Top Items:
Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Fox News pulls Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum off the air because of their interest in running for president — Fox News suspends the contracts of political contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because both have demonstrated that they are seriously considering running for president.
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Fox News suspends Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum — Fox News has suspended contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum effective immediately until they decide whether to run for president. — Anchor Bret Baier announced on air late Wednesday morning that the network “has suspended …
Discussion:
CNN, Little Green Footballs, Conservatives4Palin, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, Media Matters for America and FrumForum
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Fox News Suspends Contributors Potential Presidential Candidates Gingrich And Santorum — Fox News anchor Bret Baier announced that effective today, Fox News has suspended its contributor arrangements with Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum , both of whom have signaled possible presidential runs for 2012.
Discussion:
The Fix, PostPartisan, New York Magazine, TPM LiveWire, The Raw Story and CNN
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama strong in Virginia — Virginia seems like a state Republicans almost have to win next year if they want to take back the White House but if the voting was today Barack Obama would take it again by a margin comparable to or greater than what he won in 2008. — Obama leads Mitt Romney by 6 points in the state at 48-42.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish and GOP 12
Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Fox News Suspends Gingrich and Santorum
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Swampland, New York Times and msnbc.com
Helen Pidd / Guardian:
Two shot dead at Frankfurt airport — Suspect arrested after bus driver and passenger killed and two other US airmen injured in shooting at Frankfurt airport — Two US airmen have been shot dead and two wounded at Frankfurt airport. — The gunman, believed to be from Kosovo …
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Gawker and Gates of Vienna
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New York Times:
Shooting at Germany Airport Kills 2 U.S. Airmen — BERLIN — Two United States airmen died Wednesday when a gunman opened fire on an American military bus at the Frankfurt airport, according American military officials in Europe. — Local media reports identified the suspected gunman as 21-year-old Kosovar.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, AOL News, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch
Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
Congressional bosses from Hell: Sheila Jackson Lee — A lot of politicians give nicknames to their aides. George W. Bush famously referred to his attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, as “Fredo.” Mitch Daniels, then head of the Office of Management and Budget, was known as “The Blade.”
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, Moe Lane, Betsy's Page and The Other McCain
Phil / Dane101:
Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman chased, trapped by hecklers, saved by Dem. Rep. Hulsey — Phil Ejercito is a 29 year old freelance photographer based in Madison, WI. His primary photographic services include (but are by no means limited to) live music, event coverage, politics and activism …
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals — WASHINGTON — The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-1 decision. — “Speech is powerful,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.
Discussion:
ACS Blog, Wonkette, SCOTUSblog, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Feministe, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Christianity Today
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court rules First Amendment protects church's right to picket funerals — A nearly unanimous Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the First Amendment protects even hurtful speech about public issues and upheld the right of a fringe church to protest near military funerals.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, New York Magazine and Booman Tribune
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Conceding defeat this time, Senate Dems pledge to win next round — Senate Democrats conceded Tuesday that House Republicans won round one of the budget fight, but they are vowing a bigger battle later this month. — Anticipating that showdown, Senate Democratic leaders are scrambling …
Discussion:
2chambers, CNN, Right Wing News, Right Turn, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Heritage Action for America, Online NewsHour, Wonkette and FrumForum
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Senate Approves Two-Week Budget Extension
Discussion:
Indecision Forever
Mark Mellman / The Hill:
OPINION: Wisconsin governor is waging ‘jihad’ against unions — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) jihad against public employee unions is about 30 years late and likely to make Republicans even less popular with voters, who endorse collective bargaining rights for public employees — professionals for whom they have abiding respect.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, Da Techguy's Blog, The Jawa Report, Pirate's Cove, Daily Kos and Public Policy Polling
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Josh Kraushaar / NationalJournal.com:
That Vision Thing — As bold as Gov. Walker has been in calling …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and protein wisdom
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
DeMint: Collective bargaining has no place in government
Discussion:
The Note, Cubachi, ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Wonk Room, Weasel Zippers and Liberty Pundits Blog
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Strong Support for Bargaining Rights — Americans strongly oppose efforts to strip unionized government workers of their rights to collectively bargain, even as they want public employees to contribute more money to their retirement and health-care benefits, the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The New Republic and Weekly Standard
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Obama's 'Where's Waldo?' presidency — For a man who won office talking about change we can believe in, Barack Obama can be a strangely passive president. There are a startling number of occasions in which the president has been missing in action - unwilling, reluctant or late to weigh in on the issue of the moment.
Discussion:
Reuters, Right Wing News, Sky Dancing, Betsy's Page, PoliPundit.com, protein wisdom, National Review and Cafe Hayek
620WTMJ:
Capitol Chaos: Resolution Passed To Fine ‘Wisconsin 14’ — MADISON - The 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who left the state two weeks ago will now face fines of $100 for each day they miss, if they miss two or more days. — Republicans remaining in the Senate approved the daily fine …
Discussion:
Cubachi, The Hill, Riehl World View, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Liberty Pundits Blog
Digby / Hullabaloo:
They Know Their Audience — ... isn't that bright. — What's wrong with this picture? — If you guessed the snowless ground and palm trees in Wisconsin you win a big prize. Your sanity. — h/t to @JoshuaHolland — .
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, pandagon.net, ThinkProgress and Weigel
Aaron Marshall / Plain Dealer:
Fetuses to be presented as witnesses before Ohio House committee considering abortion restrictions — COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two fetuses will be presented as witnesses before an Ohio legislative committee that is hearing a bill to outlaw abortions after the first heartbeat can be detected inside a woman's womb.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Breaking: Wisconsin Dems throw their weight behind drive to recall GOP Senators — The Wisconsin Democratic Party has decided to throw its weight behind a nascent grassroots drive to recall a number of GOP state senators, a move that will considerably increase the pressure on them to break …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Waste, Fraud, and Sen. Coburn — I'll get back to highlighting a few of the results from the GAO's report on streamlining government later today, but first I want to highlight this nugget from Reuters columnist James Pethokoukis: … Let's settle down a bit here.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, James Pethokoukis, A plain blog about politics and U.S. Government …
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
“You are a person against all of us. The whole nation is looking at you." — says an old woman with a “Solidarity” sign who gets right up in Meade's face... ... when Meade asks her why he should “be ashamed” of himself. That's at the end of this uncut 7 1/2-minute video, shot outside the Capitol this afternoon.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Moe Lane and American Power
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Lt. Gen. John Kelly, who lost son to war, says U.S. largely unaware of sacrifice — Before he addressed the crowd that had assembled in the St. Louis Hyatt Regency ballroom last November, Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly had one request. “Please don't mention my son,” he asked the Marine Corps officer introducing him.
Discussion:
PostPartisan, democracyarsenal.org, Achenblog, The Enterprise Blog, National Review and Pajamas Media
Jack Shafer / Slate:
Unless they're paying beaucoup bucks, his transfer to New York makes no sense to me. … Like This Story — Follow Slate's Press Box … - The U.S. Has Frozen $30 Billion of Qaddafi's Assets. Can We Spend It? - John Roberts Writes the Funniest Sentence in Supreme Court History …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Prairie Weather, Balloon Juice, Poynter, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and New York Magazine
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Budget chairman blasts ‘RomneyCare’ as similar to ‘ObamaCare’ — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday criticized the Massachusetts healthcare program critics have named “RomneyCare.” — Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee and a leading GOP voice on fiscal matters …
Discussion:
The Note, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic and GOP 12
BBC:
Pakistan Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti shot dead — Watch: Shahbaz Bhatti predicted his death as he defended his faith four months ago — Pakistani Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti has been shot dead by gunmen who ambushed his car in broad daylight in the capital, Islamabad.
Discussion:
New York Times, Cubachi, Guardian, AOL News, Atlas Shrugs, Liberty Pundits Blog, Harry's Place, The Page and FrumForum
Glenn Kessler / Fact Checker:
Haley Barbour's Medicaid fantasy — “We have people pull up at the pharmacy window in a BMW and say they can't afford their co-payment.” — Haley Barbour's colorful remark, made to The Washington Post while attending a National Governors Association meeting in Washington this week …
Discussion:
Kaiser Health News, PERRspectives, American Prospect, Guardian, Washington Monthly and Eschaton
The Note:
Rep. Quayle: Obama ‘Damaging Our Country’ - but 'We're Going to be Watching Him' — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: — Ben Quayle exploded onto the national political landscape last year with a feisty campaign ad that declared President Obama to be “the worst president in history.”
Discussion:
The Politico and ABCNEWS
Simmi Aujla / The Politico:
Ben Bernanke: GOP's plan will cut jobs — Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that House GOP's 2011 spending plan would likely cost “a couple hundred thousand jobs,” a number he called “not trivial.” — Bernanke's testimony Wednesday was more specific than what he offered Tuesday …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: Is Obama in Better Shape for 2012? … Drill it down, and you get these reasons why Obama is looking better: … My reaction is twofold: first, Obama looks no more or less beatable now than he did four months ago; second, he looks fairly vulnerable. Let's look at each claim in turn.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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