Top Items:
Paul Ryan / Wall Street Journal:
The GOP Plan to Balance the Budget by 2023 — The goal can be reached, with no new taxes, while increasing spending 3.4% annually instead of the current 5%. — America's national debt is over $16 trillion. Yet Washington can't figure out how to cut $85 billion—or just 2% of the federal budget …
Discussion:
CNN, Guardian, Right Turn, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, NBCNews.com, Taylor Marsh, The Maddow Blog, Jared Bernstein, Politico, First Read, Business Insider, msnbc.com, Washington Wire, Yahoo! News and ABCNEWS
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Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
Humility or Cynicism? Whatever is Driving Obama is Better Than Nothing — Tumbling polls have turned the president into the schmoozer-in-chief — President Obama's burst of congressional and public outreach coincides with declining poll numbers. (AP Photo)
Discussion:
Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, National Review and The Daily Caller
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
In President's Outreach to G.O.P., Past Failures Loom — WASHINGTON — For all the attention to President Obama's new campaign of outreach to Republicans, it was four months ago — on the eve of bipartisan budget talks — that he secretly invited five of them to the White House for a movie screening …
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, The National Memo, Politico, msnbc.com, Prairie Weather, TheBlaze.com and The Reaction
Politico:
Is he serious? — President Barack Obama's unusual tour of Capitol Hill this week could answer a central question dogging his renewed effort to strike a grand bargain on deficit reduction: — How serious is he? — Starting Tuesday, Obama will shuttle between basement House meeting rooms …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Right Wing News
Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
McClatchy-Marist poll shows Obama tumbling in voters' eyes — WASHINGTON — If President Barack Obama had piled up political capital with his impressive re-election, it's largely gone. — His approval rating has dropped to the lowest level in more than a year, with more voters now turning thumbs …
Discussion:
Post Politics and Hot Air
Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:
Ryan to rally GOP on 10-year plan — The target set by Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is more aggressive than the one Democrats rejected last year that took until nearly 2040 to balance. — Ryan will take center stage for the third year in a row to roll …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Weasel Zippers and First Read
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan's make-believe budget
Paul Ryan's make-believe budget
Discussion:
Associated Press, American Prospect, The Plum Line, Wall Street Journal and Daily Kos
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
House and Senate Work Simultaneously to Create Budgets, a Rarity
House and Senate Work Simultaneously to Create Budgets, a Rarity
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
Interview With Speaker Boehner: The Sequester Is Here to Stay (Part II)
Interview With Speaker Boehner: The Sequester Is Here to Stay (Part II)
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Huffington Post and Post Politics
Washington Examiner:
Byron York: Ted Cruz pushes for vote to stop funding for Obamacare — “Some senators may choose to hurl insults and personal attacks,” says new Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. “That's their prerogative. I have no intention of reciprocating.” — Cruz wouldn't name names, but clearly …
Discussion:
Hit & Run
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Steve Kornacki / Salon:
A reality check for Ashley Judd
A reality check for Ashley Judd
Discussion:
First Read, New Republic, Politico and Liberal Values
New York Post:
The ‘fair share’ White House — Those who make the rules should play by them. Especially a White House that lectures the rest of America about the importance of paying your “fair share” of taxes. — So we were struck by IRS reports that no fewer than 40 aides to President Obama still owe …
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Roger Simon / Politico:
Save the sequester, crush the children! — If American politics has but one purpose in modern times, it is to crush the hopes and dreams of young people everywhere. — And this is why President Barack Obama's closing of the White House to public tours makes so much sense.
Discussion:
CNN, americanthinker.com, TheBlaze.com and The Hill
Michael Howard Saul / Wall Street Journal:
Judge Halts New York City Soda Ban … A state judge on Monday stopped Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration from banning the sale of large sugary drinks at New York City restaurants and other venues, a major defeat for a mayor who has made public-health initiatives a cornerstone of his tenure.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, americanthinker.com, CNNMoney.com, Law Blog, Politicker, The Daily Caller, Reuters, MarketBeat, Betsy's Page, Right Wing News, neo-neocon, NY Daily News, Hot Air, New York Post, The Moderate Voice, Gothamist, The Week, ThinkProgress, Deadline.com, Josh Blackman's Blog, Above the Law, CNN, The PJ Tatler, Daily Mail, Gawker, NewsBusters, Mediaite, JustOneMinute, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run and The Volokh Conspiracy
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John Hinderaker / Power Line:
The War Against the Second Amendment Has Only Just Begun
The War Against the Second Amendment Has Only Just Begun
Discussion:
Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, protein wisdom and Jammie Wearing Fools
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
RNC Launches Major Restructuring Of Digital Strategy — The Republican National Committee on Monday began what leaders described as a significant overhaul of its digital strategy, NBC News reported. — Mike Shields, chief of staff for the RNC, told NBC he's begun the work of …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
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Sarah B. Boxer / First Read:
RNC to launch major digital overhaul following election inquiry
Elizabeth Harrington / CNSNews:
Feds Spend $1.5 Million to Study Why Lesbians Are Fat — (CNSNews.com) - The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $1.5 million to study biological and social factors for why “three-quarters” of lesbians are obese and why gay males are not, calling it an issue of “high public-health significance.”
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers
David S. Cloud / Los Angeles Times:
New Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel tries to find his balance — A three-day visit to Afghanistan is a rocky beginning for the Defense secretary, who had faced a bitter confirmation fight. Now awaiting him is $47 billion in budget cuts. — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, right, arrives in Germany on Monday.
RELATED:
Masoud Popalzai / CNN:
5 Americans killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash
5 Americans killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
In First Overseas Trip, Hagel Offers a Terse Review: 'It's Complicated'
In First Overseas Trip, Hagel Offers a Terse Review: 'It's Complicated'
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, First Read, msnbc.com and emptywheel
Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
After Watering Down Financial Reform, Ex-Senator Scott Brown Joins Goldman Sachs' Lobbying Firm … During his nearly three years in the U.S. Senate, Scott Brown (R-MA) frequently came to the aid of the financial sector — watering down the Dodd-Frank bill and working to weaken it after its passage …
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, Firedoglake, The Political Carnival and Prairie Weather
RELATED:
Michael Levenson / Boston Globe:
Scott Brown to join Boston law firm Nixon Peabody
Scott Brown to join Boston law firm Nixon Peabody
Discussion:
Mediaite, msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice, DealBook and Rumproast
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Rush Limbaugh Sides With Rand Paul: ‘The Neocons Are Paranoid’ — The most popular conservative demagogue in America signals that hawkish foreign policy dogma may be losing its hold on the GOP. — In the Spring of 2011, I wrote a widely ignored article arguing that the Republican Party's …
Discussion:
Ross Douthat and Mondoweiss
Associated Press:
Sarah Palin tackles ‘War on Christmas’ in new book — ‘Amidst the fragility of this politically correct era, it is imperative that we stand up for our beliefs before the element of faith in a glorious and traditional holiday like Christmas is marginalized and ignored,’ Palin says.
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Post Politics
Mark Gongloff / The Huffington Post:
FDIC Secretly Settling Bank Cases For Years With ‘No Press Release’ Clause: Report — At the request of rule-breaking bankers, a top U.S. regulator has for years settled bank cases in secret, raising the bar on just how far regulators are willing to go to help the industry they regulate.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
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E. Scott Reckard / Los Angeles Times:
In major policy shift, scores of FDIC settlements go unannounced
In major policy shift, scores of FDIC settlements go unannounced
Discussion:
naked capitalism and The Political Carnival
Ryan Cooper / Washington Monthly:
How Does Jeff Sachs Explain the Great Recession? — Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious — First, let me recommend Mark Thoma, who takes apart Sachs' very crude representations of Paul Krugman's positions. I want to circle back to one particular point that leaped out at me:
Discussion:
Brad DeLong
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Senate Dems Kick Off Efforts To Break GOP Filibuster Of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — On Tuesday, Democrats will use what would normally be a straightforward exercise of the Senate's advise and consent powers to begin a political campaign aimed at preserving one of the party's signature Obama-era accomplishments.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo