Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Most transparent White House ever... Police chased reporters away from the White House and closed Lafayette Park today in response to a gay rights protest in which several service members in full uniform handcuffed themselves to the White House gate to protest “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”
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John Aravosis / AMERICAblog Gay:
6 military vets handcuff selves to White House gates to protest Obama inaction on DADT — The President is no longer helping get Don't Ask Don't Tell repealed this year, even though he promised to do so in his State of the Union. So the gays are finally fighting back.
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily Kos, The Foundry, LGBT POV, Joe. My. God., Taylor Marsh, Don Surber, Towleroad News #gay, Truth Wins Out and AMERICAblog News
J.P. Freire / Beltway Confidential:
Is Goldman Obama's Enron? No, it's worse (Updated) — Campaign contributions from Goldman Sachs employees to President Obama are nearly seven times as much as President Bush received from Enron workers, according to numbers on OpenSecrets.org. — President Bush's connections to Enron …
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
GOP seeks SEC records on Goldman — Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight committee, is demanding a slew of documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting that the timing of civil charges against Goldman Sachs raises “serious questions about the commission's independence and impartiality.”
Discussion:
Doug Ross, TPM LiveWire, Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard, Clusterstock, POWIP, The Agonist and RedState
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Next Up? Obama Calls Sen. Scott Brown About Immigration — President Barack Obama called Massachusetts' new Republican senator, Scott Brown, from Air Force One today to deliver some news: Democrats are moving forward with an immigration overhaul in a month.
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John Meroney / The Atlantic Online:
Ronald Reagan and James Dean: Rare Video From 1954 — Today, it's an astonishing, even eerie, scene: the icon of modern American conservatism, whose rise to political prominence was galvanized by the cultural rebellion of the 1960s, fighting off an attack-at-gunpoint by the quintessential modern American rebel.
Paul Krugman:
Lucy And The Football — Talking Points Memo reports that Democrats are largely unprepared for the possibility that Republicans will filibuster financial reform. — Is this really possible? I'm afraid it is. My own conversations with administration officials over the past few weeks …
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Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
Head Lock — The inside story of how Goldman and the banks are getting clobbered on financial reform. — Some two dozen executives from large corporations will be descending on Capitol Hill today to make the case against over-regulating derivatives. The “fly-in” is being organized in part …
Discussion:
The Note, Los Angeles Times, TPMDC, Salon, Open Left, Mother Jones, Gallup, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Post, New York Times, Balloon Juice, Democratic Strategist, Economics of Contempt, The Plum Line, The Reality-Based Community, Washington Wire, National Review, ABCNEWS and The Politico
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Lincoln says she won't return Goldman contributions
Lincoln says she won't return Goldman contributions
Discussion:
CNN, The Note, Bloomberg, The Politico, Swing State Project, Swampland, Firedoglake and Daily Kos
Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
White House: Obama Won't Make Cautious Court Pick Because GOP Will Oppose Whoever He Nominates — President Obama thinks Republicans will engage in a full battle over his Supreme Court nominee regardless of the person's ideological leanings, and in some ways “that realization is liberating for the president” …
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Daniel Larison / Eunomia:
McCain's Integrity — There is a new round of “where have you gone, John McCain?” liberal commentary starting up. I used to find this amusing, but it is all based on a profound misunderstanding of McCain the politician. Recently, McCain has been making a fool of himself by repudiating …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
McCain: I won't support Crist if he runs as an Independent candidate — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday he will not support Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in his Senate race if he runs as an Independent. — Crist, who helped McCain win Florida in the 2008 presidential GOP primary …
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Anill / Think Progress:
Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United States verify their status. — Just a few days after Arizona lawmakers passed an immigration law that will essentially require anyone who is or looks like an immigrant to carry their proof of residency at all times …
Discussion:
The Gun Toting Liberal, Associated Press, AMERICAblog News, The Political Carnival and Wonk Room
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MG Siegler / TechCrunch:
Hitler Is Very Upset That Constantin Film Is Taking Down Hitler Parodies — For my money, memes on the Internet don't get any better than the Hitler one. You know, the one in which you take some current event (the more mundane, the better) and shove it into the scene from the German film Downfall …
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Halperin Takes A Stand — It isn't every day that a consumate inside-game reporter/pundit type like Mark Halperin aggressively calls out one party for lying, but that's exactly what Halperin did early this morning on MSNBC, talking about the GOP claim that the Dem financial reg reform bill will lead to a permanent bailout.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Lyndsey Layton / Washington Post:
FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons — The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands …
Discussion:
Hot Air, theblogprof, Left Coast Rebel, Questions and Observations, Achenblog, Fausta's Blog, Weekly Standard, TIME.com, Moonbattery, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Impolitic, The Moderate Voice, Cold Fury, Pat Dollard, Politics Daily, Moe Lane, The Daily Caller, The Volokh Conspiracy, Mother Jones, The Awl and LewRockwell.com Blog
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court voids law aimed at banning animal cruelty videos — The Supreme Court struck down a federal law Tuesday aimed at banning videos depicting graphic violence against animals, saying that it violates the constitutional right to free speech. — Chief Justice John J. Roberts Jr. …
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
McConnell softens tone on finance regulation bill — A Democratic Wall Street overhaul bill may be gaining an unlikely champion: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). — After a week of attacking the pending legislation as a ticket to new taxpayer “bailouts,” McConnell is striking a different tone.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, TPMDC, Reuters, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, The Page, Balloon Juice and Newshoggers.com
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Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Reid's office defends Wall St. fundraiser
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama Approval Slips Further in Fifth Quarter to 48.8% — Ranks among lowest fifth-quarter averages for elected presidents — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama averaged 48.8% job approval for his fifth quarter in office, spanning Jan. 20-April 19 Gallup Daily tracking.
Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Bernard Goldberg Admits Jon Stewart is Right About His Generalizations and Then Attacks Him — I said last week that Bernard Goldberg wasn't going to be happy after Jon Stewart ended his segment Fox News Pundits Don't Agree With Demonizing an Entire Group Unless it's the Liberals by telling Bernard Goldberg to go f**k himself.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
California senator complains of harassment from Palin fans — California State Senator Leland Yee, who has been battling a state university over disclosing Sarah Palin's speaking contract, complains in a press release today that he's been getting nasty emails and faxes.
Ben Armbruster / Think Progress:
Rubio: 'I Don't Think Any Of Us Are Going To Blame Israel' If They Decide To Attack Iran — Yesterday, a conservative Florida blogger interviewed Republican GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio about “the struggle against Radical Islam and Global Terrorism.” When asked if he would support …
Discussion:
The Shark Tank, The Reaction, Weekly Standard, The Huffington Post, Wonk Room, The Other McCain and Gotomario.com
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Senate Democrats' budget to allow use of reconciliation rules — The budget resolution being drafted by Senate Democrats will include reconciliation instructions, according to Democrats briefed on the matter. — The reconciliation instructions, which allow legislation to move through …
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Bill Black Testimony on Lehman Bankruptcy - Transcript and Video — FDL Contributor Bill Black scorched everyone with his testimony on the failure of Lehman Brothers before the House Financial Services Committee today. His prepared remarks can be found here (PDF).
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
GOPer Tries to Ape My Snark — I'm not quite sure what to make of this. A couple weeks ago our Eric Kleefeld came up with video showing Nevada Senate candidate Sue Lowden suggesting that “bartering” for medical care would be a good way to rein in spiraling health care costs.
David Mark / The Politico:
Inhofe: Clinton comments over the top — Former President Bill Clinton's comments surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing commemoration are “unconscionable” and an “over-the-top” effort to silence critics, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said Tuesday. — Clinton has drawn fire for reprising criticism …