Top Items:
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
The Problem Was the Wife — The problem was the wife. Aides to Newt Gingrich have resigned from his presidential campaign in protest of what they felt was a takeover by Callista Gingrich, the candidate's wife since 2000. — The euphemism offered by departing staffers was they disagreed with Gingrich's “strategy” for the campaign.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, The New Republic, TPMDC, The Politico, Don Surber, The Impolitic, Connecting.the.Dots, Lisa Graas, The Other McCain, Donklephant, Pajamas Media, The Reaction, Iowa Caucuses, The Caucus, Washington Post, FrumForum, Political Insider and Mother Jones
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The Note:
Newt Acknowledges ‘Strategic Differences’ Between Him and Departed campaign staff — ABC News' Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) reports: — For the first time since his campaign saw a huge staff shake up, Newt Gingrich spoke to media outside his McLean, Va. home today, citing “strategic differences” …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Raw Replay, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, TPMDC, ABCNEWS and Hot Air
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich: ‘This will be your campaign’ — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich plans to tell supporters in an email this morning that he will overcome the upheaval in his campaign and “carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes.”
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
What the Newt Gingrich staff implosion means for the 2012 Republican race
What the Newt Gingrich staff implosion means for the 2012 Republican race
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Freakonomics and The Moderate Voice
Nicholas Watt / Guardian:
Sarah Palin snub by Margaret Thatcher aides infuriates US rightwing — Rush Limbaugh joins supporters accusing Thatcher's circle of disgracing former PM with ‘Palin is nuts’ comment — A firestorm on the US right has erupted after the Guardian reported that Sarah Palin will be denied …
Discussion:
Swampland, The Gateway Pundit, Shakesville, Boing Boing and The Daily Dish
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Becky Bohrer / Associated Press:
Alaska poised to release Palin emails
Alaska poised to release Palin emails
Discussion:
Politisite and FrumForum
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sarah Palin emails set for release
Sarah Palin emails set for release
Discussion:
The Note, Guardian and americanthinker.com
The Politico:
Will rivalry make Sarah Palin run?
Will rivalry make Sarah Palin run?
Discussion:
Lisa Graas, Big Journalism, SarahPAC, Conservatives4Palin, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Daily Caller
Ryan Kellett / Washington Post:
Help analyze the Palin e-mails
Help analyze the Palin e-mails
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Big Journalism, Atlas Shrugs, Lynn Sweet, Don Surber, The Caucus, The Politico, Runnin' Scared, Taylor Marsh, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Conservatives4Palin, Weasel Zippers, National Review and Wizbang, more at Mediagazer »
Bernie Becker / The Hill:
House Dems to call for expiration of Bush tax rates in debt-limit deal — A group of House Democrats is calling for any deal to raise the debt ceiling to bring about the end of the Bush tax rates for the wealthy. — The lawmakers, led by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), also say that …
Discussion:
Hot Air
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Reeling from Ryan budget, GOP wary of debt deal vote
Reeling from Ryan budget, GOP wary of debt deal vote
Discussion:
The New Republic
Chuck Bennett / New York Post:
Weiner can't afford to quit the DC day job — Even if scandal-stained Rep. Anthony Weiner didn't want to stay in office, he needs to stay in office. — Unlike many of his peers in the House, Weiner doesn't have a business or even a law degree to fall back on.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Jawa Report, New York Magazine, RADAR and JammieWearingFool
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Rule by Rentiers — The latest economic data have dashed any hope of a quick end to America's job drought, which has already gone on so long that the average unemployed American has been out of work for almost 40 weeks. Yet there is no political will to do anything about the situation.
Discussion:
Rortybomb, TalkLeft, International Political … and Prairie Weather
Matt Lewis / The Daily Caller:
Two separate and reliable source in Texas tell me serious preparations are being made for Governor Rick Perry, 61, to seek the Republican nomination for president. — Dave Carney and Rob Johnson — the former top Perry aides who on Thursday left Newt Gingrich's campaign …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, Lisa Graas, americanthinker.com, The Lonely Conservative, AmSpecBlog and FrumForum
Washington Post:
Stewardship? Or ideology? — The Republicans swept November's midterm election by making it highly ideological, a referendum on two years of hyper-liberalism — of arrogant, overreaching, intrusive government drowning in debt and running deficits of $1.5 trillion annually. It's not complicated.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Confluence
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama would romp Romney in Massachusettsm
Obama would romp Romney in Massachusettsm
Discussion:
TPMDC and The Political Carnival
Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
God Caught Backing Multiple GOP Candidates for President — Photo: Cain:Steve Pope/Getty; Santorum: Jeff Fusco/Getty Images; Bachmann: Darren McCollester/Getty Images; sky: iStockphoto — After a thorough investigation, Daily Intel has discovered that God is separately backing …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway and Wonkette
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Do more on jobs, Dems tell Obama — Senior Senate Democrats are growing frustrated by what they see as President Obama's passivity on the economy, and are beginning to discuss a large infrastructure package funded by tax increases. — Some Democrats, such as Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Raw Story, The New Republic, Scared Monkeys and FrumForum
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
Mark Foley: Resigning Might Help Weiner Get His Life Back on Track — Mark Foley, the disgraced former congressman, knew exactly what he had to do when news broke that he traded sexually explicit emails with teenage boys who had been congressional pages: resign.
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Meena Hartenstein / NY Daily News:
Rep. Anthony Weiner won't ‘fix’ his issues if he stays in office, says disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley
Rep. Anthony Weiner won't ‘fix’ his issues if he stays in office, says disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Wall Street Journal:
The Lone Star Jobs Surge — The Texas model added 37% of all net U.S. jobs since the recovery began. — Richard Fisher, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, dropped by our offices this week and relayed a remarkable fact: Some 37% of all net new American jobs since the recovery began were created in Texas.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Patterico's Pontifications:
Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 3 — Early this morning I posted Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 2. In that post, I provided evidence that Weiner had discussions with an underage girl ("Ethel") regarding fighting for his country in a cape and tights.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Pundit & Pundette, RedState and Confederate Yankee
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Companies Spend on Equipment, Not Workers — Companies that are looking for a good deal aren't seeing one in new workers. — Workers are getting more expensive while equipment is getting cheaper, and the combination is encouraging companies to spend on machines rather than people.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, The Awl, Swampland, Pajamas Media and FrumForum
Josh Barro / City Journal:
Pawlenty's Fuzzy Budget Math — On Monday, presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty gave a major speech on economic policy in which he laid out his plan to get America's fiscal house back in order. The proposal, which includes huge cuts in personal income-tax rates and ambitious spending restraints …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and The Daily Dish
Alan Cowell / New York Times:
Uncertainty Remains Over E. Coli Source — BERLIN — After days of confusion, German authorities said Friday that they had finally narrowed down the most likely cause of one of the world's worst recorded E. coli infections to contaminated, home-grown bean-sprouts.
Ryan Alessi / cn|2 Politics:
Beshear leads Williams in Ky. governor's race by 21 points after ad blitz, cn| 2 poll shows — After airing ads for the last three weeks, Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear posted a 21-point lead over the Republican challenger David Williams, according to the latest cn| 2 Poll.
Discussion:
The Politico and Hotline On Call
Molly Ball / The Politico:
Rocky start for DNC chairwoman — Democrats knew they were getting an outspoken partisan when Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz took over the reins of the Democratic National Committee a month ago. — But they might not have known just how outspoken. — In the four weeks since she succeeded Tim Kaine …
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
Ruling Favors a 10-Inch Citizen of France — PARIS — France was punished on Thursday for not taking proper care of its hamsters. — The Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the European Union's highest court, ruled Thursday that France had failed to protect the Great Hamster of Alsace …
New York Times:
Brash Style Alienates Weiner From Peers — Even as top Democrats intensified pressure on him to resign, Representative Anthony D. Weiner of New York tried to power through the day on Thursday and suggest things were getting back to normal. — “I'm going to go back to my community office …
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Balloon Juice
The Atlantic Online:
Rick Santorum's Case for Big Government — Like many social conservatives, he insists you can't have small government without strong families and religious faith. Don't many Americans already lack those things? — Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels stoked controversy in the conservative movement …
Discussion:
RushLimbaugh.com, TPMDC, FrumForum, ECHIDNE of the snakes and RedState
Christopher Neefus / CNSNews:
GOLDEN HOOKAH WINNER: Dope-Smoking, Menstruating Monkey Study Got $3.6 Million in Tax Dollars — (CNSNews.com) - The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the federal government's National Institutes of Health (NIH), has spent $3,634,807 over the past decade funding research …
Discussion:
OpenMarket.org, Weasel Zippers, AMERICAN DIGEST and Don Surber