memeorandum: Obama's New Budget Is All About the Midterm Elections (David A. Graham/The Atlantic Online)

2:50 PM ET, March 5, 2014

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Why Putin Doesn't Respect Us — Just as we've turned the coverage of politics into sports, we're doing the same with geopolitics. There is much nonsense being written about how Vladimir Putin showed how he is “tougher” than Barack Obama and how Obama now needs to demonstrate his manhood.

Discussion: Questions and Observations and National Review

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

How to Punish Putin — Ignore him. He's running a regional power and isn't half as smart as Cold Warriors think. — Here are the real lessons of the crisis in Ukraine: Russia is not a great power, and Vladimir Putin is hardly the master grand strategist that many American Cold Warriors have been weirdly eager to believe.

Discussion: The Federalist, The Dish, ThinkProgress and Mediaite

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Hillary Clinton Compares Russia Moves To Nazi Aggression — Clinton draws a parallel between the Russian government's issuing passports in Ukraine and pre-World War II actions taken by Germany. The comments are Clinton's first since Putin's troops entered Ukraine on Saturday. — Olivier Douliery / MCT

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, CNN, Betsy's Page, Real Clear Politics, PoliticusUSA, The Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh, NPR, Mediaite, The Week, Talking Points Memo, RedState, The Reaction, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider

Long Beach Press-Telegram:

Hillary Clinton compares Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine to Adolf Hitler's in Nazi Germany — (Photo by Brittany Murray/Long Beach Press Telegram) — LONG BEACH >> Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday compared recent actions by Russian President Vladimir Putin …

Alex Seitz-Wald / NationalJournal.com:
Democrats Put Hillary Clinton at Risk by Dismissing Benghazi Criticism

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, The Week and CBS DC

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Ranking Dem Flips Out At IRS Hearing After Issa Cuts His Mic — Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) had looked forward to Wednesday. — The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee planned to haul former IRS official Lois Lerner back before the committee.

Discussion: Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Americans Against the … and The Raw Story

Fox News:

Issa, Cummings clash at hearing after ex-IRS official Lerner takes 5th — A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

Discussion: National Review, Washington Free Beacon, PoliticusUSA, MichelleMalkin.com, CBS DC, NewsBusters and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jay Sekulow / Fox News:
Four questions Lois Lerner must answer about IRS scandal

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

TheBlaze.com: Lois Lerner Refuses to Testify on the IRS Scandal

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:
Lois Lerner fears for her life if she testifies at Wednesday's oversight hearing

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Talking Points Memo

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Probe: Did the CIA spy on the U.S. Senate? — WASHINGTON — The CIA Inspector General's Office has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations of malfeasance at the spy agency in connection with a yet-to-be released Senate Intelligence Committee report into the CIA's secret detention …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The World's Greatest …, Gawker, Hot Air, Mediaite, ACS Blog, emptywheel and Shakesville

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

C.I.A. Employees Face New Inquiry Amid Clashes on Detention Program — WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency's attempt to keep secret the details of a defunct detention and interrogation program has escalated a battle between the agency and members of Congress and led to an investigation …

Discussion: Liberaland, The Raw Story, Techdirt, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Prairie Weather, The Week and Discourse.net

Spencer Ackerman / Guardian:
Obama knew CIA secretly monitored intelligence committee, senator claims

Discussion: Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Techdirt and emptywheel

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:

Senate rejects Obama nominee who defended cop killer — The Senate voted 47-52 Wednesday to reject controversial nominee Debo Adegbile as an assistant attorney general. — Seven Democrats voted against moving forward with President Obama's nomination of Adegbile, which the Fraternal Order …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Balloon Juice

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Senate blocks Obama's DOJ nominee — Several Senate Democrats rebelled Wednesday to join Republicans in blocking President Barack Obama's controversial pick to lead the Justice Department's civil rights division. — The rejection of Debo Adegbile in a 47-52 vote marks the first time that the Senate …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation

Susan Davis / USA Today:
Senate blocks Obama nominee over Mumia Abu-Jamal case

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Free Beacon, The Fix and Jammie Wearing Fools

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid escalates feud with Koch brothers

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

Washington Post:

Support for same-sex marriage hits new high; half say Constitution guarantees right — Half of all Americans believe that gay men and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll in which a large majority also said businesses should not be able …

Discussion: The Fix, Politico, Washington Blade, Human Rights Campaign Blog, Post Politics, The Dish, The Plum Line, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Wonkblog, Towleroad News #gay, Shakesville, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire and Lawyers, Guns & Money

ThinkProgress:
Pope Francis Suggests Support For Civil Unions

Discussion: Feed RSS, Advocate and Eschaton

Brandon Rittiman / KUSA-TV:
Hickenlooper quietly comes out for same-sex marriage

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and The New Civil Rights Movement

Israel Defense Forces / IDF Blog:

IDF Intercepts Iranian Shipment of Missiles to Terrorist Organizations in Gaza — The IDF intercepted an attempt to smuggle an Iranian shipment of advanced weaponry intended for terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The operation took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Discussion: The Long War Journal, Israel Matzav and Jihad Watch

Dan Williams / Reuters:
Israel says seized Gaza-bound rocket shipment from Iran

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Right Turn

Tyler Cowen / Marginal REVOLUTION:

The new Paul Ryan report on poverty and safety net programs — I read much of the document last night, here are a few comments: — 1. The so-called “war on poverty” has gone better than most of this document would appear to suggest, although this ends up being acknowledged in the appendix on poverty measures.

Discussion: The Week, The Moderate Voice, cbpp.org, jaredbernsteinblog.com, The National Memo, New York Times and The Fiscal Times

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Real Poverty Trap

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, The Federalist, The Mahablog and Washington Post

Peter Weber / The Week:

Watch The Daily Show ask Fox News why the poor shouldn't eat seafood — On Tuesday night's Daily Show, Jon Stewart focused on Republican opposition to food stamps. The stated reason for opposing aid to the hungry is food stamp fraud, Stewart noted, before indulging in a little bit of light debunking.

Discussion: The Raw Story

Natalie Villacorta / Politico:

Barbara Bush cancels New York Times — Former first lady Barbara Bush says that The New York Times will do “anything to make news” and she has canceled her subscription. — During an interview that aired Wednesday on Fox, the former first lady was asked if she had seen Times columnist …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Post Politics, Fox News Insider and Business Insider

Bloomberg:

Highest Minimum-Wage State Washington Beats U.S. in Job Creation — When Washington residents voted in 1998 to raise the state's minimum wage and link it to the cost of living, opponents warned the measure would be a job-killer. The prediction hasn't been borne out.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Texas G.O.P. Beats Back Challengers From Right — McALLEN, Tex. — Establishment Republican leaders on Tuesday defeated challenges from the right in a statewide primary election as conservatives inspired by Senator Ted Cruz largely failed to topple mainstream incumbents, and a race for lieutenant governor headed for a runoff.

Discussion: NBC News, The Hill, American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Prairie Weather, Brains and Eggs and Politico

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Refusing to Photograph a Gay Wedding Isn't Hateful — Some opposition to same-sex marriage is rooted in bigotry and some isn't. Assuming otherwise is itself prejudice rooted in ignorance. — Remember the New Mexico photographer who got sued after declining to photograph a lesbian couple's wedding …

Discussion: Crooked Timber

Yahoo! News:

Michele Bachmann: Jan Brewer wrong to veto Arizona's ‘anti-gay’ bill — Rep. Michele Bachmann is “sorry” that Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a controversial bill in Arizona that would have allowed businesses to legally refuse service to same-sex couples because of religious objections.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News and Towleroad News #gay