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

11:55 AM 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, Wall Street Journal, Roll Call, Slate, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Hotline On Call, Wonk Room, Wonkette, NPR, The Note, Right Now, The Politico and The Hill

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Sen. Carper: Dems should drop areas of disagreement from Wall St. reform bill — Democrats should drop areas of disagreement with Republicans from their Wall Street reform bill in order to move forward, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) suggested Wednesday. — Carper, a member of the Senate Finance Committee …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

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, Townhall.com, The Note, USA Today, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Michelle Malkin, The Plum Line and Doug Ross

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: DealBook

Brody Mullins / Wall Street Journal:
Rules Weigh on Fund-Raising

Discussion: New York Times, Top of the Ticket, OpenSecrets.org, Washington Post, Bloomberg, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Caucus, CNN, The Atlantic Online, Washington Wire and USA Today

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Reg Reform Bill Slammed By Dem Insiders, Economic Experts In Reid Letter (EXCLUSIVE)

Discussion: Reuters, Blogs and Stories, naked capitalism and New Deal 2.0

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.

Discussion: Firedoglake, CNN, Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, And So it Goes in Shreveport, American Spectator, Hot Air, RedState, Erick's blog, Real Clear Politics, Ben Smith's Blog, msnbc.com and The Page

Geoffrey Dickens / NewsBusters.org:
Matthews: Republicans Like Rubio Taking Part in ‘Stalinesque’ Purge of GOP

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Scared Monkeys, NewsReal Blog, Outside The Beltway, The Hill, TRAIL BLAZERS and AmSpecBlog

Matt Towery / Southern Political Report:
SPR exclusive bulletin: Crist to run for Florida Senate as an independent

Discussion: Politics Daily

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: The Hill, Commentary and The Corner on National …

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Supreme Court pick to be made by May 26

Discussion: CNN, The Swamp, New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Cato @ Liberty and Washington Wire

Reuters:

Obama backers show signs of disappointment — (Reuters) - Gay rights activists heckled President Barack Obama this week at a Democratic event that exposed signs of disenchantment threatening the party in November's congressional elections. — Five million first-time voters turned out in 2008 …

Discussion: Townhall.com and Commentary

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.

Discussion: Politics Daily, msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, Boston Globe, Think Progress, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Taegan Goddard's …, America's Voice Blog, Balloon Juice, Ezra Klein, Mother Jones, The Politico, The Hill, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, 24Ahead and TPM LiveWire

Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
Obama falters on immigration reform promises

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and The Hill

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, PoliBlog, Balloon Juice and Opinion L.A.

Anill / Think Progress:
Arizona legislature demands immigrants and President of the United …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Reaction, Rising Hegemon, The Gun Toting Liberal, TPM LiveWire, Arizona Republic, The Political Carnival and AMERICAblog News

JammieWearingFool:

Earthquake in New Jersey: Majority of School Budgets Defeated — In a crushing rejection of the thug tactics of the teacher's unions, voters turned out in unusually high numbers Tuesday to reject a majority of proposed school budgets across the state of New Jersey, handing Governor Chris Christie …

New Jersey Online:
N.J. voters reject school budgets in heated elections

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty and Riehl World View

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: Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette, The Politico, FishbowlDC, The Page, Mediaite, Mother Jones and First Draft

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: Weekly Standard, BLACKFIVE, Commentary and Laura Rozen's Blog

Martin Indyk / New York Times:
When Your Best Friend Gets Angry

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Commentary and Israel Matzav

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

EVEN LINDSEY GRAHAM DOESN'T DESERVE THIS.... I'm not generally in the habit of defending Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), but some of the abuse he's been receiving from the right is ridiculous. — Over the weekend, an even-crazier-than-usual Tea Party event was held in Greenville, South Carolina …

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

The Huffington Post:
Lindsey Graham Gay? …

Discussion: Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and PostPartisan

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, The Atlantic Online, Vanity Fair and Betsy's Page

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: Ben Smith's Blog and The Page

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.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPMDC, The Political Carnival, The Poor Man Institute and Balloon Juice

Jed Lewison / Daily Kos:
Sue Lowden's health care barter plan: “Bring a chicken to the doctor …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and Firedoglake

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, Washington Post, Fausta's Blog, Atlas Shrugs and JammieWearingFool

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Economic Scene: As Markets Fizzle, Buying May Cost Less Than Renting — In much of the country, for much of the last decade, renting a home has usually been a better financial move than buying one. It's been true in Southern California, San Francisco, Phoenix, Las Vegas and large parts of Florida …

Discussion: Free exchange, Economix and The Washington Independent

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Arizona has turned into a police state: ‘Show me your papers’ — I had a friend who isn't into politics, but would say that Bush's goal was to enact martial law over the country. I told her she was not based in reality. But this new law in Arizona gives the police exactly that type of power …

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post, Philly.com, Media Matters Action Network and American Prospect

Randal C. Archibold / The Caucus:
McCain's Tough Stance on Arizona Immigration Bill

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Arizona Republic, The Huffington Post, Corrente, BAGnewsNotes and The Politico

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

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.”