Top Items:
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
House rejects measure that would extend key Patriot Act provisions through December — A measure to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act counterterrorism surveillance law through December failed the House Tuesday night, with more than two-dozen Republicans bucking their party to oppose the measure.
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The Politico:
Rank-and-file reject Patriot Act — House Republicans Tuesday night got a harsh introduction to the majority, as more than two dozen rank-and-file GOP lawmakers voted against reauthorizing the Patriot Act. — And just hours before the vote on the Bush-era homeland security measure …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Threat Level, The Nation, ThinkProgress and Hot Air
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House fails to extend Patriot Act surveillance as Republicans defect — The House on Tuesday night failed to approve legislation to extend surveillance authorities in the Patriot Act. — In a 277-148 vote, the House fell just seven votes short of the two-thirds majority of voting members necessary …
Discussion:
Fox News, Raw Story, The Impolitic, Booman Tribune and Hit & Run
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
White House wants longer extension of Patriot Act than House Republicans — The Obama administration said Tuesday it wants a three-year extension of Patriot Act surveillance authorities, far longer than the timeline proposed by House Republicans. — The White House released a Statement …
Discussion:
Political Punch, Sky Dancing, Firedoglake, Proof Positive, The Note and The Nation
Teddy Partridge / Firedoglake:
Tea Party Meets Kucinich Halfway, Foils PATRIOT Act Extension — Did Dennis Kucinich convince Tea Party Republicans to join him in defeating the Patriot Act extension? (D-OH) — Too clever by half, the House GOP leadership allowed only 40 minutes of debate on the extension of the PATRIOT Act today …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Washington Post:
Patriot Act extension fails in the House by seven votes — House Republicans suffered an embarrassing setback Tuesday when they fell seven votes short of extending provisions of the Patriot Act, a vote that served as the first small uprising of the party's tea-party bloc.
Discussion:
Examiner, Weigel and Prairie Weather
Reuters:
House seen blocking healthcare funds
House seen blocking healthcare funds
Discussion:
YID With LID, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller
John Vidal / Guardian:
Saudi oil reserves ‘overstated by 40%’ — US diplomat convinced by Saudi expert that reserves of world's biggest oil exporter have been overstated by nearly 40% — The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Philly.com, The Nation and AMERICAblog News
Mark Mellinger / WANE-TV:
Lugar to Tea Party: “Get real.” — WASHINGTON, DC (WANE) - He's an institution in Washington, DC. Over the years, few senators have garnered more respect on Capitol Hill than Indiana's Richard Lugar . He's been a fixture in the Senate since 1977; seemingly unbeatable at the ballot box.
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, National Review, Politics Daily, Lippmann's Ghost, Hot Air, nancynall.com, The Fix, The Hill, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, Shakesville and msnbc.com
RELATED:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner: ‘I should be’ considered a member of the Tea Party
Boehner: ‘I should be’ considered a member of the Tea Party
Discussion:
The Politico and Weasel Zippers
Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Plans Near for Freddie and Fannie — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and House Republicans are settling into a game of chicken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with each side daring the other to advance a plan for replacing the two housing finance companies.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Market Urbanism and Calculated Risk
RELATED:
Nick Timiraos / Wall Street Journal:
White House Plans to Revamp Mortgage Market
White House Plans to Revamp Mortgage Market
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
My Farewell* Post to Politics Daily Readers … For the last couple of years, I have been honored and privileged to be a part of the superb Politics Daily team. It is with some reluctance that I announce my imminent departure from PD for The Daily Caller. — PD remains a unique place on the Web …
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Brett Pulley / Bloomberg:
AOL's Armstrong Wagers on Arianna Huffington in ‘Shoot The Moon’ Purchase
AOL's Armstrong Wagers on Arianna Huffington in ‘Shoot The Moon’ Purchase
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post:
Obama Administration Won't Endorse Calls For Immediate Resignation Of President Mubarak — AP/The Huffington Post … WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is urging Egyptian leaders to include more people in a national dialogue on reform but won't endorse demands from protesters …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, New York Times, The Politico and Los Angeles Times
RELATED:
Aljazeera:
Mass protests continue in Egypt
Mass protests continue in Egypt
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Politics Daily, Washington Post, Al Jazeera Blogs and AMERICAblog News
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
As Egypt Protest Swells, U.S. Sends Specific Demands
As Egypt Protest Swells, U.S. Sends Specific Demands
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, BAGnewsNotes, The Huffington Post, The Lede, Wonk Room, Gawker and Politics
CBS News:
Planned Parenthood Video Fuels Abortion Debate — Undercover Video Shows Fake Pimp Seeking Abortions for Underage Sex Workers, Getting Advice from Planned Parenthood Employees — (CBS) In Washington Tuesday the House began hearings on the controversial subject of abortion.
RELATED:
Lila Rose / Big Government:
Planned Parenthood NY: Giving Pimps Discounts, on the Tax Payers' Dime
Planned Parenthood NY: Giving Pimps Discounts, on the Tax Payers' Dime
Discussion:
Reuters, Weigel, Breitbart.tv, Nice Deb, LifeNews.com, TPMMuckraker and Weasel Zippers
Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National:
Barack Obama: “I didn't raise taxes once.” — President Barack Obama says he didn't raise taxes once. — In an interview on Super Bowl Sunday, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly asked President Barack Obama to react to a Wall Street Journal editorial that accused Obama of being …
Discussion:
Tammy Bruce, Big Government, Wall Street Journal, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TaxProf Blog, The Foundry, Hot Air, CBS News and AmSpecBlog
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Rick Santorum: Sarah Palin skips CPAC for C-notes — Rick Santorum knocked Sarah Palin's decision to skip CPAC, saying on Tuesday that she must have “business opportunities” that are keeping her from the annual conservative conference that is a showcase for potential presidential contenders.
Discussion:
Cubachi and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:
Christine O'Donnell Will Use Committee To ‘Investigate’ Left-Wing Groups — Failed GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is back, and she's telling supporters she wants her newly formed political action committee ChristinePAC to “investigate and counter attack leftwing groups.”
Discussion:
Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Raw Story
David Rogers / The Politico:
Budget cuts take hits from both sides — Facing a two-front war on the left and right, the House Appropriations Committee voted, 27-22, Tuesday evening to move ahead with Republican plans for cutting close to $40 billion from domestic and foreign aid spending over the last seven months of this fiscal year.
Discussion:
National Review
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
I have to take a 3rd shot at Larry Tribe's op-ed: That big word “choice.” — Here's my first shot and here's my second shot at Larry Tribe's op-ed purporting to say why the Supreme Court will come down in favor of the constitutionality of the individual mandate to buy health insurance.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications
RELATED:
Laurence H. Tribe / New York Times:
On Health Care, Justice Will Prevail
On Health Care, Justice Will Prevail
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Althouse, protein wisdom, The Reality-Based Community, Angry Bear, Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, Don Surber, SCOTUSblog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Outside the Beltway, The Volokh Conspiracy, ACS Blog, AmSpecBlog, Marginal Revolution, The New Republic, Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, LewRockwell.com Blog and Pajamas Media
Felix Salmon:
The silver lining to occupational licensing — Stephanie Simon's WSJ article on the rise of jobs needing a license of some description has resulted in a predictable rash of approving comments, especially from Matt Yglesias, for whom the issue is something of a hobby-horse.
Discussion:
Yglesias, Mother Jones and Modeled Behavior
Bloomberg:
Brown, BP Cleared of Lobbying Scots to Free Bomber — Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) — Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government and BP Plc were cleared of lobbying Scottish politicians to free Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Al-Megrahi in a report that said U.K. officials helped Libya seek his release.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Daily Kos
Nicholas Ballasy / CNSNews:
Lautenberg to Pro-Life Republicans: 'Don't Go Near My Daughters' — “If they want to make a choice, that's up to them and it's with the advice of a doctor and loving parents and a loving family.” — (CNSNews.com) - In expressing opposition to the House Republicans' “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act …
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog
Brad Johnson / ThinkProgress:
Rep. Fred Upton On Global Warming: ‘I Do Not Accept That It Is Man-Made’ — At a public forum today, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the new head of the House energy committee, denied that climate change is manmade. Upton, who received $20,000 from Koch Industries in his most recent campaign …
Discussion:
Climate Progress
Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Unbiasing Academia — I'm not surprised that John Tierney's new article on Jonathan Haidt has gotten a lot of attention from conservatives; it involves a liberal academic telling them something they already know: that academia discriminates against them. … In blog years, this is an age-old argument.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Truth on the Market, Balloon Juice, alicublog and National Review
Democracy in America:
The fallacy of careless contrarianism — LAST week, I posted a video of an impressive young man delivering a moving short speech in opposition to the attempt to add an amendment to Iowa's constitution outlawing gay marriage. Steven Landsburg, an economist at the University of Rochester, was not impressed.
Discussion:
Modeled Behavior