Top Items:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
‘Vote No, Hope Yes’ Defines Dysfunction in Congress — WASHINGTON — After the shutdown, the filibusters and years of stalled bills, it was the actual passage of legislation this week that revealed the true depth of congressional dysfunction. — The House vote to raise the debt limit …
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Washington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, Booman Tribune and Fusion
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Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
2014 House Forecast Update: No Wave in Sight — The results of a simple but extremely accurate midterm election forecasting model indicate that the 2014 U.S. House elections are likely to result in minimal change in the party balance of power. The forecasting model uses three predictors …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Hypocrite's Corner
Hypocrite's Corner
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and National Review
Alec Macgillis / The New Republic:
Chris Christie's Entire Career Reeks — It's not just the bridge — Has there ever been a political reversal of fortune as rapid and as absolute as the one just experienced by Chris Christie? At warp speed, the governor of New Jersey has gone from the most popular politician in the country …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Guardian, TheBlaze.com, The Dish and Balloon Juice
The Hill:
Before O-Care debacle, Sebelius made many trips to White House — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in frequent contact with President Obama and senior White House aides before the disastrous launch of the federal ObamaCare exchange last year.
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Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:
Latest Obamacare Delay Is Probably Illegal
Latest Obamacare Delay Is Probably Illegal
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Another senior House Republican announces retirement — Washington (CNN) - Republican Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington state announced Thursday that he'll retire at the end of this year rather than run for re-election in November. — Hastings, who currently serves as the chairman …
Discussion:
Politico
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Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
For First Time, Gay GOP House Candidate Features Partner In Ad
For First Time, Gay GOP House Candidate Features Partner In Ad
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Hit & Run
Patrick O'Connor / Wall Street Journal:
Gay Republican Candidate's Ad Poses Test for Party
Gay Republican Candidate's Ad Poses Test for Party
Discussion:
OnPolitics, Voice of San Diego, Joe. My. God., Mediaite, Capitol View, Most Recent, American Power, Post Politics, Towleroad News #gay and Liberaland
Damon Linker / The Week:
Is opposing gay marriage the same as being a racist? — Conservative opposition to same sex marriage is deeply rooted in religious belief — W — riting at The New Republic, Isaac Chotiner doesn't much appreciate my argument about the growing cockiness of secular liberals.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Mahablog, Hinterland Gazette, National Review and Washington Monthly
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Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
How The Supreme Court Pushed Judges To Strike Down Gay Marriage Bans — Last summer, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision equalizing the treatment of all married couples under federal law. But it opted not to address the more fundamental question in a related case …
Discussion:
Off the Kuff and Associated Press
Wall Street Journal:
The Minority Maker — Ted Cruz hurts his party by forcing a meaningless debt-ceiling vote.
Discussion:
Daily Kos and ProfessorBainbridge.com
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The Hill:
Dramatic debt vote stirs Senate
Dramatic debt vote stirs Senate
Discussion:
The Other McCain, CNN, WFPL, Ted Cruz, The Daily Caller, Politico and National Review
ThinkProgress:
How Comcast Buying Time Warner Cable Could Impact You — And The Entire Entertainment Industry — Comcast Cable President and CEO Neil Smit. — CREDIT: AP Images/Evan Agostini — Today, Comcast, already the country's largest provider of cable television, announced that it would spend $45 billion …
Discussion:
Gigaom, MarketWatch, CNNMoney.com and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »
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David Gelles / DealBook:
Comcast Deal Seeks to Unite 2 Cable Giants
Comcast Deal Seeks to Unite 2 Cable Giants
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Week, The Plum Line, Gigaom, Taylor Marsh, Reuters, Digits, CNBC, americanthinker.com, Bloomberg, Poynter, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Banter, more at Mediagazer »
Quinnipiac News + Events:
Release Detail — February 13, 2014 - Cuomo Thumps Trump, Astorino In New York Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Clinton Runs Better Against Christie In 2016 Race — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a 63 - 28 percent job approval rating, higher than the current scores for any governor …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, PoliticusUSA, Real Clear Politics, CNN, Politico and Capitol Confidential
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Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Trump Stops Short of Entering the Race for Governor
Trump Stops Short of Entering the Race for Governor
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Capitol Confidential, Politicker, Taegan Goddard's … and Liberaland
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Maddow Defends Bridge Coverage Following ‘Morning Joe’ Criticism (VIDEO) — Rachel Maddow kicked off her show Wednesday evening with what seemed like a repudiation to what was said on her own network several hours earlier. — “It has been a big day today in the biggest political story …
Discussion:
New Jersey Online and The PJ Tatler
USA Today:
Some snow is on the ground at the highest elevations of the Big Island of Hawaii. — Snow is on the ground in 49 out of the 50 states — only the Sunshine State of Florida is completely snow-free, according to a map produced Thursday morning by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NBC News:
Exclusive: Snowden Swiped Password From NSA Coworker - NBC News — A civilian NSA employee recently resigned after being stripped of his security clearance for allowing former agency contractor Edward Snowden to use his pers...
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Liberaland and Re/code
Adam Gopnik / New Yorker:
When did faith start to fade? — In Tom Stoppard's 1970 play “Jumpers,” the philosopher hero broods unhappily on the inexorable rise of the atheist: “The tide is running his way, and it is a tide which has turned only once in human history. . . . There is presumably a calendar date—a moment …
Discussion:
Ross Douthat
Garrett Epps / The Atlantic Online:
How the Case of an Amish Farmer Could Doom Hobby Lobby in Court — It doesn't matter whether an employer is secular or religious, non-profit or for-profit. The Supreme Court's precedents show that the government's interest in nationwide programs trumps all. — Edwin Lee was a Pennsylvania Amish farmer and carpenter.
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog
Erika Eichelberger / Mother Jones:
Wednesday Was Full of Good News for Obamacare. Here Are the Charts That Prove It. — More Americans enrolled in Obamacare plans in January than expected, according to data released Wednesday by the Obama administration. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had expected to sign up 1,059,900 people last month.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Week, The Dish and The New Republic
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Rand Paul and Ken Cuccinelli accused of stealing NSA lawsuit — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been caught using purloined passages in several of his speeches. Now the aspiring presidential candidate stands accused of filing a lawsuit stolen from its author. — Since December …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, OnPolitics, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Raw Story, Yahoo! News, PoliticusUSA, Shakesville and New York Times
ThinkProgress:
Why The Senate STILL Isn't Able To Get Anything Done Even After The ‘Nuclear Option’ — It wasn't supposed to be this way. — In 2013, the Senate adopted two of the most significant changes to its rules in nearly 40 years. The first significantly reduced the amount of time senators …
Discussion:
Senate Democrats