Top Items:
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up on healthcare reform — 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:
Hot Air
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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 …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House memo argues health care support is increasing — A new polling memo from Joel Benenson, the White House's pollster of choice, argues that support for President Barack Obama's health care plan has been building in the wake of his State of the Union speech in late January.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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 …
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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.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Daily Caller, USA Today, ProPublica, The Hill, Commentary, The Note, The Plum Line, TPMMuckraker, PostPartisan, RedState, Pundit & Pundette, Another Black Conservative, Verum Serum, Sister Toldjah, Confederate Yankee, The Corner on National …, The Politico, The Page and iOwnTheWorld.com
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The Hill:
House vote pressures ethics to probe Dem leaders on Massa — The House voted Thursday to have the ethics panel consider an investigation into what Democratic leaders knew of allegations of sexual harassment against former Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.). — Only two members cast votes against the resolution …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, NY Daily News, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Mediaite and The Political Carnival
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 …
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Nir Hasson / Haaretz:
Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem
Israel planning 50,000 housing units in East Jerusalem
Discussion:
Guardian, RealClearWorld, Israel Matzav, The Huffington Post, Informed Comment, Israpundit, The Majlis, PostPartisan and Agence France Presse
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Estimate of the Budgetary Effects of the Senate-Passed Health Bill — CBO has just released an estimate of the budgetary effects of the health bill, H.R. 3590, that passed the Senate on December 24. Today's estimate differs from the estimate for a slightly earlier version of the legislation …
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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.
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Sex Scandals Aren't Interesting When They Involve Republicans — Interestingly John Ensign, like David Vitter but unlike Elliot Spitzer or Eric Massa, hasn't yet been driven from public life: … Man, that John Edwards sure is a scumbag!
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans' Global Warming Concerns Continue to Drop — Multiple indicators show less concern, more feelings that global warming is exaggerated — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's annual update on Americans' attitudes toward the environment shows a public that over the last two years …
Mike Levine / Liveshots:
Holder Failed To Alert Senate To Old Brief — During his confirmation more than a year ago, Attorney General Eric Holder failed to notify lawmakers he had contributed to a legal brief dealing with the use of federal courts in fighting terrorism, the Justice Department acknowledged on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Weekly Standard, The Foundry, Gawker, National Review and The Corner on National …
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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 …
Discussion:
democracyarsenal.org, Laura Rozen's Blog, ATTACKERMAN, Commentary, Shakesville and Taylor Marsh
Mark Cannizzaro / New York Post:
Woods hires ex-Bush aide to prep for return in two weeks — MIAMI — Tiger Woods has summoned someone even more significant than swing coach Hank Haney to help facilitate his wildly anticipated comeback. — Two sources in the golf community have told The Post that Ari Fleischer …
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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 …
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:
City Room, Erick's blog, protein wisdom, LewRockwell.com Blog, Pajamas Media, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Gothamist and Joe. My. God.
Ezra Klein:
The health-care bill is getting more popular — That graph is from Pollster.com. It gets even tighter if you eliminate the conservative-leaning Rasmussen poll, whose founder wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed yesterday explaining that the president can't make health-care reform popular …
Ed Henry / CNN:
Ex-Obama adviser: Dems may get ‘slaughtered’ — Washington (CNN) — Steve Hildebrand was one of the top advisers who helped put President Obama in office, but he has a stark warning for his old friends at the White House and on Capitol Hill. — “I think that there is a real shot we …
Discussion:
The Hill
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 …
George F. Will / Washington Post:
As a progressive, Obama hews to the Wilsonian tradition — There are legislative miles to go before the government will be emancipated from its health-care myopia, but it is not too soon for a summing-up. Whether all or nothing of the legislation becomes law, Barack Obama has refuted critics who call him a radical.
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, Maggie's Farm, The League of Ordinary …, The New Republic and Prairie Weather
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 …