Top Items:
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 …
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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:
New York Times, The New Republic, Guardian and Marginal Revolution
Paul Krugman:
Privatizing Medicare — So they're really going to propose it. — More when we have some details. But two key points: — 1. Privatizing and voucherizing Medicare does nothing whatsoever to control costs. We've seen that from the sorry history of Medicare Advantage.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Incidental Economist and AMERICAblog News
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: He's in — In email and video to supporters …
First Thoughts: He's in — In email and video to supporters …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Taegan Goddard's …, The New Republic, Pat Dollard, Washington Post, Fox News and Maggie's Notebook
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
House GOP's ‘Radical’ Plan For Medicare, Medicaid
House GOP's ‘Radical’ Plan For Medicare, Medicaid
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Hullabaloo
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, OpenSecrets.org, The Reaction, Mediaite, Washington Post, Politics and NewsBusters.org blogs
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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:
Ben Smith's Blog and The New Republic
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Obama launches reelection campaign with video
Obama launches reelection campaign with video
Discussion:
CNN, Another Black Conservative, American Power, FrumForum and The Lonely Conservative
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
L.A. Times Announces Obama's New Campaign Website - http://www.latimes.com
L.A. Times Announces Obama's New Campaign Website - http://www.latimes.com
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
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, Pat Dollard, The Moderate Voice, 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:
Hot Air and National Review
Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Calls ‘Birther’ Doubts About Obama's Citizenship ‘Ludicrous’
EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Calls ‘Birther’ Doubts About Obama's Citizenship ‘Ludicrous’
Discussion:
Ballot Box
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Bill Clinton to White House: Consider arming rebels
Bill Clinton to White House: Consider arming rebels
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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:
Michelle Malkin, Don Surber, CBS New York, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, AmSpecBlog and Emptywheel
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:
Ballot Box, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Last Tradition, msnbc.com, The Note, The Politico and American Power
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Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
Will Media Give Monday's Nationwide Union Rallies As Much Coverage As Tiny Tea Party Event?
Will Media Give Monday's Nationwide Union Rallies As Much Coverage As Tiny Tea Party Event?
Discussion:
The Right Sphere and Eschaton
Russell Berman / The Hill:
GOP freshman class faces its big shutdown decision: Fight or fall in line
GOP freshman class faces its big shutdown decision: Fight or fall in line
Discussion:
ABCNEWS and Associated Press
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, Wizbang, Don Surber and Sipsey Street Irregulars
Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:
MONEY TALKS — Eight of the current Supreme Court Justices are known for their zeal in questioning lawyers. That tendency was on display last week during the oral argument over the constitutionality of an Arizona law known as the Citizens Clean Elections Act, a law that attempts …
Discussion:
Law Blog
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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:
NewsReal Blog, National Review, Pajamas Media, Wonkette, NY Daily News, Breitbart.tv, Mediaite and Vox Popoli
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Mark Steyn / National Review:
Re: Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment
Re: Lindsey Graham and the First Amendment
Discussion:
Diana West, RedState, theblogprof, Althouse, The Other McCain, Instapundit, Cold Fury and The Lonely Conservative
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Now Libya steps on President Obama's message — President Barack Obama's decision to intervene in Libya has presented him with a whole new set of political problems with members of both parties. But its most worrisome effect for the White House is the way it's undermining his efforts …
Discussion:
Questions and Observations and Right Wing News
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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:
TPMDC and Hotline On Call
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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:
The Moderate Voice and Ben Smith's Blog
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Case For Freshman Ineligibility — Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took the opportunity of “March Madness” to note the scandalously poor academic performance of the unpaid professional basketball players who NCAA schools pretend are student athletes.
Discussion:
Get Schooled and Eschaton
Paul Krugman:
Diminished Individualism Watch — A few weeks back I commented on a George Will column in which he said that … So I think that it is my civic duty to report that yesterday, as I got off Amtrak 161 from Trenton to Washington — having spent 2 1/2 hours being made more amenable to collectivism …
Discussion:
Grist
New York Times:
Libyan Rebels Gain in Fight for Oil Town — BREGA, Libya — As evening fell Monday, rebel fighters were engaging the main body of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces in an intense battle for the oil town of Brega, trading fire at close quarters and sending volleys of rockets into the town.
Discussion:
The Other McCain, AOL News and FrumForum