Top Items:
George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
President Obama to Pastor Jones: ‘Stunt’ Endangers Troops - Full Transcript of Exclusive Interview — I covered a lot of ground with the president in Cleveland yesterday: His decision to make John Boehner the midterm punching bag. Will he veto a sanction of Bush tax cuts for the wealthy?
RELATED:
Mike Allen / The Politico:
What Speaker Boehner would do first — Matt Bai thinks Obama may have missed his Mt. Rushmore moment - Kinsley and Scarborough to write columns for POLITICO — Ceci Connolly to McKinsey — “THE PRESIDENT TAKES ON THE PASTOR” — PRESIDENT OBAMA on “Good Morning America,” …
Discussion:
The Foundry
ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: President Obama Says Terry Jones' Plan to Burn Korans Is ‘A Destructive Act’ — President: Pastor's ‘Stunt’ Could Endanger Lives Here and Abroad — A Florida pastor's plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 could result in “serious violence” …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Firedoglake, National Review, The Lede, Politics Daily, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress and Mediaite
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Koran Burning Is Insensitive, Unnecessary; Pastor Jones, Please Stand Down — Book burning is antithetical to American ideals. People have a constitutional right to burn a Koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and an unnecessary provocation - much like building a mosque at Ground Zero.
Discussion:
New York Times, JustOneMinute, The Daily Dish, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Confluence, The Daily Caller, Wake up America, TPMMuckraker, Guardian, National Review, Taylor Marsh, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, TPMDC, Runnin' Scared, Christian Science Monitor, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, Orlando Sentinel and Liberty Pundits Blog
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Opposition to ‘mosque’ directly linked to anti-Islam sentiment, poll shows — We now have clear evidence that there's a direct link between public anti-Islam sentiment and public opposition to the construction of Cordoba House, a.k.a. the “Ground Zero mosque.”
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and Oliver Willis
RELATED:
John Stanton / Roll Call:
Murkowski Likely to Lose Leadership Spot if Campaign Continues — Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will likely be forced out of her party leadership position should she decide to launch a write-in or third-party candidacy, a Senate Republican said Wednesday. — Murkowski, who conceded …
Discussion:
Fox News, Firedoglake and Guardian
RELATED:
Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
Shake up: The Tea Partiers are coming to the staid Senate
Shake up: The Tea Partiers are coming to the staid Senate
Discussion:
Hot Air
Tennessean.com:
(2 of 2) — The Rev. Steve Freeman of Grace Baptist Church in Springfield said he disagrees with the teachings of Islam. But since Muslims revere the Quran, he said, Christians should respect it. — Freeman said Jesus taught his followers to love their neighbors and enemies.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Kansas City Star, TPMMuckraker and Mediaite
RELATED:
Amir Shah / Associated Press:
Quran burning plan stirs outrage in Muslim world
Quran burning plan stirs outrage in Muslim world
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and Vox Popoli
Jay Newton-Small / Time:
Whatever Happened to Obama's Army? — What happened to Barack Obama's once vaunted political machine? The outfit that put upwards of 8 million volunteers on the street in 2008 — known as Organizing for America — is a ghost of its former self. Its staff has shrunk from 6,000 to 300 …
Discussion:
Tammy Bruce, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air and Swampland
Kenric Ward / sunshinestatenews.com:
Marco Rubio Holds Double-Digit Lead in Senate Race — GOP candidate even beats Crist among independent voters, poll finds — Republican Marco Rubio, garnering surprising strength among independent voters, holds a double-digit lead over his two chief rivals in Florida's U.S. Senate race, a new Sunshine State News Poll reports.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Weekly Standard, Ballot Box, The Buzz, National Review and NRSC
Janet Adamy / Wall Street Journal:
Health Outlays Still Seen Rising — The health-care overhaul enacted last spring won't significantly change national health spending over the next decade compared with projections before the law was passed, according to government figures set to be released Thursday.
Discussion:
NRSC, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Taegan Goddard's …
RELATED:
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Health Plan Won't Fuel Big Spending, Report Says
Health Plan Won't Fuel Big Spending, Report Says
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Right Wing News and Democracy in America
Christina Wilkie / The Hill:
Biden: Bush deserves ‘a lot of credit’ — Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday night said that former President George W. Bush deserves ‘a lot of credit’ for his handling of the initial Iraq war drawdown. — Speaking to Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, who conducted a rare …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, CNN and Wake up America
Bloomberg:
Super PACs Flourish to Influence U.S. Vote After Companies Freed to Give — At least 25 “super PACS,” including one linked to Karl Rove, are fueling a surge in money for this year's elections following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down limits on corporate campaign spending.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Donklephant, The Political Carnival and Shakesville
Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
Emanuel moves event for Rep. Halvorson, prompting speculation — Illinois Rep. Debbie Halvorson (D) was planning to get some fundraising help from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Sunday. But the event has been rescheduled amid growing speculation Emanuel is planning to run for mayor of Chicago.
Discussion:
The Politico, NBC Chicago, CNN and The Hill
RELATED:
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Christine O'Donnell, running for U.S. Senate in Delaware, has a new TV ad bashing her Republican primary opponent, Rep. Mike Castle. — But O'Donnell's ad looks eerily similar to one recently produced by Intrepid Media for Americans for New Leadership, in support of Nevada candidate Sharron Angle …
Discussion:
National Review and Riehl World View
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Florida College Shuts Down Conservative Event After Seeing Anti-Obama Literature (Video) — It begins... School officials at Palm Beach State College kicked members of the Young America's for Freedom off campus after they saw anti-Obama literature at their table. — It was offensive.
Discussion:
theblogprof and Power Line
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama wins the right to invoke “State Secrets” to protect Bush crimes — (updated below - Update II) — In a 6-5 ruling issued this afternoon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed the Obama administration a major victory in its efforts to shield Bush crimes from judicial review …
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Court Dismisses a Case Asserting Torture by C.I.A.
Court Dismisses a Case Asserting Torture by C.I.A.
Discussion:
Reuters, Hullabaloo, Infowars, Guardian, Weekly Standard, The Talking Dog, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, Politics Daily, American Power and BLACKFIVE
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CRISIS ON THE COURTS.... Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy recently noted the problems with the Senate's inability to confirm judicial nominees. “It's important for the public to understand that the excellence of the federal judiciary is at risk,” Kennedy said.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Patterico's Pontifications
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
NOT MUCH OF A ‘COMPROMISE’.... Our discourse can be awfully frustrating sometimes. … Boehner's Senate counterpart is offering a similar pitch. … So, let's be clear about what kind of “compromise” is on the table. Going into the dispute, Republicans want to keep all the Bush-era tax rates for everyone …
Discussion:
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, The Huffington Post and TalkLeft
The Hill:
Wall Street fills coffers of top GOP candidates — Wall Street and financial interests are putting their money behind a handful of top-tier Senate Republican candidates as the GOP looks to win back power in the midterm elections. — The industry's contributions, which favored Democrats …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Wake up America, The Politico and Zandar Versus The Stupid
Menzie Chinn / Econbrowser:
The “Ever-Expanding” Government Sector, Illustrated — Just some numbers to bring reality into the general discussion: — Figure 1: Employment in government (blue), in thousands, seasonally adjusted (blue), and excluding temporary Census workers (red). Total series is “USGOVT” from FREDII.
Discussion:
Calculated Risk
Quinnipiac University:
U.S. Voters Say Afghanistan Is No Vietnam, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; President Gets Better Grades For War Than Economy — Despite increased casualties, American voters say 58 - 33 percent that eliminating the threat of terrorists operating from Afghanistan is a goal …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and The Page
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Blue Dog leader grades Obama ‘in the C range’ — President Obama gets average marks from the co-chairwoman of the Blue-Dog Democrats, the bloc of House Democratic centrists. — Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-S.D.) said the president deserves a grade in the “C range” for his tenure to date in the White House.
Discussion:
The Note
Christina Wilkie / The Hill:
DNC Chair: Gibbs ‘had a bad day’ — Democratic National Committee chairman and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine on Wednesday said that White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was having “a bad day” when he lambasted the “professional left” in an interview with The Hill last month.