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CNN investigation: Obama born in U.S. — Editor's note: Tune in to “AC360°” on Tuesday beginning at 10 p.m. ET to see the remainder of Gary Tuchman's investigation into President Barack Obama's birthplace. — (CNN) — Was Barack Obama really born in America?
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Donald Trump: How did Barack Obama get into Ivies? — ‘How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?’ Trump asked. AP Photo — Donald Trump is upping the ante against President Barack Obama's legitimacy, raising questions on Monday night about how the president was admitted to two Ivy League schools.
Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Fact-Checking's Got Nothing To Do With It — Again, via Gawker, (hey, when you're hot...) CNN launches yet another investigation of Obama's birth-certificate, revealing—again— that Obama was born in Hawaii. Expect this investigation to convince about four people, total.
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Poll: What kind of president would Donald Trump make? — WASHINGTON — Republicans may be ready for a fling with Donald Trump, but a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows they have reservations about installing him in the White House. — The real estate developer and reality TV star …
Discussion:
The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Don Surber, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway and CNN
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Knowledge Counts Pt. 3 — I've noted several times that when it comes to issues like Medicare and Social Security, establishment journalism is most focused on whether political rhetoric is inflammatory than on whether it might be true. Or put a different way, the details …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Scare Tactics Dim Hopes of Medicare Compromise: ‘World News’ Political Insights — The “adult conversation” around Medicare reform has taken a detour in the land of adult diapers. — President Obama warned at the start of the great debate over spending and the role of government …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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Paul Krugman: For entitlement reform before he was against it — Not that you needed any more evidence that New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is a flip-flopping charlatan, but here's the latest. — Today, he assails GOP proposals to raise the Medicare age and, by extension, the Social Security retirement age.
Discussion:
NetRight Daily
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Dennis Cauchon / USA Today:
Americans depend more on federal aid than ever
Americans depend more on federal aid than ever
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Post, Just-A-Small-Town-Country-Boy, Taegan Goddard's … and Fox News
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Obama revealed: A moderate Republican — America is mired in three wars. The past decade was the hottest on record. Unemployment remains stuck near 9 percent, and there's a small, albeit real, possibility that the U.S. government will default on its debt. So what's dominating the news?
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Grist, Climate Progress, AMERICAblog News, Weasel Zippers, National Review and JammieWearingFool
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Andrew Samwick / Capital Gains and Games blogs:
Moderates? Republicans?
Moderates? Republicans?
Discussion:
Yglesias, Sky Dancing and Economist's View
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Proposition 8 supporters say ruling should be voided — A group opposed to gay marriage says Judge Vaughn R. Walker should have disclosed that he was in a long-term same-sex relationship and recused himself from presiding over the Proposition 8 case. — Vaughn R. Walker presided over a 12 …
Discussion:
Mother Jones
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Judge's relationship at issue in gay marriage case
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Ashby Jones / Law Blog:
Prop. 8 Ruling Challenged on Grounds of Judge's Sexual Orientation
Prop. 8 Ruling Challenged on Grounds of Judge's Sexual Orientation
Discussion:
The Politico, Above the Law, Runnin' Scared and Truthdig
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Katie Couric: I Am Leaving CBS Evening News — After weeks of widespread speculation about her future, Katie Couric is finally ready to go on the record. — “I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News,” Couric tells PEOPLE exclusively. “I'm really proud of the talented team …
Discussion:
Gothamist, MyFox Philadelphia, Hot Air, msnbc.com, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, PopEater and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Signorile / The Gist:
Conversation with a Birther — This call to the show from Winston in Alabama confirms why the birther conspiracy will never go away, a fascinating look at why crazy beliefs endure. Even after all the facts were explained to Winston, and after he appeared to agree that the facts were right …
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend and Left In Alabama
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Why Republicans May Be Skipping 2012 Presidential Run — Haley Barbour's decision to forego a run for the presidency in 2012 puts him in the company of a half dozen top Republicans who have considered — and rejected — a challenge to President Obama next year. — The question is: why?
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather and Washington Post
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Financiers Switch to GOP — Hedge-Fund Titans Who Backed Democrats Open Their Wallets for Republicans — Hedge-fund managers made a big bet on Barack Obama and other Democrats in 2008. Now, with the 2012 contest gearing up, some prominent fund managers have turned their backs on the party and are actively supporting Republicans.
Discussion:
Don Surber, Weigel, Wonk Room, ThinkProgress, The New Republic, The Note, The Lonely Conservative, Ben Smith's Blog, Money & Company and National Review
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MANCHIN KNOWS NOT OF WHAT HE SPEAKS.... Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), after about six months on the job, has struggled at times, occasionally badly. But on fiscal issues, the center-right Democrat appears to be getting worse. — Today, Machin will formally endorse a Republican proposal …
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Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Manchin breaks with Democratic leaders, backs strict spending caps
Sen. Manchin breaks with Democratic leaders, backs strict spending caps
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, National Review, Wonk Room, Hot Air, AMERICAblog News and Hotline On Call
Lauraklairmont / CNN:
TRENDING: RNC Chairman dismisses birther talk — Washington (CNN) - Donald Trump has spent weeks raising questions about President Barack Obama's birth certificate, but Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Tuesday that so-called “birther” claims are a distraction from more pressing issues facing the nation.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, The Politico and TPMDC
Jesse Lee / White House.gov Blog:
President Obama to Congress: “I Hope We Can All Agree That, Instead of Continuing to Subsidize Yesterday's Energy Sources, We Need to Invest in Tomorrow's” — This afternoon the President wrote a letter to leaders of both parties in Congress on the subject of tax breaks for oil companies.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Caucus, Washington Monthly, The Hill, The Hill, TPMDC, Daily Kos, Jack & Jill Politics, Washington Post, Swampland, The Agonist, Washington Wire and ABCNEWS
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U.S. Effort to Remove Drug CEO Jolts Firms — A government attempt to oust a longtime drug-company chief executive over his company's marketing violations is raising alarms in that industry and beyond about a potential expansion of federal involvement in the business world.
Discussion:
Law Blog, Hot Air, Pajamas Media and The Lonely Conservative
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GOP's gamble on the budget pays off, so far — WASHINGTON — A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that House Republicans, who took a political risk in passing a controversial budget blueprint last week, have survived so far with some key advantages intact as Congress moves toward the debate …
Discussion:
Guardian, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, AmSpecBlog and GayPatriot
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Another life line for Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal — 1980s Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal, darling of the progressive Left, will get yet another day in court: … Yes, they called him a “death row activist.” — Only marginally less obnoxious than when AFP called him a “human rights campaigner.”
Discussion:
MyFox Philadelphia, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Sister Toldjah
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College Teams, Relying on Deception, Undermine Gender Equity — Ever since Congress passed the federal gender-equity law known as Title IX, universities have opened their gyms and athletic fields to millions of women who previously did not have chances to play.
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Feministing, Althouse and Balloon Juice
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Behind A Major Law Firm's Decision To Ditch Its Defense Of DOMA — When the Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding announced on April 18 that it would represent the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act …
Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
“The Confederacy is Cool!” Says Large Number of Southern Republicans — For the last few weeks, Public Policy Polling has been questioning GOP voters in the South on a variety of issues, from their thoughts on Republican presidential candidates, to their views on interracial marriage.
Discussion:
Yglesias, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, USA Today, Public Policy Polling and Weigel
Emma Brown / Washington Post:
‘Hub’ Schlafly, TV engineer who helped invent teleprompter, dies at 91 — Hubert J. “Hub” Schlafly Jr., a television engineer who aided countless politicians and performers when he helped invent the scrolling public-speaking crutch known as a teleprompter, died April 20 of undisclosed causes …
Discussion:
The Note and Weasel Zippers
Lisa M. Krieger / Mercury News:
SETI Institute to shut down alien-seeking radio dishes — If E.T. phones Earth, he'll get a “disconnect” signal. — Lacking the money to pay its operating expenses, Mountain View's SETI Institute has pulled the plug on the renowned Allen Telescope Array, a field of radio dishes that scan …
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The Raw Story and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »
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High gas prices cut into driving habits — and Obama's approval rating — Soaring gasoline prices are biting into household incomes and nibbling at Americans' fuel consumption — and support for President Obama, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Discussion:
The Politico, Right Wing News, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Foundry, National Review, Pundit & Pundette, The Daily Caller and Instapundit
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Reducing Health Costs With Voluntary Death Panels — Andrew Sullivan notes that if people were a little more responsible about planning for our own demise that this could reduce health care spending: … Of course put in terms of “everyone” it's creepy and totalitarian.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Mark Schlueb / Orlando Sentinel:
Dan Webster confronted by angry town hall crowd — (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel / April 26, 2011) — A town hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Ballot Box and Naked Politics
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Don't laugh at Paul — Ron Paul's not as big of a joke as people think. — Do I think he has a serious chance at the Republican nomination? Not really. But I think he could play a much bigger role in the race than people might expect. Consider some of these recent poll numbers:
Discussion:
The Politico, Crooks and Liars, Swampland, Hit & Run, The Stir By CafeMom, The Daily Dish, LewRockwell.com Blog, AmSpecBlog and The Hill
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Arizona governor: ‘Birther’ sentiment ‘leading our country down a path of destruction’ — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R), who vetoed a bill last week that would have required presidential candidates to prove they were born in the U.S. to get on the state's ballot, implored members of her party Monday to move on.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Right Wing Nut House
Joe Nocera / New York Times:
The Limits of School Reform — I find myself haunted by a 13-year-old boy named Saquan Townsend. It's been more than two weeks since he was featured in The New York Times Magazine, yet I can't get him out of my mind. — The article, by Jonathan Mahler, was about the heroic efforts …
Discussion:
Eduwonk and Firedoglake
Jordan Fabian / Ballot Box:
Scott Brown gets Democratic challenger — Democratic activist Alan Khazei announced Tuesday that he will vie for his party's nomination to face Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R). — Khazei, co-founder of the non-profit group City Year, posted the announcement on his website and said he is holding a kickoff event in Boston.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos and Swing State Project