Top Items:
The Politico:
GOP plots Senate health roadblock — Democrats might like to think that health care reform is all but a done deal if it clears the House, but the Senate is where Republicans have been plotting for months to sentence it to a painful procedural death. — Republican aides have been mining …
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The Hill:
No CBO score released Wednesday; Saturday healthcare vote unlikely — House Democratic leaders on Wednesday night said the long-awaited Congressional Budget Office score of the reconciliation bill will not come out until Thursday, forcing an acknowledgement that a Saturday healthcare vote is likely off the table.
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
CBO numbers — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) just released the first set of Congressional Budget Office numbers to reporters this morning. — The bill would cost $940 billion, and reduce the deficit by $130 billion over the first 10 years and $1.2 trillion in the second 10 years.
Ezra Klein:
CBO: Health-care reform bill cuts deficit by $1.3 trillion over 20 years, covers 95% — Washington has spent the past week or so waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to release its preliminary estimate of the Senate bill with the reconciliation fixes.
The Hill:
CBO: Health package costs $940 billion; Hoyer says vote will come on Sunday — Democrats are lauding a CBO report that found their healthcare package will cut the deficit by $130 billion. — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer hailed the figures from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office during …
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
GOP lawmakers, candidates pledge to repeal health-care legislation
GOP lawmakers, candidates pledge to repeal health-care legislation
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Guilty of Practicing Good Government
Guilty of Practicing Good Government
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The Hill:
Stupak: It's been ‘a living hell’ — Leading a revolt against President Barack Obama's healthcare legislation over abortion has been a “living hell” for Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). — The telephone lines in his Washington and district offices have been “jammed” and he's gotten …
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New York Times:
Two Congressmen Say They Will Support Health Care Bill
Two Congressmen Say They Will Support Health Care Bill
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Roll Call, The Note, ABCNEWS, Washington Times, TPMDC, The Politico, Ezra Klein, The Caucus, Washington Post and Opinionator
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Obama's plans to travel overseas as health vote nears draw criticism
Obama's plans to travel overseas as health vote nears draw criticism
Fox News:
President Barack Obama Talks to Bret Baier About Health Care Reform Bill — This is a rush transcript of “Special Report With Bret Baier” from March 17, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — BRET BAIER, “SPECIAL REPORT” HOST: Welcome to Washington.
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Steve Levy Plans Switch to G.O.P., Stirring Governor's Race — ALBANY — A governor's race that seemed all but settled is about to be upended again, by a popular Democrat from Long Island who is set to announce that he is switching parties. The move is certain to excite Republican leaders pessimistic …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Bush, Clinton set to travel to Haiti — Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will travel to Haiti next week as part of their relief efforts for the earthquake-stricken nation. — The two former presidents, who have administered a relief fund for the country after it suffered …
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Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Clinton, Bush Haiti-bound: $31 m so far — Remember Haiti? — Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are working to ensure that the world doesn't forget the suffering that remains from a catastrophic earthquake. — The two plan to travel to Haiti on Monday, according to the Clinton Foundation.
The New Republic:
The Crisis — Was Obama's confrontation with Israel premeditated? — JERUSALEM—Suddenly, my city feels again like a war zone. Since the suicide bombings ended in 2005, life in Jerusalem has been for the most part relatively calm. The worst disruptions have been the traffic jams resulting …
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Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Obama's pitch: Fate of presidency on the line — President Barack Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with many skeptics in the room.
Rob Hotakainen / Fresno Bee:
Field Poll: Campbell leads GOP Senate field; Boxer fades — WASHINGTON - Former Rep. Tom Campbell has a six-point lead over his closest challenger in the three-way Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, whose popularity has significantly eroded in the past two months, according to a Field Poll released today.
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Taegan Goddard's …
Hasnain Kazim / Spiegel Online:
Germans Cringe at Hitler's Popularity in Pakistan — Germans are popular in India and Pakistan, but not always for the right reasons. Many in South Asia have nothing but admiration for Adolf Hitler and still associate Germany with the Third Reich. Everyday encounters with the love of all things Nazi makes German visitors cringe.
Chris Ariens / TVNewser:
Ailes to the DC Staff: No More Shooting Inside the Tent — Fox News founder and chairman Roger Ailes dropped in to the Washington Bureau this afternoon for an impromptu talk to the troops ahead of tonight's RTCA dinner. — Sources inside the packed newsroom tell TVNewser Ailes started …
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Michael Calderone's Blog
Rosalind Helderman / Virginia Politics Blog:
Cuccinelli's office confirms Virginia will sue over health care — A spokesman for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) said this afternoon that Virginia will file suit against the federal government if the Democratic health care reform bill is approved by the U.S. Congress.
Washington Post:
Al-Qaeda crippled as leaders stay in hiding, CIA chief says — Relentless attacks against al-Qaeda in the Pakistan tribal region appear to have driven Osama bin Laden and other top leaders deeper into hiding, leaving the organization rudderless and incapable of planning sophisticated operations …
Janet I. Tu / Seattle Times:
Walgreens: no new Medicaid patients as of April 16 — Effective April 16, Walgreens drugstores across the state won't take any new Medicaid patients, saying that filling their prescriptions is a money-losing proposition — the latest development in an ongoing dispute over Medicaid reimbursement.
Discussion:
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Mark Jenkins / Central Florida News 13:
Homeowner Kills Attempted Robber In Driveway Shootout — OCOEE — An Orange County man is recovering after a shootout in front of his home. — It happened around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 1800 block of Pomegranate Court. — Police said the homeowner, Dave Henry, had just returned home …
NRCC:
Code Red Moves Cardoza and Costa to “Yes” Votes on Gov't Healthcare Takeover After Water Deal — Is this Another Backroom Deal to Force Obama's Bill Down the American People's Throats? — As a vote approaches on Obama and Pelosi's government takeover of healthcare, Code Red is now considering …
Natasha Chart / Open Left:
He Took My Lunch Money, Or, Why Women Need Full Health Care — Once more, with feeling ... I'm not the only woman in the country who once had a partner who took my paychecks and deposited them in an account that I had no access to; not by debit card, not by checkbook.
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TalkLeft
Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Early Morning Swim: Markos Moulitsas and Lawrence O'Donnell Discuss the Kucinich Capitulation — CNN: … Funny how the liberals are never “my-way-or-highway” kind of guys.
Dave Itzkoff / ArtsBeat:
Alex Chilton, Rock Musician, Dies — Alex Chilton of the rock band Big Star performed at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple last November. — Alex Chilton, the mercurial if influential rock musician, whose work spanned an eclectic gamut from the soul songs of the Box Tops to the multiple incarnations …
Cincinnati.com:
Driehaus against Senate health plan — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's sweeping health care legislation won precious support Wednesday from Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a longtime liberal holdout in the House, but it's close to losing Rep. Steve Driehaus of West Price Hill.
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Access, Access, Access — First, a question: When in American history did life expectancy improve the most? — Was it the late 1800s, when anesthesia made surgery easier and far more common? Was it the 1930s, when antibacterial medicines became available? Or recent decades, when CAT scans and heart bypasses proliferated?
National Post:
Muslims seeking female clerk can ‘line up again’ — FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images “For a woman who is veiled with a niqab or a burka and comes to our office asking to be photographed by a woman, the answer is no,” says Quebec health-insurance board spokesman Marc Lortie.
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Jihad Watch
Devin Leonard / New York Times:
The Beat Goes Online, Minus the Glitz — IN the magazine world, there has traditionally been no more glamorous place to work than Condé Nast. Brandon Holley can attest to that. — When she was the editor in chief of Jane, Condé Nast's monthly for young single women …