Top Items:
Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
Elizabeth Colbert Busch Goes There On Argentine Affair In Debate With Mark Sanford — In their first and only debate ahead of a May 7 special election for the House, Mark Sanford (R) and Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D) sparred over budgets, guns, and — of course — the Republican candidate's personal life.
Discussion:
The Agonist, msnbc.com and Balloon Juice
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WCSC-TV:
Online dating, affairs service picks Sanford as poster boy — A website connecting users looking for casual, and often extramarital, affairs is making Mark Sanford the face of their new marketing campaign, and it could not come at a worse time for the former governor.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Taegan Goddard's …
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Elizabeth Colbert Busch attacks Mark Sanford in slugfest — CHARLESTON, S.C. - So much for the frontrunner playing it safe. — Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch took the fight to embattled Republican Mark Sanford in a raucous debate here Monday night, at one point tagging the former governor …
Discussion:
CNN, Yahoo! News, Daily Kos, The Week, The Post and Courier, The Daily Caller, The Fix, New York Times, msnbc.com, Ballot Box and The Run 2016
Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Colbert Busch holds her own against Sanford in debate
Colbert Busch holds her own against Sanford in debate
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and CNN
Gina Smith / The State:
Mark Sanford, Elizabeth Colbert Busch trade jabs in only debate
Mark Sanford, Elizabeth Colbert Busch trade jabs in only debate
Discussion:
Politico, The Maddow Blog and First Read
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Obama cautions against ‘rushing to judgment’ on Syria — President Obama said Tuesday that the United States still does not know who used chemical weapons in Syria and cautioned against “rushing to judgment.” — “If we end up rushing to judgment without hard effective evidence …
Discussion:
Politico
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CNN:
Live Blog: President Obama takes questions — (CNN) - President Barack Obama is holding a press conference Tuesday in the White House briefing room. His press secretary announced the session early in the day: … Refresh this page for updates as the president's news conference gets underway.
Chris Cassidy / Boston Herald:
Tsarnaev family received $100G in benefits — By: — The Tsarnaev family, including the suspected terrorists and their parents, benefited from more than $100,000 in taxpayer-funded assistance — a bonanza ranging from cash and food stamps to Section 8 housing from 2002 to 2012, the Herald has learned.
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Obama's budget puts House Democrats in bind — Democrats have used a clear and potent attack against Republicans in recent elections: Don't vote for them because they'll cut your Social Security and Medicare. — But using that playbook next year, as Democrats had planned, just got a lot more complicated.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Roll Call, Mediaite and The Plum Line
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Susan Davis / USA Today:
GOP presses its agenda on ‘mommy blog’ sites — WASHINGTON — House Republicans are targeting popular “mommy blog” websites in a digital ad campaign beginning Tuesday as part of an ongoing effort to repair the GOP's image with certain voting blocs — in this case swing female voters …
Washington Post:
FBI looking into relationship between McDonnells, donor — FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor's daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Crooks and Liars, CNN, The Maddow Blog, Blue Virginia, Outside the Beltway and ABCNEWS
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James Rosen / Fox News:
Obama administration officials threatened whistle-blowers on Benghazi, lawyer says — At least four career officials at the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency have retained lawyers or are in the process of doing so, as they prepare to provide sensitive information …
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Governor Explains Away Poor Jobs Numbers: Most Unemployed People Are On Drugs — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is facing an uphill fight for re-election as he battles negative job approval ratings and a slow economic recovery. The state's unemployment rate has dropped to 7.9 percent …
Discussion:
Philly.com, Politico and Outside the Beltway
McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Republican Immigration Nightmare Could Recur — In 2007, Republicans waged culture war on undocumented immigrants — and they've been paying for it at the ballot box ever since. Back in the bunker. — Minutemen demonstrate in Los Angeles in May 2007. — For the Republicans in Washington …
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Hinterland Gazette and Booman Tribune
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Don't be a jerk, Sen. Cruz. — It is a shopworn technique of hard-line conservatives to declare themselves men and women of principle in contrast to those other Republicans — the ones, you know, who pass legislation and try to represent their constituents.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Slate, Weasel Zippers, The Maddow Blog, Rumproast, Business Insider and Post Politics
Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Obama's Judicial Nominees Blocked On All Sides By Senate Republicans — WASHINGTON — It's bad enough that there are 82 vacant federal judge slots around the country, a level so high that many observers have deemed it a crisis situation. — But perhaps even more startling is the fact …
Discussion:
Washington Wire
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
American Jihadi In Somalia Is Still Alive — After a tense standoff with his former allies on Monday, Omar Hammami is tweeting again. A fatwa may have saved him. — Via: Farah Abdi Warsameh, File / AP — WASHINGTON — Omar Hammami, the Alabama-born jihadi in Somalia …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Wired
Martin Fackler / New York Times:
Radioactive Water Imperils Fukushima Plant — TOKYO — Two years after a triple meltdown that grew into the world's second worst nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is faced with a new crisis: a flood of highly radioactive wastewater that workers are struggling to contain.
Discussion:
IHT Rendezvous, The Agonist and Balloon Juice
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Jobless After Scandal, Weiner Triumphs in Corporate World — Anthony D. Weiner has demystified the details of the 906-page Affordable Care Act for an electronic medical records company. — He has counseled a biofuel firm about expansion into the emerging markets of Latin America and Africa.
Discussion:
Politicker
Steven Rattner / Opinionator:
The Warnings Behind the Numbers — On its face, Friday's announcement that the nation's gross domestic product expanded at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the first quarter was good news, following as it did an only marginally positive result for the previous three-month period.
Discussion:
The Dish, Calculated Risk and AEIdeas
Newt Gingrich / TIME:
How Newt Gingrich Won 2012 — Newt is back. His book business has been revitalized, he's throwing himself onto the speaking circuit, and he's a once and possibly future regular talking head on television. — Well into his fourth decade in American politics — and almost a year …
Discussion:
New Republic
Jonathan D. Salant / Bloomberg:
FEC Expired Terms Prompt Calls for Obama to Keep Promise — Federal Election Commissioner Caroline Hunter's term expires today, which means all of the commission members are now serving on borrowed time. — It's the latest embarrassment for the Obama administration and the FEC …
Ashley Parker / New York Times:
Former Senator at Odds With Protégé on Immigration — WASHINGTON — Jim DeMint helped make Marco Rubio a Senate star — and he could be forgiven for regretting it. — Mr. DeMint, a former Republican senator from South Carolina, endorsed Mr. Rubio early on in his 2010 Senate bid …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh and The Caucus
Sarah Kliff / Wonkblog:
Poll: 42 percent of Americans unsure if Obamacare is still law — If you want to know what a challenge the Obama administration faces in implementing its signature health-care law, this statistic might help: Fewer than six in 10 Americans know that the Obamacare law is still on the books.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Taegan Goddard's … and New York Times