Top Items:
Sen. Scott Brown / The Politico:
Why I don't back Ryan Medicare plan — As part of the 2012 budget discussions, Congress is dealing with Medicare reform. This debate is long overdue, since its increasing cost must be addressed if we are serious about the nation's growing $14 trillion debt and $1.6 trillion annual deficit.
RELATED:
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Republicans ignored warnings on Paul Ryan plan — It might be a political time bomb — that's what GOP pollsters warned as House Republicans prepared for the April 15 vote on Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed budget, with its plan to dramatically remake Medicare. — No matter how favorably pollsters …
Discussion:
msnbc.com and The Raw Story
Digby / Hullabaloo:
“The Tea Party itch has not been scratched”: How the Ryan plan went down — “The Tea Party Itch Has Not Been Scratched” — Any political observer with even a modicum of sense could see that the Ryan Plan was going to be a complete disaster. And most of us have been wondering ever since what the hell made them go for it.
Discussion:
The Politico, Daily Kos, The New Republic, pandagon.net, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Eschaton
John Cole / Balloon Juice:
Things Done Changed
Things Done Changed
Discussion:
The Politico, Outside the Beltway and Eschaton
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
What GOP leaders were thinking on Medicare
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Republicans and Mediscare — Paul Ryan's GOP critics are ObamaCare's best friends.
Discussion:
The New Republic and Betsy's Page
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Scott Brown a ‘no’ on Ryan budget
Scott Brown a ‘no’ on Ryan budget
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Outside the Beltway, AMERICAblog News and FrumForum
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Obama digging up dirt on potential opponent Chris Christie — President Obama's re-election campaign is trying to dig up dirt in the Garden State. — Despite New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's repeated pronouncements that he will not seek the GOP presidential nomination …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Ballot Box, WyBlog, GOP 12, Verum Serum, Betsy's Page, JammieWearingFool, The Daily Caller and The Lonely Conservative
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
The Next President Isn't Currently Running (Updated) — There's no GOP operative for whom I have higher regard than former RNC chair and senior Bush advisor Ed Gillespie. He deserves to be taken seriously when he says (according to Politico): “For all intents and purposes, the field is set.
Jordan Fabian / Ballot Box:
Pawlenty's in: We've tried Obama's way and ‘his way has failed’ — Tim Pawlenty on Monday officially announced his candidacy for president, insisting he would “tell the truth” about the serious problems facing the country in a way he said President Obama has not.
Discussion:
The Politico and Left Coast Rebel
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Behind the Daniels family veto
Discussion:
The Note, Roll Call, AMERICAblog Elections, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's …, The BLT, White House Dossier, Erick's blog, Wall Street Journal and FrumForum
Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Some observations as Daniels bows out
Some observations as Daniels bows out
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Runnin' Scared, The Other McCain and Pundit & Pundette
New York Times:
Daniels Is Out, in Another Jolt to G.O.P. Field
Daniels Is Out, in Another Jolt to G.O.P. Field
Discussion:
CNN, The Moderate Voice, The Politico, ThinkProgress, Ben Smith's Blog, Wonkette, Nice Deb, Washington Post, Politics, Blue Mass Group, The Impolitic and Taylor Marsh
Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
With Daniels out, GOP presidential field takes clearer shape
With Daniels out, GOP presidential field takes clearer shape
Discussion:
GOP 12, msnbc.com and Ballot Box
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Death Toll Rises to Nearly 100 From Missouri Tornado — JOPLIN, Mo. — Much of this southwestern Missouri city lay in ruins on Monday morning after a massive tornado, the latest storm to ravage the Midwest and South this spring, tore through the area, killing at least 90 people.
Discussion:
The Lede, The Hill and Balloon Juice
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AccuWeather.com:
More Severe Weather Expected Today
More Severe Weather Expected Today
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Wizbang
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Obama monitors response to Joplin, Missouri tornado from abroad
Obama monitors response to Joplin, Missouri tornado from abroad
Discussion:
CBS News, Politics and HotAirPundit
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Gingrich: 'I'm not a Washington figure' — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) said he doesn't view himself as a “Washington figure,” positioning himself as an anti-D.C. candidate in his campaign for president. — Gingrich railed against the Washington, D.C. establishment …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Washington Monthly, The Note, Christian Science Monitor, Outside the Beltway, Politics, The Daily Caller, GOP 12 and FrumForum
RELATED:
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich, citing record, says ignore record
Newt Gingrich, citing record, says ignore record
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Spectator:
Obama's achievement: the mouse that roared — I don't know what strategic purpose Obama had in mind for addressing the Middle East impasse when last Thursday he made the first of a series of speeches on the subject. Whatever this may have been, that speech produced one satisfactory result.
Discussion:
Via Meadia, Harry's Place, Big Peace, Pajamas Media, Democracy in America, Left Coast Rebel and Hot Air
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Eric Cantor:
Leader Cantor's Remarks to AIPAC
Leader Cantor's Remarks to AIPAC
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers, Capital J | JTA and Talking Points Memo
Scott / Power Line:
Cantor at AIPAC — Republican House Majority Leader Eric …
Cantor at AIPAC — Republican House Majority Leader Eric …
Discussion:
Ironic Surrealism, Sister Toldjah, Pajamas Media and Big Peace
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Biden tells donors: Keep me in mind for 2016 — Vice President Joe Biden surprised a gathering of donors in Cincinnati last week when he floated the prospect of his succeeding President Barack Obama in the White House. — Biden, who started in the Senate young and would be just 70 in 2012 …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, GayPatriot, Pundit Press, Pajamas Media, Politics and HotAirPundit
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The best-protected car in the world... defeated by an Irish ramp: Obama's limo ‘The Beast’ gets stuck at U.S. Embassy — Red faces all round as President and First Lady forced to swap vehicles for trip to ancestral home — It's supposed to protect him from terror attacks but President Barack Obama …
Discussion:
The Other McCain
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Pawlenty Campaign Already Dead? — Tim Pawlenty's hometown newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, ran the story of his presidential campaign announcement on the Obituary page this morning, City Pages reports.
Discussion:
The Blotter, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway and Mediaite
The Note:
Is Donald Trump Back in the 2012 Race? — ABC News' Sheila Marikar and Rick Klein report: Perhaps Donald Trump didn't really bow out after all. — The billionaire business mogul phoned into Fox News' “Fox & Friends” this morning to lament the state of the Republican field.
Discussion:
Reuters, Taylor Marsh, Daniel W. Drezner, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weigel and FrumForum
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Steele to MSNBC — This has been in the works, in retrospect, since about January 2009: — New York - May 23, 2011 - Former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele has been named MSNBC political analyst. The announcement was made today by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC, and is effective immediately.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
When Austerity Fails — I often complain, with reason, about the state of economic discussion in the United States. And the irresponsibility of certain politicians — like those Republicans claiming that defaulting on U.S. debt would be no big deal — is scary.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Questions and Observations, Paul Krugman and Northern Reflections
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Harold Camping ‘flabbergasted’; rapture a no-show — (05-22) 19:18 PDT ALAMEDA — The man who said the world was going to end appeared at his front door in Alameda a day later, very much alive but not so well. — “It has been a really tough weekend,” said Harold Camping …
Discussion:
newsfeed.time.com, Simply Left BehindThe …, Gothamist, Runnin' Scared and Gawker