Top Items:
Erick Erickson / RedState:
Perhaps the Most Ridiculous Thing to Come Out of Washington Since George McClellan — The House Republicans' “Pledge to America” is out. A thrill will run up the leg of a few Chris Matthews' types on the right. As Dan noted on Twitter, the Contract with America was 869 words and this is 21 pages.
Discussion:
Think Progress, msnbc.com, The Daily Dish, Doug Ross, Howard Kurtz, Associated Press, National Review, Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard, The Greenroom, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Nice Deb, USA Today, The Gavel, The Politico, The Hill, The Caucus, Right Wing News, George's Bottom Line, Erick's blog, Washington Wire, FrumForum, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits Blog, Politics Daily, No More Mister Nice Blog, NewsBusters.org, Left Coast Rebel, Outside the Beltway, Michelle Malkin, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC, CNN and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
The GOP's bad idea — “America is more than a country,” begins the GOP's ‘Pledge to America.’ America, it turns out, is an “idea,” an “inspiration,” and a “belief.” And the GOP wants to govern it. — Their policy agenda is detailed and specific — a decision they will almost certainly come to regret.
CBS News:
“Pledge to America” Unveiled by Republicans (Full Text) — CBS News has obtained a final draft of House Republicans' legislative agenda for the next Congress, a 21-page “Pledge to America” that they will formally unveil Thursday morning at a Virginia hardware store.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, New York Times, AmSpecBlog, Think Progress, The Politico, Hit & Run, Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, Right Wing News, DownWithTyranny!, Wonk Room, Mediaite, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Hot Air, Law Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Speakeasy, GayPatriot, Scared Monkeys, Shakesville, The Gavel, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Political Byline, Liberal Values, NewsBusters.org, The Democratic Daily, Don Surber, Pam's House Blend, iOwnTheWorld.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Atlantic Online, Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News
The Huffington Post:
GOP ‘Pledge For America’ Director Lobbied For AIG, Exxon, Pfizer, Chamber — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The Republican Party's 21-page blueprint, “Pledge to America,” was put together with oversight by a House staffer who, up till April 2010, served as a lobbyist for some of the nation's most powerful oil …
National Review:
We'll Take the Pledge — All year long, conservatives have been pressuring Republicans to release a Contract with America for 2010 — an updated version of the campaign platform that the party unveiled before its 1994 sweep of Congress. Thursday morning, Republican congressmen are responding …
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
Why Republicans Don't Need a ‘Pledge’ — Today, something unusual will happen. Democrats will happily call attention to a new set of Republican proposals, and Republicans ... well, they'll sort of shrug them off. The “Pledge to America” is supposed to be this year's version of 1994's …
Discussion:
The New Republic, JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard, The Washington Independent and Club for Growth
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Boehner offers no solutions on Medicare, Social Security reform
Boehner offers no solutions on Medicare, Social Security reform
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Bill Clinton: Dems should issue their own governing document
Bill Clinton: Dems should issue their own governing document
Discussion:
FrumForum
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
The Pledge To America: Deja Vu All Over Again
The Pledge To America: Deja Vu All Over Again
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Newsweek and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
The Congressional Republican Pledge to Special Interests
The Congressional Republican Pledge to Special Interests
Discussion:
New York Times, The Fix, The Hill, Sweetness & Light and Firedoglake
TPMDC:
Senate Dems Ready To Shelve Tax Cut Vote — A senior Senate Democratic aide told TPM today there won't be a vote on extending the Bush tax cuts in the upper chamber before the November election, a blow to party leaders and President Obama who believed this would have been a winning issue.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, The New Republic and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Frank Knapp, Jr / Congress Blog:
End tax cuts for the wealthiest — The Board of Directors of The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce voted this week to support the effort in Congress to end tax cuts for the very rich. Here's why. — First, letting the tax cuts for the top two income brackets expire will impact very few real small business owners.
Discussion:
The Politico and CNN
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
House Dems Also Punt On Upper-Income Bush Tax Cuts — The Senate's decision not to address the Bush tax cuts until after the election is the strongest indication yet that the game is over. After a Democratic caucus meeting this morning — but before the news broke on the Senate side …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Talking Points Memo
Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi and Hoyer split on holding tax vote before November elections
Pelosi and Hoyer split on holding tax vote before November elections
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Liberty Pundits Blog, Balloon Juice, TPMDC, FrumForum and FoxNews.com
Harriet Johnson Brackey / Sun-Sentinel:
Man's home sold out from under him in foreclosure mistake — (Robert Duyos, Sun Sentinel / September 22, 2010) — When Jason Grodensky bought his modest Fort Lauderdale home last December, he paid cash. But seven months later, he was surprised to learn that Bank of America had foreclosed on the house …
Discussion:
Fortune, Geekosystem, Calculated Risk and Boing Boing
RELATED:
Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:
Man without Mortgage Loses Home in Foreclosure
Washington Post:
Two of Obama's closest advisers among those likely to leave in White House shuffle — In his nearly two years in office, President Obama has relied on a very small clique of advisers that serves as his most trusted sounding board on politics and policy. — Members of his staff describe Obama …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, New Deal 2.0, AMERICAblog Gay, Pam's House Blend, The Confluence, Politerati, Prairie Weather and The Page
RELATED:
Bill Plante / CBS News:
Axelrod Leaving WH; Emmanuel Likely Next — Sources say President's 2 Closest Advisors Heading for Other Pursuits in Latest News on Pending D.C. Shakeup — (CBS) President Obama's inner circle will likely be losing some key players. CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports …
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, Yourish.com and Sweetness & Light
Quinnipiac University:
Little-Known New York Attorney General Candidates Tied, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Gillibrand Up By Only 6 Points — Two little-known candidates for New York State Attorney General, Democratic State Sen. Eric Schneiderman and Republican Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan …
Kevin Sack / New York Times:
For Many, Health Care Relief Begins Today — Sometimes lost in the partisan clamor about the new health care law is the profound relief it is expected to bring to hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been stricken first by disease and then by a Darwinian insurance system.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Time, Washington Post, The Caucus, Wonk Room, National Review, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and TalkLeft
RELATED:
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
The GOP's Phony Pledge on Health Care
The GOP's Phony Pledge on Health Care
Discussion:
The Reality-Based Community and Swampland
Wcbsmark / CBS New York:
Cuomo Caught Lying About Voting For Bloomberg? — NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — There has been a dramatic development in the race for New York governor. — A new poll has Republican Carl Paladino within striking distance of Democrat Andrew Cuomo as voters say they want to elect someone who will stop the circus in Albany.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, Capital Tonight, RedState, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, Liberty Pundits Blog and Babalú Blog
RELATED:
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Senate Forecast: Republican Takeover Chances Improved, but Democrats Are Building Pacific Firewall — Polls show that the Republican nominee has gained ground in a key Senate race, Wisconsin — and Republicans have put another Senate race, in West Virginia, squarely into play.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Political Insider, Raw Story, Don Surber, Public Policy Polling and The Hill
RELATED:
Erika Bolstad / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Senate Republicans vote to let Murkowski keep energy post
Senate Republicans vote to let Murkowski keep energy post
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Balloon Juice
David Axelrod / Washington Post:
The election campaigners we can't see — All of Washington is in a frenzy, speculating about the outcome of the fall elections. Yet the development that could most tip the scales is getting far too little public attention. That hidden factor is the audacious stealth campaign being mounted …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, culturekitchen, The Huffington Post and The Page
Keith Bradsher / New York Times:
Amid Tension, China Blocks Vital Exports to Japan — HONG KONG — Sharply raising the stakes in a dispute over Japan's detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain, the Chinese government has blocked exports to Japan of a crucial category of minerals used in products like hybrid cars, wind turbines and guided missiles.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The GOP's Fiscal Fraudulence — One tiny part of me hoped that after the GOP spending binge of the Bush years, and the alleged Tea Party commitment to turn the page on growing government, the Republicans, like the Tories in Britain, would run on a clear platform of massive spending cuts …
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Balloon Juice
Agence France Presse:
‘US runs Afghan force to hunt militants in Pakistan’ — WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency runs an Afghan paramilitary force that hunts down Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in covert operations in Pakistan, a US official said Wednesday. — Confirming an account in a new book …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Weasel Zippers
James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:
A Claim of Pro-Islam Bias in Textbooks — HOUSTON — Some conservative members of the Texas Board of Education assert that the history books used in this state have a pro-Islamic bias, and they are upset about it. — Never shy about wading into the culture wars, they are planning …
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Memo to right-wingers: That ‘bearded Marxist’ line is a JOKE — one that makes fun of idiots like you — OK, this whole “Chris Coons describes himself as a bearded Marxist” thing that's now the everyday talking point at Fox News — embodied once again in Christine O'Donnell's interview …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
delawareonline:
(2 of 2) — Asked for reasons he was weighing against running, Castle said such a campaign would be “logistically difficult” because voters would have to write in the name. — “I think automatically you have a diminished number of votes you'll get,” Castle said.
Discussion:
The Fix, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Delaware Way, Ballot Box and TPMDC
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sarah Palin: I'll run if nobody else steps up — Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin gave her strongest indication yet that she may run for president Wednesday night, saying she would jump into the race if “nobody else were to step up” with the proposals she wants to see.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and Wonkette
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
The Tea Party: Tempest in a very small teapot — Is the Tea Party one of the most successful scams in American political history? — Before you dismiss the question, note that word “successful.” Judge the Tea Party purely on the grounds of effectiveness and you have to admire …
Discussion:
The Impolitic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and New York Observer