memeorandum: Senate Democrats struggle to craft plan for sequester replacement (Ian Swanson/The Hill)

8:30 PM ET, February 8, 2013

Top Items:

Audacious Hack Exposes Bush Family Pix, E-Mail — Hacker breached AOL account of ex-president's sister, other victims — The apparent hack of several e-mail accounts has exposed personal photos and correspondence from members of the Bush family, including both former U.S. presidents, The Smoking Gun has learned.

Washington Free Beacon:

Greatest Living President is Also Fantastic Painter — The illegal hack of Bush family email accounts had an unanticipated consequence, the Smoking Gun reports: … The paintings demonstrate a command of line and color that is rarely seen in the modern-day “art” world.

Discussion: PERRspectives, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard and Wonkette

Mike Glenn / Houston Chronicle:
Probe launched after Bushes' email hacked

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and NPR

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Kick That Can — John Boehner, the speaker of the House, claims to be exasperated. “At some point, Washington has to deal with its spending problem,” he said Wednesday. “I've watched them kick this can down the road for 22 years since I've been here. I've had enough of it. It's time to act.”

Discussion: msnbc.com, Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Prairie Weather, Wall Street Journal, The Plum Line, Shakesville and Talking Points Memo

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Sequester cuts a time bomb for GOP? — Republicans open to letting billions in sequester cuts go through figure they can blame the president if the economy goes south. — But Democrats are betting they can shift that blame right back to the GOP. — They're so confident, in fact …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Examiner, New York Times, The Plum Line and Viking Pundit

David Weigel / Slate:

Republicans Start to Get Wobbly on Sequester — The most confusing who's-up-who's-down in this city right now is the War Over Sequestration. A brief recap: — $1.2 trillion is scheduled to be cut from the defense budget and parts of the non-defense budget. We have a clear idea of what would be cut if this goes through.

Discussion: Hit & Run and Hullabaloo

Kelsey Snell / Politico:
Cayman Islands investment snags Jack Lew nomination

Discussion: BuzzFeed

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Republicans Using Twitter, Facebook To Troll Obama On Sequester

Discussion: Speaker.gov, Red Alert Politics and Daily Kos

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Call Obama's sequester bluff

Discussion: The Plum Line, The Maddow Blog, Business Insider and The PJ Tatler

Sandy Mazza / Daily Breeze:

Christopher Dorner: A look at the man behind the mayhem — The final straw for Christopher Jordan Dorner grew out of a relatively minor arrest outside San Pedro's DoubleTree hotel nearly five years ago. — Dorner and his training officer were called to the well-manicured hotel because a scruffy …

Discussion: The Raw Story

L.A. NOW:

Dorner manhunt: Lawyer calls shootings of paper carriers ‘unacceptable’ — An attorney representing two women who were delivering newspapers when they were shot by police during a massive manhunt for an ex-LAPD officer called the incident “unacceptable,” saying his clients looked nothing like the suspect.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Los Angeles Times and ABCNEWS

Pierre Thomas / ABCNEWS:
Christopher Dorner Vanished, May Have Very Powerful Weapons

Discussion: Poynter, The Awl, Infowars, The Other McCain and Jammie Wearing Fools

CNN:

Rand Paul to deliver tea party response to Obama, GOP — Washington (CNN) - Tea party leaders are turning to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, to deliver their message following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, a speech that will compete with the official Republican response.

Discussion: alan.com, Politico and Washington Monthly

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Rand Paul to give tea-party group's response to State of the Union after Rubio delivers GOP's

Discussion: protein wisdom, Politico and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Jason Volentine / KASW-TV:

Valley doc reacts to N.J. Gov. Chris Christie's angry phone call — PHOENIX — A prominent Valley doctor is standing her ground following a heavy-weight war of words between her and the oft-combative governor of New Jersey. — Dr. Connie Mariano was the White House doctor for nine years …

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, The Impolitic, Mediaite, Post Politics, alan.com, New Jersey Online and Shakesville

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Chris Christie struggles with politics of his weight

Discussion: CNN, rci.rutgers.edu and msnbc.com

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

MSM conceals Christopher Dorner's “ideology” — I have long considered it ridiculous to report the political/social ravings of deranged murderers like Jared Loughner, the Tucson shooter. The salient point about these people is their derangement, not its ideological manifestation …

Discussion: New York Times

Noah Rothman / Mediaite: When Crazed Shooters Can't Be Linked To The Tea Party, Media Displays Admirable Restraint

Kate Nocera / Politico:

Bill Clinton to Democrats: Come up with a plan — LEESBURG, Va. — Former President Bill Clinton had a message for House Democrats on Friday: come up with a plan. — Clinton, speaking to the caucus at their retreat, said that heading into the midterm elections Democrats couldn't just run …

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Clinton brings warning to House Democrats about 2014 campaign

Discussion: Politico

Jonathan Strong / Roll Call:
Obama to Help House Democrats Recruit Candidates

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Taegan Goddard's …

Shane Bacon / Yahoo! Sports:

Condoleezza Rice hit spectator in head during first round of Pebble Beach Pro-Am — It's been a pretty incredible few months for Condoleezza Rice. The former secretary of state, along with Darla Moore, became one of two women accepted as members of Augusta National, a first for the home of the Masters …

Mary Ann Ahern / nbcchicago.com:

Jesse Jackson Jr. Signs Plea Deal In Federal Probe — Jesse Jackson Jr. was a once-rising political star. But he was sidelined by a medical condition and a federal investigation into his finances. Carol Marin reports. — It's been nearly three months since Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress …

Discussion: NBCNews.com, The Hill, CNN, CBS Chicago, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, Post Politics, The Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Right Sphere

Emily Maxwell / Cincinnati, Ohio:

Poll worker accused of voter fraud in Hamilton County speaks out — CINCINNATI - The Hamilton County Board of Elections is investigating 19 possible cases of alleged voter fraud following months of investigation after the 2012 election. — Twenty-eight subpoenas have been issued as a result …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Right Scoop, “The Lid”, Michelle Malkin, The Mental Recession and The Right Sphere

John Fund / National Review:
The Voter Fraud That ‘Never Happens’ Keeps Coming Back

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Whiskey Fire, Election Law Blog and The Lonely Conservative

Sam Jones / Guardian:

Asteroid will come closer than satellites - but it's not the end of the world — Lump of rock 50 metres long will soar through sky at about 8 miles a second — Anyone happening to glance towards the heavens in a week's time and glimpses a 50-metre-long lump of rock hurtling ominously through the skies need not panic.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Other McCain

Thomas E. Ricks / Foreign Policy:

Will Hagel withdraw? I'd say 50-50 — But declining by the day. No, that hearing last week didn't reflect well on the U.S. Senate. But he didn't do well in it, either. He didn't appear that interested in the job. — He has the votes, but not much else.

Discussion: CBS News, Right Turn, Hot Air, National Review and Infowars

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Senator Introduces Bill To End Huge Corporate Tax Giveaway — Corporations offshoring profits costs both the federal government and states billions of dollars per year. One of the more egregious giveaways is known as “deferral,” which allows U.S. corporations to avoid paying taxes …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Truthdig

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:

Dan Rather on Reddit: No one proved that Bush documents were forged … On a Reddit AMA (Ask me anything) yesterday, former CBS broadcaster Dan Rather (Now with AXS-TV) was understandably asked a question about ‘Rathergate’ - the story on George W. Bush's service in the Air National Guard that used forged documents in the report.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

So God Made a Fawner — Paul Harvey's ad was terrific. Steve Kroft's interview was shameful. — So many people this week mentioned Jeep's great Super Bowl spot, “So God Made a Farmer,” from a 1978 speech by the late Paul Harvey. — Here are some reasons it was great:

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico, INSTAPUTZ, TheBlaze.com, The PJ Tatler and Public Policy Polling

Ross Eisenbrey / New York Times:

America's Genius Glut — WHILE genuine immigration reform has the potential to fix a seriously broken system, four senators have introduced a bill to solve a problem we don't have: the supply of high-tech workers. — The bill's authors, led by Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah …

Discussion: Hit & Run, AEIdeas and Business Insider