Top Items:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Clinton: Shutdown would hurt GOP but might not be ‘traumatic’ for economy — A government shutdown might not have a “traumatic” effect on the economy, former President Bill Clinton said Monday. — Clinton, who faced a shutdown during his 1995 budget negotiations with congressional Republicans …
Discussion:
The Politico, Connecting.the.Dots and FrumForum
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Sean J. Miller / The Hill:
The Hill Poll: GOP seen as more reasonable in spending-cut debate — A plurality of likely voters believes Republicans have been more reasonable than Democrats in the negotiations over spending cuts. — A new poll conducted for The Hill showed 41 percent polled said the GOP had been …
Discussion:
National Review
Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Calls ‘Birther’ Doubts About Obama's Citizenship ‘Ludicrous’ — Former President Believes U.S. Should Arm Libya's Rebels — Continuing outcry by “birthers” — a small but vocal movement which questions whether President Barack Obama was actually born on U.S. soil …
Discussion:
Ballot Box
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
A Tea Party Star Stirs Iowans, and She Isn't Palin — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal …
Discussion:
CNN, Ballot Box, msnbc.com, The Politico, The Last Tradition and American Power
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Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Aim: Cut $4 Trillion — Budget Plan Would Transform Medicare, Reset Budget Debate; Democrats Balk — Republicans will present this week a 2012 budget proposal that would cut more than $4 trillion from federal spending projected over the next decade and transform the Medicare health program …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Washington Post and FrumForum
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Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Announces Reelection Bid — President Obama opens his reelection campaign on Monday with a familiar cast of consultants; an economy that's improving, sluggishly; wars that he is struggling to extract himself from; and an implacable partisan fight in Congress that might shut down the government by week's end.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Obama launches reelection campaign with video — President Barack Obama launched his reelection campaign Monday morning with a web video posted on his website. — “It Begins With Us” features a series of supporters from around the country explaining why they support the president …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Taylor Marsh and FrumForum
Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
It Doesn't Get Any Clearer Than That: “Free speech is a great idea, but we're in a war” — Here's what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said today about Florida pastor Terry Jones' burning of a Koran, which has been used an excuse by Afghanis to murder 22 people, including seven United Nations workers:
Discussion:
NY Daily News, National Review, Weasel Zippers and Washington Times
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Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:
Lindsey Graham: 'Freedom of Speech is a Great Idea But We're in a War'
Lindsey Graham: 'Freedom of Speech is a Great Idea But We're in a War'
Discussion:
Mediaite, NewsReal Blog and theblogprof
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Reid: 'We'll look into' Quran burning
Reid: 'We'll look into' Quran burning
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Another Black Conservative, Althouse, Fox News, Jihad Watch, Sultan Knish, GayPatriot, The Lonely Conservative, UrbanGrounds, theblogprof, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, NewsMax.com, Outside the Beltway, Wizbang, Don Surber, Instapundit, The Daily Dish, Flopping Aces, Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report, The Last Tradition, Questions and Observations, Blue Collar Philosophy, Cold Fury and Daily Pundit
Cathy Hayes / IrishCentral:
Samantha Power to be the next Secretary of State? — Irish-born adviser now key to Obama foreign policy — A flattering New York Times profile has increased speculation that Samantha Power, the Dublin-born aide to President Obama, could be his next Secretary of State or National Security Adviser.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Israel Matzav, Don Surber and Atlas Shrugs
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Michael Muskal / Los Angeles Times:
Obama launches reelection campaign with e-mail, web video — The president pledges to focus on his job, but will pick up the tempo of campaigning this month with several fundraisers. The campaign is hoping to raise a record $1 billion. — President Obama speaking in March (Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images))
Discussion:
The Hill, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reaction, Mediaite, msnbc.com and Washington Post
The Politico:
Jon Huntsman, the rock ‘n’ roll years — Jonny Huntsman didn't quite make it through his senior year of high school, and the cause was pretty plain to his classmates. One recalled the long-haired, diffident Salt Lake City high schooler sitting next to him in history class “hitting his desk as if it were a piano.”
Discussion:
GOP 12
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
10 things to watch during the shutdown battle — The forecast on Capitol Hill this week calls for brinksmanship, heated rhetoric and a climactic ending that could have a major impact on the 2012 elections. — With less than a week to go before the April 8 government shutdown deadline …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A SUCKER'S BET.... The effort to pass a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year will be the principal challenge for policymakers over the next few days, but while that work continues, congressional Republicans will also start a massive fight over the next budget.
Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Politico's Roger Simon: 'Obama's The Greatest Orator Of Modern Times' — Politico's Roger Simon said Sunday Barack Obama is the greatest orator of modern times. — Chatting with Howard Kurtz on CNN's “Reliable Sources,” Simon also said journalists are just now looking beyond …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin and Breitbart.tv
Palm Beach Post:
Foreclosure crisis: Fed-up judges crack down disorder in the courts — Angry and exasperated by faulty foreclosure documents, judges throughout Florida are hitting back by increasingly dismissing cases and boldly accusing lawyers of “fraud upon the court.” — A Palm Beach Post review …
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Firedoglake and naked capitalism
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Obama Begins Re-Election Facing New Political Challenges — President Obama confirmed Monday morning that he will seek another four years in the White House, launching a re-election campaign that will ask Americans to endorse the status quo over the increasingly vocal calls from Republicans for a fresh start in Washington.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Guardian, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, James Pethokoukis, msnbc.com and AMERICAblog News
Mike Mulcahy / Minnesota Public Radio:
Bachmann hires former top Huckabee staffer — From Mark Zdechlik: — Rep. Michele Bachmann's political action committee has hired Wes Enos, the Iowa political director for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee when he ran for president in 2008. — Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish confirmed Enos …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and GOP 12
David Bauder / Associated Press:
AP source: Couric leaving news anchor post — NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Couric is leaving her anchor post at “CBS Evening News” less than five years after becoming the first woman to solely helm a network TV evening newscast. — A network executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity …