Top Items:
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
How To Lose The Sequestration Fight — Last night, the Senate proved it can fix big problems for real Americans — so long as they're rich, or relatively rich, or fly for business or what have you. — The short version is that late last night it took a break from its regular schedule …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Hit & Run, Gawker, National Review and Balloon Juice
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Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
12 Programs Congress Refuses To Save From Automatic Spending Cuts — After thousands of flight delays across the country this week, the United States Senate voted Thursday night to give the Federal Aviation Administration the flexibility to keep the nation's airports running smoothly.
Discussion:
The Week, Outside the Beltway, The Fix, The Huffington Post, The Hill, Eschaton and The Progressive Pulse
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
The Democrats have lost on sequestration. — That's the simple reality of Friday's vote to ease the pain for the Federal Aviation Administration. By assenting to it, Democrats have agreed to sequestration for the foreseeable future. — (Elaine Thompson/AP)
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hullabaloo and Outside the Beltway
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
House Passes Bill to Ease Impact of Cuts on Air Traffic
House Passes Bill to Ease Impact of Cuts on Air Traffic
Discussion:
Mediaite, CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, American Prospect and TomDispatch.com
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House passes bill to end FAA furloughs in victory for GOP
David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:
Politicians Will Only Roll Back Parts of the Sequester That Hurt Them, Naturally
Politicians Will Only Roll Back Parts of the Sequester That Hurt Them, Naturally
Discussion:
Salon, msnbc.com, The Week, The Raw Story, Politico and ThinkProgress
Noam Scheiber / New Republic:
Senate Democrats' Shameful Cave on Flight Delays
Senate Democrats' Shameful Cave on Flight Delays
Discussion:
Associated Press, WCTX-TV, U.S. News, The Maddow Blog, New York Times, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Michelle Malkin and Politico
Keith Koffler / Reuters:
Obama's hubris problem — Tuesday morning, a peculiar announcement trickled out of the White House press office: President Barack Obama would be holding a moment of silence for the victims of the Boston bombings. At the White House. By himself. No press or other intruders allowed.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Sense of Events and White House Dossier
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Patrick Gavin / Politico:
Tom Brokaw says ‘no thanks’ to White House Correspondents' Dinner
Tom Brokaw says ‘no thanks’ to White House Correspondents' Dinner
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and Washington Monthly
Eric Moskowitz / Boston Globe:
Carjack victim recounts his harrowing night — The 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur had just pulled his new Mercedes to the curb on Brighton Avenue to answer a text when an old sedan swerved behind him, slamming on the brakes. A man in dark clothes got out and approached the passenger window.
Discussion:
New York Times, Business Insider, The Week, Gothamist, The Daily Caller, Daily Mail, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette and CBS Boston
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Eric Moskowitz / The Boston Globe:
Carjacking victim describes harrowing night
Carjacking victim describes harrowing night
Discussion:
Taking Note, News Desk, Guardian, The Lede, First Read and Boston Globe
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:
National Income and Product Accounts — Gross Domestic Product, First Quarter 2013 (advance estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Bloomberg, Wonkblog, Business Insider, Calculated Risk, Economix, Reuters, Hot Air, The Week and National Review
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Wall Street Journal:
First-Quarter Growth, at 2.5%, Misses Expectations
First-Quarter Growth, at 2.5%, Misses Expectations
Discussion:
Real Time Economics, Bloomberg, MoneyBeat, Right Turn and White House Dossier
Jared Bernstein / On the Economy:
GDP Up 2.5%, But Underlying Weakness Evident
GDP Up 2.5%, But Underlying Weakness Evident
Discussion:
Economic Policy Institute, The Dish and Wonkblog
Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Speeds Up, but Less Than Forecast
U.S. Economy Speeds Up, but Less Than Forecast
Discussion:
Free exchange, PERRspectives, Gothamist, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, americanthinker.com and Calculated Risk
Jammie Wearing Fools:
Surprise! Psycho Mother of Boston Bombers Also on Terror Watch List — Anyone watching the performances of this media darling can only come to a couple of conclusions: She's been lying through her teeth that her “good kids” had nothing to do with the Boston terror attack and it's probably a safe bet she put the elder son up to it.
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler
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CNN:
Suspect separated from Boston victims
Suspect separated from Boston victims
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Week, The Gateway Pundit and Jammie Wearing Fools
Jon Pareles / New York Times:
George Jones, Admired and Copied Country Singer, Dies at 81 — George Jones, the definitive country singer of the last half-century, died Friday at a hospital in Nashville. He was 81. — He was hospitalized on April 18 with fever and irregular blood pressure, the Web site of Webster & Associates …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Spectacle Blog and alicublog
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Brian Mansfield / USA Today:
George Jones, country superstar, has died at 81
George Jones, country superstar, has died at 81
Discussion:
Houston Chronicle, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette and National Review
David Brooks / New York Times:
Health Chaos Ahead — It was always going to be difficult to implement Obamacare, but even fervent supporters of the law admit that things are going worse than expected. — Implementation got off to a bad start because the Obama administration didn't want to release unpopular rules before the election.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and JustOneMinute
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Robert Pear / New York Times:
Democratic Senators Tell White House of Concerns About Health Care Law Rollout
Democratic Senators Tell White House of Concerns About Health Care Law Rollout
Discussion:
Hit & Run, The Hill, Wake up America, Wonkblog, The Plum Line, Via Meadia, Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Politico
Leisa Zigman / KSDK-TV:
Former Congressman Todd Akin breaks silence: talks comeback, takes on Karl Rove — ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - Could Todd Akin be the new comeback kid? — The 65-year-old former congressman says don't rule him out. Nearly six months after losing the Senate race he continues to be attacked from all sides of the political spectrum.
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily RFT, Politico, msnbc.com, CNN, The Raw Story, Post Politics and Shakesville
Sharon LaFraniere / New York Times:
Farm Loan Bias Claims, Often Unsupported, Cost U.S. Millions — In the winter of 2010, after a decade of defending the government against bias claims by Hispanic and female farmers, Justice Department lawyers seemed to have victory within their grasp. — Ever since the Clinton administration agreed …
Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
OBAMA BACKS PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN POLITICAL FIGHT — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vowed Friday to join Planned Parenthood in fighting against what he said are efforts by states to turn women's health back to the 1950s, before the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide …
Discussion:
CNN, Michelle Malkin, LifeNews.com, CNSNews, Weasel Zippers, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Jammie Wearing Fools
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Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Obama to Largest Abortion Provider: ‘God Bless You’
Obama to Largest Abortion Provider: ‘God Bless You’
Discussion:
Post Politics, Rush Limbaugh and National Review
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
The Presidential Wheel Turns — Disaffection for Bush gave us Obama. That explains the new affection for Bush. — Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 because he was not George W. Bush. In fact, he was elected because he was the farthest thing possible from Mr. Bush.
Discussion:
New York Times, Esquire, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wake up America, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh, ParaPundit, TheBlaze.com, Wonkette and alicublog
New York Times:
Debt, Growth and the Austerity Debate — IN May 2010, we published an academic paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt.” Its main finding, drawing on data from 44 countries over 200 years, was that in both rich and developing countries, high levels of government debt — specifically …
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Wonkblog, The Week, The Big Picture, Firedoglake, Vox Popoli, Jared Bernstein, Angry Bear, The Maddow Blog, Business Insider, CEPR and Washington Post
Ashley Killough / CNN:
After the last two weeks, is it time for a laugh? — (CNN) - President Barack Obama has had to give some tough speeches in the past couple of weeks. From consoling Boston and West, Texas to scolding Congress for failing to pass gun control legislation, the president's messages have been heavy.
Discussion:
Politico
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Patrick Gavin / Politico:
Tom Brokaw says ‘no thanks’ to White House Correspondents' Dinner
Tom Brokaw says ‘no thanks’ to White House Correspondents' Dinner
Discussion:
Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The 1 Percent's Solution — Economic debates rarely end with a T.K.O. But the great policy debate of recent years between Keynesians, who advocate sustaining and, indeed, increasing government spending in a depression, and austerians, who demand immediate spending cuts, comes close — at least in the world of ideas.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Campaign for America's Future, The Week and Prairie Weather
Sacramento Bee:
Rick Perry ‘explosion’ cartoon published to make a point — Several readers wrote me this morning expressing varying levels of concern about the cartoon depicting Gov. Rick Perry's marketing of Texas' loose regulations, juxtaposed with the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, ProPublica, National Review, Twitchy and Balloon Juice
Eric W. Dolan / The Raw Story:
Fox guest Michelle Malkin links Grover Norquist to Boston Marathon bombing — During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday night, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin alleged that influential anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist was indirectly linked to the Boston Marathon bombing.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette and Booman Tribune
Carol Kuruvilla / NY Daily News:
Was this hottie deported from Saudi Arabia for being ‘too handsome’? — Religious police in the conservative country allegedly feared that three men from the United Arab Emirates were so handsome that ‘female visitors could fall for them.’ Whether or not Omar Borkan Al Gala is one of those three …
David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Federal Helium Program: How temporary becomes forever — Video: In the 1930s the government created a giant helium reserve, in case we needed it for blimp warfare. That never happened, but the goverment hasn't been able to get rid of the helium fast enough. David Fahrenthold is on set to explain why.
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, Hot Air, Post Politics, TheBlaze.com and The Daily Caller
New York Post:
President's pick for French ambassador folded over ties to poker ring: sources — The Manhattan billionaire President Obama wanted to appoint ambassador to France turned down the prestigious position over ties to an alleged Russian mob-run poker ring that was laundered through a Carlyle hotel art gallery, sources told The Post.
Discussion:
Fortune, Gawker, Taegan Goddard's …, Business Insider, Jammie Wearing Fools and DealBook