Top Items:
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Dems force GOP to vote down RSC budget — Democrats voted present to force more Republicans to vote against the Republican Study Committee's (RSC) budget. Democrats hoped that by getting their members to vote present instead of against the budget, it might be approved by the House.
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Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House rejects budget from Senate Democrats — The House on Wednesday rejected the Senate Democratic budget in a 154-261 vote, with 35 Democrats voting against the blueprint from their upper chamber colleagues. — The Senate Democratic budget was one of three budgets cast aside in a series …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Weasel Zippers
Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Vulnerable House Democrats vote against Senate budget proposal
Vulnerable House Democrats vote against Senate budget proposal
Discussion:
Politico and National Republican …
David Weigel / Slate:
The Tea Party Caucus is Dead and That's Okay — Two-odd months ago, I asked a Republican Hill staffer what had happened to the Tea Party Caucus. Launched with great fanfare in 2011, it was often cited in Michele Bachmann's introductions on the presidential campaign trail — “she's the founder of the Tea Party Caucus!”
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Outside the Beltway
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Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite:
Rep. Michele Bachmann ‘Goes Rogue,’ Literally Races Away From CNN Reporter — For Tuesday night's “Keeping Them Honest” segment, CNN host Anderson Cooper turned to Dana Bash's encounter with Rep. Michele Bachmann who, asked about comments she made about President Obama enjoying a lavish lifestyle …
Discussion:
msnbc.com and The Moderate Voice
Alex Seitz-Wald / Salon:
Michele Bachmann runs away from reporter
Michele Bachmann runs away from reporter
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Comedy Central's Indecision
Politico:
Netanyahu on Obama: This guy, I need — JERUSALEM — Benjamin Netanyahu has never been Barack Obama's biggest fan — and for four years, he's eagerly scored political points picking fights with the president. — But two paradigm-shifting elections — one in the U.S., one in Israel …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and CNN
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Boehner on Obama quip: ‘So much for the charm offensive’
Boehner on Obama quip: ‘So much for the charm offensive’
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, CNN, Politico, White House Dossier and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Matthew Weaver / Guardian:
Backup presidential limo on its way for Obama in Israel after fuel filling failure
Backup presidential limo on its way for Obama in Israel after fuel filling failure
Discussion:
The Week, ABCNEWS, Rush Limbaugh, CNN, Israel Matzav and New York Times
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Biden and the White House are ‘still pushing’ for assault weapons ban — Vice President Biden and the Obama administration still hope to pass a federal assault weapons ban, Biden said Wednesday. — “I'm still pushing that it pass — we are still pushing that it pass.
Discussion:
NPR, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Mother Jones, The Political Carnival, The PJ Tatler and Scared Monkeys
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Matthew DeLuca / U.S. News:
Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper signs landmark gun-control bills
Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper signs landmark gun-control bills
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, American Spectator, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report
Keith Coffman / Reuters:
Colorado prison chief shot dead on eve of gun laws signing
Colorado prison chief shot dead on eve of gun laws signing
Discussion:
The Spectacle Blog
Ezra Klein / Bloomberg:
Mistakes, Excuses and Painful Lessons From the Iraq War — I supported the Iraq War, and I'm sorry. — I have my excuses, of course. I was a college student, young and dumb. I thought that if U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell and former President Bill Clinton …
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Nick Wing / The Huffington Post:
Justice Safety Valve Act Would Give Flexibility On Mandatory Minimum Sentences — Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced a bill Wednesday designed to give relief to the nation's bloated prison system by offering judges leeway to consider sentences below the mandatory minimum for all federal crimes.
Discussion:
Patrick Leahy, TalkLeft and The Raw Story
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Emmanuel Touhey / Judicial:
Paul-Leahy sentencing bill will ensure time fits the crime — Even before the sequester took effect, the Obama administration's Department of Justice was warning that federal prison spending had become “unsustainable” and was forcing cuts in other anti-crime initiatives.
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Hullabaloo
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Blame Benen — I first noticed this story at the blog of the Poynter Institute, a journalism education outfit, and figured they were reflecting special solicitude for the work-load of their charges: … Now amazement at WaPo's insane expectations seems to be spreading elsewhere in the blogosphere.
Discussion:
Mother Jones
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Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Washington Post seeks blogger for Style section
Washington Post seeks blogger for Style section
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Althouse and DCist, more at Mediagazer »
Politico:
Politicians and gay marriage: Profiles in calculation — When historians write the story of America's cultural revolution on gay marriage, March of 2013 may well get its own chapter — the month when the political balance on this issue shifted unmistakably from risky to safe.
Discussion:
msnbc.com and TheBlaze.com
Lee Enterprises / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Claire McCaskill writing book about 2012 Senate race against Akin — • By Joe Holleman jholleman@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8254 — Expect a book from Claire McCaskill, in which she will “tell the whole story” about last year's raucous and bitter U.S. Senate race against U.S. Rep. Todd Akin.
Discussion:
Post Politics
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David Rogers / Politico:
Senate reaches deal on continuing resolution — Breaking the Senate logjam, Majority Leader Harry Reid won agreement Wednesday on a series of votes which all but assure final passage by Congress this week of a stopgap spending bill to keep the government funded through the last six months of this fiscal year.
Discussion:
Wonkblog
RELATED:
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Reid Again Hints At Changing Rules Amid GOP Filibuster
Reid Again Hints At Changing Rules Amid GOP Filibuster
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, The Week, Washington Monthly and The Plum Line
Jessica Glenza / The Register Citizen:
Victim bullied after rape allegations against Torrington football players — jglenza@registercitizen.com — @JessicaGlenza on Twitter — TORRINGTON >> Two Torrington High School football players stand accused of sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Four others were suspended …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, Gothamist, ABCNEWS and The Raw Story
Kathryn Haake / Talking Points Memo:
Montana Looks at Allowing Roadkill for Dinner — HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Elk, deer, antelope and moose: If Montana residents can scrape it up, they can eat it. — State lawmakers are poised to say just that after the Senate gave its initial backing Wednesday to a bill that would allow people to salvage roadkill for food.
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
Secret report raises alarms on intelligence blind spots because of AQ focus — A panel of White House advisers warned President Obama in a secret report that U.S. spy agencies were paying inadequate attention to China, the Middle East and other national security flash points because they had become …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and emptywheel
Julie Weed / New York Times:
Questions Abound in Learning to Adjust to Health Care Overhaul — Baked in the Sun is a wholesale baker and distributor of freshly baked pastries near San Diego. — THE CHALLENGE The company is one of thousands of small businesses that employ more than 50 full-time employees and thus …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications and Hit & Run
Hingeapp / rate friends of friends:
Hingesights: Hottest Workforces in DC — Why does everyone in DC always ask where you work when they meet you? Depending on your place of business, there's a good chance it's to scope out dates with your coworkers. Hinge users have accumulated more than one million ratings …
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Obama Berates Journalist After Being Asked About Middle East Failures — Tells MSNBC host to be more like Israel press. — President Obama went after MSNBC host Chuck Todd for asking too many questions at a press conference today in Jerusalem, Israel: — Obama told Todd …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and The Gateway Pundit
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January suggests a return to moderate economic growth following a pause late last year. Labor market conditions have shown signs of improvement in recent months but the unemployment rate remains elevated.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and New York Times