Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republicans are losing the spending argument — For the past several years, congressional Republicans have focused relentlessly on a single message: Washington — led by President Obama — is spending too much money, and it needs to stop. — But according to new Washington Post-ABC News polling …
Discussion:
Forbes, NBCNews.com, Washington Times and Post Politics
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Michael Kinsley / New Republic:
Annihilate! — Whoever could have imagined that Republicans could be such wussies? After all, the GOP is the Party of Testosterone. Democrats are the ones who are supposed to be wimpy and weepy. But lately the Republicans have been a bunch of crybabies: Hey mama, President Obama is picking on us.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
A political DUI — Some of us can recall the helpless feeling of being in a vehicle driven by someone who is intoxicated. If you're like me, you don't want to cause a scene unless the driving is really erratic. But there comes a moment when you need to say: Stop the car. You're going to hurt someone.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, Angry Bear, Mother Jones and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Mark Murray / NBCNews.com:
NBC/WSJ poll: Public wary about sequester cuts, but Obama in stronger political position than GOP — With automatic, across-the-board spending cuts set to begin Friday, majorities of Americans believe they aren't a good idea and say the contentious budget negotiations make them less confident …
Politico:
Senate GOP ponders shifting power to Obama — Days before the March 1 deadline, Senate Republicans are circulating a draft bill that would cancel $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts and instead turn over authority to President Barack Obama to achieve the same level of savings under a plan to be filed by March 8.
Discussion:
Roll Call, Business Insider and The Caucus
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
The Sequester Revelation — Obama has the legal power to avoid spending-cut damage. — And when the Republicans opened the seventh seal of the sequester, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black and the stars fell unto the Earth; and our nation's ability to forecast severe weather …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, National Review and Politico
Dana Bash / CNN:
Congressional leaders invited to W.H. on spending cuts deadline day
Congressional leaders invited to W.H. on spending cuts deadline day
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
President Obama to Meet Congressional Leaders Friday
President Obama to Meet Congressional Leaders Friday
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Brief Supporting Same-Sex Marriage Gets More Republican Support — More than two dozen Republicans — including a top adviser to Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, and a former congresswoman who made banning same-sex marriage her signature issue — have added their names …
Discussion:
Good As You, Equality On Trial, Towleroad News #gay and Bloomberg
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Eli Stokols / KDVR.com:
Marilyn Musgrave denies NYT report that she supports gay marriage
Marilyn Musgrave denies NYT report that she supports gay marriage
Discussion:
Joe. My. God., AMERICAblog and Towleroad News #gay
Roger Parloff / Fortune:
Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage
Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage
Discussion:
News Desk, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, AMERICAblog, emptywheel, Firedoglake, Taking Note and Joe. My. God.
Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:
Corporations urge Supreme Court to embrace gay marriage
Corporations urge Supreme Court to embrace gay marriage
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Elahe Izadi / NationalJournal.com:
The Real Reason Why Chris Christie Wasn't Invited to CPAC — ACU Chairman Al Cardenas criticizes New Jersey's Republican governor for supporting Sandy aid bill, Medicaid expansion. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not invited to speak at the annual CPAC conference this year …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite and Hot Air
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Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Charles Krauthammer: Chris Christie CPAC snub a mistake
Charles Krauthammer: Chris Christie CPAC snub a mistake
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Joe. My. God.
Eliana Johnson / National Review:
No CPAC Invite for Christie Because of ‘Limited Future’ in Republican Party
No CPAC Invite for Christie Because of ‘Limited Future’ in Republican Party
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Christie's Honeymoon With Conservatives Is Over
Christie's Honeymoon With Conservatives Is Over
Discussion:
The Week, Hot Air, National Review and OpenSecrets.org
Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
As Budgets Face Cuts, Austerity Kills Government Jobs — WASHINGTON — The federal government, the nation's largest consumer and investor, is cutting back at a pace exceeded in the last half-century only by the military demobilizations after the Vietnam War and the cold war.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, AEIdeas, The Week, Right Wing News, Brad DeLong, Marginal Revolution and Board of Governors …
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Nina Totenberg / Law:
Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act … Once again, race is front and center at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. And once again, the bull's eye is the 1965 Voting Rights Act, widely viewed as the most effective and successful civil rights legislation in American history.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Hinterland Gazette and Althouse
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Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Case: DOJ's Tom Perez Calls Section 5 ‘Regrettably’ Necessary
Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Case: DOJ's Tom Perez Calls Section 5 ‘Regrettably’ Necessary
Discussion:
Guardian, THEROOT.COM, Talking Points Memo and Wall Street Journal
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Voting Act Challenge Hinges on a Formula
Voting Act Challenge Hinges on a Formula
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, Election Law Blog and ACS Blog
Talking Points Memo:
White House ‘Cannot Support’ House VAWA — The White House said Tuesday that it “cannot support” the House version of the Violence Against Women Act and called on GOP leaders to allow a vote on the bipartisan Senate-passed reauthorization. But it stopped short of a veto threat.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House expected to pass Senate version of VAWA bill this week
Amy Rose / Rookie:
This Charming Man: An Interview With Morrissey — I don't think I really need to introduce you guys to Morrissey, but just in case: He's been an icon for, oh, more than three decades now. He began his career in the early '80s as the frontman (and heart) of the Smiths before going solo in 1987 …
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, Telegraph and PinkNews.co.uk
Dick Morris / The Hill:
Sequester: A secret plan — President Obama's massive and voluble campaign against the sequester has a deep political motivation that is not apparent on the surface. He is engaging in a battle he knows he'll lose. Republicans are not going to budge on agreeing to tax hikes to avoid …
Deadline Detroit:
U.P. State Senator Tom Casperson Is Some Kind Of Birther — State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, was on Michael Patrick Shiels' Lansing radio program today and had some fun and interesting things to say about where President Obama was born. — Casperson, whose name might sound familiar …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Balloon Juice
Philip Pullella / Reuters:
Pope speaks of “rough seas” of papacy at emotional farewell — (Reuters) - Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience on Wednesday, acknowledging the “rough seas” that marked his papacy “when it seemed that the Lord was sleeping.” — In an unusually public outpouring …
Discussion:
New York Times, Gothamist, WFPL and Gawker
Agence France Presse:
Alleged rape victim in Maldives ‘to be flogged’ — MALE — A Maldives court has sentenced a 15-year-old alleged rape victim to 100 lashes and eight months under house arrest after she admitted having had premarital sex in a separate incident, an official said Wednesday.
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette
John Podhoretz / New York Post:
A matter of principle — What the Hagel fight did — Now that President Obama will finally have the defense secretary he wanted in Chuck Hagel, the question arises: Was the anti-Hagel fight worth it? Why did Republicans decide to fight it if they weren't going to win?
Lindsey Boerma / CBS News:
Reason for mass release of illegal immigrants “hard to believe,” Boehner says — House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Tuesday in an interview with CBS News blasted the “outrageous” move by federal immigration officials to OK the release of hundreds of illegal immigrants as a way to save money ahead …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post and Booman Tribune