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:
AmSpecBlog, The Speakers Lobby, Firedoglake, Commentary, Hot Air, The Hill, Associated Press, Another Black Conservative, Right Pundits, The Corner on National …, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Daily Kos, RedState, TPM LiveWire, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Michelle Malkin, Wizbang, The Lonely Conservative, A plain blog about politics, YID With LID, Pundit & Pundette, Political Byline, Gateway Pundit, QandO, True North, Wake up America, The Political Carnival, The Daily Caller and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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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.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Corner on National …, Althouse, AmSpecBlog and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
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 …
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up as healthcare reform moves forward
House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up as healthcare reform moves forward
Discussion:
The Politico, TPMDC, Fox News, Another Black Conservative, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, RedState and The Political Carnival
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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Associated Press:
White House, Democrats close in on health bill — House Dems look to health vote without changing abortion provision — WASHINGTON - House Democratic leaders abandoned a long struggle to appease the most ardent abortion opponents in their ranks, gambling Thursday that they can secure …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Bernie Sanders: I'm Prepared To Introduce Public Option Amendment
Bernie Sanders: I'm Prepared To Introduce Public Option Amendment
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, Shakesville and The Political Carnival
Washington Post:
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Democrats move toward grouping health reform with student-aid bill
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Politico, Student Lending Analytics Blog, Politics Daily, Don Surber and Washington Examiner
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.
Discussion:
Newsweek Blogs, The Note, Scared Monkeys, The Other McCain, Another Black Conservative and Raw Story
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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.
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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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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Fox News:
FBI Probes N.J. Man Linked to Al Qaeda, Hospital Attack in Yemen — A suspected Al Qaeda militant who was known as a “sweetheart” by classmates at his New Jersey high school is being investigated by the FBI after his arrest in the Middle East for allegedly trying to shoot his way out of a hospital in Yemen.
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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?
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
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.
BBC:
Rove ‘proud’ of US waterboarding — A senior advisor to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks. — In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as “Bush's brain”, said he “was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists”.
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.
Washington Post:
If Democrats ignore health-care polls, midterms will be costly — In “The March of Folly,” Barbara Tuchman asked, “Why do holders of high office so often act contrary to the way reason points and enlightened self-interest suggests?” Her assessment of self-deception …
Discussion:
Townhall.com
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 …
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 …
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
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.
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 …
Lauren Mattia / GLAADBlog.org:
Johnny Weir Deemed “Not Family Friendly” Enough to Perform in Stars on Ice Tour — GLAAD has learned from a source that wishes to remain anonymous that sponsors of the Stars on Ice Tour, which include Smuckers and IMG Entertainment, have refused to allow 3-time US National Champion and 2 …
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 …