memeorandum: GOP rams anti-union bill through Wis. Senate (msnbc.com)

9:45 PM ET, March 9, 2011

Top Items:

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Breaking: Without Democrats Present, Wisconsin Senate Voting on Largely-Intact Budget Repair Bill — Update 7:33 p.m.: As I was writing this up, the state senate voted 18-1 to pass the bill described below. — Update 7:38 p.m.: Wisconsin senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald confirms …

Discussion: RedState, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Pajamas Media

JSOnline:

Senate advances collective bargaining changes; Democrats to return after Assembly action — By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — The Senate - without Democrats present - abruptly voted Wednesday to eliminate almost all collective bargaining for most public workers.

Discussion: The Hill, The Plum Line, Hot Air, Examiner and Taegan Goddard's …

Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:

WI Senate GOP Leader Admits On-Air That His Goal Is To Defund Labor Unions, Hurt Obama's Reelection Chances — A prank call from a man purporting to be petrochemical billionaire David Koch to Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) a few weeks ago revealed that Walker had crafted his “budget repair” bill in a bid to crush the labor unions.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The New Republic, Daily Kos, TPMDC and Hullabaloo

msnbc.com:

GOP rams anti-union bill through Wis. Senate — End run around Democratic senators who left state to prevent passage — Below: — NBC News and msnbc.com — MADISON, Wis. — Republicans pushed a provision stripping public employees of their collective bargaining rights through …

Discussion: Examiner, Associated Press, The Mahablog and Truthdig

Ezra Klein:

What happened in Wisconsin tonight — Here's what just happened in Wisconsin: the rules of the state's Senate require a quorum for any measures that spend money. That's how the absence of the Senate's Democrats could stymie Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget law — it spent money, and thus it needed a quorum.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Plum Line, New Deal 2.0 and Booman Tribune

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Just Like That — In a brief meeting that lasted barely five minutes …

Discussion: First Draft and TPMDC

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Wisconsin Conference Committee Passes New, Stripped-Down Anti-Union Bill

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Anti-Public Employee Bill Passes Senate in Wisconsin; Only the Beginning of the Fight

Discussion: WisPolitics Budget Blog, naked capitalism and Bloomberg

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Wis. State Senate Passes Anti-Union Bill, In End-Run Around Dem Boycott

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

WISC-TV:
Source: Republican Senators Attempting To Pass Parts Of Budget Repair Bill

Discussion: Wisconsin Radio Network, Fox Nation and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Fox News:
Wisconsin Senate GOP Votes to Strip State Workers of Collective Bargaining Rights

Discussion: UrbanGrounds and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press: Wisconsin Senate Advances Bill Opposed by Unions

Mark Memmott / NPR:

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns — This follows yesterday's news that then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation) was videotapped slamming conservatives and questioning whether NPR needs federal funding during a lunch with men posing as members of a Muslim organization …

The Huffington Post:

Juan Williams: NPR ‘All White Organization,’ Exhibited ‘Worst Of White Condescension’ In Firing Me (VIDEO) — Danny Shea and Julia Steers First Posted: 03/ 9/11 04:39 PM Updated: 03/ 9/11 04:47 PM … Juan Williams says NPR is an “all-white organization” that exhibited the …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Swampland, Mediaite, Don Surber and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:
ADL calls for an apology from NPR executive

Discussion: PostPartisan, The Other McCain, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and NewsReal Blog

Simon Maloy / Media Matters for America:
Look At NPR's Coverage; Don't Privilege The Serial Liar

Discussion: Riehl World View, Big Government, Pajamas Media and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Jeff Dunetz / YID With LID:
Audio Interview with NPR's Media Reporter David Folkenflik -Vivian Schiller Didn't Quit She Was Fired

Discussion: NPR Topics, The Politico, Washington Post, Big Journalism, Pajamas Media and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Jim Romenesko / Poynter:
Ron Schiller decides not to join the Aspen Institute

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, PostPartisan, AOL News, Mediaite and National Review

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Why NPR should urge Congress to end its subsidy

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Atlantic Online

Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:

David Broder dies; Pulitzer-winning Washington Post political columnist — David S. Broder, 81, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most respected writers on national politics for four decades, died Wednesday at Capital Hospice in Arlington of complications from diabetes.

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
David Broder's remarkable life and career

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, DownWithTyranny!, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, PostPartisan and The New Republic

James Hohmann / The Politico:
David S. Broder, dean of political writers, dies at 81

Discussion: CNN and Eduwonk

David Brody / The Brody File:

Newt Gingrich tells The Brody File he 'felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness' — Newt Gingrich, who is expected to run for President tells The Brody File that he “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” over his past marital infidelity. And now that he's at the grandfather stage he is …

Kevinliptak / CNN:
Gingrich planning May presidential announcement

Discussion: The Politico, USA Today, Mediaite, Political Insider, bjkeefe, GOP 12, msnbc.com, The Note and AmSpecBlog

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
Newt Gingrich Cheated on His Wives for America

Discussion: FrumForum, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dish, The Brody File and ECHIDNE of the snakes

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Gingrich: Past Adultery ‘Partially Driven By How Passionately I Felt About This Country’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Breitbart.tv and Indecision Forever

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GINGRICH'S PATRIOTISM LED HIM TO CHEAT ON HIS WIVES. …

Discussion: Wonk Room

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town — CLEVELAND, Tex. — The police investigation began shortly after Thanksgiving, when an elementary school student alerted a teacher to a lurid cellphone video that included one of her classmates. — The video led the police to an abandoned trailer …

Discussion: New York Magazine, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Shakesville, Feministing, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Hair Balls

Mac McClelland / Mother Jones:

The New York Times' Rape-Friendly Reporting — From today's New York Times: … This story from Cleveland, Texas, is beyond horrifying. Obviously. Unfortunately, further injustices have now been heaped on the victim (and the movement to end rape culture) by the article's writer and editor.

Discussion: Shakesville

Mike Carter / Seattle Times:

Man charged with attempted MLK Day bombing linked to neo-Nazi group — A Stevens County man charged with the attempted bombing along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane has links to a neo-Nazi group, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Discussion: Firedoglake, KHQ-TV, Wall Street Journal, ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, Outside the Beltway, KCPQ, No More Mister Nice Blog, TPMMuckraker and Shakesville

Spokesman.com:

Suspect in MLK bomb tied to racist movement — An ex-soldier with ties to the white supremacist movement has been taken into custody in connection with the planting of a backpack bomb along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. march in downtown Spokane, authorities have confirmed.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hatewatch, msnbc.com, Crooks and Liars and TPMMuckraker

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Schumer Calls GOP Bluff On Spending And Deficits — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the Republican Party's bluff on the need for deficit reduction Wednesday, outlining a fiscal framework that involves broader cuts and revenue raisers than the GOP has proposed — and warning …

Discussion: National Review, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and Ezra Klein

Bloomberg:
Government Shutdown Opposed by Americans in Poll Faulting Republican Cuts

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Gallup, Resurgent Republic, National Review, FrumForum, The Democratic Daily, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Firedoglake, ECHIDNE of the snakes, UrbanGrounds and ThinkProgress

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Schumer: Budget Deal Should Include Tax Hikes, Medicare Changes

Discussion: Firedoglake, CNSNews, Examiner, The Hill and AmSpecBlog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Palin would base campaign in Scottsdale — The prospect of Sarah Palin running for president is, increasingly, dismissed by a political class that sees her facing weak poll numbers — especially in key early states — and doing nothing to correct them or to buil the infrastructure for a run.

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, Liberal Values, Politicususa, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, No More Mister Nice Blog, Public Policy Polling, National Review and GOP 12

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

As King Targets Muslims, There Have Been Almost Twice As Many Plots Since 9/11 From Non-Muslim Terrorists — Tomorrow, Rep. Peter King (R-NY), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, will hold hearings singling out the Muslim American community for supposedly aiding and abetting domestic radicalization and terrorism.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and In the Arena

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Democrats plead with Rep. King to cancel hearing on US Muslims

Discussion: The Note and Weasel Zippers

Elizabeth Jensen / Media Decoder:

Like NPR, PBS Met With Fictional Donors — NPR was not the only media organization duped by the Republican provocateur James O'Keefe. — PBS confirmed Wednesday that like NPR, one of its executives attended a lunch with people who posed as members of the Muslim Education Action Center Trust, a fictional group.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Wire, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, The Other McCain and New York Magazine

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:

Julianne Moore To Play Sarah Palin In HBO Movie ‘Game Change’ — Julianne Moore is set to star in HBO Films' Game Change. Directed by Jay Roach, the movie is based on Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's 2010 book about the 2008 Presidential elections and follows John McCain's presidential campaign …

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Mediaite, Indecision Forever and Don Surber

Tyler Durden / zero hedge:

Exclusive: Bill Gross Dumps All Treasuries, Brings Total “Government Related” Holdings To Zero, Flees To Cash - No QE3? — Based on still to be publicly reported data by Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, in the month of January, has taken its bond holdings to zero …

Discussion: Money & Company