Top Items:
Washington Post:
Obama holds key leads on Romney, as economy malaise looms over reelection bid — With the general-election campaign beginning to take shape, President Obama holds clear advantages over Mitt Romney on personal attributes and a number of key issues, but remains vulnerable to discontent …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, 2012 Decoded, CNN, The Maddow Blog, Politico, Swampland, Shakesville, Hot Air, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Page, Ballot Box, Taegan Goddard's …, Ezra Klein, GOP 12, New York Magazine, Vodkapundit, Campaign 2012, Pew Research Center …, Washington Wire, American Power and Conservatives4Palin
RELATED:
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Cain: ‘We need to get behind’ Romney, who ‘looks like’ the nominee
Cain: ‘We need to get behind’ Romney, who ‘looks like’ the nominee
Discussion:
Politico
Steve Schaefer / Exile On Wall Street:
George W. Bush: I Wish They Weren't Called The Bush Tax Cuts — Former U.S. President George W. Bush called for pro-growth tax policies to create a more robust private sector Tuesday morning in a rare public appearance. — Growing the public sector is easy, Bush said, “just raise taxes.”
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, GILL REPORT, The Raw Story and Dependable Renegade
RELATED:
Darius Dixon / Politico:
George W. Bush: Wish tax cuts not in my name — George W. Bush said Tuesday that he wishes the tax cuts originally approved under his watch didn't carry the burden of his family name. — “I wish they weren't called the Bush tax cuts,” the former president said as he kicked off …
Discussion:
CNN
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Health-care law will add $340 billion to deficit, new study finds — President Obama's landmark health-care initiative, long touted as a means to control costs, will actually add more than $340 billion to the nation's budget woes over the next decade, according to a new study by a member of the board that oversees Medicare financing.
RELATED:
Jeanne Lambrew / White House.gov Blog:
Official Sources Agree: The Affordable Care Act Reduces the Deficit
Official Sources Agree: The Affordable Care Act Reduces the Deficit
John Crawley / Reuters:
Obama healthcare could worsen U.S. debt: Republican study
Obama healthcare could worsen U.S. debt: Republican study
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Gateway Pundit, The Heritage Foundation and Conservatives4Palin
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: George Zimmerman Launches Website, Features Vandalized Black Cultural Center — According to NBC News correspondent Mara Schiavocampo, George Zimmerman has launched a new website: … On the website — therealgeorgezimmerman.com — Zimmerman solicits donations to support his “living expenses and legal defense.”
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Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
Zimmerman family challenges Holder on New Black Panthers, says no arrests ‘based solely on your race’ — In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller, a family member of George Zimmerman asked the nation's top law enforcement officer …
Josh Boak / Politico:
Buffett rule not solution to debt, W.H. says — The Obama administration is emphasizing “fairness” over deficit reduction in its renewed pitch for the “Buffett rule” ahead of next week's scheduled Senate vote. — Introducing a minimum 30 percent income tax on millionaires …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Associated Press, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, New York Times, Campaign 2012, Right Wing News, Don Surber, GILL REPORT, Reuters, CNN and Ballot Box
RELATED:
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Rubio calls Obama's Florida visit ‘missed opportunity’ and reelection campaigning
Rubio calls Obama's Florida visit ‘missed opportunity’ and reelection campaigning
Discussion:
CNN
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Report Disputes Christie's Basis for Halting Tunnel — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey exaggerated when he declared that unforeseen costs to the state were forcing him to cancel the new train tunnel planned to relieve congested routes across the Hudson River, according to a long-awaited report …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Paul Krugman, News Desk, New York Magazine, The Maddow Blog and NEWS 9
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Food Stamp Program Crucial to Alleviating Poverty — Lessons: Unemployed men in soup kitchen, c. 1936 (National Archives) — Now that we've exposed the flaws from cutting welfare so it cannot provide adequate benefits during an historically bad recession, we can gather a new appreciation …
Discussion:
Eschaton
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Matt Stoller / Republic Report:
Corruption Responsible for 80% of Your Cell Phone Bill — Last year, a new company called Lightsquared promised an innovative business model that would dramatically lower cell phone costs and improve the quality of service, threatening the incumbent phone operators like AT&T and Verizon.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla
BuzzFeed:
Paul Ryan Claims Secret Democratic Support — They'd come out for his budget but fear they'd “get killed. Ryan on Romney: An “earnest ... throwback to the '50s. Ryan with Romney on April 3. — (Getty Images / Scott Olson) — House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan told reporters in New York today …
Discussion:
GOP 12, The Brody File and Daily Kos
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
How Romney can solve his woman problem — Mitt Romney's electoral trouble with women — more precisely with college-educated women — is real enough. Recent polling has Romney trailing President Obama by 18 points among this group in Ohio, with similar gaps in other battleground states.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Fox News, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The Huffington Post
Ashley Judd / The Daily Beast:
Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation Over Her ‘Puffy’ Appearance — Ashley Judd's ‘puffy’ appearance sparked a viral media frenzy. But, the actress writes, the conversation is really a misogynistic assault on all women. — The Conversation about women's bodies exists largely outside …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, Jezebel, The Moderate Voice, Shakesville, Feministing, The Jane Dough and BuzzFeed
Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
Obama faces pressure over same-sex marriage — As the Democratic Party considers adding support for the issue to its official platform, the president is urged to give his blessing. — WASHINGTON — President Obama, who has fended off questions about his position on same-sex marriage …
Discussion:
Minnesota Public Radio and The Maddow Blog
Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:
Study suggests students grow less interested in promoting racial understanding — By — One stereotype about college is that the experience encourages students to be more interested in diversity and promoting racial understanding. To some this is a great virtue of higher education …
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, Gawker, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Instapundit
MiamiHerald.com:
The Miami Marlins announced Tuesday morning that the team has suspended manager Ozzie Guillen for five games effective immediately after his comments about Fidel Castro. — In a news conference on Tuesday during which he began by speaking Spanish, Guillen said he felt like he had betrayed …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, USA Today, Guardian, The Reaction, Hot Air and Taegan Goddard's …
Janie Lorber / Roll Call:
Gates Foundation Will Withdraw Support for ALEC Nonprofit — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today became the latest backer to withdraw financial support for the American Legislative Exchange Council. — A foundation spokesman told Roll Call that it does not plan to make future grants …
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
America's Debt Is Greater than Entire Eurozone's (and U.K.'s) Combined Debt — The Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee will release this chart later today, clearly showing that America's debt is greater than the combined debt of the entire Eurozone and the U.K.:
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
The City Wire:
Pryor will not actively campaign for Obama — U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said he will not actively campaign in Arkansas for President Barack Obama during the 2012 general election cycle. — Pryor noted his unwillingness to support the Obama, the titular head of the Democratic Party …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, LifeNews.com, The Hill and Hotline On Call
Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMMuckraker — Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Legal Bulldog Faces Disbarment — If things went differently, Andrew Thomas might have had a bright career in Arizona politics. — In six years as the top prosecutor in Maricopa County, he stood side-by-side with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and earned …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story
Steven Emerson / The Investigative Project …:
IPT Exclusive: State Department Barred Inspection of Muslim Brotherhood Delegation — The State Department broke with normal procedures last week when it ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) not to conduct a secondary inspection on members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com and The Jawa Report
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Two Economies — The creative dynamism of American business is astounding and a little terrifying. Over the past five years, amid turmoil and uncertainty, American businesses have shed employees, becoming more efficient and more productive. According to The Wall Street Journal on Monday …
Discussion:
driftglass, msnbc.com and Ezra Klein