Top Items:
Washington Post:
Obama joins Wisconsin's budget battle, opposing Republican anti-union bill — MADISON, WIS. - President Obama thrust himself and his political operation this week into Wisconsin's broiling budget battle, mobilizing opposition Thursday to a Republican bill that would curb public-worker benefits …
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Wis. governor: GOP won't be ‘bullied’ by union bill protesters — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) says his party has been emboldened by massive protests against his controversial budget plan. — Walker said demonstrators who filled the state Capitol building in Madison and the boycott …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, Political Punch, Daily Kos and Vox Popoli
Wall Street Journal:
Athens in Mad Town — A seminal showdown between public unions and taxpayers. — For Americans who don't think the welfare state riots of France or Greece can happen here, we recommend a look at the union and Democratic Party spectacle now unfolding in Wisconsin.
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
BREAKING: Wisconsin Dems Hiding At Best Western in Rockford, IL ...Update: TEA PARTY WINS! Chases WI Dems Out of Rockford ...Update: WI Dem Says They're Still in IL (Video) — The Wisconsin senate democrats fled the state today rather than vote on a budget repair bill.
Discussion:
Breitbart.tv, Big Government, Confederate Yankee, Classical Values, The Jawa Report, WTMJ, Wonkette, Scared Monkeys, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Wake up America, Hot Air, theblogprof, The Sundries Shack, Marathon Pundit, WKOW 27, JSOnline, Grim's Hall, WISN Milwaukee's Channel 12, Pirate's Cove, Riehl World View, All American Blogger, No More Mister Nice Blog, Sister Toldjah, Doug Ross, ABCNEWS, iOwnTheWorld.com, GayPatriot, The Daily Caller, Da Techguy's Blog and Althouse
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
After all those efforts to paint Tea Partiers as using violent images and rhetoric, these pictures from Madison have got to hurt. — The Wisconsin GOP made a nice montage: — And here's a picture I took today: — I asked the woman if she thought Scott Walker was like Hitler, and she said “Yes.”
Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
Scott Walker vs. Public Sector Unions — When Wisconsin governor Scott Walker looked out the window of his office at the Capitol in Madison Wednesday he saw more than 10,000 people gathered to protest his decision to require public employees to contribute more to their pensions and health care.
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Power Line, National Review, Da Techguy's Blog, NewsBusters.org and JSOnline
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Politics of Wisconsin Labor Fight Spread to Washington — President Obama and his political rivals in Washington have jumped into the epic battle in Wisconsin between organized labor and the state's newly elected Republican governor over the rights and benefits of state workers.
Discussion:
The Politico, host.madison.com, Towleroad News #gay and USA Today
Michelle Malkin:
Watch Wisconsin, Part IV: Salary info Big Labor doesn't want you to see; statewide strike looms …
Watch Wisconsin, Part IV: Salary info Big Labor doesn't want you to see; statewide strike looms …
Discussion:
Doug Ross, Dakota Voice, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and Firedoglake
Mary Katharine Ham / The Daily Caller:
AWOL Wisconsin Democrat calls CNN with list of demands
AWOL Wisconsin Democrat calls CNN with list of demands
Discussion:
Fire Andrea Mitchell!, RedState, Hot Air, National Review, Weasel Zippers, The Hill and Pajamas Media
John / Power Line:
One More Thing About Wisconsin — A common theme of the union …
One More Thing About Wisconsin — A common theme of the union …
Discussion:
Althouse
Jay Nordlinger / National Review:
Re ‘To Be a Republican Lawmaker in Madison’
Re ‘To Be a Republican Lawmaker in Madison’
Discussion:
American Spectator, The Gateway Pundit and AmSpecBlog
Fox News:
Wis. Governor to AWOL Senate Democrats: Come Home and Get Back to Work | On the Record
Wis. Governor to AWOL Senate Democrats: Come Home and Get Back to Work | On the Record
Discussion:
JSOnline and National Review
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Willie Sutton Wept — There are three things you need to know about the current budget debate. First, it's essentially fraudulent. Second, most people posing as deficit hawks are faking it. Third, while President Obama hasn't fully avoided the fraudulence, he's less bad than his opponents …
Discussion:
The Future of Capitalism, Free exchange, Sky Dancing, The Confluence, Paul Krugman, Balloon Juice, Washington Post and The Politico
Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
DNC Expands Role In Labor Protests To Ohio, Indiana … WASHINGTON — Building on the momentum in Wisconsin, where tens of thousands of protesters have turned out to oppose Republican Gov. Scott Walker's effort to strip collective-bargaining rights from the state's public-employee unions …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Bloomberg, Ben Smith's Blog, The Plum Line, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Gateway Pundit, Plain Dealer, TPMDC and SEIU
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Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
GOP votes to defund Obama's policy ‘czars’ — The House GOP approved an amendment to a government-spending bill that would block funding for the Obama administration's so-called policy “czars,” appointed advisers to the president that have been much-criticized by Republicans. — The vote was 249-171.
Discussion:
Hot Air, UrbanGrounds, Nice Deb, Weasel Zippers and The Sundries Shack
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Robin Bravender / The Politico:
House votes to overthrow ‘czars’
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Warning for GOP: Beware ‘Arrogance of Power’ — The Ohio Republican Says His Party Could Suffer Same Fate as Dems at the Polls — Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has a warning for his fellow Republicans: Beware “the arrogance of power,” or voters will do to you what they did to Democrats last year.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note and Ballot Box
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
On Long Island, Palin Opens Up and Plays Coy — WOODBURY, N.Y. — Sarah Palin did not visit Iowa or New Hampshire on Thursday, and she did not drop by South Carolina or Nevada. But inside a country club ballroom here, as she logged another stop as a paid speaker, she said she could not wait much longer to decide her future.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Politics Daily, The Caucus, A plain blog about politics, PostPartisan, Hot Air, City Room and Gothamist
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Katrina Trinko / National Review:
Palin Talks 2012, Birthers, and Government Shutdown
Palin Talks 2012, Birthers, and Government Shutdown
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, CNN, The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Conservatives4Palin, GOP 12, Ballot Box and The Daily Caller
Dan Balz / Washington Post:
GOP activists in Iowa divided on whether Palin can carry 2012 banner — WEST DES MOINES, IOWA - A group of Republican activists was sorting out the field of prospective 2012 presidential candidates on a cold night here recently when talk turned to Sarah Palin.
Kevinliptak / CNN:
Pawlenty to keynote large tea party event — (CNN) - Tim Pawlenty will headline an inaugural policy summit being put on by one of the largest national tea party groups in the U.S. — Tea Party Patriots announced Friday morning that the former Minnesota governor and probable 2012 GOP presidential candidate …
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Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Pawlenty to court Tea Party at Arizona summit
Pawlenty to court Tea Party at Arizona summit
Discussion:
GOP 12 and Ben Smith's Blog
Aljazeera:
Bahrain tense amid funerals — Military keeps capital Manama under lockdown, a day after a deadly police assault on anti-government demonstrators. — [WARNING: This video contains images that some viewers may find disturbing] — Troops and tanks have locked down Manama, the Bahraini capital …
Discussion:
Guardian, EA WorldView and The Awl
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Sonja Puzic / Vancouver Sun:
Ont. couple's appeal to bring baby home dismissed — A Superior Court judge has dismissed a Windsor couple's appeal of a decision to have their dying baby's breathing tube removed in hospital. In this undated handout photo, Joseph Maraachli, a one-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. …
Discussion:
All American Blogger and Questions and Observations
Stanley Kurtz / National Review:
Who's Polarizing America? — American politics just keeps getting more polarized. Be assured that Obama wants it that way. I argue in Radical-in-Chief that Obama's long-term hope is to divide America along class lines (roughly speaking, tax payers versus tax beneficiaries).
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Jason Millman / The Hill:
Administration asks judge to tell the states that healthcare law isn't optional — The Obama administration is asking a federal judge who struck down the healthcare reform law to clarify that states must still implement the overhaul as the appeals process plays out.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Tom Humphrey / Knoxville News-Sentinel:
Bill OK'd to end collective bargaining with schools — Register or log in using your account on these websites. — Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH — NASHVILLE — The Senate Education Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to abolish collective bargaining between teachers unions and school boards across the state.
Discussion:
Don Surber and TPMDC
David Brooks / New York Times:
Tomorrow Never Comes — Jonathan Alter wrote a book about Barack Obama's first year in office called “The Promise.” That's a great title because it works on so many levels. For example, over the past four years, Obama's career has been marked by a constant promise: He has continually …
Discussion:
Right Turn, Balloon Juice and JustOneMinute
The Huffington Post:
Facebook Adds ‘Civil Union,’ ‘Domestic Partnership’ To Relationship Status Options … Facebook has added two new relationship status options users can include in their online profiles: “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership.” — The new fields are being rolled out in the U.S …
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker, more at Techmeme »
Stephen Lowman / Political Bookworm:
Rand Paul on Sarah Palin, Dostoevsky and dad — Rand Paul may still be green to the ways of the U.S. Senate (he only assumed office in January) but he's got a lot to say about the political state of the country. Most of his new book, “The Tea Party Goes to Washington,” …
Discussion:
National Review and Conservatives4Palin
New York Times:
Tucson Firefighter Refused to Respond — PHOENIX — A Tucson firefighter refused to respond to the Jan. 8 shooting rampage that wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords because of political differences with his crew, delaying his unit's arrival at the scene, according to internal department records.
Discussion:
msnbc.com
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Dem Rep Receives Threat Over NASCAR Proposal (DOCUMENT) — Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) alerted Capitol Police Thursday after a threatening fax arrived at her office attacking her proposal to strip Pentagon sponsorship from NASCAR teams. — McCollum's staff tells TPM this is the first time they've alerted …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, The Huffington Post, Mother Jones, Salon, Hullabaloo and Booman Tribune