Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
REAPING WHAT ONE SOWS ON THE CENSUS.... Prominent right-wing voices decided last year that the U.S. census was not to be trusted. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said the process could lead to “internment camps.” Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) called the census “invasive.”
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David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Census Returns Way Down in Republican Parts of Texas — File this under “problems that we really should have seen coming”: conservatives, egged on by the likes of Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), declining to return census forms and possibly shrinking the political power of states like Texas.
Discussion:
The Agonist
Howard Fineman / Newsweek Blogs:
The Numbers Don't Lie — A Democratic senator I can't name, who reluctantly voted for the health-care bill out of loyalty to his party and his admiration for Barack Obama, privately complained to me that the measure was political folly, in part because of the way it goes into effect …
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Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Remain Concerned About Costs of Healthcare Bill
Americans Remain Concerned About Costs of Healthcare Bill
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Weekly Standard, USA Today, Hot Air, Washington Post and Wake up America
Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:
Sarah Palin To Host First Fox News Show Thursday - With LL Cool J — This is not an April Fool's joke. Sarah Palin will take her first stab at television hosting when she fronts a new Fox News series, Real American Stories, premiering Thursday April 1 at 10pmET.
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Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard:
Together At Last: Palin To Debut New Fox Show With Guest, L.L. Cool J
Together At Last: Palin To Debut New Fox Show With Guest, L.L. Cool J
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Wall Street Journal:
Militia Probe Included Undercover FBI Agent — An undercover agent was part of the federal investigation of a Michigan-based Christian militia group that allegedly planned to spark an uprising against the government by killing police officers, court documents show.
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker
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Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:
For Hutaree, Militia Ethos Extended To Family Life
For Hutaree, Militia Ethos Extended To Family Life
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, First Draft, Blogs and Stories, slacktivist, The Rachel Maddow Show, Talking Points Memo and Wonkette
Bill Carter / New York Times:
CNN Fails to Stop Fall in Ratings — CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year. — The trend in news ratings for the first three months of this year …
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Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:
Still Surging: Fox News Has Best Quarter In Network History — Fox News had their best year of all time in 2009. Now that we've finished the first quarter of 2010, it's clear FNC is showing no signs of letting up - they just finished their best quarter ever, in total day total viewers.
Discussion:
Gawker
KCBS-TV:
Rove Gets Branded ‘War Criminal’ At Book Signing — BEVERLY HILLS (CBS) ― About 100 fans came out to hear Karl Rove at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills Monday night to discuss his book “Courage and Consequences: My Life As a Conservative In The Fight,” — but the fight wasn't contained to his book.
Barry Rubin / RubinReports:
Just Say “No”: I Get Personally Invited to Help the Obama Administration Engage—and Thus Strengthen—Terrorists — Please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the box on the upper right-hand corner of the page. — We depend on your tax-free contributions.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
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David Brooks / New York Times:
The Sandra Bullock Trade — Two things happened to Sandra Bullock this month. First, she won an Academy Award for best actress. Then came the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. So the philosophic question of the day is: Would you take that as a deal?
Discussion:
pandagon.net, The Daily Dish, Hullabaloo, Feministe, Gawker, Mediaite, Outside The Beltway and The Huffington Post
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Palin Inc. — I'm increasingly convinced that Sarah Palin is running to head a media empire rather than a presidential campaign. — On that front, she is nothing short of an extraordinary success. She's got a multi-year gig at Fox News. She just signed a deal with Discovery's TLC for a documentary about her native Alaska.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, NewsBusters.org, PERRspectives, The Wire, The Huffington Post, Gothamist and Mediaite
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Henry Waxman's War on Accounting — Accounting basics: when a company experiences what accountants call “a material adverse impact” on its expected future earnings, and those changes affect an item that is already on the balance sheet, the company is required to record the negative impact …
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Obama ropes in Romney on healthcare — President Obama tied his own healthcare reform law to Romneycare today, a growing theme that isn't helping the former Massachusetts Governor in his early positioning for 2012. — “I think that the Republican Party made a calculated decision …
Discussion:
Another Black Conservative, RaceWire, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, YID With LID and Hot Air
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama: My Plan Is Like Romneycare
Obama: My Plan Is Like Romneycare
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Daily Dish, TPM LiveWire, Talking Points Memo and Des Moines Register
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
Insurance industry agrees to fix kids coverage gap — WASHINGTON — After battling President Barack Obama's health care overhaul the better part of a year, the insurance industry said Monday it won't try to block his efforts to fix a potentially embarrassing glitch in the new law.
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Kate Pickert / Swampland:
Despite Administration “Win,” Some Sick Kids Will Remain Uninsured
Despite Administration “Win,” Some Sick Kids Will Remain Uninsured
Discussion:
Anderson Cooper 360, Wonk Room, Political Punch, The Daily Dish, Latest Open Salon Blog and JustOneMinute
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Companies Push to Repeal Provision of Health Reform — An association representing 300 large corporations urged President Obama and Congress on Monday to repeal a provision of the health care overhaul that prompted AT&T, Caterpillar and other companies to announce substantial charges for the current quarter.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Dennis the Peasant, The Powers That Be, The Politico, Maggie's Farm, Wonk Room, Prairie Weather and The Note
Matthew Cole / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Iran Nuclear Scientist Defects to U.S. In CIA ‘Intelligence Coup’ — Shahram Amiri Disappeared Last June in Saudi Arabia, Reportedly Now Resettled in the United States — An award-winning Iranian nuclear scientist, who disappeared last year under mysterious circumstances …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
RNC Fires “Young Eagles” Director — The RNC has fired the director of its young donors program after she approved an expense for a risque L.A. nightclub, multiple sources tell Hotline OnCall. — Allison Meyers, director of the RNC's “Young Eagles” program, was terminated yesterday …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill, The Washington Independent, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TBogg, TPM LiveWire and Truthdig
Baltimore Sun:
Marine's father ordered to pay Westboro's court costs — Church members had conducted anti-gay protests at the funeral of Marine who died in Iraq — From Baltimore Sun staff and wire reports — Lawyers for the father of a Marine who died in Iraq and whose funeral was picketed …
Kasie Hunt / The Politico:
McCain: Call in National Guard — Sen. John McCain wants to call in the cavalry to defend Arizona from illegal immigrants crossing the border from Mexico — and to shore up his own right flank. — McCain asked the Obama administration Monday to send National Guard troops to the border …
ZIP / Weasel Zippers:
Charles Johnson “Fairly Sure” the Tennesee State Flag is a Neo-Nazi Logo... And I'm fairly sure the Husky Ponytailed Blogger's a washed-up has-been... The link he provides goes to this picture: — Umm yeah, that's the Tennesee state flag... FAIL.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Assessing John Thune's 2012 chances — Photo by Melina Mara of the Washington Post — Today's candidate filing deadline in South Dakota marks the start of serious talk about Sen. John Thune's potential presidential campaign in 2012. — The Thune forces have been loathe to discuss …
CNBC:
Half of Commercial Mortgages to Be Underwater: Warren — By the end of 2010, about half of all commercial real estate mortgages will be underwater, said Elizabeth Warren, chairperson of the TARP Congressional Oversight Panel, in a wide-ranging interview on Monday.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent, WalletPop Blog and Newshoggers.com
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Beck guest host Doc Thompson: Tanning salon tax makes health care reform a ‘racist law.’ — The recently passed health care reform act includes a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning salons to help pay for expanded insurance coverage for millions of Americans. Radio host Doc Thompson …
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Vanity Fair, Wonkette and Washington Monthly
Julie Bykowicz / Baltimore Sun:
Ehrlich announces run for governor — Decision to challenge O'Malley comes after months-long ‘listening tour’ — Former Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. confirmed Tuesday that he will challenge Gov. Martin O'Malley this fall. — Ehrlich, the state's only Republican governor in a generation …
The Note:
Obama Prepared to Move Agenda Forward With or Without GOP — ABC News' David Chalian Reports: In the aftermath of President Obama's health care victory without a single Republican vote, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod still holds out hope for some bipartisan agreement on future policy proposals …
Discussion:
msnbc.com
Tom McLaughlin / Northwest Florida Daily News:
Bud Day endorses Charlie Crist — Not everyone in Northwest Florida plans to vote for Marco Rubio, a U.S. Senate candidate who has become the darling of conservative Republicans across the state. — Col. Bud Day, Fort Walton Beach attorney and Medal of Honor winner, has publicly endorsed …
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
McCain: Obama could cave and repeal healthcare — Political pressure might become so intense that President Obama would agree to repeal major portions of the healthcare bill he signed into law recently, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said today. — Even if Republicans win Congress in 2010 …
Dennis Overbye / New York Times:
Large Hadron Collider Finally Smashing Properly — PASADENA, Calif. — After 16 years and $10 billion — and a long morning of electrical groaning and sweating — there was joy in the meadows and tunnels of the Swiss-French countryside Tuesday: the world's biggest physics machine …
Pajamas Media:
Searchlight vs. L.A.: Rival Rallies Reveal Stark Right/Left Divide — On March 27, 2010, thousands of people gathered in the small town of Searchlight, Nevada, for a political rally. — Just 250 miles away and seven days earlier, there was another political rally of similar size in Los Angeles on March 20, 2010.
Alan Reynolds / Wall Street Journal:
The Rich Can't Pay for ObamaCare — The president intends to squeeze an extra $1.2 trillion over 10 years from a tiny sliver of taxpayers who already pay more than half of all individual taxes. It won't work. — President Barack Obama's new health-care legislation aims to raise $210 billion …