Top Items:
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Obama: “I Can Go to My Right, but I Prefer My Left” — President Obama hit the basketball court and talked politics with CBS “Early Show” co-anchor Harry Smith this morning. — Smith asked Mr. Obama, who is left-handed, if he can ever go to his right. — “I can go to my right, but I prefer my left,” the president says.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Financial Reform 101 — Let's face it: Financial reform is a hard issue to follow. It's not like health reform, which was fairly straightforward once you cut through the nonsense. Reasonable people can and do disagree about exactly what we should do to avert another banking crisis.
RELATED:
Breitbart.tv:
'IT'S TROUBLESOME': OBAMA SLAMS BECK & LIMBAUGH FOR ‘THIS KIND OF VITRIOL’ — “It's pretty apparent.”
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Rachel Slajda / TPMDC:
Three Congressmen Defy GOP Earmark Ban, Face Losing Committee Seats — Three Republican congressmen have defied their party's decision to ban all earmarks for one year, a move that could cost them their committee posts. — According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Reps. Anh “Joseph” …
RELATED:
Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:
RNC “census” mailer offers phone sex number — A new entrant in the when-it-rains-it-pours category. — The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone-sex line offering “live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl …
RELATED:
Rick Berman / The Politico:
Debt disaster dead ahead — When the credit rating agency Moody's announced recently that the United States had moved “substantially” closer to losing its AAA bond rating, it largely ran as a wire brief, buried in newspaper business sections. — But this obscure announcement may one day be regarded …
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
McCain: GOP hopes to sidestep veto in repeal efforts — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday backed a plan that he says would allow the Republicans to avoid a presidential veto while negating the effects of a new healthcare law. — The 2008 GOP presidential nominee backed a plan …
Discussion:
The Politico, Hot Air, TPMDC, Below The Beltway, Wonk Room, Open Congress, TPM LiveWire and The Corner on National …
John Collins Rudolf / New York Times:
More Struggling Borrowers Face Pay Garnishment — PHOENIX — When the bank sued Leann Weaver for not paying her credit card balance, her reaction was typical for someone in that situation. Personal and financial setbacks weighed her down, and she knew she owed the $2,470.
Discussion:
Calculated Risk
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson worries loading too many people onto Guam could capsize the island — First, before you watch this short but remarkable video, a little background on Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson. — He's from Georgia's Fourth District. A Washington, D.C. native …
RELATED:
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Hank Johnson Worries Guam Could “Capsize” After Marine Buildup
Hank Johnson Worries Guam Could “Capsize” After Marine Buildup
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, NO QUARTER, RedState, neo-neocon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Newsweek Blogs
Erik Telford / Washington Times:
Barack isn't my Daddy — And Congress can't just rewrite the facts — In 1897, a bill was introduced in the Indiana General Assembly that attempted to legally redefine the value of pi (the mathematical ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter). The Indiana Pi Bill stands …
Mark Bowden / Vanity Fair:
The Professor of War — At 57, General David Petraeus has revolutionized the way America fights its wars, starting with the surge in Iraq and continuing into his current command, with responsibility for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Yemen. Charting Petraeus's relentless challenge …
The Huffington Post:
Barney Frank Permanently Bans Staff From Communicating With Aide-Turned-Lobbyist — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has instituted a permanent ban on committee staff communication with Peter Roberson, an aide who left the panel …
Robin Abcarian / Los Angeles Times:
Abortion provider's killer is sentenced to life in prison — Scott Roeder is defiant in a Kansas courtroom as he receives a harsher sentence for shooting Dr. George Tiller in the face in 2009. — Scott Roeder sits in court Thursday. (Jeff Tuttle / Associated Press)
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
CNN:
Presidential spokesman who resigned over Nixon pardon dies — (CNN) - Jerald terHorst, who resigned as President Gerald Ford's press secretary just 30 days after taking the job because of the pardon Ford granted former President Richard Nixon, has died of congestive heart failure, his son said Thursday.
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Hindustan Times:
Islamic groups block shaving contest — The banned Jamaat-ut Dawah (JuD) organisation, along with other religious parties in Karachi, have prevented the holding of a promotion event organised by a leading multinational company for its shaving razors by ransacking the venue.
Stephen Hudak / Orlando Sentinel:
Mount Dora doctor tells Obama supporters: Go elsewhere — (Photo by Deirdre Lewis / April 1, 2010) — MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care “elsewhere.”
Wall Street Journal:
Would the Founders Love ObamaCare? — The resistance to ObamaCare is about a lot more than the 10th Amendment. — The left-wing critics are right: The rage is not about health care. They are also right that similar complaints about big government were heard during the New Deal and the Great Society, and the sky didn't fall.
Philip Pullella / Reuters:
Pope has immunity in abuse trials: Vatican — VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, accused by victims' lawyers of being ultimately responsible for a cover-up of sexual abuse of children by priests, cannot be called to testify at any trial because he has immunity as a head of state, a top Vatican legal official said on Thursday.
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Security Checks on Flights to U.S. to Be Revamped — WASHINGTON — President Obama has signed off on new security protocols for people flying to the United States, establishing a system that uses intelligence information and assessment of threats to identify passengers who could have links to terrorism …
Discussion:
The Page
David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Environmental regulations to curtail mountaintop mining — The Obama administration on Thursday imposed strict new environmental guidelines that are expected to sharply curtail “mountaintop” coal mining, a controversial practice that has enriched Appalachia's economy while rearranging its topography.
Discussion:
E2-Wire, Coal Tattoo, New York Times, Grist, The Moderate Voice, It's Getting Hot In Here and Firedoglake
Dan Barry / New York Times:
Health Care for All, With Obama Down the Street — PORTLAND, Me. — First through the door of the Portland Community Health Center on Thursday morning was a stick figure of a man, oblivious to the homemade signs and the White House advance team across the street.
Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:
New ProgressiveSpeak: Denial On Obama's Triangulation — Booman just can not accept that he is endorsing triangulation. So he invents a new definition - triangulation is NOT what Barack Obama does, even though it is exactly like triangulation: … All of this is a prelude to Booman tying himself …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Anarchists Plan War On April 15th Tea Parties — WARNING: Be on the lookout- — Bring your cameras. — Violent anarchists are planning on infilitrating and sabotaging the Tea Party Protests on April 15th. — The Jawa Report posted this call to arms from the violent anarchists at Infowars today:
Discussion:
American Power, Illinois Review, RedState, TBogg, Moonbattery, Weasel Zippers, Left Coast Rebel, Another Black Conservative and The Jawa Report
RELATED:
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Study Claiming Link Between Stimulus Funding and Partisanship is Manifestly Flawed — A study purporting to find a connection between stimulus spending and the partisanship of a district suffers from an obvious flaw. But in so doing, it provides an example of why it's important to retain …
Jake Sherman / The Politico:
Liberal group march meets pushback — A handful of liberal groups - but only a few dozen protesters — marched on the Republican National Committee offices Thursday to denounce the threats against members of Congress during the health care vote. — But in an oddly Washington moment …
Discussion:
Don Surber, American Power, Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee, GayPatriot, Riehl World View and Weasel Zippers