memeorandum: Chatter grows over possible John Edwards indictment (Michael O'Brien/The Hill)

11:15 AM ET, March 1, 2011

Top Items:

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 …

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 …

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

A peek under the hood of the NYT/CBS poll — Allahpundit did a great job last night of dissecting the latest NYT/CBS poll based on its results from CBS' reporting. The survey found that a large majority of their respondents support keeping current collective bargaining rights in the public sector …

Discussion: The Raw Story and TPMDC

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

Michael Symons / Capitol Quickies:

Rep. Rush Holt beats IBM's Watson in ‘Jeopardy!’ — U.S. Rep. Rush Holt — an actual rocket scientists, as his supporters like to tout on bumper stickers — tonight topped the IBM supercomputer Watson in a round of Jeopardy! down in Washington. — Holt — who was a five-time Jeopardy! …

Discussion: CNN, The Political Carnival and New York Magazine

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Chatter grows over possible John Edwards indictment — Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) faces growing chatter about facing a possible indictment on campaign finance charges. — The New York Times reported Tuesday that Edwards may soon face charges stemming from his affair during his 2008 presidential campaign.

Discussion: WBTV-TV

Kim Severson / New York Times:
Edwards Lies Low, but That Won't Last

Discussion: The BLT

The Note:
The Note: Road To 2012: Newt Gingrich Will Launch Exploratory Committee This Week

Discussion: GOP 12, Roll Call, CNN, New York Magazine, Booman Tribune and Political Insider

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

Richard White / The Sun:
Film of Galliano's racist rant in bar

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk, PoliPundit.com, The Huffington Post, AOL News, PopEater, The Moderate Voice, Towleroad News #gay, News Desk and Harry's Place

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, UNCOVERAGE.net, Michelle Malkin and Patterico's Pontifications

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: Questions and Observations, driftglass, The Future of Capitalism, Eschaton and Sadly, No!

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, Pajamas Media, This Just In, Scared Monkeys and Sister Toldjah

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

Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye: Government overlap costs taxpayers billions, GAO reports

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

JSOnline:
Missing senators rely heavily on union campaign dollars

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Hot Air, Maggie's Notebook, NewsBusters.org, GayPatriot, Weasel Zippers, theblogprof, The Lonely Conservative and Reuters

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 »

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: Wall Street Journal and The Moderate Voice

JSOnline:
Walker responds to Obama

Discussion: Power Line, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Pundit & Pundette, UNCOVERAGE.net, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

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: Ezra Klein, National Review, The Politico, The Note, USA Today, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Huffington Post and New York Times

The Hill:
Obama backtracks on health mandate, wants opt-out from start

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CNN, Associated Press, Hot Air and FrumForum

Fhardingj / CNN:
House Republican Leaders Vow to Defend Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico and The Hill

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, Mediaite and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

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: Ben Smith's Blog and Weasel Zippers

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, AlterNet, The Raw Story, The BRAD BLOG, The Nation, Ben Smith's Blog and Runnin' Scared

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, nancynall.com and The Political Carnival

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

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.

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THE MORALITY OF BUDGET CHOICES.... House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) raised an interesting rhetorical point in Tennessee over the weekend, which is worth considering in more detail. … Now, at face value, I'll gladly endorse the idea that there's a moral component to policymakers' decisions …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and The Fix

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

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, 620wtmj.com, Maggie's Notebook, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Shows, The Daily Caller and RedState

Jill Lawrence / Politics Daily:

Can Seven Reports Be Wrong About the Risks of Spending Cuts? GOP Says Yes … Could two independent economic reports, a liberal think tank and four bipartisan reports on debt reduction be wrong? They all conclude that slashing federal spending this year could cause job losses and threaten the economic recovery.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Ezra Klein, The Plum Line and economy.com

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 …