Top Items:
Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:
The Wisconsin Wobblies — Conservatives in Wisconsin are getting nervous that three Republican state senators may defect on the collective-bargaining reform vote. — Conservatives in Wisconsin are getting nervous that three Republican state senators may defect on the collective-bargaining reform vote.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, MoJo Articles, The Plum Line, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The New Republic and First Draft
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Are Wisconsin Republicans preparing to break with Walker? — I don't know if these reports are true or not, and we should treat them with caution. But we now have two news outlets, one local and one national, claiming GOP defections from Governor Scott Walker may be in the works.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The Atlantic Online, TPMDC and Daily Kos
Rasmussen Reports:
Wisconsin Governor Walker: 43% Approval Rating — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won his job last November with 52% of the vote, but his popularity has slipped since then. — A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Wisconsin Voters finds that just 34% Strongly Approve of the job he is doing …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, JSOnline, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Crooks and Liars and WisPolitics Budget Blog
Jon Terbush / TPMDC:
Rasmussen Poll: Almost Six In Ten Wisconsin Voters Disapprove Of Gov. Walker — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to strip public employee unions of most of their collective bargaining rights appears to be so unpopular, that a Rasmussen poll now finds that almost 60% of likely Wisconsin voters disapprove of his job performance.
Discussion:
The Reality-Based Community, Rasmussen Reports and JSOnline
Anna Holmes / New York Times:
The Disposable Woman — FORTY-THREE minutes into his “special live edition” with Charlie Sheen on Monday night, Piers Morgan finally got around to asking his guest a real question. Before that, Mr. Morgan and Mr. Sheen had mostly traded chuckles and anecdotes about multiday benders …
RELATED:
James Wolcott / Vanity Fair:
It's Morgan In America — Where did Piers Morgan come from? And is there any way to send him back? Reviewing the debut “gets”—Oprah! Rudy! Condoleezza!—of Larry King's blustery British heir, the author examines the failures behind Morgan's success. — If you're going to go in, go in big.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Taylor Marsh and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Kevinliptak / CNN:
Huckabee clarifies Portman criticism — (CNN) - Mike Huckabee is explaining comments he made earlier this week criticizing Oscar winner Natalie Portman for being pregnant and unmarried. — “In a recent media interview about my new book, A Simple Government, I discussed the first chapter …
Discussion:
Big Hollywood, Indecision Forever, Taylor Marsh and Media Matters for America
RELATED:
Rachel Weiner / The Fix:
Why is Mike Huckabee criticizing Natalie Portman? (Poll)
Why is Mike Huckabee criticizing Natalie Portman? (Poll)
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Guardian, Behind the Numbers, Politics Daily and Daily Kos
Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Mike Huckabee: I didn't diss Natalie Portman
Mike Huckabee: I didn't diss Natalie Portman
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Laura Donovan / The Daily Caller:
Huckabee says unmarried Natalie Portman ‘glorifying’ out-of-wedlock pregnancy
Huckabee says unmarried Natalie Portman ‘glorifying’ out-of-wedlock pregnancy
Discussion:
Us Weekly, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, neo-neocon and E! Online
David Leonhardt / Economix:
The Struggles of Men — 11:35 a.m. | Updated to correct percentage decline in median wages since 1969. — The Hamilton Project has produced a fairly stunning chart, suggesting that median real wages for men have dropped significantly more than is commonly understood:
Discussion:
EconLog, Grasping Reality … and Yglesias
RELATED:
Michael Greenstone / Brookings Institute:
Have Earnings Actually Declined?
Have Earnings Actually Declined?
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Sky Dancing, The Atlantic Online, Corrente, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Angry Bear
WKOW 27:
Rep. Nick Milroy tackled while trying to enter Capitol — MADISON (WKOW) — Representative Nick Milroy (D-South Range) had a confrontation with Capitol police as he tried to enter the building Thursday night. — Milroy was trying to get clothes from his office but police would not let him into the building.
Discussion:
TPMDC, Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckraker, New York Magazine and MoveOn.Org
RELATED:
David Ariosto / CNN:
Walker tells absent Dems: Return or 1,500 get laid off
Walker tells absent Dems: Return or 1,500 get laid off
Discussion:
Hot Air, This Just In, Pundit & Pundette and Another Black Conservative
Breaking Boston News, Weather & Sports:
Study: Staring at breasts increases heart health — GERMANY (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Guys, listen up. A study says it is actually healthy to stare at a woman's breasts. — Five-hundred men participated in the German study. Half were told to refrain from looking at breasts for five years …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, POWIP, Pajamas Media and Fox Nation
John Blake / CNN:
Are whites racially oppressed? — White marchers gather at Glenn Beck rally this summer. Were they driven by racial fears or patriotic sentiment? — (CNN) — They marched on Washington to reclaim civil rights. — They complained of voter intimidation at the polls.
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, Runnin' Scared, The Awl, Shakesville and Wonkette
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
McConnell: White House offer to cut $6.5B is ‘unserious’ — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Friday rejected the White House's opening offer to cut an additional $6.5 billion in spending as “unserious.” — Speaking on the Senate floor, the GOP leader said that Republicans …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Hot Air, CNN and The Page
RELATED:
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Rick Scott Rejects Obama Administration's Last-Ditch Pitch On High-Speed Rail … WASHINGTON — Putting a formal end to attempts to satisfy his concerns with the project, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has rejected a last-ditch effort by the Department of Transportation to build a portion of a national high-speed rail system in his state.
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
RELATED:
George Russell / Fox News:
U.K. Pulls Plug on United Nations Spending, in Move That is Bound to Hearten U.S. Critics — Critics of U.S. spending on the United Nations got a huge boost—and supporters of that spending, especially the Obama Administration, took a body blow—from an unlikely source this week …
Discussion:
Cubachi, Weasel Zippers and Riehl World View
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner makes step toward defending DOMA in court — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took a step Friday toward formally defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took a step Friday toward formally defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court.
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, The Note and FrumForum
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
How to Kill a Recovery — The economic news has been better lately. New claims for unemployment insurance are down; business and consumer surveys suggest solid growth. We're still near the bottom of a very deep hole, but at least we're climbing. — It's too bad that so many people …
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Yanked Off Committee Speaks Out, Was Informed 30 Minutes Before Anti-Union Vote — On Wednesday, just moments before a key committee in the Ohio State Senate was to vote on a GOP bill that would effectively dismantle public employees' right to collectively bargain …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, NEWS JUNKIE POST and Wonk Room
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
That Time Has Arrived — In our main editorial chat here at TPM I was just saying that with the new evidence of Gov. Walker going into the bunker-bound, ranting at his lackeys stage of this drama I figured that it could only be a few days before the first Gov. Walker “Hitler Downfall Parody Video” appeared on Youtube.
Associated Press:
NASA satellite rocket launch fails, lands in ocean — WASHINGTON (AP) — A rocket carrying an Earth-observation satellite plummeted into the Pacific Ocean after a failed launch attempt Friday, the second-straight blow to NASA's weakened environmental monitoring program.
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
U.S. Added 192,000 Jobs in February; Rate at 8.9% — America's job engine picked up some steam last month. — The nation's employers added 192,000 jobs in February, after having added just 63,000 the previous month, the Labor Department reported on Friday. — The February number was about what economists had been forecasting.
Discussion:
Economix, Calculated Risk, Doug Ross, Felix Salmon, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Ezra Klein, Brookings Institute, Firedoglake, Online NewsHour, Above the Law, Hot Air, FT Alphaville, Politics Daily, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Lonely Conservative, The New Republic, AmSpecBlog, Colorlines, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Daily Dish, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, TalkLeft and Balloon Juice
Todd Starnes / Fox News:
Connecticut Town Ordered to Pay for Union Workers' Coffee — A Connecticut town must provide their union workers free coffee and milk, according to a ruling from the State Board of Labor Relations. — The board also ordered town leaders to reinstate “Dress Down Fridays” for the union clerical and custodial workers.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
Amanda Carey / The Daily Caller:
HHS Secretary Sebelius admits to double-counting in Obamacare budget — During a hearing on Capitol Hill Thursday, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) admitted to double-counting in the Obamacare budget. — In her first appearance before the House Energy …
Discussion:
YID With LID, theblogprof, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Breitbart.tv and Fox Nation
Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:
Gaffney, Jones Fight For Soul Of Anti-Sharia Movement At Rally By White House (VIDEO) — Rev. Terry Jones, the man who rose to national prominence last fall when he announced (but later backed off off) a plan to burn copies of the Koran, was clad in a beat-up black leather jacket when he showed …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Salon
New York Times:
Cutting Poison Control — PRESIDENT'S F.Y. 2010-11 REQUEST: $29 MILLION — HOUSE VOTED: $2 MILLION — Eliminating nearly all the money for poison control centers would save $27 million — not even a rounding error when it comes to the deficit. Yet it is so foolish that it perfectly illustrates …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Grist and Shakesville
Michael F. Cannon / National Review:
Mitch Daniels's Obamacare Problem — Mitt Romney isn't the only Republican presidential hopeful with an Obamacare problem: Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, were he to become the GOP's nominee, could also undermine the repeal campaign that has united the party's base and independent voters.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Michelle Malkin:
Hey, Eric Holder: Meet My People — We, the Unhyphenated Americans: Meet My People — My fellow Americans, who are “your people”? I ask because U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who is black, used the phrase “my people” in congressional testimony this week.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Nice Deb and The New Republic
Army Court-Martial Defense Specialist / The Law Office …:
PFC Manning Stripped Naked Again — PFC Manning was forced to strip naked in his cell again last night. As with the previous evening, Quantico Brig guards required him to surrender all of his clothing. PFC Manning then walked back to his bed, and spent the next seven hours in humiliation.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Salon, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway and Emptywheel
Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun Blogs:
Rory Reid's gubernatorial campaign circumvented contribution limits, created 91 shell PACs to infuse $750,000 into campaign — Who funded Rory Reid's PAC — California bigwig, Vegas cab magnate, unions, gamers — PAC names were designed to cover true purpose
Discussion:
The Fix
Rick Pearson / Los Angeles Times:
Daley: U.S. a ‘country of whiners’ — Retiring Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday contended America is a “country of whiners” that's spent the last four decades fearing the impact of foreign governments on the nation's economy instead of showing the confidence and sacrifice to lead on a global stage.
Discussion:
The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Ben Smith's Blog and Swampland