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Koch Whore — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master's call — “David Koch”: We'll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers. — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that—because we thought about that...
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Wonkbook: Will Wisconsin spread? — A few days ago, Gov. Scott Walker's effort to end collective bargaining for state employees looked almost certain to spread to other GOP-led states. And there has been some interest, notably from Ohio's John Kasich and New Jersey's Chris Christie.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal and Balloon Juice

Scaling Back State Programs Is Least of Three Fiscal Evils — Less objectionable than reducing state worker pay or benefits, increasing taxes — PRINCETON, NJ — As Wisconsin and numerous other states struggle to reduce untenable budget deficits, a new USA Today/Gallup poll finds …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press, The Awl, JSOnline, Washington Post, WisPolitics Budget Blog and Politics Daily

Koch brothers quietly open lobbying office in downtown Madison — The billionaire brothers whose political action committee gave Gov. Scott Walker $43,000 and helped fund a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign against his opponent during the 2010 gubernatorial election have quietly opened …
Discussion:
Guardian, Sunlight Foundation Blog, Minneapolis Star Tribune, TPMDC, ThinkProgress and The Plum Line

The Note: Wisconsin's Scott Walker: With Him And Against Him
Discussion:
Right Turn, New York Times, Reuters and The Mahablog


The real threat to democracy in Wisconsin
Discussion:
Daily Kos and theblogprof

Wisconsin's Walker Signs Bill Requiring 2/3 Majority for Tax Increases
Discussion:
Mercury Rising, Hullabaloo and Reuters

Did Scott Walker Get Crank-Call Pwned? (AUDIO)
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, Joe. My. God., The Politico, Guardian and Parker Spitzer

Mitch Daniels Calls On State GOP To Abandon Union-Busting Bill
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Diane Rehm Show …, National Review, MyDD, ThinkProgress, SEIU, Taylor Marsh, Blogging Blue, FrumForum, TalkLeft and Runnin' Scared

Spreading Anti-Union Agenda
Discussion:
his vorpal sword, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Seeing the Forest, Reuters and AOL News

Some Republican Governors Attempt To Steer Clear Of Wisconsin Strategy
Discussion:
The Politico, Connecting.the.Dots, Media Research Center, New York Times, CNN and ABCNEWS

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Mitch Daniels ‘salutes’ Dem lawmakers …
Discussion:
Coffee & Markets and Weasel Zippers


Bait and Switch? — Walker's budget plans don't fix what he says is the crisis. — Republican Gov. Scott Walker has kicked off a firestorm with his budget proposals, but his most controversial plans wouldn't address this fiscal year's shortfall. — Why now?
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Yglesias, TPMDC and The Plum Line
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Gov. Walker Informed That Bill Targeting Unions May Cost State $46 Million In Federal Funds … WASHINGTON — Budget referees and transportation officials in Wisconsin have informed Gov. Scott Walker (R) that if he were to pass his controversial anti-union legislation into law …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Making sense of Wisconsin's union showdown — A dirty little secret about column writers is that we each have a handful of road-tested templates that we use all too frequently to make sense of something that has happened and demands our wise opinionation. These past few days I've …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Balkinization, Saint Petersblog and Ezra Klein

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he campaigned on his budget repair plan, including curtailing collective bargaining
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters and JSOnline

Public unions force taxpayers to fund Democrats
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page and NewsBusters.org


Newt Gingrich confronted over affair — PHILADELPHIA — Newt Gingrich's speech at the University of Pennsylvania Tuesday night quickly took a turn for the dramatic when the first student to question him brought up his admitted extra-marital affair and accused him of being “hypocritical” for espousing moral values.
Discussion:
CNN, The Moderate Voice, The Other McCain, New York Magazine, Jay Bookman and Wonkette


Chicago's next mayor: Emanuel — Ex-presidential adviser avoids runoff with 55% — Rahm Emanuel, a top adviser to two U.S. presidents who returned to Chicago just months ago, swept into the mayor's office Tuesday, inheriting a city reeling from recession and promising to reshape City Hall.
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Emanuel Triumphs in Chicago Mayoral Race — CHICAGO — Rahm Emanuel, a former congressman who worked for two presidents, was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, a victory that marks a new path for a city that has, for 22 years, been led by a singular, powerful force, Richard M. Daley.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Caucus, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather and FrumForum


W.H.: Obama won't speak on Libya — Jay Carney said that he didn't anticipate Obama speaking about Libya. — AP Photo — White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak about Libya at 2:30 p.m. He referred questions on Libya to …
Discussion:
CNN, Babalú Blog, Sense of Events and Hit & Run
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Obama under pressure to intervene in Libya
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Fox Nation, Israel Matzav and The Page


WikiLeaks Cables Detail Qaddafi Family's Exploits — WASHINGTON — After New Year's Day 2009, Western media reported that Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, had paid Mariah Carey $1 million to sing just four songs at a bash on the Caribbean island of St. Barts.
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Federal Judge In D.C. Upholds Health Care Reform, Says Some Arguments ‘Ignore Reality’ — A federal judge on Tuesday upheld the health care reform law signed last year by President Barack Obama and found that Congress had the clear authority to regulate health insurance under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Ben Smith's Blog, Politics Daily, Verum Serum, iOwnTheWorld.com and Daily Kos
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A Third Judge Validates Health Care Overhaul Law
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The New Republic, rubber hose, New York Magazine and Pirate's Cove

Providence plans to pink slip all teachers — PROVIDENCE — The school district plans to send out dismissal notices to every one of its 1,926 teachers, an unprecedented move that has union leaders up in arms. — In a letter sent to all teachers Tuesday, Supt.
Discussion:
HazZzMat, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and JONATHAN TURLEY

Dem Rep to unions: Time to get ‘bloody’ — A Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts is raising the stakes in the nation's fight over the future of public employee unions, saying emails aren't enough to show support and that it is time to “get a little bloody.”
Discussion:
Hot Air, theblogprof, The Daily Caller, Confederate Yankee and A Chequer-Board of Nights …
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Democrat urges unions to ‘get a little bloody when necessary’
Discussion:
Dorchester Reporter and Michelle Malkin

The Scrubbing has Begun... Today the state of Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, announced that it would begin “looking into accusations that a number of local doctors provided the notes for protesters who missed work during the week...the department will review complaints …
Discussion:
The Happy Hospitalist
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D.C., Hawaii Still Most Approving of Obama; All States Decline — Approval is higher than average in 12 states plus D.C., lower than average in 18 states — PRINCETON, NJ — Residents of Hawaii gave native son President Barack Obama the highest average 2010 job approval rating (66%) …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and The Politico

Wisconsin Dems' filibuster halts anti-union bill — Assembly members block vote in their chamber overnight, after senators flee state to avoid vote — MADISON - Democrats kept the Wisconsin Assembly up overnight with a droning filibuster in another desperate attempt to block …
Discussion:
The Reaction, CBS News and Associated Press
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If Not Now, When? — What's unfolding in the Arab world today is the mother of all wake-up calls. And what the voice on the other end of the line is telling us is clear as a bell: — “America, you have built your house at the foot of a volcano. That volcano is now spewing lava …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute and The Future of Capitalism
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The President's Deafening Silence on Libya
Discussion:
Power Line, Israel Matzav, Right Turn, Pajamas Media, The Enterprise Blog, Ben Smith's Blog and Wall Street Journal

Report: Ex-minister says Gadhafi ordered Lockerbie — STOCKHOLM — Swedish tabloid Expressen says Libya's ex-justice minister claims Moammar Gadhafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people in 1988. — Expressen on Wednesday quoted Mustafa Abdel-Jalil as telling …
Discussion:
Cubachi, Weasel Zippers and Liberty Pundits Blog


Indiana Official: “Use Live Ammunition” Against Wisconsin Protesters — A conservative deputy AG let his emotions get out of hand. It wasn't the first time. — Post Comment — On Saturday night, when Mother Jones staffers tweeted a report that riot police might soon sweep demonstrators …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story and Shakesville

Why Cuts Don't Bring Prosperity — Remember the German economic boom of 2010? — Germany's economic growth surged in the middle of last year, causing commentators both there and here to proclaim that American stimulus had failed and German austerity had worked.
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, The New Republic, Economix and Balloon Juice