memeorandum: Campaign to recall Wirch says it has enough signatures (JSOnline)

9:45 PM ET, April 4, 2011

Top Items:

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

House GOP's ‘Radical’ Plan For Medicare, Medicaid — If anything will make it easier for House conservatives to back off on shutting down the government this week, it's the prospect of a different, and much larger fight over the federally funded social safety net.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Brilliant at Breakfast, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and CANNONFIRE

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Truly Pathetic — Why on earth did the Democrat speaking for the Democrats just now on Hardball say it was “courageous” but “politically stupid” for Paul Ryan to put up a plan to abolish Medicare and other federal social programs? That's the best he can do? “Courageous”? That's simply amazing.

Discussion: That Mr. G Guy's Blog

Myglesias / Yglesias:

Will Paul Ryan Propose a Giant Tax Hike To Make Tax Cuts For the Rich Affordable? — Based on Carl Hulse's reporting from yesterday it's clear that Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) intends to go through with his plan to replace Medicare with vouchers to buy private health insurance, and then cut spending on the vouchers.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, New York Times, Firedoglake, Marginal Revolution, Guardian, The New Republic and Weigel

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion

Paul Krugman:
Privatizing Medicare

Discussion: That Mr. G Guy's Blog, The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, The Incidental Economist, The New Republic, Washington Post, Wonk Room and AMERICAblog News

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicaid gamble

Discussion: Hit & Run and Opinion L.A.

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dems ‘likely’ to offer budget alternative to Rep. Ryan's plan

Discussion: The Politico and FrumForum

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Bring on the Bamboozlement — As House Republicans cue …

Discussion: That Mr. G Guy's Blog and MyDD

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Boehner digs in on spending cuts, saying $33B is ‘not enough’ — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Monday that a spending accord with the Senate and White House must contain more than the $33 billion in immediate cuts Democrats have said the two sides already agreed upon.

Discussion: The Politico, Fox News, The Hill, Cubachi, The Lonely Conservative, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Liberty Pundits Blog and FrumForum

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Public Would Blame Both Sides if Government Shuts Down — Tea Party Reps Say Stand on Principle Even If It Means a Shutdown — With an April 8 deadline approaching for a possible shutdown of the federal government, the public remains divided over whether congressional Republicans …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, CNN and The Hill

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
House GOP to distribute shutdown plan

Discussion: National Review

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Top Republicans: There Is No Budget Deal

Discussion: Firedoglake, Roll Call, Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Clinton: Shutdown would hurt GOP but might not be ‘traumatic’ for economy

Discussion: Don Surber, The Politico, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, The Moderate Voice, Connecting.the.Dots and FrumForum

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama invites leaders to budget talks

Discussion: The Politico and FrumForum

Stephanie Condon / CBS News:

KSM to be tried by military commission at Gitmo; Holder set to make announcement today — Attorney General Eric Holder today will announce that self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad will be tried in a military commission, CBS News has learned.

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, Verum Serum, The Gateway Pundit, Don Surber, AmSpecBlog, Washington Post, Riehl World View, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Emptywheel and BLACKFIVE

Charlie Savage / New York Times:
In Reversal, 9/11 Plotter to Be Tried by Military Panel

Discussion: Emptywheel, News Desk, Althouse, Philly.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, TalkLeft, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed / Fox News:
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Accused 9/11 Co-Conspirators to Face Military Trial

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, National Review, Pat Dollard, Sister Toldjah, Maggie's Notebook, Babalú Blog, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Lonely Conservative, Right Wing News and Pirate's Cove

Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
A Hamstrung Eric Holder Blasts Critics of Civilian Trials

Discussion: Hot Air and Flopping Aces

Michelle Malkin:
Obama administration retreats (again) on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed civilian trial; Holder blames Congress

Discussion: UrbanGrounds

The United States Department of Justice:
Statement of the Attorney General on the Prosecution of the 9/11 Conspirators

Discussion: TalkLeft and Blog of Rights

ABCNEWS:
9/11 Mastermind to Be Tried at Gitmo

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and Weigel

JSOnline:

No degree, little experience pay off big — Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions. — Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker's administration overseeing environmental …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Wonkette, The Raw Story, Daily Kos and Jesus' General

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Wisconsin union battle ‘helped define’ Democrats, Trumka says

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Allows Tax Credit for Religious Tuition — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday effectively upheld an Arizona program that aids religious schools, saying in a 5-to-4 decision that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge it. — The program itself is novel and complicated …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
MONEY TALKS — Eight of the current Supreme Court Justices …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Law Blog

Doug Kendall / The Huffington Post: McComish, the Supreme Court and the Fiesta Bowl Scandal

JSOnline:

Campaign to recall Wirch says it has enough signatures — The head of the campaign to recall Sen. Robert Wirch (D-Pleasant Prairie) says the group has gathered enough signatures to force a recall election. — Dan Hunt, chairman of Taxpayers to Recall Robert Wirch, says his organization has …

Discussion: TPMDC, The Hill, Hot Air, Pajamas Media and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mark Steyn / National Review:

Re: Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment — Andrew, ever since I ran into a spot of bother in Canada, I've found myself giving speeches in defense of freedom of expression in Toronto, London, Copenhagen, etc. I did not think it would be necessary quite so soon to take the same stand …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Diana West, RedState, theblogprof, The Other McCain, Althouse and Cold Fury

Robert Costa / National Review:

Graham Responds to Steyn, Stuttaford — In response to the criticism by Mark Steyn and Andrew Stuttaford about his weekend comments on free speech and Koran burning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) called me this afternoon to flesh out his thoughts on the matter. — Here is the transcript:

Discussion: Hot Air, Hit & Run, Patterico's Pontifications, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, Pajamas Media and Wall Street Journal

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Source: Pig's foot sent to congressman's office — Washington (CNN) - A frozen pig's foot and a note laced with anti-Semitic rants were sent to Rep. Peter King's Capitol Hill office, a congressional source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNN Monday.

Discussion: American Power

The Note:
Bloody Pig's Foot Mailed to Top House Republican

Discussion: CBS News

Kathleen Lucadamo / NY Daily News:

No fried food: Health Dept. workers cringe at new rules restricting foods, fragrances, decorations — No overbearing perfume. No obscene pictures. And definitely no French fries for work lunches. — That's the new edict for employees of the same city Health Department that brought …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Sweetness & Light

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

John Phillips: Why Hillary Clinton must run in 2012 — If Hillary Clinton's primary voters and President Obama had their relationship status listed on their Facebook pages, it would change from “Married” to “It's complicated.” — To be fair, Hillary voters never fell in love with Obama, they just fell in line.

Discussion: CNN, The Radio Patriot, Don Surber, Proof Positive, Wizbang, The Democratic Daily and Sipsey Street Irregulars

Margot Roosevelt / Los Angeles Times:

Critics' review unexpectedly supports scientific consensus on global warming — A UC Berkeley team's preliminary findings in a review of temperature data confirm global warming studies. — A team of UC Berkeley physicists and statisticians that set out to challenge the scientific consensus …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Watts Up With That?, Hit & Run and Little Green Footballs

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

41 senators vow to oppose Planned Parenthood rider — Forty-one senators have pledged to filibuster any bipartisan spending bill that includes an amendment to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, threatening an impasse with House conservatives. — The group, led by Sen. Barbara Boxer …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Blue Collar Philosophy, Pajamas Media and FrumForum

Michael Scherer / Swampland:

Four Hidden Messages In Obama's 2012 Reelection Launch — If you haven't yet seen it, here is the video that President Obama is using to launch his 2012 campaign. — Notice anything? Here's what I saw: — 1. The new slogan—"It begins with us"—is not a statement of fact.

Discussion: The New Republic and Ben Smith's Blog

Fortune:

The truth about GE's tax bill — Did GE pay U.S. income taxes in 2010? The company known for minimizing its tax bill made a muddled situation worse responding to a New York Times report suggesting it might get a refund. GE now says it has a small tax liability for 2010.

Discussion: ProPublica, Felix Salmon, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Andrew Goldman / New York Times:

Katie Couric Has a Few Regrets — When you started hosting the “CBS Evening News” in 2006, there was a lot of talk about mold-breaking. Now the show looks very much like the other network broadcasts. — In retrospect I would have given people what they were used to, a traditional newscast.