Top Items:
Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama suggested Wednesday that a new value-added tax on Americans is still on the table, seeming to show more openness to the idea than his aides have expressed in recent days.
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Wall Street Journal:
Israel Rebuffs U.S. on Building — Prime Minister Netanyahu Says He Won't Freeze Home Construction in East Jerusalem — By JAY SOLOMON in Washington and CHARLES LEVINSON in Jerusalem — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveyed to the White House this weekend his rejection …
TPMDC:
Why The GOP Suddenly Let Up On Financial Reform — Within 48 hours, the Republican line on financial regulatory reform went from “filibuster” to “we're very close to a deal.” Why the shift? Republicans and Democrats will offer up spin all day, chalking up the progress to their own doggedness …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Guardian, Reuters, The Washington Independent, The Page, Washington Monthly, Open Left, Daily Kos and The Hill
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Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama set to warn of another crisis without new financial reforms — President Barack Obama on Thursday will warn Wall Street that another financial crisis is certain unless financial regulatory reform is signed. — Obama, in a speech at New York City's Cooper Union …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Issues Sharp Call for Reforms on Wall Street — WASHINGTON - President Obama is traveling to the shadow of Wall Street on Thursday to counter what he calls “the furious efforts of industry lobbyists” trying to weaken or kill new financial regulations that he says are needed to stave off a second Great Depression.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
ChickenCare Goes Viral — Perhaps inevitably, as you can see in the picture at the left, a progressive group has now created a special ChickenCare dance remix of senate candidate Sue Lowden's proposal to bring down health care costs by adopting a barter economy in medical care.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, TPMDC, Democracy in America and The Huffington Post
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Las Vegas Review-Journal:
LETTERS: Bartering is effective in many instances
LETTERS: Bartering is effective in many instances
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Plum Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Riehl World View and The Political Carnival
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
LOWDEN TRIPLES DOWN.... I really didn't intend to do three posts …
LOWDEN TRIPLES DOWN.... I really didn't intend to do three posts …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Barter background — When Sue Lowden, a Republican candidate …
Barter background — When Sue Lowden, a Republican candidate …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, TPMDC, The Political Carnival, The Plum Line, Shakesville and Crooks and Liars
Abdon M. Pallasch / Chicago Sun Times:
GOP chairman: African-Americans not given good reason to vote for party — Why should an African-American vote Republican? — “You really don't have a reason to, to be honest — we haven't done a very good job of really giving you one. True? True,” Republican National Chairman Michael …
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Reuters:
The tea party's exaggerated importance — 2009 was the year when many journalists concluded they were slow to recognize the anti-government, anti-Obama rage that gave birth to the tea party movement. — 2010 is the year when news organizations have decided to prove they get it. — And get it.
Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
In WH meeting, ‘Only two of the elected officials in the room had never filibustered a Supreme Court nominee’ — When Senate leaders went to the White House Wednesday morning to discuss the Supreme Court opening, the meeting was attended by President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden …
Discussion:
Hot Air
Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
MSNBC Pulls the Plug on Donny Deutsch's Weeklong Anchoring Stint — A week-long anchoring stint on MSNBC by Donny Deutsch ended abruptly on Wednesday, and four people briefed on the decision said the cancellation stemmed from an unflattering mention of that channel's No. 1 anchor, Keith Olbermann, a day earlier.
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
In Judicial Bouts, Diane Wood Shows a Persuasive Punch — WASHINGTON — There were few liberals and just one woman on the federal appeals court in Chicago when Diane P. Wood, an antitrust expert with a flair for foreign language and an ear for playing the oboe, showed up in the summer of 1995.
Joan Walsh / Salon:
There is no liberal Rush Limbaugh — I didn't have a Sarah Palin moment when asked to name one. My silence was my answer — I'm traveling this week so blogging is light. But I'm compelled to comment on the way the right is hyping my Tuesday appearance on “Morning Joe.”
Telegraph:
General Election 2010: Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem donors and payments into his private bank account — Nick Clegg received a series of payments from party donors directly into his private bank account, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. — The Liberal Democrat leader was paid regular monthly sums by three senior businessmen during 2006.
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Jed Lewison / Daily Kos:
Beck vs. Markos — Well, well, well. Guess which Mullah of the American Taliban has decided to take on Markos? — It's none other than Glenn Beck, who fired back at comments that Markos made Monday evening on Countdown. — Beck was angry at Markos for characterizing his rhetoric as “eliminationist.”
Candance Moore / NewsBusters.org:
Shocking Report: Police Find TEA Parties More Peaceful Than Anti-war Protests — On Monday, the Christian Science Monitor bucked its mainstream peers by reporting something truthful about the TEA party movement: police officials have begun to relax security requirements at conservative rallies …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Filter That Protects Palin From Scrutiny — Here's a revealing glimpse into how a delusional, incompetent, pathological liar has managed never to hold a real press conference and yet remains a credible public figure. She avoids the filters - i.e. skeptical journalists - and deploys one simple propaganda tool:
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, NewsReal Blog, Dennis the Peasant, No Sheeples Here, National Review, Mediaite and The Moderate Voice
Damien Cave / New York Times:
A Republican May Test Odds as an Outsider — COCOA BEACH, Fla. — Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida darted out of the Tallahassee rain on Tuesday, dragging a band of reporters to his office before answering The Question: Will you leave the Republican Party to run for the United States Senate as an independent …
Associated Press:
Gas in the tank: GM repays $8.1B in gov't loans — WASHINGTON - Fallen giant General Motors Co. accelerated toward recovery Wednesday, announcing the repayment of $8.1 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans five years ahead of schedule. — The Obama administration crowed about the …
Jim Manzi / The Corner on National Review Online:
Liberty and Tyranny and Epistemic Closure — By: Jim Manzi — Jonah notes Ross Douthat's very interesting post, in which Ross had this to say: — Conservative domestic policy would be in better shape if conservative magazines and conservative columnists were more willing to call out Republican politicians …
Discussion:
Eunomia, The Other McCain, The Anonymous Liberal, Hot Air, The New Republic and Balloon Juice
Washington Post:
Born in 1970, event has cause for celebration — and a midlife crisis — Before Earth Day became what it is — a national ritual halfway between a street party and a guilt trip — it was a bunch of 20-somethings working in an office over a diner in Dupont Circle. — It was 1970. They worked 15-hour days.
David Freed / The Atlantic Online:
The Wrong Man — In the fall of 2001, a nation reeling from the horror of 9/11 was rocked by a series of deadly anthrax attacks. As the pressure to find a culprit mounted, the FBI, abetted by the media, found one. The wrong one. This is the story of how federal authorities blew …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Dem Response To Citizens United To Have More GOP Support, Source Says — It's getting lost in the noise over financial reg reform. But the looming fight over the Dem legislative response to the Citizens United decision will be a big, possibly defining, story.
Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Revive Immigration Push — Pelosi, Reid Agree to Put Issue Ahead of Energy Bill as Hispanics, a Key Voting Bloc, Grow Frustrated About Inaction — Democratic leaders in Congress have agreed to try to pass immigration legislation this year, placing the explosive issue ahead …