Top Items:
John M. Broder / New York Times:
Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
Discussion:
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner rebukes Obama offshore drilling plan — President Barack Obama's plan to allow expanded offshore oil and gas exploration won rebuke from the top House Republican on Wednesday. — House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) dismissed the president's plan as not going far enough in opening up U.S. waters for exploration.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Hill, Guardian, TPM LiveWire, Little Green Footballs, Swampland, Grist, Open Congress, The Washington Independent and The New Republic
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Drill, Baby, Drill — Welcome to the coastal drilling era: … I don't understand this at all. Increased coastal drilling would be a small price to pay in exchange for actual congressional votes for an overall energy package that shifts us to a low-carbon economy over time.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ALL PART OF THE PLAN.... We talked earlier about the Obama administration's apparent intention to allow new oil and natural gas drilling along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the north coast of Alaska. Given that this move could be used as a bargaining chip …
Michelle Malkin:
Of pipelines and pipedreams: Obama's drilling deception — He was against it: — Before he was for it: … If this were a sincere change of heart and an honest, stand-alone effort to wean America off foreign oil, it would be worth heralding. — But as always with this administration …
Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Bush Official Dan Bartlett Admits Authorizing Offshore Oil Drilling …
Discussion:
Climate Progress, GOP.gov, The Political Carnival, The Washington Independent and Townhall.com
Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
Obama to clear way for offshore drilling for oil and gas …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Politics Daily, Hot Air, The Politico, Virginia Politics Blog, Salon, Think Progress and Gothamist
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
IN EXCHANGE FOR WHAT?.... That the Obama administration would agree …
Yahoo! News:
Palin, Fox News, LL Cool J tangle over phantom interview — Here's a chapter in the culture wars that no one saw coming: Sarah Palin and Fox News facing off against '80s rap star and actor LL Cool J. — Palin makes her hosting debut Thursday night on Fox, as captain of an interview special in Greta Von Susteren's 10 p.m. slot.
Discussion:
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John / Verum Serum:
Memo to Paul Krugman and Rep. Van Hollen: My Search Was Not in Vain — In last Thursday's column, Paul Krugman admitted to having fun watching “right-wingers go wild.” One of the things that apparently delighted him was this map which Sarah Palin posted on her Facebook page:
Discussion:
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Kathleen Madigan / Wall Street Journal:
Private Sector Sheds Jobs — Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month. Above, unemployed Americans line up as they wait to gain entry to meet employers at the Los Angeles Career Fair in March. — Private-sector jobs in the U.S. dropped by 23,000 this month …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Lonely Conservative, Say Anything, Hot Air, Fausta's Blog and The Washington Independent
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Mankiw's Tortured Tax Logic — The normal way to do cross-country comparisons of tax burdens is to look at taxes as a percent of GDP, or else to maybe look at public spending as a percent of GDP since the volume of spending determines the ultimate level of taxation that will be necessary.
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Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:
Taxes per Person — Some pundits, reflecting on the looming U.S. budget deficits, claim that Americans are vastly undertaxed compared with other major nations. I was wondering, to what extent is that true? — The most common metric for answering this question is taxes as a percentage of GDP.
Scott / Power Line:
Evan Coyne Maloney remembers — Evan Coyne Maloney is the documentary filmmaker and proprietor of Brain Terminal. During the Bush administration, Evan was out in the field with his camera observing protests and interviewing protesters. He is therefore in a good position to recall the signs …
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Emptywheel:
Breaking: Judge Walker Grants Summary Judgment Finding Gov't Liable Under FISA — Short version: al-Haramain wins! — Judge Walker just issued the following ruling in the al-Haramain case: … Walker is basically saying, “Well, government, if you won't give us any evidence to prove …
Discussion:
Salon
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The Huffington Post:
Clinton Pollster: If Election Were Today, It Would Be Like '94 — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The pollster manning the ship for President Bill Clinton during the disastrous 1994 congressional elections is experiencing some déjà vu as the Democratic Party approaches this off-year contest.
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Clinton pollster says if election were held today, 1994 would repeat
Discussion:
Firedoglake
ABCNEWS:
GOP Wary of Health Law Repeal Push in Fall Races — GOP leaders temper call for repealing health law, saying jobs, economy are key to fall races — Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that's roaring through the conservative base …
Quinnipiac University:
Democrats On Top In Ohio Senate, Governor Races, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Bounces Back From Big Negative To A Split — Democrats are having a mini-surge in Ohio as two possible candidates for the open U.S. Senate seat have come from behind to pass the Republican contender …
Discussion:
Salon, Real Clear Politics, TPMDC, Politics Daily, Swing State Project, MyDD, Taegan Goddard's … and The Eye
Andy Barr / The Politico:
RNC: Dems do it too, sort of — In hopes of redirecting incoming fire about its spending habits, the Republican National Committee on Wednesday tried to turn scrutiny to the spending habits of the Democratic National Committee but came up with nothing nearly as risque as almost $2,000 …
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
RNC cancels Young Eagles events — In the wake of a scandal around the Republican National Committee's sponsorship of an event at a racy Los Angeles club, the committee is putting parts of its Young Eagles program for younger donors on hold. — With traditional major donors shying away …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View, Washington Post and The Washington Independent
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Teaching Reading by Teaching Nonfiction — Like a lot of people I know, I read a lot and what I read is mostly nonfiction. But as Dana Goldstein points out in a great piece lots of Americans read very poorly and schools teach reading almost exclusively through fiction:
Discussion:
Eschaton
Shelby Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Barack The Good — The big government liberalism that Mr. Obama uses to make himself history-making also alienates him in the center-right America of today. — It has to be acknowledged that, in his battle for health-care reform, President Obama has shown real presidential mettle.
Howie Klein / Crooks and Liars:
Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway Take Some Time Out From Battling The Teabaggers To Talk With Us Live — I've been noticing a disturbing trend in the Kentucky contest for the Senate seat that McConnell forced Jim Bunning to give up. Whenever you line up the candidates on the issues …
Discussion:
Barefoot and Progressive
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Gallup: Majority Says Dem Health Reform Tactics Were “Abuse Of Power” — Yesterday I noted the seemingly odd finding by Gallup that more Americans blame Democrats than Republicans or conservatives for the rash of violence that greeted the passage of the reform law.
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Excessive Outrage on Retiree Subsidy Accounting — So as blogged yesterday, the new health care plan changed the tax treatment of a subsidy for retiree prescription drug benefits, which caused those companies who had received the subsidy to announce a charge against their deferred tax assets.
Discussion:
Grasping Reality …
Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Bill Donohue: Child Molesting Priests Weren't Pedophiles Because Most Boys Were Post Pubescent — Bill Donohue seemed very proud of the fact that most child molesting priests weren't actually pedophiles in his words, but only guilty of abusing children who had achieved puberty.
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