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.
RELATED:
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:
Laura Rozen's Blog, Jerusalem Post, Israel Matzav, 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
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Middle East politics, abroad and at home — After waiting long enough for everyone's attention to wander a bit, Israel's prime minister has reportedly again said “no” to White House requests on construction. — This leaves the “peace process,” rough, nowhere, while the White House seems …
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 …
RELATED:
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 …
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, New York Times, National Review Online, Democracy in America, USA Today, The Note and Guardian
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
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.
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
Tim Shipman / Daily Mail:
'I've gone from being Churchill to a Nazi in a week': Clegg defends attack on Britain's ‘delusions of grandeur’ over WWII — A rattled Nick Clegg today sought to defend himself over his claim that the British people have a ‘more insidious cross to bear’ than Germany over World War II.
RELATED:
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.
Jeremy Wallace / Local News from Sarasota …:
Key donors backing Crist — SENATE CAMPAIGN: Support, even in the event of an independent run for office — Even as high-ranking state Republicans distance themselves from Gov. Charlie Crist, some of his biggest GOP donors are vowing to stick with him even if he leaves the party and runs as an independent for the U.S. Senate.
RELATED:
Damien Cave / New York Times:
A Republican May Test Odds as an Outsider
A Republican May Test Odds as an Outsider
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, The Daily Dish, Pollster.com All Content, wusf.usf.edu, The Politico and Naked Politics
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 …
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
RELATED:
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
RELATED:
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
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.”
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Millions face tax increases under Dems budget plan — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate promise to cut the deficit by almost two-thirds over the next five years, but their budget plan could threaten about 30 million people with tax increases averaging $3,700 …
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.
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Obama Backs Down on Sudan — Until he reached the White House, Barack Obama repeatedly insisted that the United States apply more pressure on Sudan so as to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and elsewhere. — Yet, as president, Mr. Obama and his aides have caved, leaving Sudan gloating at American weakness.
Discussion:
Reuters