Top Items:
Mark Hosenball / Reuters:
Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret support for Libya rebels — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
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New York Times:
Chaotic Retreat for Rebels; Libyan Foreign Minister Quits — BREGA, Libya — Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi advanced rapidly on Wednesday, seizing towns they ceded just days ago after intense allied airstrikes and hounding rebel fighters into a chaotic retreat.
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Outside the Beltway, JustOneMinute and FrumForum
New York Times:
Washington in Fierce Debate on Arming Libyan Rebels — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is engaged in a fierce debate over whether to supply weapons to the rebels in Libya, senior officials said on Tuesday, with some fearful that providing arms would deepen American involvement …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, BBC, Washington Times, Political Punch, Ross Douthat, Washington Post, Guardian, NewsReal Blog, Danger Room, Booman Tribune, AMERICAblog News, Salon, FrumForum, TalkLeft, No Cure for That, US Department of State, Indecision Forever, RealClearWorld, The Caucus, CBS News and Gallup
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Looking for Luck in Libya — There is an old saying in the Middle East that a camel is a horse that was designed by a committee. That thought came to my mind as I listened to President Obama trying to explain the intervention of America and its allies in Libya — and I don't say that as criticism.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The only adult in the room, Pajamas Media, Eschaton, JustOneMinute and First Draft
ABCNEWS:
President Obama Authorizes Covert Help for Libyan Rebels
President Obama Authorizes Covert Help for Libyan Rebels
Discussion:
Political Punch and HotAirPundit
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
CNN: US changing war “strategy” to all-out attack on Gaddafi forces
CNN: US changing war “strategy” to all-out attack on Gaddafi forces
Discussion:
CNN, Questions and Observations and Guardian
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The wisdom and legality of arming Libyan rebels
The wisdom and legality of arming Libyan rebels
Discussion:
Guardian, Danger Room and FAIR Blog
Washington Post:
House Republican leaders turn to moderate Democrats for budget deal — Having difficulty finding consensus within their own ranks, House Republican leaders have begun courting moderate Democrats on several key fiscal issues, including a deal to avoid a government shutdown at the end of next week.
Discussion:
The Politico, Firedoglake, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Washington Examiner, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, National Review, Democracy in America, The Atlantic Online, FrumForum, The Raw Story, Instapundit, Guardian, Prairie Weather, New York Times, protein wisdom, Associated Press, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Don Surber, Wonk Room and RedState
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George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
Budget Negotiators Reach Tentative Deal To Avert Government Shutdown
Budget Negotiators Reach Tentative Deal To Avert Government Shutdown
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Hot Air and National Review
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Cantor and the budget — My colleague David Rogers …
Cantor and the budget — My colleague David Rogers …
Discussion:
The Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Political Carnival
Russell Berman / The Hill:
White House, GOP edge closer to a deal on 2011 budget
White House, GOP edge closer to a deal on 2011 budget
Discussion:
The Politico, The Other McCain and Hot Air
Russell Berman / The Hill:
House GOP tries to force Senate's hand in spending-cut battle
House GOP tries to force Senate's hand in spending-cut battle
Discussion:
Roll Call, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly
Quinnipiac University:
Obama Gets Lowest Approval, Reelect Score Ever, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; More Voters Oppose U.S. Involvement In Libya — American voters disapprove 48 - 42 percent of the job President Barack Obama is doing and say 50 - 41 percent he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012 …
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Poll: Obama's approval hits new low
Poll: Obama's approval hits new low
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, protein wisdom, Indecision Forever and HotAirPundit
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans Less Likely to View Obama as a Strong Leader
Americans Less Likely to View Obama as a Strong Leader
Discussion:
Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, The Other McCain, National Review, The Raw Story, The Politico and The Moderate Voice
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Setting the Record Straight on State's Film Production Tax Credit — Goodness, cleaning up the sloppiness of reporters could be a full time job. In response to The Daily Caller's online inquiry, I gave them a statement that the writer buried on his story's second page …
Discussion:
Cubachi, National Review and Liberty Pundits Blog
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Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:
Sarah Palin Rips Into Daily Caller For Not Featuring Her Quote High Enough — Sarah Palin launched a lengthy attack on The Daily Caller via Facebook on Wednesday in which she slammed the conservative-leaning news organization for not featuring her quotes prominently enough.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, Salon and Conservatives4Palin
Live Action Blog:
Planned Parenthood CEO's False Mammogram Claim Exposed — Contact: Amy Kim, 323.454.3304, media@liveaction.org — WASHINGTON, D.C., March 30-A series of new undercover phone calls reveals that contrary to the claims of Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards and other supporters …
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, The Brody File, Big Journalism, Washington Post, Erick's blog and NewsBusters.org blogs
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
GOPers Demand Sean Duffy Salary Tape Be Pulled From The Internet (VIDEO) — First the Republican Party in Polk County, Wisconsin, pulled the tape of Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) fretting about making ends meet on his $174,000 a year salary from its own website. Now they want it gone from the whole Internet.
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court rejects damages for innocent man who spent 14 years on death row — In a 5-4 ruling, justices overturn a jury verdict awarding $14 million to John Thompson, who had sued then-New Orleans Dist. Atty. Harry Connick Sr. because prosecutors hid a blood test that would have proved his innocence in a murder case.
CNN:
Only 14, Bangladeshi girl charged with adultery was lashed to death — Shariatpur, Bangladesh (CNN) — Hena Akhter's last words to her mother proclaimed her innocence. But it was too late to save the 14-year-old girl. — Her fellow villagers in Bangladesh's Shariatpur district had already passed harsh judgment on her.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, Patterico's Pontifications, Feministing and Clayton Cramer's Blog
National Review:
Bench Brawl in Wisconsin — The Left long ago stopped pretending that court proceedings were anything other than exercises in raw-power politics, and so they've taken their fight against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker to the state supreme court — not in the form of a lawsuit …
Monica Potts / American Prospect:
Limiting Abortion Under the Guise of Anti-Racism — Reuters reports that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill yesterday that makes it illegal for doctors to provide abortions for parents seeking to terminate pregnancies on the basis of race or gender. As Planned Parenthood officials …
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Henry / Crooked Timber:
“With Notably Rare Exceptions” — Alan Greenspan is back as free market evangelist, and it's rather wonderful. … It's best not to interpret this as an empirical claim, but a carefully-thought-out bid for Internet immortality. It has the sublime combination of supreme self-confidence …
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, Angry Bear, Paul Krugman, Marginal Revolution, Mother Jones and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality …
Stan Pillman / CBS Chicago:
Threats Claim Nuclear Bombs Hidden All Over U.S. — CHICAGO (CBS 2) - The threats came in the mail and to date, there have been 25 letters that warn of nuclear bombs destroying America. — People who got them called the FBI and CBS 2′s Kristyn Hartman learned, the Bureau's Chicago office is leading the investigation.
Discussion:
Maggie's Notebook and The Jawa Report
Washington Post:
On NBC, the missing story about parent company General Electric — Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press - The story that General Electric did not pay federal taxes last year was widely reported everywhere but NBC. — It's the kind of accountability journalism that makes readers raise an eyebrow …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Company Town, The Lonely Conservative, Poynter and Snark And Boobs
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Poll: Americans cooling on tea party — The tea party might be running out of steam. — The approval rating for the 2-year-old movement fell to 32 percent in a CNN/Opinion Research corporation poll released Wednesday, the lowest it's been since CNN first polled on the tea party in January 2010.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner, neo-neocon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House passes Boehner's DC school voucher bill over Dem objections — Over fierce Democratic opposition, the House on Wednesday approved a bill to re-establish a school choice voucher system for Washington, D.C., residents. — The vote came a day after the White House said it opposed …
Discussion:
The Politico and Cubachi
Sarah Laskow / American Prospect:
Semi-Homemade Sandra Lee Dates Politician, Lives Her Own Life — I'm not a big fan of Semi-Homemade Sandra Lee as recipe writer, cook, or TV personality. But as a political spouse, she's the best we have. — First of all, she's not actually a political spouse: She and her sometime housemate …
Neil M. Barofsky / New York Times:
Where the Bailout Went Wrong — TWO and a half years ago, Congress passed the legislation that bailed out the country's banks. The government has declared its mission accomplished, calling the program remarkably effective “by any objective measure.” On my last day as the special inspector general …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Baseline Scenario, Economist's View and The Caucus
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Feingold wants resignation of GE head from Obama's jobs council — Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) called Wednesday for the ouster of General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt from President Obama's jobs council. — Feingold, citing GE's ability to escape paying taxes on its $14.2 billion profit last year …
Discussion:
The Politico
Wall Street Journal:
Microsoft Co-Founder Hits Out at Gates — Bill Gates schemed to take shares in Microsoft Corp. from his co-founder during the early days of the software company following his partner's treatment for cancer, according to a new memoir by the billionaire co-founder, Paul Allen.
Discussion:
VentureBeat, The BLT and KATU-TV, more at Techmeme »
Free exchange:
Your money is no good here — TIM PAWLENTY, former Minnesota governor and potential Republican presidential candidate, has thoughts on money: … This is unfortunate. Let's review the reasons why: — “Fiat money” is another way of saying “money”. Fiat money—that is, dollars …
Discussion:
The Hill, Yglesias, FrumForum and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality …