Top Items:
The Politico:
What's Donald Trump really after? — Despite an almost universal refusal by Republican establishment figures and the press to take him seriously, Donald Trump is taking very concrete steps toward forming - and announcing - a presidential campaign. — He has interviewed at least two people …
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, CNN, The Greenroom, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
RELATED:
Rasmussen Reports:
Obama 49%, Trump 34% — President Obama leads Donald Trump by 15 percentage points in a hypothetical 2012 match-up, but the president is unable to top the 50% level of support even against an opponent some are deriding as a joke. — The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds …
Discussion:
Hot Air, GOP 12, Michelle Malkin and Outside the Beltway
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Let's Not Be Civil — Last week, President Obama offered a spirited defense of his party's values — in effect, of the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society. Immediately thereafter, as always happens when Democrats take a stand, the civility police came out in force.
CNBC:
S&P Affirms US AAA Rating, Cuts Outlook to Negative — Standard & Poor's on Monday downgraded the outlook for the United States to negative, saying it believes there's a risk U.S. policymakers may not reach agreement on how to address the country's long-term fiscal pressures.
Discussion:
TPMDC, HyperVocal, Pajamas Media, The Gateway Pundit, Moonbattery, Vox Popoli and Don Surber
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Matt Jarzemsky / Wall Street Journal:
S&P Cuts U.S. Ratings Outlook to Negative
S&P Cuts U.S. Ratings Outlook to Negative
Discussion:
Washington Wire, James Pethokoukis, Don Surber, Real Time Economics, Gawker and FrumForum
Robin Bravender / The Politico:
President Obama to ignore ‘czar’ ban
President Obama to ignore ‘czar’ ban
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Foundry, Gawker, Scared Monkeys, FrumForum, Weasel Zippers, HotAirPundit and The Hill
New York Times:
President Heads West to Sell His Deficit Plan
President Heads West to Sell His Deficit Plan
Discussion:
CNN, Wonkette, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and FrumForum
Matthew Saltmarsh / New York Times:
S.&P. Lowers Outlook for U.S., Sending Stocks Down
S.&P. Lowers Outlook for U.S., Sending Stocks Down
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Middle-Class Tax Trap — “Let's tell the truth,” Walter Mondale said, accepting the Democratic nomination in 1984. “Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won't tell you. I just did.” — Three months later, Mondale lost 49 states, and liberal politicians learned a valuable lesson.
Discussion:
The New Republic, Booman Tribune, National Review, Paul Krugman, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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CEPR:
Douthat Makes It Up On Median Family Income — Ross Douthat struck another blow against fact-based arguments when he told readers that the median family of four has an income of $94,900. Douthat warned that if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire in 24 years the median family would be paying …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Finance, Washington Monthly, The New Republic and Eschaton
Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
TheDC Exclusive: Conservatives hit Beck for taking content without attribution — A number of conservative activists and bloggers say they're furious at media magnate Glenn Beck for what they call content theft. Over the past several years, Beck has relied on video, audio and written content …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, YID With LID, FishbowlDC, Outside the Beltway and Riehl World View
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Vandals Break In WI Office - Steal Fleebagger Recall Petitions Hours After It Was Announced Enough Signatures Were Collected (Video) — On Thursday Wisconsin conservatives announced that they had collected enough signatures 15,000 to recall fleebagger Senator Dave Hansen of Green Bay.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Where the Tax Money Is — Obama targets the middle class while pretending to tax only the rich. — A dominant theme of President Obama's budget speech last Wednesday was that our fiscal problems would vanish if only the wealthiest Americans were asked “to pay a little more.”
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, James Pethokoukis, Betsy's Page, Wizbang and The Other McCain
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Relieve Pain by Swearing, Study Says — Hey, after all these years, I'm vindicated at last: … And, indeed, some of what we were taught in schools was wrong. — For instance, the story has it Patrick Henry said “Give me liberty or give me death.” He really said: “Wear one of those dreadful Tory hats?
RELATED:
Steve Jones / Telegraph:
Swearing can help relieve pain, study claims
Swearing can help relieve pain, study claims
Discussion:
The Raw Story, newsfeed.time.com and Outside the Beltway
Lisa Lerer / Bloomberg:
Ryan Budget Plan Defended as Republicans Return Home to Voters — First-term Representative Bobby Schilling is getting ready for some uncomfortable conversations. — The pizzeria owner-turned-Republican lawmaker supported his party's 2012 budget plan that passed in the House last week …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Los Angeles Times and Swampland
RELATED:
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Huntsman team plans South Carolina campaign — Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - If ambassador to China Jon Huntsman does decide to run for president after returning to the United States in early May, his advisers are planning to make a serious play for South Carolina, the early primary state …
Discussion:
MyDD, GOP 12 and Ben Smith's Blog
RELATED:
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Bachmann non-committal on first GOP debate
Bachmann non-committal on first GOP debate
Discussion:
Cubachi, Ballot Box, Liberty Pundits Blog and The Political Carnival
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GANG OF SIX ‘VERY CLOSE’ TO AN AGREEMENT, INTENDS TO ‘MAKE EVERYBODY MAD’.... Two months ago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the bipartisan “Gang of Six” deficit-reduction talks, said the group was “getting close” to striking a deal. Two weeks ago, however, the negotiations …
Discussion:
The Politico, Just-A-Small-Town-Country-Boy, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Sky Dancing and The Hill
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
As debt ceiling vote nears, the pressure's on House Republican freshmen — They ran against debt. They swore and swore again that they'd cut up the nation's credit card. — But now the 87 freshmen House Republicans are facing intense pressure from administration officials …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Left Coast Rebel, New York Times, FrumForum and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Trump: Rove “devastated” by Romney's performance — On Fox & Friends this morning, Donald Trump fired back at Karl Rove for calling him a “joke candidate.” … Trump then offered another reason for Rove's comments. … Trump's assertion that Romney is doing poorly in the polls is hardly air-tight …
Arthur B. Laffer / Wall Street Journal:
The 30-Cent Tax Premium — Tax compliance employs more workers than Wal-Mart, UPS, McDonald's, IBM and Citigroup combined. — There is a lot more to taxes than simply paying the bill. Taxpayers must spend significantly more than $1 in order to provide $1 of income-tax revenue to the federal government.
Discussion:
Yglesias, The New Republic and Outside the Beltway
Reuters:
Al-Jazeera has fans in Obama W.H. — In the halls of American power, the Arab Spring has brought Al-Jazeera in from the cold. — Seven years after then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called the broadcaster's reporting “vicious, inaccurate and inexcusable” and President George W. Bush joked …
Discussion:
The Caucus, FrumForum, White House Dossier, JammieWearingFool and Jihad Watch, more at Mediagazer »
Jon Gambrell / Associated Press:
Riots hit Nigeria's north after presidential vote — ABUJA, Nigeria - Angry opposition supporters in Nigeria's Muslim north set fire to homes bearing ruling party banners Monday and heavy gunfire rang out in several towns as election officials released results showing the Christian incumbent had gained an insurmountable lead.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Weasel Zippers
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Passover begins at sunset — Obama talking deficit with local anchors - Retired Gen. Sanchez running for Kay Bailey seat - RNC YouTube contest — Harwood: Grand bargain unlikely before election — Good Monday morning. POTUS GOES STRATEGICALLY LOCAL: At 3:05 p.m. today …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Online and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »