Top Items:
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Right Bailing The Left Out On Spending — I wrote about this earlier in the specific context of Grover Norquist, but Elise Foley's account of the Obama administration's rapidly unraveling deficit reduction initiative is another illustration of the fact that at the moment the right is big government's best friend:
Discussion:
TalkLeft
RELATED:
The Huffington Post:
White House Deficit Talks Coming Apart At The Seams … WASHINGTON — The White House's proposed deficit talks with Congress appear to be unraveling before they've even begun. — House and Senate Republican leaders announced Tuesday that their sole appointees to the May 5th meeting …
The Hill:
Dems needn't negotiate — Shudders went through the Beltway on Monday on the news that Standard & Poor's had lowered its outlook for U.S. debt because of its “fears” that the Democrats and Republicans wouldn't be able to come together to eliminate the deficit.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Janny Scott / New York Times:
Obama's Young Mother Abroad — The photograph showed the son, but my eye gravitated toward the mother. That first glimpse was surprising — the stout, pale-skinned woman in sturdy sandals, standing squarely a half-step ahead of the lithe, darker-skinned figure to her left.
Discussion:
Wonkette, The Political Carnival, The Daily What, Don Surber, Swampland, The Awl, Oliver Willis and The Page
George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:
Bachmann Says Obama's Certificate ‘Settles’ Birther Issue — For the first time, Rep. Michele Bachmann - who is actively considering a run for the White House in 2012 — has said that the birth certificate President Obama has released to the public puts an end to the “birther” issue.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TPMDC, Outside the Beltway and Opinion L.A.
RELATED:
Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:
Bachmann's bid: The what-if game
Bachmann's bid: The what-if game
Discussion:
Cubachi, Liberty Pundits Blog, ABCNEWS and GOP 12
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Bachmann: Obama's certification of live birth ‘should settle’ birther issue
Bachmann: Obama's certification of live birth ‘should settle’ birther issue
Discussion:
The Politico
Washington Post:
Poll shows Americans oppose entitlement cuts to deal with debt problem — Despite growing concerns about the country's long-term fiscal problems and an intensifying debate in Washington about how to deal with them, Americans strongly oppose some of the major remedies under consideration …
RELATED:
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
VIDEO: Paul Ryan Booed At Town Hall For Defending Tax Breaks For The Wealthy
VIDEO: Paul Ryan Booed At Town Hall For Defending Tax Breaks For The Wealthy
Discussion:
The Politico and Raw Replay
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The Death of Roe v. Wade — Supporters and opponents of abortion seem to agree: It's no longer the law of the land. — Supporters and opponents of abortion agree on nothing. One side says this is a conversation about fertilized eggs; the other says it's about fetuses.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Shakesville, Law Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, msnbc.com, National Review and FrumForum
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Jan Brewer: White House snubbed me on immigration talks — Fresh off her veto of her state's “birther” bill, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer says that the White House gave her a “snub” by leaving her off the guest list for a meeting about immigration reform. — “I wish I would have been invited …
Discussion:
CNN, Hot Air, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Pajamas Media, Washington Post, Wonk Room and Front page feed
RELATED:
John Wonderlich / Sunlight Foundation Blog:
Sunlight: White House Should Release Executive Order Online Before Issuing It
Sunlight: White House Should Release Executive Order Online Before Issuing It
Discussion:
The Politico, protein wisdom and The Daily Caller
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Gov. Brewer: White House snubbed me
Gov. Brewer: White House snubbed me
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Foundry
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Obama Panel to Curb Medicare Finds Foes in Both Parties — WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans are joining to oppose one of the most important features of President Obama's new deficit reduction plan, a powerful independent board that could make sweeping cuts in the growth of Medicare spending.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Yglesias, Opinion L.A., The New Republic, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Paul Krugman, Modeled Behavior and National Review
RELATED:
Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama administration officials tried to keep S&P rating at ‘stable’ — The Obama administration privately urged Standard & Poor's in recent weeks not to lower its outlook on the United States — a suggestion the ratings agency ignored Monday, two people familiar with the matter said.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool, White House Dossier, Pundit Press, Instapundit and FrumForum
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
iPhone keeps record of everywhere you go — Privacy fears raised as researchers reveal file on iPhone that stores location coordinates and timestamps of owner's movements — Security researchers have discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps track of where you go - and saves every detail …
Discussion:
O'Reilly Radar, Washington Post, TPM LiveWire, National Review, ReadWriteWeb, Shakesville, Boing Boing and Guardian, more at Techmeme »
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sarah Palin: Don't pick on Donald Trump — Even though Donald Trump has wholeheartedly embraced the wall-to-wall media coverage that's come with his promotion of the widely discredited “birther” issue, Sarah Palin argued Tuesday that the press is treating him “unfairly” …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Weigel, CNN, Conservatives4Palin, ABCNEWS, Guardian, Wake up America, The Page, Wonkette, FrumForum, alicublog, Weasel Zippers and The Hill
RELATED:
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
New Jersey voters label Christie a ‘bully’? — (CNN) - He says he's not, but if Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey runs for the White House, he will face some stiff competition from President Barack Obama, according to a new poll of Garden State voters.
Discussion:
Oliver Willis, Hotline On Call, Poll Watch Daily and The Political Carnival
RELATED:
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Gov. Christie's approval rating slips
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich struggles to raise hard money — Newt Gingrich raised a meager $53,000 into his political action committee in the first three months of the year, highlighting potential fundraising difficulties as the former House Speaker girds for a campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, CNN, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, MyDD, The Political Carnival and The Page
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Poll: Obama at 46 percent to Romney's 45 — President Obama would face a statistical tie against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) if the 2012 election were held today, a new poll found Wednesday. — A Marist/McClatchy News Poll released this morning suggested that the race between Obama …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and HotAirPundit
RELATED:
Steve Kornacki / Salon:
A reminder: Obama could easily lose next year
A reminder: Obama could easily lose next year
Discussion:
Poll Watch Daily, The Daily Caller, The Politico and Taylor Marsh
Deborah Arthurs / Daily Mail:
‘I wanted to be free’: Muslim model upsets family by posing nude for Playboy cover — Sila Sahin, a 25-year-old Turkish German living in Berlin, had until now been regarded as a glowing example of how a modern Muslim girl should behave in a multicultural society.
Discussion:
UNCOVERAGE.net, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Gay Marriage Opponents Now in Minority — A poll from CNN this week is the latest to show a majority of Americans in favor of same-sex marriage, with 51 percent saying that marriages between gay and lesbian couples “should be recognized by the law as valid” and 47 percent opposed.
Discussion:
Yglesias, New York Times, Mother Jones, Equality Matters and The Daily Dish
Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:
Does Paul Ryan's admiration for Ayn Rand make him pro-terrorist? Possibly, warns MSNBC guest — If a fictional character in a piece of literature from an author you admire commits some acts that would likely result in a felony conviction, does that mean you're a proponent of felonious acts?
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, protein wisdom and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Ben Domenech / Coffee & Markets:
Paul Ryan Doesn't Require Staffers to Read Ayn Rand
Paul Ryan Doesn't Require Staffers to Read Ayn Rand
Discussion:
alicublog, Left Coast Rebel, protein wisdom and AmSpecBlog
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Trump Most Visible Among Possible GOP Contenders — Most View News about Deficit as Unchanging — SUMMARY OF FINDINGS — Donald Trump has drawn a lot of attention in a slow-starting race for the GOP nomination. Roughly a quarter of all Americans (26%) name Trump as the possible …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Poll Watch Daily, Indecision Forever and Taegan Goddard's …
New York Times:
A Rational Budget for the Pentagon — In their budget-cutting zeal, Republicans are demanding harsh sacrifices from the country's most vulnerable citizens. At the same, they are determined to leave one of the biggest areas of wasteful government spending untouched: the Pentagon budget.
Discussion:
Pirate's Cove, BLACKFIVE and The Hill
Founding Blogger / Founding Bloggers:
CONFIRMED: CBS Editors Refuse To Release Full Audio Of Obama Hot Mic Recording! — Last weekend, His Presidency Barack Obama was captured making potentially offensive comments to a group of big money donors who had paid large sums of money for special access to His Presidency.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Jawa Report, Yes, But, However! and Rebel Pundit
Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
Mitch Daniels Was Once Caught With 2 Shoeboxes Full of Weed? — When it comes to pot, we've come a long way from the days of “I did not inhale.” Fifteen states (plus the District of Columbia) currently permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, and according to a recent Pew survey …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Army Court-Martial Defense Specialist / The Law Office …:
Why Was PFC Manning Moved to Fort Leavenworth? — Like many others, the defense first learned of PFC Manning's move to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas by reading that a government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, leaked the information to the Associated Press.
Discussion:
Salon, Firedoglake, Emptywheel, msnbc.com and Runnin' Scared