Top Items:
Matt Viser / Boston Globe:
Romney keeps away from Tea Party — Possible presidential contender isn't courting activists — Tea Party activists in New Hampshire say the former Massachusetts governor has been largely inaccessible to them. (Mary Schwalm/Associated Press) — WASHINGTON — New Hampshire Tea Party …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, TPMDC, Real Clear Politics, Guardian, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call, Balloon Juice, msnbc.com and FrumForum
RELATED:
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Giuliani vs. Palin in 2012? — (CNN) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said he's more likely to run for president if former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin runs. — In an interview on CNN's “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Giuliani, who dropped out of the 2008 Republican presidential primary …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Politico, The Hill, The Note, Cubachi, Hot Air, TPMDC, Conservatives4Palin and FrumForum
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Presidential buzz surrounds Bachmann — (CNN) - As if Rep. Michele Bachmann's foray into the early-voting state of Iowa didn't raise enough 2012 speculation already, now comes news the Minnesota Republican will meet behind closed doors with two of the most important GOP officials in the state.
Discussion:
The Note and Firedoglake
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
New Hampshire GOP faces Tea Party takeover
New Hampshire GOP faces Tea Party takeover
Discussion:
The Impolitic, Ben Smith's Blog and GOP 12
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
A rival SOTU response — The Tea Party Express emails supporters that Rep. Michelle Bachmann — passed over for a leadership spot, much less the response to the State of the Union — will deliver her own response: — Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has confirmed with us that she will broadcast …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Politics Daily, Weigel, National Review and FrumForum
RELATED:
Amy Krener / paracom.paramountcommunication.com:
Date sent — There are two very exciting developments I wanted to share with you today, friends! — 1st - Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has confirmed with us that she will broadcast her response to Barack Obama's State Of The Union address this Tuesday.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller, AOL News and Washington Post
Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
Michele Bachmann to Deliver SOTU Rebuttal, Too
Michele Bachmann to Deliver SOTU Rebuttal, Too
Discussion:
The Hill, The Caucus, The Politico, Washington Monthly, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
Patterico's Pontifications:
Brad Friedman, Partner of Convicted Bomber, Is Very Concerned About Glenn Beck's Rhetoric — As I explained last night, Glenn Beck never told his supporters to shoot anyone in the head: … Now comes Brad Friedman doing his typical “am I lying or am I stupid?” game:
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, News Hounds, Nice Deb, NewsBusters.org blogs and Wake up America
RELATED:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
I'm declaring February a Palin-free month. Join me! — Though it is embarrassing to admit this in public, I can no longer hide the truth. I have a Sarah Palin problem. — I have written about her in 42 columns since Sen. John McCain picked her as his presidential running mate in 2008.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Gawker, newsfeed.time.com, Pajamas Media, Weigel, Mediaite, Cubachi, Ross Douthat, Classical Values, New York Magazine, The Impolitic, Poynter and Riehl World View
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
DeMint joins CPAC boycott — South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint will skip this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, making him the most prominent conservative figure yet to express objections to what critics see as a pro-gay, libertarian tilt to the 38-year old event.
Discussion:
Weigel, Online NewsHour, TPMDC and FrumForum
Abby Phillip / The Politico:
White House reboots on economic advice — Signaling a shift to a new phase of the administration's response to the nation's economic woes, President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Friday establishing a new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that will be lead by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
RELATED:
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Volcker Out, Immelt In — Gotta admit I'm not too pleased …
Volcker Out, Immelt In — Gotta admit I'm not too pleased …
Discussion:
Emptywheel, New Deal 2.0, The Huffington Post and Rortybomb
Political Correction RSS:
Rep. Broun: Mixed Seating At SOTU Is “A Trap” To “Silence Republicans” When “Barack Obama Spews Out All His Venom” — 1 hour and 16 minutes ago — Matt Finkelstein — The tragic shootings in Tucson prompted calls for civility from politicians on both sides of the aisle, including Sen. Mark Udall's …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Mediaite
RELATED:
Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
Refusing To Sit With Democrats, Rep. Broun Warns Of Obama Spewing …
Refusing To Sit With Democrats, Rep. Broun Warns Of Obama Spewing …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, No Labels, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and AOL News
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Everything starts with repeal — Suppose someone - say, the president of United States - proposed the following: We are drowning in debt. More than $14 trillion right now. I've got a great idea for deficit reduction. It will yield a savings of $230 billion over the next 10 years …
RELATED:
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Murkowski questions approach to health repeal — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Thursday cast doubt on the manner in which Republicans have attempted to repeal the healthcare law. — Murkowski (Alaska) said that she would vote to repeal the law if a vote was held in the Senate …
Discussion:
The Note, Weasel Zippers and Wonk Room
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE NICER TO MURKOWSKI. …
MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LITTLE NICER TO MURKOWSKI. …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, KTVA-TV and Daily Kos
Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
165 House Republicans endorse defunding USAID — As the budget battle inside the Republican Party heats up, a large group of conservative House Republicans called Thursday for a drastic defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development and a host of other programs.
Discussion:
Eunomia, Commentary, Weigel, The Awl, Online NewsHour, Right Turn, majorityleader.house.gov, ThinkProgress, Guardian and The Hill
RELATED:
Abu Muqawama / cnas.org:
What Some Conservatives Don't Yet Get
What Some Conservatives Don't Yet Get
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Daily Dish and ThinkProgress
Jeff Schogol / Stars & Stripes:
McChrystal denies claims of secret military crusade against Islam — WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal says he is not part of a religious order waging war on Islam despite recent assertions by acclaimed journalist Seymour Hersh. — Speaking in Qatar earlier this week …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Jihad Watch
RELATED:
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Hersh rebuked on ‘crusaders’
Hersh rebuked on ‘crusaders’
Discussion:
FP Passport, PostPartisan, NewsBusters.org blogs, Gawker and Poynter
Mary Williams Walsh / New York Times:
A Path Is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens — Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Enterprise Blog, Hot Air, Hit & Run, Felix Salmon, AmSpecBlog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Political Insider, RedState, The Foundry, Pirate's Cove, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Sweetness & Light, Prairie Weather, Weasel Zippers, Concurring Opinions, New York Magazine and The Big Picture
Jgalloway / Political Insider:
Newt Gingrich tells Georgia Republicans he'll be a candidate in '12 — In the last 24 hours, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich has touched base with several prominent Republicans in his former home state, telling them that he intends to make a run for president in 2012 using Georgia as his base …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, TPMDC, GOP 12 and FrumForum
Telegraph:
Brother of Harry Potter star jailed for attacking her — The brother of a Harry Potter star has been jailed for six months for a “prolonged and nasty” attack in which she was beaten and branded a “slag” for dating a non-Muslim. — Afshan Azad, 21, who played Padma Patil …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch and Cubachi
Jim Tankersley / NationalJournal.com:
The Phantom 15 Million — Taming unemployment starts with solving the mystery of the jobs that were supposed to have been created in the past 10 years but weren't. — Anxious: Job seekers in Denver. — America's jobs crisis began a decade ago. Long before the housing bubble burst …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, 2.0: The Blogmocracy, EconLog and TheMoneyIllusion
Argus Leader:
(2 of 2) — “Just me, personally, I think the window is closing,” he said. — Thune agreed, saying “the clock is ticking.” — “I do know that candidates are getting out there, and people are starting to gravitate certain directions,” Thune said. — Thune said he has done much analysis and gathered many data points.
Michael M. Gleeson / The Hill:
Roberts, Alito face tough choice on whether to attend State of the Union — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito face a difficult choice on whether to attend President Obama's State of the Union address next week. — Alito and Roberts, who were both nominated …
Discussion:
The Note and Prairie Weather
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Santorum's Non-Gaffe — I disagree with Rick Santorum on almost everything, including abortion. But this recent kerfuffle about the former Pennsylvania Senator's remarks about black people, including the President, and abortion is a classic example of political correctness run amok.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post, PoliticsPA and GOP 12
New York Times:
Poll Finds Wariness About Cutting Entitlements — As President Obama and Congress brace to battle over how to reduce chronic annual budget deficits, Americans overwhelmingly say that in general they prefer cutting government spending to paying higher taxes, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Economix, Reuters, The New Republic, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Plum Line, Salon, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, The Confluence, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Politico, Newshoggers.com, Grasping Reality …, CBS News, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Sweetness & Light, Calculated Risk and Open Left
Tim Pawlenty / Washington Post:
Don't raise the debt limit - reform entitlement spending — Five years ago, a freshman senator made a case against allowing the federal government to go deeper into debt. — “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure,” he said.