Top Items:
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Report: White House to offer 10 states waivers on No Child Left Behind — President Obama on Thursday will offer waivers to 10 states that applied for exclusion from some aspects of the No Child Left Behind Law, according to a report in The Associated Press that cited an anonymous White House official.
Discussion:
CNN
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USA Today:
Obama mandate on birth control coverage stirs controversy — WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders and Republican presidential candidates joined Catholic religious groups on Wednesday in denouncing the Obama administration's mandate requiring health insurers to offer birth control coverage, but the White House stood its ground.
ABCNEWS:
Senate Democrats Say Obama ‘Reinforced’ His Stance on Contraception Mandate at Democratic Retreat — President Obama “reinforced” his stance on the controversial contraception mandate while speaking at the Democrats' annual retreat at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. today, Senate Democrats said.
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, Pirate's Cove, Hot Air, Politico, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Obama administration struggles to contain uproar over birth-control rule — The White House struggled Wednesday to contain the growing uproar over its birth-control mandate, with Democrats peeling off one by one in what has become an increasingly divisive election-year controversy.
Discussion:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk and ThinkProgress
Wall Street Journal:
Where's the Rest of Them? — Santorum's rise, Romney's weakness, and the GOP coalition. — Rick Santorum did his second Lazarus act on Tuesday with his triple victory in two Midwest states and Colorado, interrupting Mitt Romney's media coronation. The question now is whether the Pennsylvanian can …
Discussion:
GOP 12
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msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Romney retools his message — Romney retools his message — with his biography and even his policy... GOPers and conservatives tell Romney to step it up... Dems break ranks on the contraception issue... Yet polling (for now) shows the issue isn't as controversial …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, GOP 12, The Colorado Independent and The Caucus
Matt K. Lewis / The Daily Caller:
The Rick Santorum boomlet presents an interesting conundrum …
The Rick Santorum boomlet presents an interesting conundrum …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, CNN, GOP 12, The Daily Beast, Swampland and Hot Air
CNN:
Santorum talks faith with Texas pastors
Santorum talks faith with Texas pastors
Discussion:
Connecting.the.Dots, Weekly Standard, Politico, ABCNEWS, National Review and Ballot Box
Mj Lee / Politico:
Rush Limbaugh mocks GOP establishment
Rush Limbaugh mocks GOP establishment
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, Rush Limbaugh, nation.foxnews.com and RADAMISTO
New York Times:
States Negotiate $26 Billion Agreement for Homeowners — After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation's biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Financial Times, Business Insider, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Booman Tribune, Discourse.net, The Page and DealBook
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David Dayen / Firedoglake:
49-State Foreclosure Fraud Settlement Will Be Finalized Today — Forty-nine states, every one but Oklahoma, as well as federal regulators will participate in a foreclosure fraud settlement that will release the five biggest banks (Wells Fargo, Citi, Ally/GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America) …
Discussion:
naked capitalism, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, US Politics and emptywheel
Jim Vandehei / Reuters:
The political transformation of Barack Obama — There are two indisputable facts about politics. — The first is that every modern president in the fourth year of his presidency resorts to the cheap political stunts, broken promises and truth-fudging it takes to win reelection in what has been and will be a 50-50 nation.
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Hill and The Maddow Blog
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Corky Siemaszko / NY Daily News:
Obama: I'm going after Romney, not Wall Street — The President's populist campaign theme has made big moneymen nervous — Republican White House front-runner Mitt Romney. — President Obama has message for Wall St. — I will not demonize you, just Mitt Romney and his ties to you.
Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:
Return of the Culture Wars: Can Mitt Romney Win Conservative Backing? — The resurgence of social and cultural issues in voters' minds poses new challenges for GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney as he reels from surprising losses Tuesday to conservative favorite Rick Santorum.
Discussion:
The Reaction
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Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Mitt Romney ventures into conservative lion's den at CPAC
Mitt Romney ventures into conservative lion's den at CPAC
Discussion:
New York Times
Truth Wins Out:
Truth Wins Out to Slam Newt Gingrich for Hypocrisy on Marriage Equality in Thursday Roll Call Ad — Contact: Wayne Besen, Executive Director — WASHINGTON - Truth Wins Out is placing a provocative full-page ad in the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call on Thursday admonishing Newt Gingrich …
Discussion:
Good As You, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
Obama, Explained — As Barack Obama contends for a second term in office, two conflicting narratives of his presidency have emerged. Is he a skillful political player and policy visionary—a chess master who always sees several moves ahead of his opponents (and of the punditocracy)?
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Repulsive progressive hypocrisy
Repulsive progressive hypocrisy
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Don Surber, NewsBusters.org, Washington Post, Truthdig, Oliver Willis, Firedoglake, Instapundit and Political Mojo
Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:
Michelle Obama Targets Obesity in Military — First Lady Michelle Obama leaves Thursday for a three-day, four-state tour to mark the second anniversary of her “Let's Move!” initiative to get Americans to eat healthier and be more physically fit. … The trip is a mix of events and announcements …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Judy Kurtz / The Hill:
Eye doctor warns of dangers of political protest on gay marriage — It's been called the “most fabulous form of protest,” but according to one medical expert, the potential dangers of “glitter bombing” are far from marvelous. — In an increasingly popular form of protest, activists are throwing glitter on unsuspecting targets.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Reuters
Damian Carrington / Guardian:
The Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years, study shows — Meltwater from Asia's peaks is much less than previously estimated, but lead scientist says the loss of ice caps and glaciers around the world remains a serious concern — • Live Q&A: What does the Himalaya glacier study mean for climate change?
Discussion:
Power Line, Watts Up With That?, Vox Popoli, Don Surber, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers and Green
Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Pol ‘Tebows’ after bill Ok'd — Virginia Del. Robert Bell celebrated his bill passing the state House on Wednesday by taking a knee and Tebowing. — The legislation — dubbed the “Tebow bill” for the Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow — would allow the state's homeschooled students …
Discussion:
Stateline.org and New York Times
New York Times:
U.S. and Israel Split on Ways to Deter Iran — WASHINGTON — Amid mounting tensions over whether Israel will carry out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program, the United States and Israel remain at odds over a fundamental question: whether Iran's crucial nuclear facilities are about to become impregnable.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav and The Last Tradition
Anthony Shadid / New York Times:
Libya Struggles to Curb Militias as Chaos Grows — TRIPOLI, Libya — As the militiamen saw it, they had the best of intentions. They assaulted another militia at a seaside base here this week to rescue a woman who had been abducted. When the guns fell silent, briefly …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, The Agonist and Hot Air
Justin Ravitz / Us Weekly:
Rick Santorum's Sweater Vest Slammed by Scarlett Johansson — Scarlett Johansson isn't ready to talk yet about Nate Naylor, her just-revealed boyfriend of five months. — The sartorial choices of Rick Santorum and the Republican National Committee, however, were fair game for Johansson …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
Manu Raju / Politico:
Mitch McConnell to assail ‘liberal thugs’ — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to launch a fierce attack on the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, calling out “liberal thugs” for intimidating their opponents in the name of political expediency.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Last Tradition