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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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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


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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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


Governors tell John Boehner and Harry Reid of shutdown fears
Discussion:
CNN

Pelosi splits with Reid, dismisses GOP plan to avoid a shutdown
Discussion:
CNN, Weigel, National Review, Hot Air and Questions and Observations

Goldman Sachs Wrong About Impact of House Budget Proposal
Discussion:
2chambers, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Weigel and National Review

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.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Ezra Klein, The White House, Firedoglake, The Foundry, Weasel Zippers, The Politico, White House.gov Blog, The Lonely Conservative, Mother Jones, The Incidental Economist, Wonk Room, The Apothecary, CNN, Swampland, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Washington Post, JammieWearingFool and Pajamas Media
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GOP governors remain skeptical after Obama meeting
Discussion:
The Politico, Mother Jones, FrumForum and Ben Smith's Blog

Obama gives props to Romney on health care
Discussion:
Cubachi, The Hill, Boston Globe, Flopping Aces, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, Liberty Pundits Blog, GOP 12 and FrumForum

Obama whacks Romney on health care — again
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Daily Caller

Poll Shows Support for Embattled Public Sector Workers — As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, AlterNet, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and Pajamas Media
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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

Obama to Governors: Don't Vilify Public Workers
Discussion:
Suburban Guerrilla

Protesters Are Locked Out of Wisconsin Capitol — MADISON, Wis. — The administration of Gov. Scott Walker abruptly locked out protesters from the Capitol on Monday morning, the latest gambit in the showdown between the new Republican governor and demonstrators rallying against his plan …
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Wisconsin Capitol Building Still Closed; Other Madison Shenanigans Reported
Discussion:
JSOnline, AlterNet, The Political Carnival, oily donuts and The Hill

Wisconsin GOPers angered by Republican official's efforts to reach compromise with labor, Dems
Discussion:
Firedoglake, AlterNet and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Walker's budget address to outline sharp cuts
Discussion:
Hot Air, Pundit Press and Pajamas Media

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!”
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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, The Raw Story, msnbc.com and New York Magazine
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Hatch: Health law a ‘dumbass’ program
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum


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:
JOSHUAPUNDIT, Right Wing News, Pharyngula and Vox Popoli


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 …

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, Daily Kos and Grasping Reality …
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The Paris Hilton Of Newspapers Sees What He Expects To See
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Vanity Fair

‘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 …


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 …


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:
PopEater, Salon, AOL News, Outside the Beltway and Babylon & Beyond


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, Law Blog, ABCNEWS, The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, naked capitalism, Guardian, DealBook and Raw Replay


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


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

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, New York Times, The Politico, Daily Kos and The Future of Capitalism


Low-flow toilets cause a stink in SF — San Francisco's big push for low-flow toilets has turned into a multimillion-dollar plumbing stink. — Skimping on toilet water has resulted in more sludge backing up inside the sewer pipes, said Tyrone Jue, spokesman for the city Public Utilities Commission.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and Pirate's Cove


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


Salon.com Sale Talks Collapse — Merger talks between Salon.com, a pioneer in online news and opinion, and Newser.com, a news aggregation Web site founded by journalist Michael Wolff, have collapsed, according to people involved in the talks. — Salon.com, which had quietly put itself …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Poynter and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »