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 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Yglesias, Washington Monthly, American Power, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Federal Eye, The Maddow Blog, Los Angeles Times, TPMDC, The Lonely Conservative, JSOnline, Prairie Weather, Sky Dancing, Politicususa, The Gateway Pundit, The Future of Capitalism, Paul Krugman, AlterNet, Crooks and Liars, WisPolitics Budget Blog, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Political Carnival, Taegan Goddard's …, The Caucus, Pajamas Media and The Mahablog
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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, Wonk Room, The Foundry, Power Line, The Lonely Conservative and Ben Smith's Blog
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 …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Confederate Yankee, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, Da Techguy's Blog, The Politico, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, The Nation, Taegan Goddard's …, FOK News Channel, Comments from Left Field, The Raw Story, The Political Carnival, The Plum Line, Swing State Project, WisPolitics Budget Blog, AOL News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Balloon Juice, JSOnline and Politics Daily
People-Press.org:
More Side with Wisconsin Unions than Governor — Obama, GOP Leaders Would Share Blame in Gov't 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 Fix, Online NewsHour, Taegan Goddard's …, JSOnline and The Page
Jordan Ellenberg / The Atlantic Online:
Gov. Scott Walker's Secret Weapon: The Wisconsin Veto — Two weeks into the collective bargaining protests in Madison, the interior of the Wisconsin state Capitol feels like a high-traffic liberal website given physical form. It's a world of text. Sheets of paper are affixed …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Wall Street Journal
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
A peek under the hood of the NYT/CBS poll
A peek under the hood of the NYT/CBS poll
Discussion:
The Raw Story and TPMDC
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Poll shows support for organized labor
Poll shows support for organized labor
Discussion:
CNN, CBS News and CBS New York
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:
Washington Post, New York Magazine, News Desk, 2chambers, The Other McCain, FishbowlDC and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
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The Note:
The Note: Road To 2012: Newt Gingrich Will Launch Exploratory Committee This Week — After months of will-he-or-won't-he speculation, ABC News has learned that Newt Gingrich has decided to form a presidential exploratory committee and that he'll make it official before the end of the week …
Discussion:
GOP 12, CNN, Roll Call and Political Insider
Christina Wilkie / The Hill:
Rep. Holt beats Watson the super-computer at ‘Jeopardy!’ — There are a lot of smart people on Capitol Hill. But none of them can claim quite the same brainy bragging rights as Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.). — On Monday, Holt beat IBM's super-computer, known as Watson, at a round of “Jeopardy! …
Discussion:
CNN
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Michael Symons / Capitol Quickies:
Rep. Rush Holt beats IBM's Watson in ‘Jeopardy!’
Rep. Rush Holt beats IBM's Watson in ‘Jeopardy!’
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Cathy Horyn / New York Times:
Natalie Portman Condemns Galliano — The actress Natalie Portman, who has an endorsement contract with Dior for its Miss Dior Cherie fragrance, has strongly condemned its chief designer, John Galliano, for anti-Semitic remarks after a video surfaced of Mr. Galliano appearing to deliver a tirade in a Paris bar.
Discussion:
The New Republic and PopEater
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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:
Fausta's Blog, Michelle Malkin, UNCOVERAGE.net and Patterico's Pontifications
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:
Betsy's Page
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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:
The Jawa Report, Patterico's Pontifications, TigerHawk and The Moderate Voice
RELATED:
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:
Pirate's Cove, This Just In, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media and Sister Toldjah
Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye:
Government overlap costs taxpayers billions, GAO reports — You think the government redundancies President Obama recently griped about were bad? Federal auditors found plenty more. — During his State of the Union address, Obama noted that 12 federal agencies or offices deal …
RELATED:
Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:
Billions in Bloat Uncovered in Beltway
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:
driftglass, The Future of Capitalism, Eschaton and Sadly, No!
Michelle Hunter / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Southern Decadence protest leader booked with masturbating at Metairie park — The Rev. Grant Storms, the Christian fundamentalist known for his bullhorn protests of the Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested on a charge of masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon.
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, AOL News and The Political Carnival
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Pelosi needles GOP over return of styrofoam cups — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) marked the return of styrofoam cuts in congressional cafeterias by jabbing at the Republican majority in the House. — The top Democrat and former Speaker said that the House will now send 535 …
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Fhardingj / CNN:
House Republican Leaders Vow to Defend Defense of Marriage Act
House Republican Leaders Vow to Defend Defense of Marriage Act
Discussion:
The Politico and The Hill
BBC:
German Defence Minister Guttenberg resigns over thesis — Mr Guttenberg said he was not able to defend himself any further — German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg has stepped down after he was found to have copied large parts of his 2006 university doctorate thesis.
Mary Elizabeth Williams / Salon:
Is motherhood Natalie Portman's “greatest role”? — In her acceptance speech, the “Black Swan” star suggests that pregnancy trumps a career. She's wrong — Late Sunday night, when many of us at home were praying for the sweet release of a Celine Dion-serenaded death …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Big Journalism, LifeNews.com, PunditMom, Politics Daily and pandagon.net
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Democrats call for an investigation of law firm, 3 tech companies — A group of House Democrats is calling on Republican leaders to investigate a prominent Washington law firm and three federal technology contractors, who have been shown in hacked e-mails discussing a “disinformation campaign” …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Raw Story, The BRAD BLOG, The Nation, Ben Smith's Blog, Runnin' Scared and TPMDC
Ahmed Al-Haj / Associated Press:
Yemeni president says US and Israel behind unrest — SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen's embattled U.S.-backed president accused Washington on Tuesday of instigating protests against his regime, as hundreds of thousands marched in cities across Yemen in the largest rallies yet seeking the longtime ruler's ouster.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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, Shows, Maggie's Notebook, 620wtmj.com, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Daily Caller and RedState
Kim Severson / New York Times:
Edwards Lies Low, but That Won't Last — CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Over the past few weeks, people in this tight-knit university community have not seen much of John Edwards. — They used to. He would hang out on a metal stool at Bowbarr, a short walk from the environmentally friendly condominium complex …
Discussion:
The BLT
Scout Prime / First Draft:
This is what Dedication looks like — Today the Capitol was closed down to most people. (see A's post below) — There were people protesting outside however. — I was able to enter today and by my count late in the afternoon, there were about 50 protesters still inside.
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Protesters at the Wisconsin Capitol — midday today — dealing with the fact that, at long last, they've been locked out. — 0:01 — an incomprehensible sign — “Ethics trumps ‘values’ — taped to the “Forward” statue. — 0:49 — a 91-year-old woman in a wheelchair wants to kick Scott Walker's butt
Discussion:
The Mahablog
David Roberts / Grist:
What we have and haven't learned from ‘Climategate’ — I wrote about the “Climategate” controversy (over emails stolen from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit) once, which is about what it warranted. — My silent protest had no effect whatsoever, of course …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs