Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Meeting Fails to End Stalemate Over Federal Budget — WASHINGTON — President Obama and Congressional leaders said Wednesday that a late-night White House bargaining session produced no budget breakthrough that would avert a government shutdown this weekend but agreed the two sides …
Discussion:
CNN, The Note, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, TPMDC, White House.gov Blog, The Hill, Shakesville and Guardian
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
EVEN THE THREAT OF A SHUTDOWN IS EXPENSIVE.... If congressional Republicans go through with their threat and shut down the government tomorrow night, the costs will be considerable. It's ironic that those hoping to cut the budget will force a shutdown that's needlessly expensive.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
David Jackson / USA Today:
Trump keeps beating ‘birther’ drum against Obama — Donald Trump just won't let go of the President Obama citizenship issue. — The potential maverick Republican presidential candidate continued to question Obama's American citizenship during an appearance on NBC's Today show, saying …
Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Rifts Within Both Parties Test Leaders in Budget Fight — WASHINGTON — On one level, the budget showdown that continued to play out here on Wednesday is all about the balance of power between the two parties, a question of whether President Obama has regained his footing and can still control …
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, msnbc.com and The Agonist
Carrie Dann / msnbc.com:
Reid on shutdown: “It looks like it's headed in that direction” — Carrie Dann writes:After an all-night negotiating session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that he is “not nearly as optimistic” as he was last night about avoiding a government shutdown before a Friday deadline …
Discussion:
Poynter and Outside the Beltway
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WOULD BOEHNER SHUT DOWN THE GOVERNMENT OVER PLANNED PARENTHOOD?.... The good news is, Democrats and Republicans have reportedly reached a general agreement on the size of the cuts for the rest of the fiscal year. As of this morning, the package is up to $34.5 billion, from $33 billion …
Discussion:
The Caucus
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Boehner: I'm with the tea party
Discussion:
Pat Dollard, George's Bottom Line, Washington Post, The Reaction, The Gateway Pundit and The Moderate Voice
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Costs of federal shutdown would be felt far and wide
Discussion:
American Spectator
The Hill:
Leaders see progress in budget talks
Discussion:
CNN, George's Bottom Line, AMERICAblog News, Politics and The Hill
Washington Post:
Donald Trump. Seriously? — Donald Trump finished second in the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll testing the 2012 Republican presidential field. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel DunandIn the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, businessman and reality television star Donald Trump finished second behind …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Hill, Latest Open Salon Blog, Wonkette, USA Today, The Politico and The Raw Story
RELATED:
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
WSJ/NBC Poll: A Donald Trump Surprise — By Jonathan Weisman and Scott Greenberg — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney appears to be the early front-runner in the largely unformed race for the Republican nomination for president, but real estate magnate Donald Trump may be a surprise contender …
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:
OBAMA: Get Used To High Gas Prices. “Obama needled one questioner who asked about gas prices, now averaging close to $3.70 a gallon nationwide, and suggested that the gentleman consider getting rid of his gas-guzzling vehicle.” — High gas prices aren't a bug, they're a feature.
RELATED:
Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
White House fears gas prices could tank Obama
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Right Wing News and James Pethokoukis
Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
Pence Lets Truth Slip On Uncompromising Stance: 'We're Trying To Score A Victory For The Republican People' — The federal government appears to be hurtling towards a shutdown following the inability of congressional negotiators to reach a compromise last night on a continuing resolution.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Monthly and CNN
RELATED:
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
‘Shut It Down!’ Mike Pence and AFP Tea Partiers leave little doubt who's pushing for a shutdown
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice and TPMDC
Lauraklairmont / CNN:
Obama friend arrested in Hawaii — (CNN) - A friend of President Barack Obama was arrested Monday for allegedly soliciting sex from an undercover officer posing as a prostitute, according to CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now. — Robert Richard Titcomb, 49, was arrested with three …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune and New York Magazine
RELATED:
Minna Sugimoto / Hawaii News Now:
President Obama's close friend arrested during prostitution sting — HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - One of President Obama's closest friends is scheduled to appear at Honolulu District Court next month, after he allegedly solicited sex from an undercover officer.
Discussion:
The Raw Story and msnbc.com
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Obama's support among blacks slips unexpectedly, Hispanics too — Barack Obama rode to a comfortable presidential election win in 2008 on the electoral wings of a coalition based on liberal whites, independents and blacks, especially blacks. — Obama lost much of his independent support during …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama Approval Slips Among Blacks, Hispanics in March
Discussion:
Moe Lane
Ben Geman / The Hill:
Amendment that says climate change is occurring fails in House — The House rejected a Democratic amendment Wednesday that would have put the chamber on record backing the widely held scientific view that global warming is occurring and humans are a major cause.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Taegan Goddard's …, Pirate's Cove, New York Times and Climate Progress
RELATED:
Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Election fraud allegations fly in close Wisconsin Supreme Court race — Wisconsin citizens and election experts are questioning the veracity of the state's Supreme Court race, which the Associated Press reports left-wing legal activist JoAnne Kloppenburg won by 204 votes over Justice David Prosser …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog, Pundit Press, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wall Street Journal and TPMDC
RELATED:
JSOnline:
Kloppenburg declares victory
Discussion:
WisPolitics Election Blog, Weigel, The Political Carnival, The Atlantic Online, The Other McCain, JustOneMinute, The BRAD BLOG, The Debate Link, Politics, It's academic, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway and Taylor Marsh
City Room:
Cathie Black Is Out as City Schools Chancellor — Cathleen P. Black with Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott, who will replace her as schools chancellor, at a news conference in January. — 11:44 a.m. | Updated Cathleen P. Black, a magazine executive with no educational experience who was named …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Ben Smith's Blog, New York Magazine, The Wire and Gawker
Telegraph:
First homosexual caveman found — Archaeologists have unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of what they believe may have been the world's oldest known gay caveman. — The male body - said to date back to between 2900-2500BC - was discovered buried in a way normally reserved only for women …
Discussion:
The Raw Story and iOwnTheWorld.com
Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:
Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears — The starchy cassava root has long been an important ingredient in everything from tapioca pudding and ice cream to paper and animal feed. — But last year, 98 percent of cassava chips exported from Thailand …
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove and AmSpecBlog
Matt Bai / New York Times:
Mario Cuomo Still Believes — You would think that Mario Cuomo would have been proud to watch his son Andrew sworn in as governor of New York last New Year's Eve, ascending to the job his old man held for 12 years. Apparently, you would be wrong. — “You really want to know how I felt?” the elder Cuomo asked me last month.
Taffy Brodesser-Akner / Salon:
I can't believe my best friend is a Republican — I love everything about Janet — except how she stands for all the things I find bad and wrong in the world — Janet and I would likely have never met, save for the thing that unites so many women across divides of income and age: fat.
Discussion:
Vox Popoli, Betsy's Page, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Other McCain
Leigh Remizowski / CNN:
Maryland man glued to Wal-Mart toilet seat — (CNN) — Police in Maryland are on the hunt for the perpetrator of what appears to be an April Fools' prank that left a man glued to a toilet at a Wal-Mart store. — If caught, the jokester who doused the seat with glue at the Elkton Wal-Mart …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Runnin' Scared
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