Top Items:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Do over? — We'll have our full poll on the Wisconsin conflict out tomorrow but here's the most interesting finding: if voters in the state could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin. — The difference between how folks …
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David Bailey / Reuters:
Wisconsin's Walker to absent Democrats: 24 hours to return — (Reuters) - Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday that absent senate Democrats have 24 hours to return and vote on a measure to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state will miss out on opportunity to refinance its debt.
Discussion:
AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Cubachi, The Gateway Pundit, AlterNet, Liberty Pundits Blog, Joanne Jacobs, Moe Lane and HotAirPundit
New York Times:
Obama Backs Easing State Health Law Mandates — WASHINGTON — Seeking to appease disgruntled governors, President Obama announced Monday that he supported amending the 2010 health care law to allow states to opt out of its most burdensome requirements three years earlier than currently permitted.
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Kevinliptak / CNN:
Obama gives props to Romney on health care — (CNN) - In a moment that Mitt Romney's future GOP opponents couldn't have scripted better themselves, President Obama Monday issued a full-throated embrace of the former Massachusetts governor's stance on health care.
Discussion:
The Hill, Cubachi, Boston Globe, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, Liberty Pundits Blog, GOP 12 and FrumForum
Fhardingj / CNN:
GOP governors remain skeptical after Obama meeting
GOP governors remain skeptical after Obama meeting
Discussion:
The Politico, msnbc.com and FrumForum
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
On call, officials stress public options in health care shift
On call, officials stress public options in health care shift
Discussion:
CNN and Pajamas Media
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
GOP spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs, new report says — A Republican plan to sharply cut federal spending this year would destroy 700,000 jobs through 2012, according to an independent economic analysis set for release Monday. — The report, by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi …
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Pat Garofalo / Wonk Room:
Gov. Daniels Says Governments Should Slash Spending ‘Even If They End Up Seriously Costing A Lot Of Jobs’ — When asked earlier this month about the job loss that would occur if the continuing resolution passed by House Republicans were actually implemented, Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) replied “so be it.”
Discussion:
NPR, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and First Draft
John B. Taylor / Economics One:
Goldman Sachs Wrong About Impact of House Budget Proposal
Goldman Sachs Wrong About Impact of House Budget Proposal
Discussion:
2chambers, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Weigel and National Review
Charlie Sykes / 620wtmj.com:
GORDON HINTZ: “YOU ARE F'N DEAD!” — Last week, we heard thatState Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) had been busted in a prostitution sting. … Last Friday.... after the Assembly voted to engross the Budget Repair Bill, Hintz turned to a female colleague, Rep. Michelle Litjens and said: “You are F***king dead!”
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Don Surber, Pajamas Media, Publius Forum, Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, RedState, theblogprof, UrbanGrounds and JammieWearingFool
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USU Statesman:
Sen. Hatch says USU receives most federal dollars per capita — Young people will face a bleak future without Social Security benefits if Democrats continue to “overreach” their constitutional boundaries, said U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, Friday, in the Education Building.
Discussion:
TPMDC, msnbc.com, The Raw Story and New York Magazine
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Hatch: Health law a ‘dumbass’ program — GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah) reporteldy directed a string of profane insults toward President Obama's healthcare law in a speech late last week. — During at an appearance at an event sponsored by the Utah State University College Republicans …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Wisconsin Capitol Building Still Closed; Other Madison Shenanigans Reported — Protestors outside the Wisconsin statehouse. (photo: signejb) — A bit more on the fast-moving story in the Capitol Building in Madison, Wisconsin: — • Clearly Scott Walker and the Capitol police …
Discussion:
JSOnline, AlterNet, The Political Carnival, oily donuts and The Hill
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Wisconsin GOPers angered by Republican official's efforts to reach compromise with labor, Dems
Wisconsin GOPers angered by Republican official's efforts to reach compromise with labor, Dems
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and AlterNet
Daily Mail:
Christian couple lose High Court battle to foster children because they are against homosexuality — A Christian couple morally opposed to homosexuality today lost a High Court battle over the right to become foster carers. — Eunice and Owen Johns, aged 62 and 65, from Oakwood, Derby …
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Pharyngula and Vox Popoli
Kolbermann / FOK News Channel:
New York Times Punk'd By Anti-Union Plant (Updated) — Few news stories better spoke to the destruction of union solidarity and the realization that even those public employees collectively bargaining in Wisconsin were going to have to give something back, than the New York Times' piece …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Political Carnival, Grasping Reality … and Daily Kos
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Digby / Hullabaloo:
The Paris Hilton Of Newspapers Sees What He Expects To See
The Paris Hilton Of Newspapers Sees What He Expects To See
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Vanity Fair
Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
Revealing the Man Behind @MayorEmanuel — It was the best fake Twitter account ever, deftly satirizing Rahm Emanuel, and elevating the Tweet and the f-word to the level of literature. But the mystery writer was never revealed - until now. — There were many storylines in Rahm Emanuel's romp …
ABCNEWS:
‘My People Love Me’: Moammar Gadhafi Denies Demonstrations Against Him Anywhere in Libya — U.S. Exclusive: Christiane Amanpour Sits Down for an Interview With Libya's Embattled Leader — REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK BY CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR — I interviewed Col. Moammar Gadhafi this evening …
Robert Barro / Wall Street Journal:
Unions vs. the Right to Work — Collective bargaining on a broad scale is more similar to an antitrust violation than to a civil liberty. — How ironic that Wisconsin has become ground zero for the battle between taxpayers and public- employee labor unions.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Reality-Based Community, The Note, EconLog, Sister Toldjah and The Lonely Conservative
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Paul Duggan / Washington Post:
Last U.S. World War I veteran Frank W. Buckles dies at 110 — Frank W. Buckles died early Sunday, sadly yet not unexpectedly at age 110, having achieved a singular feat of longevity that left him proud and a bit bemused. — In 1917 and 1918, close to 5 million Americans served in World War I …
Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
Obama to Governors: Don't Vilify Public Workers — Addressing governors from around the country at the White House this morning, President Obama dedicated a moment of his speech to warning them not to vilify public workers. — “I believe that everybody should be prepared to give up something …
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
GOP reality check: Obama looking tougher to beat in 2012
GOP reality check: Obama looking tougher to beat in 2012
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, GOP 12 and Jay Bookman
J.P. Freire / Washington Examiner:
BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — Obama's jetset fitness trainer helps shed pounds, adds to global warming — With a schedule as hectic as President Obama's it must be hard to stick to a training regimen without help — but why does he insist on having his old trainer fly out from Chicago …
Discussion:
The Politico, New York Times, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, The Note, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit and Marbury
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Steve Fishman / New York Magazine:
The Madoff Tapes — One evening, my home phone rang. “You have a collect call from Bernard Madoff, an inmate at a federal prison,” a recording announced. And there he was. — Bernard L. Madoff is in therapy. Each week, he waits for the signal that prisoners are allowed to leave their housing units …
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, ABCNEWS, Law Blog, The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, naked capitalism, Guardian, DealBook and Raw Replay
Mother Jones:
Revealed: The Group Behind the Bills that Could Legalize Killing Abortion Providers — It's no coincidence that bills to expand justifiable homicide laws have popped up in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. Meet the group that launched the effort. — Post Comment — First, it was South Dakota.
Discussion:
LifeNews.com, Hullabaloo, The Other McCain, Pajamas Media and AmSpecBlog
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Pelosi splits with Reid, dismisses GOP plan to avoid a shutdown — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is showing no enthusiasm for the new proposal from Republicans to avoid a government shutdown, putting her at odds with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, Weigel, National Review, Hot Air and Questions and Observations
Michael R. Bloomberg / Bloomberg:
Limit Pay, Not Unions — IN Ohio, Wisconsin and other states facing budget deficits, some elected officials assert that closing those gaps requires achieving labor savings and weakening labor unions. They are half-right. — Across the country, taxpayers are providing pensions …
Discussion:
AlterNet, The Reaction, The Politico, New York Times, Daily Kos and The Future of Capitalism
Steve Knopper / Rolling Stone:
Mariah, Beyoncé, Usher Face Calls to Donate Qaddafi Money to Charity — ‘Not every artist is a humanitarian. In more cases than not, for people, greed rules’ — By — Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Usher and 50 Cent are facing industry calls to give back the money they earned performing …
Discussion:
Salon, AOL News, Outside the Beltway and Babylon & Beyond
Becky Schlikerman / Chicago Breaking News:
Farrakhan: Mideast uprisings will come to US — Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan predicted on Sunday that America faces imminent uprisings that mirror those in the Middle East. — “What you are looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt ... Libya, in Bahrain ... what you see happening there …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers, This Just In, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media, iOwnTheWorld.com and JammieWearingFool
Newsweek:
Do We Still Need Unions? Yes — Why they're Worth Fighting For. — Bettmann-Corbis — April 1, 1953, Employees of R.H. Macy stage a demonstration outside the store before their contract — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's effort two weeks ago to end collective bargaining for public employees …
Discussion:
American Power, Democracy in America, The Democratic Daily and The New Editor
Newsweek:
High Speed to Insolvency — Why liberals love trains. — Generations hence, when the river of time has worn this presidency's importance to a small, smooth pebble in the stream of history, people will still marvel that its defining trait was a mania for high-speed rail projects.
Discussion:
Red White Blue News and Betsy's Page
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya — WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has begun repositioning Navy warships to support possible action against Libya, as it accelerates planning on a range of options if asked by President Obama to intervene in the conflict there, officials said.