Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request — JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi county school board announced Wednesday it would cancel its upcoming prom after a gay student petitioned to bring a same-sex date to the event. — “Due to the distractions to the educational process caused …
The Hill:
Infighting is sparked by earmark ban — Democratic appropriators in the Senate and House are fighting over a ban on earmarks to for-profit companies, throwing a wrench in a House attempt to burnish its ethics record before the midterm elections. — Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) …
Discussion:
The Politico
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Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:
NYC judge: Govt must stop blocking money to ACORN — NEW YORK — A federal judge who found it unconstitutional that Congress tried to cut funding to the activist group ACORN has rejected a government request to change her mind and has ordered government agencies to make it clear the funding isn't blocked.
WorldNetDaily:
Radio legend to run for president? — ‘I would not hesitate to make my birth certificate available’ — Applicants for the Oval Office in 2012 already have begun lining up, just one year into President Obama's term, amid CBS poll results that overwhelming flunk the first-term Democrat …
Lois Romano / Washington Post:
Hillary Rodham Clinton widens her circle at the State Department — Hillary Rodham Clinton ran a presidential campaign notoriously insular and unhappy, managing a group of egos and backstabbers whose dysfunction may have cost her the White House. Understandably, people wondered what kind …
Richard Owen / Times of London:
Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth says Devil is in the Vatican — Sex abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church are proof that that “the Devil is at work inside the Vatican”, according to the Holy See's chief exorcist. — Father Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican's chief exorcist …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
House liberal leader says Obama's stumping not changing many healthcare votes — President Barack Obama's stumping for healthcare isn't changing many — if any — votes in the House, a top liberal lawmaker said Wednesday night. — Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), the co-chairwoman …
Discussion:
The Swamp
Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
Some Democrats shun Obama event in St. Louis — The Show Me State temporarily became the No-Show State on Wednesday as some prominent Missouri Democrats decided they'd rather be somewhere else when President Obama came to push his massive health care overhaul plan.
CNN:
Stupak facing primary challenger over abortion funding — Washington (CNN) - Rep. Bart Stupak, the pro-life Democrat from Michigan who has made legislative language over abortion funding a flashpoint in the debate over health care reform, is now facing a primary challenger from the left.
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Scott / Breitbart.tv:
UNCOVERED SHOCKER: SEN. BYRD SINGLE-HANDEDLY STOPPED PRESIDENT CLINTON FROM USING RECONCILIATION — “President Clinton got on the phone and called me also and pressed me to allow his massive health care bill to be insulated by reconciliation's protection.”
Sewell Chan / New York Times:
TARP Oversight Panel Finds Fault With GMAC Bailouts — WASHINGTON — A Congressional panel, in a report to be released Thursday, questioned the need for the Treasury Department's $17.2 billion bailout of GMAC as the company dealt with the collapsing mortgage market in 2008 and 2009.
Discussion:
The Page
Mohamed El-Erian / Financial Times:
How to handle the sovereign debt explosion — Every once in a while, the world is faced with a major economic development that is ill-understood at first and dismissed as of limited relevance, and which then catches governments, companies and households unawares. — We have seen a few examples of this over the past 10 years.
Discussion:
The Big Picture
The Huffington Post:
Harry Reid: Filibuster Rules ‘Likely’ To Change — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) pledged on Wednesday to take a serious look at revising the filibuster rules at the beginning of the next Congress, calling the current level of obstruction in the Senate unacceptable.
CNN:
Police say suspect in terror plot attempted suicide in 2005 — (CNN) — Colleen LaRose, the Pennsylvania woman indicted for allegedly conspiring to support terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, attempted to commit suicide in 2005, according to a police report filed at the time.