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 …
Discussion:
Ynetnews, Laura Rozen's Blog, Jerusalem Post, Yourish.com, Commentary, Israpundit and Power Line
Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
White House Sends Mixed Messages on DADT — As LGBT activists grow more desperate to repeal “don't ask, don't tell” before the midterm elections, a picture is emerging of a divided White House where President Barack Obama's own words are sometimes odds with the message his administration is sending about repeal.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog Gay, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog News, Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay
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, New Deal 2.0, The Hill, Reuters, Open Left, The Washington Independent, The Page, Washington Monthly, American Prospect, 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
Obama Issues Sharp Call for Reforms on Wall Street
Discussion:
Think Progress, Townhall.com, Washington Post, The Caucus, Time, Clusterstock and Washington Examiner
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Obama pulls out his boxing gloves in Calif.
Obama pulls out his boxing gloves in Calif.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, National Review Online, New York Times, Democracy in America, USA Today, The Note and Guardian
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.
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Washington Post:
Senators close to a deal on financial regulation bill — Key members of both parties said Wednesday that they are close to agreeing on the main elements of a bill to overhaul the nation's financial regulations, raising the prospect that the Senate could begin formal discussion of the landmark legislation early next week.
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, Firedoglake, The Political Carnival and Riehl World View
Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:
At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business — So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins “to challenge corporate and government leaders.” — Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform …
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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.
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 …
Kevin McGill / Associated Press:
Oil rig explodes off La.; 11 missing, 17 hurt — NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard by sea and air planned to search overnight for 11 workers missing since a thunderous explosion rocked an oil drilling platform that continued to burn late Wednesday, more than a day since it sent a fireball into the night sky.
Discussion:
Wonk Room
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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
Wall Street Journal:
The Busted Homes Behind Big Bet — ABERDEEN TOWNSHIP, N.J.—The government's civil-fraud allegation against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. centers on a deal the firm crafted so that hedge-fund king John Paulson could bet on a collapse in U.S. housing prices. — It was a dizzyingly complex transaction …
Discussion:
The Big Picture
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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.”
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.
George F. Will / Press Association:
Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey — The bridge spanning the Delaware River connects New Jersey's capital with this town where the nation's most interesting governor occasionally eats lunch at Cafe Antonio. It also connects New Jersey's government with reality.
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.”
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Internal RNC probe finds financial controls in disarray — Barely 6 1/2 months before the midterm elections, an internal investigation by the Republican National Committee has revealed that the organization is beset with questionable financial management and oversight and is spending …
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 …
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 …