Top Items:
Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2012: Barack Obama 42%, Ron Paul 41% — Pit maverick Republican Congressman Ron Paul against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, and the race is - virtually dead even. — A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds Obama with 42% support and Paul with 41% of the vote.
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Shawn Millerick / Now! Hampshire:
Source: State Dems scrambling to deploy tea party ‘crashers’ — New Hampshire Democrats are engaged in a statewide search for liberal activists willing to attend so-called tea parties on Thursday and carry signs expressing racist or fringe sentiments, a Democratic source with knowledge of the effort tells NowHampshire.com.
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
GOP operatives crash the tea party — Just days after the first widespread tea party demonstrators hit the streets a year ago Thursday, Joe Wierzbicki, a Republican political consultant with the Sacramento firm Russo Marsh + Rogers, made a proposal to his colleagues that he said could …
Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
President Ron Paul — Here's a shocker: pollster Scott Rasmussen reports that in a race between Barack Obama and Ron Paul, 42% of likely voters would vote for Obama and 41% would vote for Paul. This, despite the fact that Paul gets lower support from Republicans (66%) than Obama does from Democrats (79%).
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
Sean Higgins / Investor's Business Daily:
Hoyer Admits: Tea Party Spurs Members To Consider Retiring — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters today that the Tea Party movement is making some members of Congress mull retirement. — “Do I think the negative atmosphere that has been created by the Tea Party …
Discussion:
RedState
Bernie Quigley / Pundits Blog:
The Tea Party one year on: Federalism and nationalism
Discussion:
The Politico
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Yes, 47% of Households Owe No Taxes. Look Closer. — Forty-seven percent. — That's the portion of American households that owe no income tax for 2009. The number is up from 38 percent in 2007, and it has become a popular talking point on cable television and talk radio.
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Arthur C. Brooks / Wall Street Journal:
‘Spreading The Wealth’ Isn't Fair — Surveys show Americans think taxes are already too high, even for the rich. — Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the 17th-century French minister of finance, once remarked that “the art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount …
Harold McGee / New York Times:
The Curious Cook: Why Cilantro Tastes Like Soap, for Some — FOOD partisanship doesn't usually reach the same heights of animosity as the political variety, except in the case of the anti-cilantro party. The green parts of the plant that gives us coriander seeds seem to inspire …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Why FL-19 isn't a health care referendum — In the immediate wake of soon-to-be Rep. Ted Deutch's (D) victory in a special election in Florida's 19th district on Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee released a statement casting it as a rejection of Republican claims that health care …
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Brian Skoloff / Associated Press:
Democrat wins Fla. US House special election — BOCA RATON, Fla. — Republican backlash over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul had little effect in the nation's first U.S. House race of 2010. — Florida Democratic state Sen. Ted Deutch handily won Tuesday's special election …
Geoffrey R. Stone / New York Times:
Our Fill-in-the-Blank Constitution — AS the Senate awaits the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice, a frank discussion is needed on the proper role of judges in our constitutional system. For 30 years, conservative commentators have persuaded the public that conservative judges apply the law …
Discussion:
Bench Memos …, The Moderate Voice, ACS Blog, Law Blog, Althouse, Balloon Juice and Politics Daily
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama/Bush Nearly Divided — Americans are now pretty evenly divided about whether they would rather have Barack Obama or George W. Bush in the White House. 48% prefer Obama while 46% say they would rather have the old President back. — Bush had atrocious approval ratings for his final few years …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Power Line, Sense of Events, RedState, The Corner on National … and GayPatriot
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Sam Youngman / The Hill:
McConnell: White House trying to ‘jam’ GOP on financial overhaul — Republican congressional leaders are criticizing President Barack Obama for bulldozing them on financial regulatory legislation. — Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) exited a White House meeting on the issue Wednesday …
Discussion:
CNN
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Ezra Klein:
Sen. Mark Warner: Mitch McConnell 'either doesn't understand …
Discussion:
The Agenda on National …
Brady Dennis / Washington Post:
Top Senate Republican blasts Democrats' financial regulation bill
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Firedoglake, TPMDC and U.S. Senate Republican …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Bernanke to Unemployed: Drop Dead — Ben Bernanke's economic forecast indicates a dire future for the currently unemployed and also for young Americans who'll be graduating from school this spring and next: … That sounds right to me. And if Congress asked me to give my forecast, that's what I would give.
Discussion:
Washington Post
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Sewell Chan / New York Times:
U.S. Must Start to Rein In the Deficit, Fed Chief Says
Discussion:
The Caucus, The Washington Independent, Real Time Economics, Prairie Weather, The Page and FT Alphaville
Miriam Jordan / Wall Street Journal:
Arizona Clears Strict Immigration Bill — Arizona lawmakers on Tuesday passed one of the toughest pieces of immigration-enforcement legislation in the country, which would make it a violation of state law to be in the U.S. without proper documentation. — It would also grant police the power …
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Jay Sorgi / 620WTMJ:
Thompson Denies Report He Will Not Run for US Senate — MILWAUKEE - According to a source who has spoken with TODAY'S TMJ4 HD's Charles Benson, former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson says he will not run for Senator Russ Feingold's seat. — Thompson is set to announce his future at a “tea party” rally in Madison on Thursday.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Hot Air, The Eye, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Daily Kos and The Political Carnival
Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:
How Bad Could 2010 Really Get For Democrats? — Though Election Day is still months away, pundits have already begun to speculate on possible outcomes for this year's midterms. There's a general consensus that Democrats will lose seats in November, but beyond that opinions vary widely on how big those losses might be.
Robert Wright / Opinionator:
The Price of Assassination — I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me 20 years ago that America would someday be routinely firing missiles into countries it's not at war with. For that matter, I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me a few months ago that America would soon …
Peter Elkind / Fortune:
Eliot Spitzer's flameout — (Fortune) — It was one of America's most shocking political sex scandals, instantly transforming New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer — who had terrified Wall Street during his political climb — into the infamous “Client 9.” — In Rough Justice, his new book out April 20 …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Conservative group's ‘Pig Book’ reports earmarks fell 10 percent in past year — Congressional earmarks fell over 10 percent in the last year, a fiscally conservative watchdog group said Wednesday. — Citizens Against Government Waste highlighted $16.5 billion in earmarks over the last fiscal year …
Discussion:
The Politico
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Bachmann: 'We're hoping that President Obama's policies don't succeed.' — Before President Obama took office in January 2009 in the midst of an economic crisis, Rush Limbaugh was rooting for his failure, declaring “I hope Obama fails.” Though some GOP leaders claimed that “no one wants” …
Cenk Uygur / The Huffington Post:
Discovery Channel Insider: Sarah Palin's Show Is “a New All Time Low for Discovery” — Last night on The Young Turks we broke the story of reaction to Sarah Palin's new show inside Discovery. We have an inside source at Discovery Communications and we've been leaked information on Sarah Palin's show for The Learning Channel.
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Wall Street Journal:
Crist Advisers Push Independent Bid — Florida Governor Insists Independent Bid Isn't in the Cards Despite Conservative Primary Opponent's Big Lead in Polls — Gov. Charlie Crist, right, listens to teacher Scott Whittle's views on a merit-pay bill Tuesday in Tallahassee.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hot Air, TPMDC, Erick's blog, Hotline On Call, Betsy's Page and The Hill
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