Top Items:
New York Times:
Majority in Poll Back Employees in Public Sector Unions — 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 …
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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 …
PewResearch.org:
Wisconsin Unions Favored Over Walker in Showdown — Obama, GOP Leaders Would Share Blame in Federal Government Shutdown — By a modest margin, more say they back Wisconsin's public employee unions rather than the state's governor in their continuing dispute over collective bargaining rights.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's … and The Page
Charles G. Koch / Wall Street Journal:
Why Koch Industries Is Speaking Out — Crony capitalism and bloated government prevent entrepreneurs from producing the products and services that make people's lives better. — Years of tremendous overspending by federal, state and local governments have brought us face-to-face with an economic crisis.
Discussion:
The Politico, Power Line, The Lonely Conservative and Ben Smith's Blog
Wall Street Journal:
The Democrats' Collective Bargain — What happens when a political party disconnects from the economy's productive sector. — Beneath a grayish Michigan sky, before a frozen crowd standing in the snow, a MoveOn-organized protest aims to rally support for government workers in Wisconsin.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and Betsy's Page
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JSOnline:
Missing senators rely heavily on union campaign dollars — By Daniel Bice and Ben Poston of the Journal Sentinel — The 14 Wisconsin Democratic senators who fled to Illinois share more than just political sympathy with the public employees and unions targeted by Gov. Scott Walker's budget-repair bill.
Discussion:
Maggie's Notebook, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, GayPatriot and The Lonely Conservative
David Bailey / Reuters:
Wisconsin's Walker to absent Democrats: 24 hours to return
Discussion:
Doug Ross, Moe Lane, AlterNet, Joanne Jacobs and The Gateway Pundit
San Francisco Chronicle:
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:
This Just In, Pirate's Cove, Pajamas Media and Sister Toldjah
David Shepardson / Detroit News:
Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense' — Washington — Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle makes economic “sense.” The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is on the cover …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin and UNCOVERAGE.net
Washington Post:
Obama offers states more flexibility in health-care law — President Obama sought to defuse criticism of the new health-care overhaul Monday by saying he is willing to give states an earlier opportunity to opt out of certain key requirements - but only if they can find their own ways to accomplish the law's goals.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and The Politico
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Fhardingj / CNN:
GOP governors remain skeptical after Obama meeting
Discussion:
The Politico, Taylor Marsh, Ben Smith's Blog, The Incidental Economist, JammieWearingFool and FrumForum
Richard White / The Sun:
Film of Galliano's racist rant in bar — FASHION guru John Galliano was filmed having a vile racist rant during which he declared: “I love Hitler.” — The British designer - an alleged Jew hater - then tells a horrified woman: “People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be f****** gassed.”
thenorthwestern.com:
State Rep. Gordon Hintz apologizes for comments made on Assembly floor following budget repair bill vote — An Oshkosh Assemblyman issued a second public apology in as many weeks Monday, the latest for comments he made on the floor of the Assembly following a vote on a contentious budget repair bill.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers
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The Politico:
Darrell Issa probes staff; spokesman Kurt Bardella at center of controversy — Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican chairman of the powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has launched an inquiry into whether spokesman Kurt Bardella improperly shared e-mails from other reporters …
Discussion:
2chambers and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »
Hendrik Hertzberg / New Yorker:
UNION BLUES — “Fifteen million Americans bring you Edward P. Morgan and the news.” From 1955 to 1967, that line, heard on the ABC radio network every weeknight at 7 P.M., heralded the nation's best news broadcast. Those fifteen million Americans were the members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Weigel and News Desk
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JSOnline:
Walker responds to Obama — By Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel — Gov. Scott Walker on Monday afternoon responded to comments President Barack Obama made earlier in the day about the protests in Madison: — Walker's office issued this statement:
Discussion:
Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, Pundit & Pundette, UNCOVERAGE.net, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative
Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
In Wisconsin, Flinging Blame and Citing Deadlines — MADISON, Wis. — Time may or may not be running out to make some crucial decisions in the Wisconsin fight over labor unions and budgets. But the blame game is definitely coming to a boil. — In his two-week-long standoff with Democrats …
Discussion:
Econbrowser, Hot Air, FrumForum, JSOnline and Althouse
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:
JOSHUAPUNDIT, Right Wing News, Pharyngula and Vox Popoli
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 …
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, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Mahablog, First Draft and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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Fhardingj / CNN:
House Republican Leaders Vow to Defend Defense of Marriage Act
Discussion:
The Politico and The Hill
Cindy Boren / The Early Lead:
Iran threatens to boycott 2012 London Olympics because of logo — Iran is threatening to boycott the 2012 Olympic Games in London because of the Games' logo. — According to an Iranian official, the logo, with its blocky, abstract rendering of “2012,” is racist because it appears to spell the word …
Discussion:
TigerHawk and The Moderate Voice
John B. Taylor / Economics One:
Goldman Sachs Wrong About Impact of House Budget Proposal — Some claim that House budget proposal H.R. 1 to reduce the growth of federal government spending will cause a slowdown in the economy and even increase unemployment. Consider, for example, a recent report by Alec Phillips …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, 2chambers, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Weigel and National Review
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Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
GOP spending plan would cost 700,000 jobs, new report says
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The Plum Line, TPMDC, Firedoglake, National Review, Mother Jones, Weigel, AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly, UrbanGrounds, No More Mister Nice Blog, MoveOn.Org, PERRspectives, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, Swampland, The New Republic, The Caucus, Grasping Reality … and Balloon Juice
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:
PopEater, AOL News, Outside the Beltway, Salon and Babylon & Beyond
David Brooks / New York Times:
The New Normal — We're going to be doing a lot of deficit cutting over the next several years. The country's future greatness will be shaped by whether we cut wisely or stupidly. So we should probably come up with a few sensible principles to guide us as we cut.
Discussion:
Eschaton
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Black lawmakers blast budget plan as step back for civil rights — Black lawmakers on Monday said GOP-proposed budget cuts would move the country in the opposite direction of the civil rights movement. — The lawmakers, all members of the Congressional Black Caucus, used …
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, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and Grasping Reality …
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