Top Items:
Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:
If No Deal is Struck, Four-in-Ten Say Let the Sequester Happen — Deficit Reduction: Focus Mostly on Spending But Keep Taxes in Mix — OVERVIEW — After a series of fiscal crises over the past few years, the public is not expressing a particular sense of urgency over the pending March 1 sequester deadline.
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Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Republicans Coalesce Around Clever Plan To Make Looming Spending Cuts Much Less Draconian — The GOP's emerging legislative fix to the sequester is both counterintuitive and clever. But it probably won't force Democrats to abandon their insistence that the coming automatic cuts be replaced in part by new revenue.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, nation.foxnews.com, Hot Air, Right Turn, Washington Monthly and National Review
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
RNC's New Ad Takes Obama Wildly Out Of Context — The short clip makes it appear as if Obama is pledging his support for the sequester rather calling on Congress to come up with a broad approach to avoid it, using his veto as part of a threat to force a plan.
Discussion:
Campaign for America's Future and Daily Kos
Jon Huntsman / The American Conservative:
Marriage Equality Is a Conservative Cause — The party of Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan has now lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections. The marketplace of ideas will render us irrelevant, and soon, if we are not honest about our time and place in history.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Advocate, Washington Examiner, Post Politics and The Daily Caller
David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:
Crowd Cheers After McCain Tells Aurora Victim's Mother She Needs ‘Straight Talk’ (VIDEO) — Constituents at a town hall hosted by Sen. John McCain Wednesday in Phoenix cheered after the Arizona Republican told the mother of an Aurora, Colo. shooting victim that an assault weapons ban could not get through Congress.
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Christine LaCroix / KASW-TV:
McCain responds to ‘jerk’ comment at town hall meeting — PHOENIX — One day after a confrontation at a town hall meeting in Sun Lakes, Senator John McCain held another town hall in Phoenix. — On Tuesday, an audience member of the town hall meeting fired off a string of heated questions about border security.
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and The Raw Story
Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
Laura Bush Objects To Being Quoted Accurately Supporting Marriage Equality — This week, the Respect for Marriage Coalition launched a new $1 million print and television ad campaign highlighting bipartisan support for marriage equality. Unfortunately, it seems Former First Lady Laura Bush …
Discussion:
Althouse, Taylor Marsh and Towleroad News #gay
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Tom Benning / Trail Blazers Blog:
Pro-gay marriage group honors Laura Bush's request, removes her from ad campaign
Pro-gay marriage group honors Laura Bush's request, removes her from ad campaign
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Kos, Post Politics, ABCNEWS, Advocate, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Wonkette, The Rightnewz, Towleroad News #gay, TheBlaze.com, Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com and Right Turn
Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Key House Republican: Don't Even Think About A Path To Citizenship — Immigration reform's chances in the House are looking bleaker after one of the top Republicans tasked with shepherding a bill to passage ruled out a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and The Plum Line
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David Welna / NPR:
Meet The Virginian Shaping The House GOP's Immigration Plan
Meet The Virginian Shaping The House GOP's Immigration Plan
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, The Hill and Booman Tribune
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
How immigration threatens to tear the GOP apart
How immigration threatens to tear the GOP apart
Discussion:
Washington Post, CBS News, Trail Blazers Blog, southernstudies.org and Roll Call
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
EXCLUSIVE: Cornyn asks president to withdraw Hagel [Updated] — This post has been updated. — Right Turn has learned that a third of Senate Republicans, led by Minority Whip John Cornyn (Tex.), have called on President Obama to withdraw Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
15 G.O.P. Senators Ask Obama to Withdraw Hagel Nomination
15 G.O.P. Senators Ask Obama to Withdraw Hagel Nomination
Discussion:
WFPL
Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:
Richard Shelby Plans To Vote For Chuck Hagel Confirmation
Richard Shelby Plans To Vote For Chuck Hagel Confirmation
Discussion:
Post Politics, Decatur Daily, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Daily Kos and The Rightnewz
CNN:
Carter: Obama thanked my grandson for ‘47%’ tape — (CNN) - President Barack Obama expressed gratitute last week to former President Jimmy Carter's grandson for his role in leaking secretly-recorded video of Mitt Romney's infamous “47%” comments, the former president told CNN's Piers Morgan.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Piers Morgan
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Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Jimmy Carter: No relationship with Obama
Jimmy Carter: No relationship with Obama
Discussion:
CNN, National Review and Weasel Zippers
USA Today:
On issues, public is more aligned with Obama than GOP — SETTING A NATIONAL AGENDA: WHAT NEEDS TO GET DONE THIS YEAR? — In a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll, Americans were asked how urgent it was for President Obama and Congress to pass major legislation on some top issues this year.
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Steven Brill / TIME:
Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us — 1. Routine Care, Unforgettable Bills — When Sean Recchi, a 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio, was told last March that he had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his wife Stephanie knew she had to get him to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Discussion:
Media Decoder, National Review, CNN, Wonkette and Gawker
Steven Nelson / US News:
Joe Biden's Shotgun Advice Could Land Jill Biden in Jail — Felony aggravated menacing, reckless endangering charges could result from shooting gun in air — Vice President Joe Biden might want to have a talk with his son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, before he makes another public statement about guns.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, TheBlaze.com, NewsBusters blogs, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Sense of Events and National Review
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Congressman Says Americans Need Guns To Protect The Nation From Sharia Law — Tea Party Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told a conservative radio show on Thursday that the GOP must oppose gun regulations to protect the country from the threat of “Sharia Law.”
Discussion:
alan.com, Mediaite and The Raw Story
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Biden says lawmakers need to ‘show some courage’ on gun control — Vice President Biden urged lawmakers to “show some courage” and back the Obama administration's favored measures for reducing gun violence. — Biden, on Thursday, called on lawmakers to support proposals like reinstitution …
Discussion:
Politico
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Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Biden To NRA: It's Over, The Politics On Guns Have Changed
Biden To NRA: It's Over, The Politics On Guns Have Changed
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Crooks and Liars and Washington Post
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Blaspheming Saint Romney — Until around the time Todd Akin blew up his Senate race, the conventional wisdom in campaign world was that if Romney won, he'd carry the House and the Senate as well. That supposition underlay the GOP's entire substantive agenda from tax reform to entitlement cuts to repealing key provisions of Obamacare.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Investor's Business Daily:
Jackson Graft Case Further Indicts Black Caucus — Corruption: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s guilty plea to fraud charges raises fresh questions about the Congressional Black Caucus. It's a group with many laudable goals, but why do so many in it succumb to corruption?
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
Dorsey Shaw / BuzzFeed:
Rush Limbaugh Is “Ashamed” Of His Country For The First Time In His Life — The conservative radio star blames insults to his intelligence and a “fear and panic” strategy rolled out by Democrats, Republicans and the media in response to proposed spending cuts. — View Video ›
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
George F. Will / Washington Post:
When solitude is torture — “Zero Dark Thirty,” a nominee for Sunday's Oscar for Best Picture, reignited debate about whether the waterboarding of terrorism suspects was torture. This practice, which ended in 2003, was used on only three suspects. Meanwhile, tens of thousands …
Discussion:
ACS Blog, Hit & Run and The Volokh Conspiracy
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Oops: Top Republican Senator Inadvertently Embraces Roe v. Wade — CHARITON, Iowa — During a town hall on Wednesday, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee embraced the reasoning behind the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing a woman's choice to get an abortion …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Paul Colford / ap.org:
New entry in the AP Stylebook: husband, wife — The following entry was added today to the AP Stylebook Online and also will appear in the new print edition and Stylebook Mobile, published in the spring: — husband, wife Regardless of sexual orientation, husband or wife is acceptable …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed, AMERICAblog, Politico, Back2Stonewall, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.
John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Ed Markey Compares Campaign Finance Ruling To Decision Upholding Slavery — “The Dred Scott decision had to be repealed, we have to repeal Citizens United,” Massachusetts Democrat says days after meeting with black clergy. — Image by Josh Reynolds / AP — WASHINGTON — Rep. Ed Markey …
Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Double Ultrasound Bill In Indiana Passes Out Of Senate Committee — Video, Double Ultrasound, Double Ultrasound Bill, Double Ultrasound Indiana, Indiana Abortion Bill, Indiana Double Ultrasound, Indiana Double Ultrasound Bill, Indiana Mandatory Ultrasound Bill, Indiana Ultrasound …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and Shakesville
Lisa Daftari / Fox News:
Islam or death? Egypt's Christians targeted by new terror group — A group of Christian priests from a local Coptic church in Egypt were told to convert to Islam or face death, according to an Arabic news site. — The incident, which comes in the midst of continued persecution and pressure …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and The Jawa Report