Top Items:
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
In U.S., 46% Favor, 40% Oppose Repealing Healthcare Law — Three-quarters of Republicans favor repeal; 64% of Democrats oppose it — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans do not strongly endorse the new Republican House majority's efforts to repeal the landmark healthcare legislation passed last year.
RELATED:
Philip Klein / AmSpecBlog:
BREAKING: CBO Says Repealing ObamaCare Would Reduce Net Spending by $540 Billion — The Congressional Budget Office, in an email to Capitol Hill staffers obtained by the Spectator, has said that repealing the national health care law would reduce net spending by $540 billion in the ten year period from 2012 through 2021.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
David Brooks / New York Times:
Buckle Up for Round 2 — The health care reform law was signed 10 months ago, and what's striking now is how vulnerable it looks. Several threats have emerged — some of them scarcely discussed before passage — that together or alone could seriously endanger the new system. These include:
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, The New Republic, Right Turn, Hit & Run, The Daily Dish, The Incidental Economist and Commentary
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Harvard Economist Estimates Health Repeal Would Destroy Up To 400,000 Jobs Per Year Over Decade — Just as House Republicans gear up to repeal the “job killing” Affordable Care Act, the Department of Labor is reporting that the U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs last month, pushing the jobless rate down to a 19-month low of 9.4 percent.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line and Daily Kos
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
‘Job-killing’ regulation? ‘Job-killing’ spending? Let's kill this GOP canard. — Republicans these days can't get through a sentence without tossing in their new favorite adjective, “job-killing.” — There's “job-killing legislation,” in particular the health-care reform law.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Yglesias, Left Coast Rebel, Hullabaloo, Wonk Room, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Politico
New York Times:
Republicans Are Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It
Republicans Are Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It
Discussion:
The Politico, ABCNEWS, Wonk Room and ACS Blog
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, GOP 12, Capitol View, Prairie Weather and The Politico
New York Post:
Rudy gearing up for DC run — Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources tell Page Six. — Sources say the tough-talking former mayor “thinks the Republican race will be populated …
Discussion:
Salon, The Politico, AmSpecBlog, Weigel, Commentary, msnbc.com, Gothamist, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, Cubachi, The Other McCain, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, The Hill, Indecision Forever, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, The Moderate Voice, National Review, JammieWearingFool, FrumForum, TPMDC and Conservatives4Palin
RELATED:
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Rudy Giuliani Considering Second White House Run
Rudy Giuliani Considering Second White House Run
Discussion:
Fox Nation, No More Mister Nice Blog, GOP 12, The New Republic, Weasel Zippers and Hotline On Call
Amelia Chasse / New Hampshire Journal:
Romney flexes muscle in first NH Primary poll while Palin and others lag behind
Romney flexes muscle in first NH Primary poll while Palin and others lag behind
Discussion:
Ballot Box, The Confluence, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air, Weigel, Weasel Zippers and GOP 12
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama would easily win Nevada again...except against Romney
Obama would easily win Nevada again...except against Romney
Discussion:
Primaries For Palin and GOP 12
blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
Obama mouthpiece Robert Gibbs was forced out by new henchman William Daley — I wondered yesterday whether Robert Gibbs jumped or was pushed and noted that President Barack Obama's words indicated that it was “not an entirely voluntary departure”. — It's being reported by John King …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Hill, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Matt Bai / New York Times:
A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Politico, Ezra Klein, NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather, Marbury, Daily Kos and National Review
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
At Obama White House, Back to the Future
At Obama White House, Back to the Future
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Wake up America and The New Republic
Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Mitch McConnell: William Daley pick a ‘hopeful sign’
Mitch McConnell: William Daley pick a ‘hopeful sign’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Ben Smith's Blog
Doug / RADAR:
EXCLUSIVE: Sonny Bono's Widow - Rep. Mary Bono - In Lurid Photo Scandal With Woman Investigated By FBI — Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack has been caught on camera in a lurid scandal where another woman is apparently licking her breast. — RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained the photo …
Discussion:
Wonkette, Left Coast Rebel, DownWithTyranny!, Oliver Willis and Raw Story
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Levi's Vindication: The Self-Exposure Of Sarah Palin — As a long-standing Palin hysteric, I have to confess a mite less concern in 2011 than at any time since she has been farcically commanding the attention of the political class. Not much has changed essentially: Palin's favorable ratings remain roughly where they have been.
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David Dayen / news.firedoglake.com:
MA Supreme Court Deals Banks a Major Blow on Foreclosure Fraud, in the Ibanez Case — In a major ruling in the Massachusetts Supreme Court today, US Bank and Wells Fargo lost the “Ibanez case,” meaning that they don't have standing to foreclose due to improper mortgage assignment.
Discussion:
FT Alphaville, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Emptywheel, Clusterstock, Bloomberg and naked capitalism
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Parts of the Constitution inadvertently skipped in ‘historic reading’ on floor — The U.S. Constitution has still never been read in its entirety and in order on the House floor. — During Thursday morning's “historic reading,” one member apparently skipped Article 4 Section 4 and part …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, Theo Spark, Raw Story, Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, TPMDC and The Nation
RELATED:
Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:
Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority Because You Pledged to Cut Spending and You Can't Think of a Single Program to Cut Now, Please Go Home — That Congress botched its first-ever public reading of the Constitution is worrisome, but less so than the fact they've spent …
Discussion:
Clusterstock, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and AMERICAblog News
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good — Needless to say, administration supporters will be touting that the unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning dropped from 9.8% to 9.4%. Politically, this is good news for Obama, at least in the short run.
Discussion:
Clusterstock, News Desk, CNBC, Calculated Risk, Power Line, JustOneMinute and Moe Lane
RELATED:
Felix Salmon:
No good news for the long-term unemployed
No good news for the long-term unemployed
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal, Ezra Klein and New Deal 2.0
Tyler Durden / zero hedge:
Labor Force Participation Rate Drops To Fresh 25 Year Low …
Labor Force Participation Rate Drops To Fresh 25 Year Low …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, The Glittering Eye and Michelle Malkin
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves resolution fixing problem with missed swearing-in — The House has just approved H.Res. 26, which is meant to fix the problems created when two Republican members were not properly sworn in on Jan. 5. — The resolution was approved over Democratic objections in a 257-159 vote.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
RELATED:
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Weiner Mocks House GOP Oath Blunder: 'We Violated The Constitution …
Weiner Mocks House GOP Oath Blunder: 'We Violated The Constitution …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Sunlight Foundation Blog and Salon
Ronald Brownstein / NationalJournal.com:
White Flight — President Obama's path to a second term may rely on states shaped by the same social forces he embodies. — Right turn: Sen. Marco Rubio's supporters in Florida included many whites who voted for Obama in 2008. — By any standard, white voters' rejection of Democrats …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Plum Line, Don Surber, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Texas Omen — These are tough times for state governments. Huge deficits loom almost everywhere, from California to New York, from New Jersey to Texas. — Wait — Texas? Wasn't Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn't its governor declare …
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
To House GOP, illegal immigration is a jobs issue — With Republicans now in control of the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials are going to be answering a lot of questions in the next two years. “We're going to start fast,” …
RELATED:
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Illegal immigration foe passed over for chairman of Judiciary subpanel
Illegal immigration foe passed over for chairman of Judiciary subpanel
Discussion:
The Politico
Neil King Jr / Washington Wire:
Another CPAC Dust-Up Over Gays — Nearly every presumptive 2012 Republican presidential candidate will be there, along with 120 conservative groups and thousands of activists. — But the first big conservative forum of the 2012 election—next month's Conservative Political Action Conference …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Weigel, TPMDC and Politics Daily
RELATED:
Brian / Right Wing Watch:
Heritage Foundation and Media Research Center Join CPAC Boycott
Heritage Foundation and Media Research Center Join CPAC Boycott
Discussion:
WorldNetDaily, Weigel and Indecision Forever
Ashley Parker / New York Times:
For House Members Looking to Save Money, a Day at the Office Never Ends — WASHINGTON — Hansen Clarke, a newly elected Democrat from Michigan, is coming to Washington with a “warrior's mentality” to help stave off unemployment and foreclosures in metro Detroit.
Discussion:
American Prospect, Yglesias and Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
The Note:
Bachmann for President? 'I'm Going to Iowa - There's Your Answer' — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Rep. Michele Bachmann confirmed to ABC News today that she's considering a run for president in 2012 — albeit with a non-traditional sense of her own timeline for making a decision.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Shot in the Dark and Capitol View
Yasmine El-Rashidi / english.ahram.org.eg:
Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as “human shields” — Muslims turned up in droves for the Coptic Christmas mass Thursday night, offering their bodies, and lives, as “shields” to Egypt's threatened Christian community — Egypt's majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Greg's Opinion