Top Items:
Michael Sean Winters / ncronline.org:
Catholic Academics Challenge Boehner — A group of prominent Catholic academics have signed a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, on the occasion of his forthcoming commencement address at the Catholic University of America. I will provide commentary later today …
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Bloomberg:
Boehner's Views on Economy Contradicted by Studies — House Speaker John Boehner, giving Wall Street leaders his prescriptions for growing the U.S. economy and reducing the nation's debt, built his case on several assertions that are contradicted by market indicators and government reports.
Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
Catholic Professors Criticize Boehner in Letter — House Speaker John A. Boehner, a Republican who grew up in a devout Roman Catholic family in Ohio, is scheduled to give the commencement address this Saturday at the Catholic University of America in Washington, a prestigious venue …
Discussion:
Bold Faith Type, Hit & Run and Booman Tribune
Greg / New York Communities for Change:
May 12'ers taking over NYC! — Leading up to Thursday, the On May 12 Coalition has been paying surprise visits to JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and House Speaker John Boehner! — The momentum for Thursday's On May 12th actions to hold big banks and corporations accountable for crashing …
Discussion:
Seeing the Forest
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Romney Death Watch, Even Deathier Edition — Tomorrow Mitt Romney ventures straight into the lion's den — Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of Jonathan Cohn, where he will deliver a health care speech attempting to explain the unexplainable. Just as Luke Skywalker was bound to seek out and confront Darth Vader, Romney must confront Cohn.
Discussion:
National Review
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David / Blue Mass Group:
Romney backed a *federal* individual health care mandate in 1994 — Bumped, for Seamus. - promoted by david — We're all positively breathless with anticipation over what Mitt Romney might have to say about health care tomorrow in Michigan. He's tried so many times to explain …
Discussion:
National Review, Boston Globe, GOP 12, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Post and msnbc.com
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Democrats eagerly set stage for big Romney speech
Democrats eagerly set stage for big Romney speech
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
David Weigel / Weigel:
Romney Backed Health Care Mandate in 1994
Romney Backed Health Care Mandate in 1994
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Blue Mass Group
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
And the award for the most ridiculous poll sampling goes to ... Move over, CBS. Hang up the kid-leather gloves, WaPo/ABC. There's a new sample-skewing sheriff in town, and it's the Associated Press. In a new definition of “outlier,” the AP reported that its latest poll …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Nice Deb, The New Editor, Pajamas Media, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Moe Lane, The Moderate Voice, JammieWearingFool, iOwnTheWorld.com and Gawker
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Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Latest AP Poll Sample Skews to Democrats by 17 Points — Wow! The AP poll has Obama's approval rating hitting 60 percent! And 53 percent say he deserves to be reelected! — And on the economy, 52 percent approve of the way Obama's handling it, and only 47 percent disapprove!
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Guardian, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
No bin Laden bounce on generic ballot
No bin Laden bounce on generic ballot
Discussion:
Gallup, FrumForum and HotAirPundit
NBC New York:
NJ State Police “Outraged” Over Rapper Invite to White House — Common at the 2011 Common Ground Foundation gala fundraiser at the Intercontinental Hotel in Chicago last month. — The invitation of rapper Common to the White House this week is drawing the ire of the union representing New Jersey state police.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Washington Wire, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, USA Today, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Jawa Report, The Nation, No More Mister Nice Blog, Swampland, Bookworm Room, The Daily Caller, LaborUnionReport.com, Weasel Zippers, The Impolitic, The Gateway Pundit, PopEater, Fox News and Top of the Ticket
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Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:
Referring To Grammy-Winning Hip-Hop Artist, Rove Slams The Obamas For ‘Inviting A Thug To The White House’
Referring To Grammy-Winning Hip-Hop Artist, Rove Slams The Obamas For ‘Inviting A Thug To The White House’
Discussion:
Washington Times, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, American Prospect, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Raw Story
Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
White House Condemns Some of Common's Lyrics but Praises his Larger Body of Work
White House Condemns Some of Common's Lyrics but Praises his Larger Body of Work
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Truthdig and The Daily Caller
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Trump blames Ryan budget for GOP woes in NY special election — If Republican Jane Corwin goes down in defeat in the May 24 special election in New York's 26th congressional district, blame Rep. Paul Ryan's (R) budget, Donald Trump said Wednesday. — Trump, speaking in the first-in-the …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Paul Ryan takes aim at AARP, but misses
Paul Ryan takes aim at AARP, but misses
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Daily Kos
Galactic Empire Times:
Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says — CORUSCANT — Obi-Wan Kenobi, the mastermind of some of the most devastating attacks on the Galactic Empire and the most hunted man in the galaxy, was killed in a firefight with Imperial forces near Alderaan, Darth Vader announced on Sunday.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway, Indecision Forever, Gothamist, Questions and Observations and Hit & Run
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Reid defends labor board's decision — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday defended the National Labor Relations Board, which has come under heavy criticism from Republicans. — Reid said the NLRB “acts as a check on employers and employees alike” and is consistent with the …
Discussion:
National Review and FrumForum
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Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Removing the Boot from the Throat of American Businesses
Removing the Boot from the Throat of American Businesses
Discussion:
The Politico, Taylor Marsh and Washington Wire
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
House GOP freshmen conveniently forget 2010 — A wide variety of House Republicans, especially freshmen in competitive districts, heard from their constituents over the recent two-week break, and discovered that voters aren't impressed with the GOP plan to end Medicare.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Reid Report, The Impolitic and Eschaton
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
GOP Freshmen On Medicare Attacks: Let's Let Bygones Be Bygones
GOP Freshmen On Medicare Attacks: Let's Let Bygones Be Bygones
Discussion:
Daily Kos, New York Magazine and Wonkette
Southern Fried Scientist / Southern Fried Science:
Florida Senate fails basic biology, accidentally outlaws sex. — Question: If your elected officials fail basic taxonomy, promote anti-science curriculum, and consistently attempt to undermine the fundamental unpinning of all biology, what happens when they start trying to legislate from this flawed view of reality?
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Election Law and Gawker
Erik Hedegaard / Rolling Stone:
Donald Trump Lets His Hair Down — A conversation with the host of The Celebrity Apprentice — Like you, we've always wondered what's inside Donald Trump's wallet. So, on a recent visit to his office at the top of Trump Tower in Manhattan, the epicenter of his vast real estate empire …
Discussion:
Gothamist, CNN and Pajamas Media
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Obama way ahead of Republicans for 2012 election — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has a wide lead over potential Republican rivals for the presidential election in 2012, but faces serious doubts about his handling of the U.S. economy, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found Wednesday.
Discussion:
Public Policy Polling, The Politico, Salon, The Raw Story, The Reid Report, Weigel, Taegan Goddard's … and Associated Press
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
Hoyer Bucks Obama on Disclosure Plan — President Obama's plan to force federal contractors to disclose political contributions was dealt a surprise blow yesterday when Steny Hoyer said that he opposed the idea. — President Obama's plan to force federal contractors to disclose political contributions …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
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Erik Wasson / The Hill:
White House backs down after subpoena threat from Rep. Issa
White House backs down after subpoena threat from Rep. Issa
Discussion:
Firedoglake, FrumForum and Hot Air
Larry McShane / NY Daily News:
Upstate New York man says sign pointing to mosque stating ‘BOMB MAKING NEXT DRIVEWAY’ stays — An angry upstate New York man says there's not a prayer that he'll remove a nasty sign prompted by a feud with the mosque next door. — “BOMB MAKING NEXT DRIVEWAY,” reads the stenciled message on the front lawn of Michael Heick.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker and Gothamist
Brian Calle / Orange Punch:
Lifeguarding in OC is totally lucrative; some make over $200k — High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city's full-time lifeguards are paid a salary of over $100,000 …
Discussion:
RedState, Pajamas Media, Hot Air and Wizbang
Karoli / Crooks and Liars:
As Breitbart and Loesch Cover Their Tracks, Professors Cleared By University Officials — You may recall this video. It was the first of two posted on Big Government's site two weeks ago alleging that UMSL Professor Don Giljum and UMKC Professor Judy Ancel were teaching impressionable young college students …
Discussion:
Chronicle of Higher Education, Big Government and Media Matters for America
Erica Sackin / FREEwilliamsburg:
Citing modesty concerns, hipster website removes “sexually suggestive” male images from Sit Room Photo … One Response to “Citing modesty concerns, hipster website removes “sexually suggestive” male images from Sit Room Photo”
Tom Geoghegan / BBC:
Why are Americans so angry about petrol prices? — Rising petrol prices in the US are expected to be one of the key issues in the 2012 presidential election. But Americans still pay half of what Europeans fork out on the forecourt. So why is it such a big deal?
Discussion:
Climate Progress
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Same-sex marriage and the '16 nomination — It's basically self-parody here at POLITICO to write about the 2016 presidential campaign, and I don't plan to do it much. But I thought it was worth passing on a point Bob Shrum made to me yesterday about one of the three or four Democrats already operating …
Discussion:
Mediaite
The Business Insider:
Irish Bombshell: Government Raids PRIVATE Pensions To Pay For Spending — The Irish government plans to institute a tax on private pensions to drive jobs growth, according to its jobs program strategy, delivered today. — Without the ability sell debt due to soaring interest rates …
Discussion:
Hit & Run and The Market Ticker
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out on Rape — WASHINGTON — Jess Smochek arrived in Bangladesh in 2004 as a 23-year-old Peace Corps volunteer with dreams of teaching English and “helping the world.” She left six weeks later a rape victim after being brutalized in an alley by a knife-wielding gang.
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
A Polling-Based Forecast of the Republican Primary Field — This is the finale of a four-part series (Part I, Part II, Part III) evaluating the utility of early presidential primary polls as forecasting instruments. My contention is that these polls have enough predictive power …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Gallup and National Review
Wall Street Journal:
President to Renew Muslim Outreach — WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama is preparing a fresh outreach to the Muslim world in coming days, senior U.S. officials say, one that will ask those in the Middle East and beyond to reject Islamic militancy in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death and embrace a new era of relations with the U.S.
Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:
How Microsoft Caused the DotCom Bubble and why their Skype ‘Hail Mary’ is irrelevant — Since the mid-nineties, I have nurtured a thesis about the dotcom bubble, tech bust, and the role Microsoft played in it. The opportunity to discuss it has never came up. — That is, until Microsoft's purchase of Skype yesterday.
Discussion:
TigerHawk