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:
CNN, Firedoglake, Mother Jones, The Apothecary, Swampland, Wonk Room, The Politico, msnbc.com, Washington Post and Pajamas Media
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Kevinliptak / CNN:
TRENDING: 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:
Cubachi, Washington Monthly, Boston Globe, 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
Ezra Klein:
White House comes out for Wyden-Brown state waiver program
White House comes out for Wyden-Brown state waiver program
Discussion:
The White House, Politics Daily, Ben Smith's Blog and Mother Jones
Mj Lee / The Politico:
Romney gets a nod from Obama
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 — 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:
Outside the Beltway and Jay Bookman
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:
msnbc.com, protein wisdom, AOL News, New York Magazine, Patterico's Pontifications, TigerHawk, Swampland, 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, one of more than 4 million Americans to serve in World War I, drove ambulances in France and was later a civilian prisoner of war during Japan's invasion of the Philippines in WWII.
Discussion:
UrbanGrounds, Maggie's Notebook, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and The Mahablog
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 …
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 …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Home News — The Dish is moving! In April, we'll be joining The Daily Beast. — For me, it's a strange mixture of excitement and sadness. Sadness because the Atlantic has been a very special home for me and all the interns and staffers who have worked at the Dish.
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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.
ABCNEWS:
‘My People Love Me’: Moammar Gadhafi Tells ABC He Cannot Step Down — Christiane Amanpour Sits Down for an Interview With Libya's Embattled Leader — REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK BY CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR — I interviewed Col. Moammar Gadhafi this morning, when he told me he cannot step …
Discussion:
Guardian and Outside the Beltway
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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, This Just In, Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media, JammieWearingFool and iOwnTheWorld.com
David Brody / The Brody File:
Speaker Boehner tells Brody File President Obama's DOMA Decision is “Raw Politics” — Speaker of the House John Boehner says President Obama's decision to no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court strikes him as “raw politics” and says Obama is “pandering to the other side on this issue.”
Discussion:
The Hill, TPMDC, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog Gay, The Daily Caller, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay and New York Times
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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:
New York Times, The Reaction, The Politico, Daily Kos and The Future of Capitalism
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, The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, Guardian and Raw Replay
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 …
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
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:
Publius Forum, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, RedState and Pajamas Media
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:
Hot Air
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Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Republicans win round one of budget fight
Republicans win round one of budget fight
Discussion:
Guardian and Washington Monthly
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Former GOP Sen. Bennett: Reagan Held Views That Were ‘Absolutely Anathema’ To The Tea Party — Former GOP Sen. Bob Bennett (UT), who lost his seat to a far-right primary challenger after holding it for over a decade, slammed the tea party in an interview with Fox News host Greta Van Susteren Friday.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Weasel Zippers
Washington Post:
Ohio, Wisconsin shine spotlight on new union battle: Government workers vs. taxpayers — COLUMBUS, OHIO - Across Ohio last week, the legislative push to restrict the union rights of government workers was greeted again and again by noisy protests. — But in this state dotted …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, The Note, Projo 7 to 7 News Blog, RedState and Hot Air
Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
Demonstrators Can Continue Overnight Stays in Wisconsin Capitol — MADISON, Wis. — In a victory — at least a symbolic one — for Wisconsin's public employee unions, the Capitol authorities announced on Sunday that demonstrators could continue their all-night sleepovers in the building and would not be forcibly ejected or arrested.
The Note:
Newt Gingrich To Announce Presidential Exploratory Committee Decision This Week — ABC's Jonathan Karl reports: — A spokesman for Newt Gingrich tells ABC News that the former Speaker of the House will announce this week whether he intends to form a presidential exploratory committee.
Discussion:
Des Moines Register, GOP 12 and Gawker
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:
Ben Smith's Blog and Weasel Zippers
Niall Ferguson / The Daily Beast:
Un-American Revolutions — Most rebellions end in carnage and tyranny. So why, Niall Ferguson asks in this week's Newsweek, are Americans cheering on the Arab revolutionary wave? — Americans love a revolution. Their own great nation having been founded by a revolutionary declaration …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Politics, Eunomia, AMERICAblog News, Outside the Beltway and New York Times