Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Supports Easing Health Law Mandates for States — 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.
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, CNN, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, The Foundry, Mother Jones, The Apothecary, White House.gov Blog, Washington Post, Wonk Room, Swampland and Pajamas Media
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Kevinliptak / CNN:
Obama gives props to Romney on health care
Obama gives props to Romney on health care
Discussion:
Cubachi, Boston Globe, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway and Liberty Pundits Blog
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama talks up ‘RomneyCare’ amid GOP criticism of plan
Obama talks up ‘RomneyCare’ amid GOP criticism of plan
Discussion:
GOP 12 and Weasel Zippers
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:
Weasel Zippers
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, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
David Brody / The Brody File:
Speaker Boehner tells Brody File President Obama's DOMA Decision is “Raw Politics”
Speaker Boehner tells Brody File President Obama's DOMA Decision is “Raw Politics”
Discussion:
TPMDC, AMERICAblog Gay, The Daily Caller, Towleroad News #gay and New York Times
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner: House likely to defend anti-gay marriage law since Justice Dept. won't
Boehner: House likely to defend anti-gay marriage law since Justice Dept. won't
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Outside the Beltway, Focal Point, Wonk Room and Daily Kos
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
GOP reality check: Obama looking tougher to beat in 2012 — Just four months after posting historic election gains, Republicans are experiencing a reality check about 2012: President Barack Obama is going to be a lot tougher to defeat than he looked late last year.
Discussion:
GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Jay Bookman and Outside the Beltway
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Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
Obama to Governors: Don't Vilify Public Workers
Obama to Governors: Don't Vilify Public Workers
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Graham: Republicans waiting for 2016 should run in 2012
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 …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, AOL News, New York Magazine, Patterico's Pontifications, Swampland, TigerHawk, Pundit Press and Moe Lane
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Dennis McLellan / Los Angeles Times:
Frank Buckles, last American veteran of World War I, dies at 110
Frank Buckles, last American veteran of World War I, dies at 110
Discussion:
Lean Left, RedState, Maggie's Notebook, UrbanGrounds, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and The Mahablog
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:
msnbc.com and The Raw Story
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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:
The Political Carnival and Weasel Zippers
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!”
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:
Cubachi, AlterNet, The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Pundits Blog, Joanne Jacobs, Moe Lane and HotAirPundit
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 …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, FishbowlDC, driftglass and Poynter
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 …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Guardian, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Libya February 17th, AOL News, msnbc.com, Wilshire & Washington and Gawker
Digby / Hullabaloo:
The Paris Hilton Of Newspapers Sees What He Expects To See — Unsurprisingly, it turns out that Keith Olberman is a very good blogger. (If you haven't seen his new blog, check it out.) Today's post about the NY Times heir Sulzberger making an epic mistake is well worth reading:
Discussion:
Vanity Fair
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Kolbermann / FOK News Channel:
New York Times Punk'd By Anti-Union Plant (Updated)
New York Times Punk'd By Anti-Union Plant (Updated)
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, Grasping Reality … and Daily Kos
Tina Brown / The Daily Beast:
Andrew Sullivan Joins The Daily Beast! — In exciting news for the two-year-old Daily Beast, the blogging trailblazer is moving his influential Daily Dish to our site. His blog will occupy a new channel starting in early April, and he will become a Newsweek contributor.
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Erik Wasson / The Hill:
THE HILL POLL: On shutdown, more voters would blame Dems — Twenty-nine percent of likely voters would blame Democrats for a government shutdown, compared to 23 percent who would hold Republicans responsible, according to a new poll conducted for The Hill. — The results are surprising …
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, Right Wing News, This Just In, Pajamas Media, JammieWearingFool and iOwnTheWorld.com
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:
naked capitalism, Felix Salmon, Runnin' Scared, The Raw Story, Guardian and Raw Replay
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:
EconLog, Sister Toldjah, The Lonely Conservative and The Reality-Based Community
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:
The Reaction, The Politico, New York Times, Daily Kos and The Future of Capitalism
Not / AOL News:
Opinion: The Left's Unhealthy Koch Habit … What do Charles and David Koch, brothers who run the Kansas-based Koch Industries, have to do with Wisconsin's budget battle? — Almost nothing, unless you occupy the left wing of the political spectrum. There, you'll find a group of bloggers …
Discussion:
Economix, Power Line and Pajamas Media
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
‘Anonymous’ takes down Americans for Prosperity website
‘Anonymous’ takes down Americans for Prosperity website
Discussion:
Politics Daily, msnbc.com, AlterNet, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, TPMDC, The Nation, Runnin' Scared, The Impolitic and The Raw Story
Joe Hagan / New York Magazine:
Goddangit, Baby, We're Making Good Time — With a new master plan for the GOP, Karl Rove is revving up for a comeback. — Karl Rove is driving through Central Texas with his girlfriend, on the way to a weekend quail hunt. — “I've been called up by my emergency Texas militia unit …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Salon
The Note:
Politics at the Oscars — Union Support — ABC News' Chris Marderosian reports: — At the Academy Awards tonight, best cinematography winner Wally Pfister made a point during his acceptance speech of thanking his union crew on “Inception.” — Backstage he went further …