memeorandum: Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela (Bill Gertz/Washington Times)

1:20 PM ET, April 21, 2010

Top Items:

Once critical of financial regulation bill, Republicans change their tone — Key Senate Republicans on Tuesday began to back away from their sharp criticism of proposed new financial regulations and expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal on a bill that would drastically change …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Slate, Roll Call, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Hotline On Call, Wonkette, Wonk Room, NPR, The Note, Right Now, The Hill and The Politico

The Politico:

Dems haunted by corporate ties — President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are promising a climactic clash with Wall Street, but there's a complication in their battle plan: The Democratic Party is closer to corporate America — and to Wall Street in particular — than many Democrats would care to admit.

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Townhall.com, USA Today, The Note, Michelle Malkin, McClatchy Washington Bureau and The Plum Line

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Carper: Dems should drop areas of disagreement from Wall St. reform bill

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

CNN:
Senate committee debates Wall Street reform bill

Discussion: The Politico

The Politico:
Bloomberg vs. Schumer

Discussion: Pat Dollard and New York Magazine

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Goldman Sachs wants regulation, not laissez-faire

Discussion: Firedoglake, protein wisdom, NewsBusters.org, Power Line and Beltway Confidential

Ezra Klein:
Vague deal nearing on FinReg bill?

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Ezra Klein:
Congress's bipartisan regard for Wall Street money

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation, Deal Journal and Wall Street Journal

Rich Blake / ABCNEWS:
Largest Hedge Fund Political Donations Go to Democrats

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, DealBook and Washington Wire

PRWeb:

FreedomWorks Bullies GEICO To Axe Voice Over Actor — GEICO voice over actor targeted by Tea Party members after expressing opinion on FreedomWorks voicemail. — Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 21, 2010 — Los Angeles actor, D.C. Douglas, says he was dropped from the upcoming GEICO …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee and Joe. My. God.

David Weigel / Right Now:

GEICO voice actor fired after insulting tea parties — Sometimes you have a headline that makes the rest of the story superfluous, but here's the background. Actor Lance Baxter, otherwise known as “D.C. Douglas,” currently known as the man who informs you how much GEICO can save you on car insurance …

Discussion: Big Government and Moe Lane

St. Petersburg Times:

U.S. attorney, IRS and FBI investigating Florida GOP credit card use — Federal law enforcement agencies have launched a criminal investigation into the use of American Express cards issued by the Republican Party of Florida to elected officials and staff, according to sources familiar with the probe.

Matt Towery / Southern Political Report:

SPR exclusive bulletin: Crist to run for Florida Senate as an independent — It may be the worst-kept secret in American politics today, and it's apparently about to become a reality. Reliable sources informed me today that embattled Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, whose early lead …

Discussion: The Fix, Taegan Goddard's …, Post on Politics, Open Left, Hot Air, Time, TPMDC, Politics Daily and The Political Carnival

Quinnipiac University:

Obama's Bounce Goes Flat, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; But Voters Confident He Will Pick Good Judge — President Barack Obama's job approval, which bounced slightly to a 45 - 46 percent split March 25 in the wake of his health care victory, has flattened out at 44 - 46 percent …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Hill, CNN, Bob McCarty Writes, No More Mister Nice Blog, Commentary and The Corner on National …

Reuters:
Obama backers show signs of disappointment

Discussion: Townhall.com and Commentary

CNBC:

Testimony Could Undercut SEC Charge Against Goldman — The government has testimony from a Paulson & Co. official that could contradict its own claims against Goldman Sachs, CNBC has learned. — Paolo Pellegrini told the government that he informed ACA Management that Paulson intended to bet against …

Discussion: Clusterstock, New York Magazine, DailyFinance and DealBook

Wall Street Journal:
Paulson Confronts Goldman Fallout

Discussion: Felix Salmon, The Confluence, Deal Journal, AOL, FT Alphaville and Clusterstock

Harvey Pitt / Blogs and Stories:
The SEC's Dangerous Gamble

Discussion: Clusterstock and FT Alphaville

New Jersey Online:

N.J. voters reject school budgets in heated elections … New Jersey voters took a stand on school spending and property taxes Tuesday, rejecting 260 of 479 school budgets across 19 counties, according to unofficial results in statewide school elections. — In the proposed state budget …

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, Joanne Jacobs and Riehl World View

JammieWearingFool: Earthquake in New Jersey: Majority of School Budgets Defeated

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Mike Allen, the Man the White House Wakes Up To — Before he goes to sleep, between 11 and midnight, Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, typically checks in by e-mail with the same reporter: Mike Allen of Politico, who is also the first reporter Pfeiffer corresponds with after he wakes up at 4:20.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette, The Politico, FishbowlDC, Mediaite, The Page, Mother Jones and First Draft

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Dems To Attack Sue Lowden With “Chickens For Checkups” Web Site — Chickens for Checkups! — That's the name of a new Web site the DSCC is planning to unveil today in an effort to draw national attention to GOP Senate candidate Sue Lowden, who doubled down this week on her assertion …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
GOPER TRIES TO APE MY SNARK

Discussion: TPMDC, The Reality-Based Community, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, The Poor Man Institute and Balloon Juice

Bill Gertz / Washington Times:

Iran boosts Qods shock troops in Venezuela — Pentagon predicts U.S. clash with Islamist paramilitary — Iran is increasing its paramilitary Qods force operatives in Venezuela while covertly continuing supplies of weapons and explosives to Taliban and other insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq …

Discussion: Power Line, Pat Dollard, Atlas Shrugs, Washington Post, Fausta's Blog and JammieWearingFool

David Brody / The Brody File:

Senator DeMint to Brody File: Tea Party Movement Will Bring On “Spiritual Revival” — Senator Jim DeMint tells The Brody File that the Tea Party is a “spiritual revival” waiting to happen. He compares it to “The Great Awakening”. You can watch his fascinating comments below and read a partial transcription as well.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog and msnbc.com

The Huffington Post:

Lindsey Graham Gay? Conservative Group ALIPAC Demands Senator ‘Admit Homosexuality’ — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — William Gheen, head of the conservative, anti-"amnesty," anti-illegal immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), spoke at a Greenville …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Mediaite, PostPartisan and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
EVEN LINDSEY GRAHAM DOESN'T DESERVE THIS.... I'm not generally …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Salon, Hullabaloo, slacktivist, American Power, Riehl World View, Joe. My. God. and Indecision Forever

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

Both national party committees spend big chunks on fancy meals, hotels, travel — Both the national Democratic and Republican party committees spend about two-thirds of the money they take in on the care and comfort of committee staffs and on efforts to raise more funds, with lavish spending on limousines …

Discussion: Indecision Forever and The Page

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:

Would the U.S. Shoot Down an Israeli Jet? Top Officer Won't Say — MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — I'm not going to make a big deal of this, although some dug deep in the trenches of the Middle East debate might. But America's top military officer wouldn't rule the possibility today …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard, Commentary, BLACKFIVE and Laura Rozen's Blog

Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:

RNC Spent $340K On Hawaii Meeting — The RNC spent more than $340K at a semi-annual meeting in Honolulu in Jan., the latest example of the party spending lavishly on itself while GOP officials worry they won't have enough money to take advantage of a promising national landscape this fall.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Vanity Fair, Betsy's Page and Firedoglake

Sebastian Junger / New York Times:

Farewell to Korengal — LAST week the United States military pulled out of the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. Six miles long, sparsely populated and of dubious strategic value, the Korengal was the scene of some of the most relentless fighting of the Afghan war.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Defense Tech and BLACKFIVE

Associated Press:

Ariz House: Check Obama's Citizenship — PHOENIX — The Arizona House on Monday voted for a provision that would require President Barack Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot when he runs for reelection. — The House voted 31-22 to add the provision to a separate bill.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Think Progress, PoliBlog, The Gun Toting Liberal, Balloon Juice, Arizona Republic, The Political Carnival and Opinion L.A.

Heather / Crooks and Liars:

Matthews Allows Gun Rights Protesters to Show Their Blind Hatred for President Obama — Chris Matthews allows 2nd Amendment protesters Larry Pratt and Skip Coryell to dig their own hole while trying to get them to explain what freedoms are being taken away from them and what right the 2nd Amendment protects.