Top Items:
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:
National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 1st quarter 2012 (advance estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Hot Air, New York Times, Economix, Guardian, American Power, The Maddow Blog and Business Insider
RELATED:
CNBC:
US Economy Grows at Tepid 2.2% Pace; Misses Estimates — U.S. economic growth cooled in the first quarter as businesses cut back on investment and restocked shelves at a moderate pace, but stronger demand for automobiles softened the blow. — Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Calculated Risk and Business Insider
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Why Jeb Bush doesn't want veep — He's the GOP vice presidential pick that Democrats fear most — a brassy choice who would likely deliver his crucial home state, boost the ticket with Hispanics and Catholics and appeal to both conservatives and independents. — The problem: Jeb Bush apparently doesn't want the job.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and GOP 12
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Obama Web ad says Romney wouldn't have ordered bin Laden raid — President Obama's campaign is using Bill Clinton to argue Mitt Romney would not have launched the raid to capture Osama bin Laden last year. — The argument is being made to coincide with the one-year anniversary of bin Laden's death.
Discussion:
CNN, ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and Pirate's Cove
RELATED:
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Romney Foreign Policy Adviser Attacks Obama's ‘Czechoslovakia’ Policy
Romney Foreign Policy Adviser Attacks Obama's ‘Czechoslovakia’ Policy
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, Capital New York, Wonkette and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com
Robert Pear / New York Times:
House Defies Veto Threat on Hacking Bill — WASHINGTON — Defying a veto threat from President Obama, the House on Thursday passed a bill that encourages intelligence agencies and businesses to share information about threats to computer systems, including attacks on American Web sites by hackers in China and other countries.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, Mashable!, The Page and Washington Post
RELATED:
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Club for Growth urges Republicans in House to vote against student-loan bill
Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
White House rejects Boehner's claim Obama wants to control the Internet
White House rejects Boehner's claim Obama wants to control the Internet
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Sky Dancing, Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, TechCrunch and Politico
BuzzFeed:
'80s Band Contemplating Legal Action Against Rove Group — An Obama-bashing commercial by Karl Rove's Super PAC appears to sample from an '80s electronica hit — but Yello did not approve this message. — Swiss band Yello — Source: s3-ak.buzzfed.com — Swiss electronica band …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Death of a Fairy Tale — This was the month the confidence fairy died. — For the past two years most policy makers in Europe and many politicians and pundits in America have been in thrall to a destructive economic doctrine. According to this doctrine, governments should respond …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman, The Bonddad Blog, Eschaton and Daily Kos
Rachel Leven / The Hill:
Obama administration scraps child labor restrictions for farms — The Labor Department withdrew a proposed rule Thursday that would have limited the work that children can perform on farms. — The proposal drew heavy criticism from rural-state lawmakers and agricultural leaders …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com and The Immoral Minority
RELATED:
E.J. Schultz / AdAge:
Anheuser-Busch Warns UFC About Fighters' Sexist, Homophobic Comments — Major Sponsor Threatens Action ‘If Incidents Continue’ — Anheuser-Busch, a major sponsor of Ultimate Fighting Championship, has reprimanded the mixed-martial arts organization for remarks made by some fighters.
Discussion:
Washington Blade and PinkNews.co.uk
Wall Street Journal:
Strassel: The President Has a List — Barack Obama attempts to intimidate contributors to Mitt Romney's campaign. — Try this thought experiment: You decide to donate money to Mitt Romney. You want change in the Oval Office, so you engage in your democratic right to send a check.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Weasel Zippers and Betsy's Page
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Nebraska battle complicates GOP effort to retake Senate — The Senate Republican primary in Nebraska has turned into a proxy war between conservatives and establishment Republicans that could complicate efforts to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Booman Tribune
Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: Obama's Standing With Swing Voters Is Weak — On Wednesday I argued that only a tiny swath of the actual electorate - maybe 10 percent - will be up for grabs in November. Today, I want to answer the obvious follow-up question: what are these voters thinking?
Discussion:
GOP 12
RELATED:
Nigel Davies / Reuters:
Spanish economy in “huge crisis” after credit downgrade — (Reuters) - Spain's sickly economy faces a “crisis of huge proportions”, a minister said on Friday, as unemployment hit its highest level in two decades and Standard and Poor's weighed in with a two-notch downgrade of the government's debt.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com
Alan Schwarz / New York Times:
At 92, Bandit to Hollywood but Hero to Soldiers — MASSAPEQUA, N.Y. — One of the world's most prolific bootleggers of Hollywood DVDs loves his morning farina. He has spent eight years churning out hundreds of thousands of copies of “The Hangover,” “Gran Torino” and other first-run movies …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, New York Magazine and City Room
Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Scott Brown releases tax returns; Dems cry foul on his ‘everyman’ image — Six years of tax returns released Friday by Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) showed that his income has grown significantly since becoming a senator in 2010, prompting Democrats to cry foul on the “everyman” image Brown has promoted.
Discussion:
CNN
Julianna Goldman / Bloomberg:
Clinton Backers Wait for Obama's to Cut Checks for Super-PAC — Bill and Hillary Clinton's network of political donors has a message for President Barack Obama's longtime backers when it comes to multi-million dollar contributions — you first. — Through March, only 12 of Obama's 532 top fundraisers …
Bill Plante / CBS News:
Secret Service probing foreign hard-partying allegations going back to 2000 — (CBS News) WASHINGTON - The Secret Service sex scandal is getting wider. — The dispute over payment to a prostitute in Cartagena, Colombia, by a Secret Service agent has triggered new charges of hard partying and impropriety by agents around the globe.
Discussion:
Politico, New York Magazine, HotAirPundit and KIRO-TV
Leigh Beadon / Techdirt:
Insanity: CISPA Just Got Way Worse, And Then Passed On Rushed Vote — Up until this afternoon, the final vote on CISPA was supposed to be tomorrow. Then, abruptly, it was moved up today—and the House voted in favor of its passage with a vote of 248-168. But that's not even the worst part.
Discussion:
Wired, Boing Boing, democrats.com, The Agonist and The Moderate Voice
Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
ALEC Has Special Exemption In South Carolina's Lobbying Law … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Video, ALEC Stand Your Ground, Alec, Alec Common Cause, Alec Lobbying, Alec Lobbyists, Alec South Carolina, Alec Voter Id, American Legislative Exchange Council, Common Cause, Politics News
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, southernstudies.org and Suburban Guerrilla
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Arizona Is (Probably) Not a Swing State — Two polls released this week show the presidential race essentially tied in Arizona, with one giving Barack Obama a lead of two percentage points and the other giving Mitt Romney a lead of two percentage points. The Obama campaign has suggested …
Sean Hackbarth / FreeEnterprise.com:
EPA Official Has History of Unfair Attacks on Oil and Gas — Last night, Region 6 EPA Administrator Al Armendariz released an apology for comparing his agency regulating oil and gas companies to Roman centurions crucifying villagers: — I apologize to those I have offended and regret my poor choice of words.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Power Line, Fuel, The Heritage Foundation, Campaign 2012, Trail Blazers Blog and Conservative Commune