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, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, New York Magazine, American Power, Federal Eye, The Maddow Blog, Los Angeles Times, TPMDC, The Lonely Conservative, JSOnline, Prairie Weather, Sky Dancing, Politicususa, The Gateway Pundit, Paul Krugman, The Future of Capitalism, AlterNet, Crooks and Liars, WisPolitics Budget Blog, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's … 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
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
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, Outside the Beltway, Confederate Yankee, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, Da Techguy's Blog, Firedoglake, The Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Nation, FOK News Channel, Comments from Left Field, Taegan Goddard's …, 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
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
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, Roll Call, CNN 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
Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:
Billions in Bloat Uncovered in Beltway — The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development. — These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping …
Discussion:
Big Government
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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, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, This Just In and Sister Toldjah
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
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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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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
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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!
Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
Do tyrants fear America anymore? President Obama's timid foreign policy is an embarrassment for a global superpower — The débacle of Washington's handling of the Libya issue is symbolic of a wider problem at the heart of the Obama administration's foreign policy.
Discussion:
New York Times and Right Wing News
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New York Times:
Qaddafi Makes Little Headway in Assault on Libyan Rebels
Qaddafi Makes Little Headway in Assault on Libyan Rebels
Discussion:
Washington Post, BBC, FP Passport, Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, Guardian and Gawker
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya
U.S. Readies Military Options on Libya
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Right Turn, Danger Room, News Desk, Political Punch, American Forces Press Service, FrumForum, Swampland and ABCNEWS
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 …
RELATED:
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
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 …
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.
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
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
New York Magazine:
Frank Rich Joins New York Magazine — Frank Rich is joining New York Magazine, beginning in June. Rich will be an essayist for the magazine, writing monthly on politics and culture, and will serve as an editor-at-large, editing a special monthly section anchored by his essay.
Discussion:
Gawker and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
Patrick Poole / Pajamas Media:
PJ Tatler Exclusive: Was the U.S. a victim of an economic 9/11 in 2008? — Bill Gertz has an article running in this morning's Washington Times, “Financial terrorism suspected in '08 economic crash,” on a report prepared by the Department of Defense in June 2009.
Discussion:
Washington Times and National Review
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
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
After Business and Politics, Mayor Tests Opinion — Over the last year, representatives of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg quietly reached out to a handful of the country's top journalists with an intriguing job offer: Divine and distill his unique brand of political philosophy and disseminate …
Discussion:
The Big Picture and City Room