memeorandum: John Kerry says Americans ‘have a right to be stupid’ … (Hayley Peterson/Daily Mail)

2:50 PM ET, February 26, 2013

Top Items:

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Boehner tells Senate to ‘get off their ass,’ pass sequester bill — A salty Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday told members of the Senate to “get off their ass” and pass a bill to replace the $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts that will kick in on March 1. — “We have moved a bill in the House twice.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's …, The Democratic Daily and The Spectacle Blog

Jake Sherman / Politico:

John Boehner's big bet — House Speaker John Boehner has dug in. — If the let-the-cuts-happen approach on the sequester seems risky — especially with President Barack Obama blaming Republicans for everything from kids not getting vaccines to long lines at the airport — the alternative for Boehner is worse.

Discussion: CNN, The Maddow Blog and The Hill

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

I don't understand the Republican position on the sequester — What's the plan? (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst) — As I understand it, the GOP has five basic goals in the budget talks: — 1) Cut the deficit. — 2) Cut entitlement spending. — 3) Protect defense spending, and possibly even increase it.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
Ron Johnson: John Boehner Would Lose Speakership If He Caves On Taxes To Avert Sequester

Discussion: Fox News, Business Insider and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jake Sherman / Politico:
John Boehner: Let Senate get ‘off their ass’ this time

Discussion: National Review and Washington Monthly

New York Times:
The States Get the Bad News

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Esquire, The Confluence, Cincinnati.com and Daily Kos

David Jackson / USA Today:
Obama's day: Sequester in the Virginia shipyards

Discussion: msnbc.com, Politico and First Read

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Republicans Sign Brief in Support of Gay Marriage — WASHINGTON — Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry …

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Influential Republicans Champion Same Sex Marriage

Discussion: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, msnbc.com and The Hinterland Gazette

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Lesbian Widow Urges Supreme Court To Declare DOMA Unconstitutional

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Nikki Haley slams Washington after meeting with Obama — During President Barack Obama's meeting with U.S. governors at the White House Monday, the president dismissed members of the press to hold a private, hourlong discussion with the visiting state executives.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hot Air

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Right cheers Bob Woodward ‘fact check’ — Conservatives in the media have found themselves armed with political ammunition in their battle with President Barack Obama over the impending sequester from a surprising source — Bob Woodward. — The journalism icon's fact check on the sequester …

Discussion: National Review, NewsBusters blogs, The Daily Caller, About.com US Politics and TheBlaze.com

Carrie Budoff Brown / Politico:
Obama plan: Divide and conquer GOP

Discussion: Reuters, Right Wing News and The PJ Tatler

Franco Ordonez / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

In face of coming budget cuts, U.S. frees illegal immigrants from custody — WASHINGTON — The federal government released groups of illegal immigrants from custody across the country Monday at the same time the White House was making its case that impending budget cuts would harm efforts …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, TheBlaze.com, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story and Post Politics

Kirk Semple / New York Times: Wave of Immigrants Released Ahead of Automatic Budget Cuts

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Illegal immigrants set free from detention centers as sequester approaches

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

Arshad Mohammed / Reuters:

Kerry defends liberties, says Americans have “right to be stupid” — (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry offered a defense of freedom of speech, religion and thought in the United States on Tuesday telling German students that in America “you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.”

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

Hayley Peterson / Daily Mail:
John Kerry says Americans ‘have a right to be stupid’ …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

GOP Seen as Principled, But Out of Touch and Too Extreme — Images of the Parties: A Closer Look — OVERVIEW — At a time when the Republican Party's image is at a historic low, 62% of the public says the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56% think it is not open to change and 52% say the party is too extreme.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Moderate Voice, The Fix and Taegan Goddard's …

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:
Most Say Spending Cuts Would Have Major Impact on Economy, Military

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Outside the Beltway and prairieweather.typepad.com

Andrew Dugan / Gallup:
Democrats Enjoy 2-1 Advantage Over GOP Among Hispanics

Discussion: National Review, Politico and The Daily Caller

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Surveillance Law — WASHINGTON — In a 5-to-4 decision that broke along ideological lines, the Supreme Court on Tuesday turned back a challenge to a federal law that authorized intercepting international communications involving Americans.

Discussion: Reuters

CNN: Justices block lawsuit over foreign intelligence surveillance

Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:
Edward Blum defies odds in getting cases to Supreme Court

Discussion: PointOfLaw Forum

Tim Mak / Politico:

Chuck Hagel clears Senate hurdle toward confirmation — The Senate voted 71-27 on Tuesday to end debate on Chuck Hagel's nomination to become secretary of Defense, ending a Republican campaign that forced Democrats to fight for every step toward confirmation, which is expected later in the day.

Discussion: New York Times, Booman Tribune, Red Alert Politics, Outside the Beltway and Lynn Sweet

Phillip M. Bailey / WFPL:

Liberal Super PAC Goes After Mitch McConnell's ‘Chinese’ Wife — A Democratic group is under sharp criticism for controversial online messages about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's wife. — For months, the liberal super PAC Progress Kentucky has attacked McConnell and held demonstrations at his offices and home.

Discussion: The Hill and Post Politics

Salvador Rizzo / New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie to announce expansion of Medicaid in budget speech, sources say — Gov. Chris Christie, pictured last month, will deliver his 2013 state budget address today at 3 p.m. at the Statehouse in Trenton. (Photo by John Munson/The Star-Ledger) — TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie …

Discussion: Wonkblog

Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:

Walter Jones, GOP Congressman, Hits Dick Cheney Over Iraq War — Dick Cheney, Video, HuffPolitics Blog, Walter Jones, Dick Cheney Water Jones, Walter Jones Dick Cheney, Walter Jones Iraq, Walter Jones Iraq War, Politics News — Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), an outspoken critic of the war in Afghanistan …

Discussion: The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com and The Raw Story

BuzzFeed:

There's A Conservative Parody Of Michelle Obama's Evolution Of Dance Video — It was made by popular conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and it's definitely something. — Ryan Broderick — a half hour ago — 15 responses

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Michael Doyle / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Who should pay to defend Larry Craig's bathroom antics? — WASHINGTON — A federal judge this week will confront the surprisingly important fallout from former Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's 2007 bathroom arrest. — Craig's own money may be on the line Wednesday, but that's not all.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story

Benjamin Weiser / New York Times:

In Cannibal Case, Officer's Wife Testifies About a Chilling Discovery — One day last September, the wife of a New York City police officer opened her laptop computer and discovered that her husband had used it to visit a fetish Web site on the Internet. She said she went to the site and saw a photograph of a dead girl.

Discussion: Gothamist

Andrew Stiles / National Review:

GAO Report: Obamacare Adds $6.2 Trillion to Long-Term Deficit — Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion, according to a Government Accountability Office report that will be released today. — Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), who requested the report …

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Watchdog.org

David Brooks / New York Times:

Our Second Adolescence — In Friday's column, I wrote that the Obama administration has no plan to avoid the sequester save raising taxes on the rich. That was unfair. The White House approach is not what I would like, but it is more balanced than I described. — Humiliation is a good teacher.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Mother Jones and msnbc.com