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House Republicans Cheer Boehner's Refusal to Negotiate on Cuts — WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, the man who spent significant portions of the last Congress shuttling to and from the White House for fiscal talks with President Obama that ultimately failed twice to produce a grand bargain …
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Liberals See A Trap After The Sequester — What really scares progressives isn't the automatic spending cuts; it's the grand compromise that may replace them. “Entitlements may get ensnared when we go to an alternate fix,” says Rep. Nadler. — Image by AP
Discussion:
Slate, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and The Week


Obama Tips His Hand In Sequestration Fight — After meeting with congressional leaders from both parties about sequestration spending cuts that take effect Friday, President Obama mapped out future negotiations with Republicans, which he hopes will yield an alternative deficit reduction package …
Discussion:
The Plum Line

Our deeply unbalanced fiscal debate — At a presser today, President Obama was peppered with questions from reporters who demanded to know if there is anything he can do to dislodge Republicans from their no-compromise stance. One suggested locking Republicans in a room until a deal is reached.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and driftglass


Obama Signals He'd Let Cuts Stand to Avoid U.S. Shutdown — WASHINGTON — President Obama and Congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting on Friday without resolution to the budget impasse, meaning that the across-the-board spending cuts that take effect Friday could remain in place for weeks if not months.
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and TalkLeft

Why the Republican Party's sequestration strategy only makes Obama stronger.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Business Insider, The Other McCain and Washington Wire

Lawmaker Makes Lewd Remark to Teenage Girl — Connecticut state Rep. Ernest Hewett (D) made an inappropriate remark to a 17 year old girl testifying about a program that helped her overcome her shyness and get over her fear of snakes, the New London Day reports.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Weekly Standard and The PJ Tatler
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Republican chairman calls on Hewett to resign — Connecticut Republican party chairman Jerry Labriola Jr. said today that state Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, should resign after making an inappropriate remark to a teenage girl. — “I urge Rep. Hewett to save the legislature some valuable …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Mental Recession, Weasel Zippers, Gothamist, Gawker and Twitchy

A Cheer or Two for Sequestration — From left, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and House Speaker John Boehner speak at a news conference on Tuesday in Washington. — A lot of liberals I read are very hot to trot with the idea that Congress should just repeal sequestration tout court.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune and Ross Douthat
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Obama: ‘I Am Not a Dictator’
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weekly Standard, TheBlaze.com, Ed Driscoll and Washington Times


Covert Malaysian Campaign Touched A Wide Range Of American Media — Outlets from Huffington Post to National Review carried pieces financed by the Malaysian government. An international campaign against Anwar Ibrahim. — Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak (R) talks …


An Economic Tragedy That Everyone Saw Coming Is Now Unfolding In Europe... The European economy has been a trainwreck for a long time, but there have been varying stages of it. — From 2007 through 2010 or so, the European economy basically went through the same trajectory as the US.
Discussion:
Economist's View and Hullabaloo
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If you might want to insult Harvard down the line, go elsewhere — If you think Harvard is a revolutionary communist hotbed, don't apply. If you think Harvard is full of “pinheaded” professors, don't enroll. And if you think Harvard pollutes the minds of its students …


Romney likens 2012 race to ‘roller coaster,’ in exclusive ‘Fox News Sunday’ interview — Mitt Romney, in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday,” said the end of the 2012 presidential race was like getting off a roller coaster. — “We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs.
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Kos, National Review, The Fix, msnbc.com, Gawker, The Week and NBCNews.com
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Romney Slams Obama Over Sequestration (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Campaign for America's Future

A reader representative for The Post — The world has changed, and we at The Post must change with it. We have been privileged to have had the service of many talented ombudsmen (and women) who have addressed readers' concerns, answered their questions and held The Post to the highest standards of journalism.
Discussion:
Politico and JIMROMENESKO.COM, more at Mediagazer »

More than 700 pages of healthcare rules released — The Obama administration on Friday released more than 700 pages of new regulations to implement portions of the Affordable Care Act. — The four rules, which are scheduled for publication in mid-March, finalize both major and minor parts …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and Washington Examiner

NRA president: Gun owners will do 'whatever's necessary' to ‘get rid of’ anti-gun lawmakers — National Rifle Association (NRA) President David Keene on Thursday promised that gun owners would do “whatever's necessary” to “get rid of those in public office” that they viewed as working to erode the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Addicting Info
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Ben Bernanke, Hippie — We're just a few weeks away from a milestone I suspect most of Washington would like to forget: the start of the Iraq war. What I remember from that time is the utter impenetrability of the elite prowar consensus. If you tried to point out that the Bush administration …
Discussion:
Vox Popoli, msnbc.com and The Plum Line


Duke Energy won't be repaid $10 million from DNC — Duke Energy won't be repaid the $10 million line of credit it guaranteed for Charlotte to host last year's Democratic National Convention, the company confirmed Thursday. — As the credit line came due, Duke made official what it had signaled …
Discussion:
Washington Times, National Review, Mother Jones, Post Politics and Weekly Standard


Obama: I Can't Use ‘Jedi Mindmeld’ On Congress To Fix Sequestration — Asked why he doesn't just sit down with congressional leaders until a sequestration deal is reached, President Obama said Friday that he can't lock lawmakers in a room. — “I am not a dictator, I'm the President,” Obama said.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and American Prospect

CPAC's Empty Chairs — The sponsors and organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) are voluntary associations that are of course entitled to advocate conservative causes as they see fit, including by controlling who is and who is not invited to participate in the conference.
Discussion:
Mediaite, TheBlaze.com and The PJ Tatler

Massachusetts official challenges Chief Justice Roberts' claim about voting — Galvin rebukes nation's top judge — Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. certainly sounded authoritative when he made a striking, though unflattering, declaration about Massachusetts …
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and First Read


Watch This Robotic Dog Throw Cinder Blocks With Its Head — Flesh-and-blood dogs merely fetch. The robotic pooch that Darpa funded can throw. — Boston Dynamics' BigDog started life as a headless four-legged robot capable of hauling soldiers' gear along rough and uneven terrain.


BREAKING: Solicitor General asks Supreme Court for time to participate in Prop 8 argument — Plaintiffs in the Prop 8 case. Attribution: LGBTQ Nation — The Solicitor General of the United States, who filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court yesterday in Hollingsworth v. Perry …
Discussion:
Advocate, Joe. My. God. and Firedoglake


Sean Hannity Launches Islamophobic Attack Against Keith Ellison — Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity launched an Islampophobic attack against Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) during his Fox News show on Thursday night, implying that the Muslim Congressman is a racist and an anti-Semite.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Mediaite, Right Wing Watch and Power Line


Horsemeat scandal: Four new products test positive — Nearly 2,000 tests for horsemeat have been carried out by British retailers — Four beef products sold by Bird's Eye, Taco Bell and catering supplier Brakes have been found to contain horse DNA, the Food Standards Agency says.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, MyFOX8.com, Joe. My. God. and Gawker