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
Hoyer Admits: Tea Party Spurs Members To Consider Retiring
Discussion:
RedState
Bernie Quigley / Pundits Blog:
The Tea Party one year on: Federalism and nationalism
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, Balloon Juice, Law Blog, Althouse 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 …
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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 …
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
Top Senate Republican blasts Democrats' financial regulation bill
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Firedoglake, TPMDC, U.S. Senate Republican … and The Politico
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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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 …
msnbc.com:
First moonwalker blasts Obama's space plan — NBC News: Neil Armstrong says rocket cancellation is ‘devastating’ — The first man to walk on the moon blasted President Barack Obama's decision to cancel NASA's back-to-the-moon program on Tuesday, saying that the move is “devastating” to America's space effort.
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
Matthew Continetti / Weekly Standard:
2012 Watch: The Gingrich Surge — The story from the new CNN poll is that Mike Huckabee remains a popular choice for the 2012 Republican nomination. Huckabee, Romney, and Palin continue to lead the pack — probably because they have the greatest name i.d.
Discussion:
GOP 12