Top Items:
Democracy Corps:
Shifting the Economic Narrative — What is clear from this fresh look at public consciousness on the economy is how difficult this period has been for both non-college-educated and college-educated voters - and how vulnerable the prevailing narratives articulated by national Democratic leaders are.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, Weasel Zippers, ABCNEWS and The Democratic Daily
RELATED:
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Dems call for fresh message, warn of ‘impossible headwind’ — President Barack Obama and his party may face an “impossible headwind in November” unless it shifts to a more forward-looking economic message aimed squarely at the middle class, three Democratic strategists warn in a memo out this week.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed
Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Sen. Cornyn calls on Holder to resign — Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Tuesday called on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign. — Cornyn, the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), has long been critical of Holder, but had so far resisted pushing for Holder to step down.
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller and “The Lid”
RELATED:
Fred Lucas / CNSNews:
Holder: ‘I Stuck by My Guns’ — (CNSNews.com) - Embattled Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he has “stuck by my guns” during his time in office. — “I've enjoyed my time as attorney general,” he told the panel. “It's been a tough job.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Althouse
Jake Shermanand John Bresnahan / Politico:
Can Eric Holder avoid contempt vote?
Can Eric Holder avoid contempt vote?
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller and Hot Air
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Pileup at the White House — It has been a Junius Horribilis for President Obama. — Job growth has stalled, the Democrats have been humiliated in Wisconsin, the attorney general is facing a contempt-of-Congress citation, talks with Pakistan have broken down, Bill Clinton is contradicting Obama …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, neo-neocon, The Week, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
John Bryson's leave of absence adds to Obama's bad news
John Bryson's leave of absence adds to Obama's bad news
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Hot Air and Moe Lane
Politico:
Obama: GOP campaign fits in a single tweet — OWINGS MILLS, Md. — President Obama accused the Republicans of running a campaign focused exclusively on blame. — “You can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare,” Obama said at a fundraiser outside of Baltimore.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler
Tim Mak / Politico:
Jeb Bush comments have blogs in uproar — Conservatives in the blogosphere lashed out at Jeb Bush for saying that Ronald Reagan and his father, George H.W. Bush, would not have fit well in the modern Republican Party, ripping the former Florida governor as a “RINO” and dismissing his “steaming pile of nonsense.”
Bruce Bartlett / Economix:
The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush — Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform - Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”
Discussion:
The New Editor, The Daily Dish, Mother Jones, Liberal Values and Daily Kos
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney holds small lead in NC — PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 48-46. It's a small lead but still significant in that it's the first time we've found Romney ahead in our monthly polling of the state since October.
Discussion:
Business Insider, National Review, Guardian and Ballot Box
RELATED:
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Follower Problem — If you go to the Lincoln or Jefferson memorials in Washington, you are invited to look up in admiration. Lincoln and Jefferson are presented as the embodiments of just authority. They are strong and powerful but also humanized. Jefferson is a graceful aristocratic democrat.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, First Draft, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice, Angry Bear and driftglass
BuzzFeed:
Public Worker Unions Back Controversial Barron In New York — AFSCME set to spend on behalf of the “revolutionary Pan-Africanist” and Mugabe, Qaddafi ally. — BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Powerful public workers' unions are throwing their weight — in public and behind the scenes …
Discussion:
American Prospect and Yeshiva World News
RELATED:
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
HUGE! Neal Rauhauser's Vicious Lies Exposed by Yet Another Leaked E-Mail — Last night, I published an e-mail showing that Democrat political operative Neal Rauhauser, representing himself as an agent of Brett Kimberlin's Velvet Revolution, had used his connections to the “Anonymous” …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, The Conservatory, American Power and Datechguy's Blog
RELATED:
Brooks Bayne / The Trenches:
BREAKING: Neal Rauhauser Believes SWATter is One of His Own
BREAKING: Neal Rauhauser Believes SWATter is One of His Own
Discussion:
The Other McCain, The Camp Of The Saints and Datechguy's Blog
Emily Heil / Washington Post:
White House softball team smoked by pot lobby's bats — Anyone notice a cloud hanging over the Mall last week? That might have been the White House softball team getting absolutely smoked by the team fielded by the marijuana lobby. — The One Hitters, the team of pro-pot activists, beat STOTUS (the Softball Team of the U.S.) 25-3.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
IU News Room:
IU community mourns passing of Distinguished Professor and Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The entire Indiana University community mourns the passing today of Distinguished Professor Elinor Ostrom, who received the 2009 Nobel Prize …
Discussion:
Real Time Economics, Hit & Run, msnbc.com and The Volokh Conspiracy
Joe Scarborough / Politico:
Why I voted for Ron Paul — I operate on instinct. So I should not have been surprised by my own gut reaction to the absentee ballot that lay before me on the kitchen table. — I scanned the list for Republican primary candidates and let instinct take over. — Mitt Romney? Not on your life.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Reuters:
Top conservative says read my lips: Don't sign ‘no new tax’ pledge — Spinners and Winners — As a conservative Republican, Lindsey Graham has never had a problem promising not to raise taxes. Like almost every other Republican member of Congress, during his last re-election campaign …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daniel W. Drezner, Talking Points Memo and New York Times
Boston Globe:
No mention of ‘bisexual,’ ‘transgender’ under Romney — Words brought halt to antibullying guide — Former governor Mitt Romney's administration in 2006 blocked publication of a state antibullying guide for Massachusetts public schools because officials objected to use of the terms …
Discussion:
Advocate, New York Magazine, Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story
Monica Davey / New York Times:
North Dakota Considers Eliminating Property Tax — BISMARCK, N.D. — Since Californians shrank their property taxes more than three decades ago by passing Proposition 13, people around the nation have echoed their dismay over such levies, putting forth plans to even them, simplify them, cap them, slash them.
Jonathan Allen / Politico:
Does Mitt Romney need ‘Obamacare’? — Republicans are cheerleading for the Supreme Court to strike down President Barack Obama's health care law. — But there's one Republican who might be sorry: Mitt Romney. — There's fear in some GOP circles that if the court wipes the Affordable Care Act off …
Discussion:
CNN and iOwnTheWorld.com
Bloomberg:
House Of Dimon Marred By CEO Complacency Over Unit'S Risk — JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) could have spotted trouble at its chief investment office long before traders there racked up at least $2 billion in losses. One reason it didn't: Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and US Politics
Arlington, Va.:
Actor Kal Penn Meets With Young Obama Supporters in Arlington — Actor Kal Penn met with more than 100 young supporters of President Obama in Rosslyn and on Columbia Pike last night. — At Cafe Asia in Rosslyn, Penn spoke to a young professionals event about the importance of the upcoming presidential election.
Discussion:
The Hill
BuzzFeed:
Obama Sees Sharpest Drop In Donors From Western States — Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, and Idaho are home to the highest percentage of 2008 Obama donors who have yet to contribute $200 or more this year. Analysts cite the issues, from climate change to the war in Iraq, and the economy.
Discussion:
Flopping Aces
Wall Street Journal:
Laffer and Moore: Obama's Real Spending Record — There's no way around the facts. Under Presidents Bush and Obama, government exploded as a share of the economy. — President Obama shocked us the other day when he said, “Since I've been president, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years.”
Discussion:
International Liberty
Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
First-Ever Trans Senate Witness: ‘To Be Unemployed Is Very Devastating, Demeaning, And Demoralizing’ — This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend employment protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Discussion:
Washington Blade, Feministing, GLAAD, TransGriot and Towleroad News #gay
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Times Have Changed, It's OK to Lie — Last month David Corn noted that Mitt Romney was claiming that “government” would control half the economy once Obamacare was up and running. He's still saying it, and today Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post gives it a score of four Pinocchios and says Romney should drop it.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and The New Republic
Jeff Kearns / Bloomberg:
Fed Says U.S. Wealth Fell 38.8% In 2007-2010 On Housing — The financial crisis wiped out 18 years of gains for the median U.S. household net worth, with a 38.8 percent plunge from 2007 to 2010 that was led by the collapse in home prices, a Federal Reserve study showed.
Discussion:
Sweetness & Light, Crooks and Liars, Connecting.the.Dots and Suburban Guerrilla