Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
The D.C. Dubstep — On July 26, 2011, Jack Lew, then the White House budget director, went to Harry Reid's office for a budget strategy session. According to Bob Woodward's book, “The Price of Politics,” Lew told the Senate majority leader that they had come up with a trigger idea to force a budget deal.
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Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Does Obama have a plan? A conversation with David Brooks — David Brooks (David Burnett/Random House) … Ezra Klein: In the column, you said that the Obama administration doesn't have a plan to replace the sequester. I feel like I've had to spend a substantial portion of my life reading …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Brad DeLong, The Plum Line, Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice
Reuters:
Is Obama overplaying sequester hand? — President Barack Obama's greatest adversary in the latest budget battle isn't the Republican leadership in Congress — it's his confidence in his own ability to force a win. — He has been so certain of his campaign skills that he didn't open a line …
Discussion:
Associated Press, NationalJournal.com, The Hill, Right Wing News, The Moderate Voice, Politico, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air and The Democratic Daily
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Noonan: Government by Freakout — Obama's scare tactics aren't much of a long-term strategy. — The president's sequester strategy is like Howard Beale in “Network”: “Woe is us. . . . And woe is us! We're in a lot of trouble!” — It is always cliffs, ceilings and looming catastrophes with Barack Obama.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Ed Driscoll
White House Memo / New York Times:
For Obama and Team, Calm, Not Crisis, in Latest Fiscal Battle
For Obama and Team, Calm, Not Crisis, in Latest Fiscal Battle
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and The Reaction
Patrick O'Connor / Wall Street Journal:
The GOP Splits Over Pressure to Slash Defense Budget
The GOP Splits Over Pressure to Slash Defense Budget
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Right Turn and The Maddow Blog
Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:
As Sequester Deadline Looms, Little Support for Cutting Most Programs — OVERVIEW — As the March 1 deadline for a possible budget sequester approaches, a new national survey finds limited public support for reducing spending for a range of specific programs, including defense, entitlements, education and health care.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Campaign for America's Future, The Hill, The National Memo, Bloomberg, Politico, The Fix and CNN
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New York Times:
Why Taxes Have to Go Up — Democrats and Republicans remain at odds on how to avoid a round of budget cuts so deep and arbitrary that to allow them now could push the economy back into recession. The cuts, known as a sequester, will kick in March 1 unless Republicans agree to President Obama's demand …
Discussion:
Off the Charts Blog, JustOneMinute, AEIdeas and NewsBusters blogs
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Sequester of Fools
Sequester of Fools
Discussion:
Politico, Prairie Weather and Campaign for America's Future
Michael Scherer / TIME:
Sequester Showdown — We are facing a moment in Washington.
Sequester Showdown — We are facing a moment in Washington.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Wire, Guardian, New York Magazine, Politico, The Dish and The Week
Jane Mayer / News Desk:
Is Senator Ted Cruz our new McCarthy? — Last week, Texas Senator Ted Cruz's prosecutorial style of questioning Chuck Hagel, President Obama's nominee for Defense Secretary, came so close to innuendo that it raised eyebrows in Congress, even among his Republican colleagues.
Discussion:
National Review, msnbc.com, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, A plain blog about politics, Hullabaloo, BREITBART.COM, Pressing Issues and Althouse
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First Read / NBCNews.com:
First Thoughts: Hagel appears to have the votes for confirmation
First Thoughts: Hagel appears to have the votes for confirmation
Discussion:
Firedoglake and The Hill
Henry J. Gomez / Plain Dealer:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tells Cuyahoga County GOP it's time for new generation of leaders
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz tells Cuyahoga County GOP it's time for new generation of leaders
Discussion:
The Hill
Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:
Ann Coulter Battles Stossel, Calls Libertarians ‘Pussies,’ And Gets Booed By Room Full Of Students — What do you get when you invite outspoken conservative firebrand Ann Coulter to debate outspoken libertarian John Stossel in front of an audience of 1,000+ libertarian students? — Fireworks, that's what.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, BuzzFeed, Salon, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Hinterland Gazette and The Raw Story
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Oscar Predictions, Election-Style — Twice before, in 2009 and 2011, I sought to predict the Academy Award winners in six major categories based on a mix of statistical factors. My track record? Nine correct picks in 12 tries, for a 75 percent success rate.
Discussion:
Pressing Issues and Towleroad News #gay
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Jen Wieczner / MarketWatch:
Why your boss is dumping your wife — Companies are dropping health coverage for spouses to cut costs … Companies have a new solution to rising health-insurance costs: Break up their employees' marriages. — By denying coverage to spouses, employers not only save the annual premiums …
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
The Republican Party needs a reality check — In the summer of 1999, George W. Bush chose the first major policy speech of his presidential campaign to pick a fight with Grover Norquist. Bush flatly rejected the “destructive” view “that if government would only get out of our way …
Discussion:
Slate, Pundits Blog, Booman Tribune and PostPartisan
Greg Hinz / Chicago Business:
Emanuel's poll rating turns negative — Burdened by a wave of murders, dissension over proposed school closings and perhaps his own hard-ball image, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's job-approval rating has taken a big hit in recent months, according to a new Crain's/Ipsos Illinois Poll.
Discussion:
nation.foxnews.com and Taegan Goddard's …
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Edward McClelland / nbcchicago.com:
Mayor Emanuel's Approval Rating In The Tank
Mayor Emanuel's Approval Rating In The Tank
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Capitol Fax.com
RedFlagNews.com:
DISTURBING REPORT: VETERANS ARE RECEIVING LETTERS FROM VA PROHIBITING THE OWNERSHIP OR PURCHASE OF FIREARMS... DEVELOPING... Written By Constitutional Attorney Michael Connelly, J.D. — How would you feel if you received a letter from the U.S. Government informing you that because of a physical …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom and Moonbattery
Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:
In First Big Speech, Kerry Sounds Like A Climate Hawk With The Courage To Reject Keystone XL Pipeline — A month ago I wrote that the “confirmation of climate hawk Kerry as Secretary Of State may doom dirty Keystone XL Pipeline.” — Now John Kerry has delivered his first big foreign policy speech …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Scott Conroy / Real Clear Politics:
Can Democrats Mess With Texas in 2016? — AUSTIN, Texas — From its modest headquarters on the first floor of a local union building about five miles from the State Capitol, the Democratic Party of Texas is trying to turn demographics into destiny. — With white, non-Hispanic voters …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Booman Tribune, Mediaite and The Rightnewz
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama calms fears over Supreme Court action on voting rights — President Obama said people won't lose the right to vote if the Supreme Court strikes down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. — Speaking Thursday to “The Black Eagle” radio show, Obama said listeners shouldn't worry …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Colbert hopes jokes don't ‘sully’ sister's congressional bid — Comedian Stephen Colbert said Thursday that he hopes his late-night television persona parodying conservative talk-show hosts doesn't “sully” his sister's congressional bid in South Carolina's first district.
Sam Baker / The Hill:
Hikes in health insurance premiums fall; administration credits healthcare law — The number of double-digit hikes to health insurance premiums has fallen dramatically because of President Obama's healthcare law, the Health and Human Services Department said Friday.
Rush Limbaugh:
For the First Time in My Life, I Am Ashamed of My Country — RUSH: To be watching all of this, to be treated like this, to have our common sense and intelligence insulted the way it's being insulted? It just makes me ashamed... Panic here, fear there: Crisis, destruction, no meat inspection …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Ed Driscoll, Washington Monthly, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, KDVR.com, Examiner, The Gateway Pundit and BuzzFeed
Megan McArdle / Asymmetrical Information:
America's New Mandarins — The paths to power and success are narrowing. So is the worldview of the powerful. — Yesterday, I wrote about the silliness of requiring a file clerk to have a college degree. This morning, a friend sent me the following note about the narrowing of opportunity in modern America:
Discussion:
The American Mind and Mother Jones
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Pelosi to GOP: You oppose minimum wage hike at your peril — As I reported here yesterday, Democrats are drawing up plans to run hard on Obama's proposal to raise minimum wage in the 2014 Congressional elections. What few people remember is that there's precedent for this …
Discussion:
The Impolitic, Prairie Weather and The Daily Caller