Top Items:
Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
Rand Paul for President — Because what the GOP needs is a humbling landslide defeat. — Republicans, let's get it over with. Fast forward to the finish line. Avoid the long and winding primary road. It can only weaken the nominee. And we know who he—yes, he—has to be.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, National Review, PoliticusUSA, Washington Post, Mediaite, Booman Tribune and Hinterland Gazette
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Rich Lowry / National Review:
Rand Paul's Foreign Policy: For the Situation Room or the Dorm Room? — The oil-services company Halliburton is an old obsession of the anti-Bush Left, and evidently of Kentucky senator Rand Paul. — The libertarian standard-bearer and almost-certain Republican presidential candidate suggested …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Yahoo! News
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Census Survey Revisions Mask Health Law Effects — WASHINGTON — The Census Bureau, the authoritative source of health insurance data for more than three decades, is changing its annual survey so thoroughly that it will be difficult to measure the effects of President Obama's health care law …
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Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
Obamacare's victory lap
Obamacare's victory lap
Discussion:
Health Affairs Blog, Liberal Values, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, Firedoglake and CBO's Publications
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Why You Should Be Sympathetic Toward Cliven Bundy — On Saturday, I wrote about the standoff at Bundy Ranch. That post drew a remarkable amount of traffic, even though, as I wrote then, I had not quite decided what to make of the story. Since then, I have continued to study the facts and have drawn some conclusions.
Discussion:
National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Dana Show, alicublog, Hot Air and MichelleMalkin.com
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My News 4:
Sen. Reid on Cattle Battle: “It's not over” — RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hasn't been very vocal about the cattle battle showdown in recent days, but says “it's not over.” — Reid tells News4's Samantha Boatman his take on the so-called cattle battle in southern Las Vegas.
Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:
Former Arizona Sheriff Reveals Chilling Strategy to Put Women ‘Up at the Front’ During Bundy Ranch Standoff
Former Arizona Sheriff Reveals Chilling Strategy to Put Women ‘Up at the Front’ During Bundy Ranch Standoff
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
Bundy Ranch ‘Militia’ Considered Using Women As Human Shield
Bundy Ranch ‘Militia’ Considered Using Women As Human Shield
Discussion:
Liberaland
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
WATCH: Congressman Tells Black Constituent He's Not Sure The Civil Rights Act Is Constitutional — Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) addresses a town hall meeting in Gainesville, Florida. — CREDIT: Scott Keyes — GAINESVILLE, Florida — Last week, former presidents and dignitaries celebrated …
Andrew Dugan / Gallup:
As Taxes Rise, Half in U.S. Say Middle-Income Pay Too Much — A near-record high of 23% say lower-income Americans pay too little — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nearly half of Americans, 49%, believe middle-income people — a group many Americans consider themselves part of — pay too much in taxes …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post and PoliticusUSA
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Read My Lips: More New Taxes!
Read My Lips: More New Taxes!
Discussion:
The Federalist, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, CBS DC, Independent Journal Review and Hot Air
ThinkProgress:
Prominent Republican: Women Need To Be Paid Less So They Can Find Husbands — On Sunday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sought to advance the GOP's rebranding effort among female voters by suggesting that Republicans have long “led the fight for women's equality.”
Discussion:
Shakesville, The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo
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Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:
Schlafly: Increase The Pay Gap So Women Will Have Better Opportunities To Find A Husband
Schlafly: Increase The Pay Gap So Women Will Have Better Opportunities To Find A Husband
Discussion:
Christian News …, Liberaland and The Raw Story
Ryan J. Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Eric Holder ‘Cautiously Optimistic’ About Marijuana Legalization In Washington And Colorado — CHARLESTON, S.C. — Attorney General Eric Holder is “cautiously optimistic” about how things are going in Washington state and Colorado following the legalization and state regulation of marijuana.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard and Infowars
Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
Landrieu Reenacts Committee Hearing for Campaign Ad — Democratic senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana is in a tough reelection battle because of her support for Obamacare. So its not surprising her latest TV ad focuses on the one high-profile fight she's had with the Obama administration, over oil and gas exploration.
Discussion:
CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, OnPolitics and National Review
ThinkProgress:
Governor Bans Minimum Wage Increases And Paid Sick Leave Laws — At a time when many states and cities are working passing minimum wage increases, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has gone in the opposite direction and signed a law banning cities from passing higher wages.
Discussion:
Liberaland, Americans Against the …, Tulsa World and Associated Press
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Ben Carson: White House wanted apology for ‘offending’ Obama — Neurosurgeon Ben Carson says the White House wanted him to apologize for “offending” President Obama after he famously delivered a conservative message at the National Prayer Breakfast last year.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Independent Journal Review
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Sebelius steps down, and ObamaCare supporters pretend to rejoice. — Six months ago, in the midst of what the New York Times then termed ObamaCare's “troubled rollout,” Kathleen Sebelius defied calls for her to resign as secretary of health and human services.
Discussion:
Questions and Observations and Talking Points Memo
Marc Fisher / Washington Post:
Social Security stops trying to collect on old debts by seizing tax refunds — The Social Security Administration announced Monday that it will immediately cease efforts to collect on taxpayers' debts to the government that are more than 10 years old. — The action comes after The Washington …
Derek Wallbank / Bloomberg:
U.S. Deficit Cut by Almost One-Third to $492 Billion: CBO — The U.S. government's deficit will fall to $492 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a steeper drop than originally predicted from $680 billion in fiscal year 2013. — The 2014 deficit will be 2.8 percent …
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Monthly and CBO's Publications
David Greenberg / The New Republic:
I'm OK With Calling LBJ a “Liberal Hero” (and No, I'm Not Ignoring Vietnam) — When I wrote my mixed assessment of “All the Way,” the engaging but often-cartoonish Broadway play about Lyndon Johnson, I criticized “Baby Boomers who insisted that the blunders of Vietnam should negate the triumphs of the Great Society.”
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Dish
Bob Nightengale / USA Today:
As MLB honors Jackie Robinson, can it reverse a trend? — Just when we want to believe that times are changing, and prejudice is waning, along comes a ferocious reminder like a Manny Pacquiao punch to the jaw. — Sheer racism, exposed in vile letters directed to Hall of Fame great Hank Aaron …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Pirate's Cove and theGrio
Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times:
Hawaii governor apologizes for questioning Inouye death-bed drama — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie apologized for questioning the drama surrounding a death-bed letter at the center of a heated U.S. Senate contest without backing off his assertion that the choice of a candidate was his alone to make.
Discussion:
OnPolitics and Washington Post
Elianayjohnson / National Review:
Bolton PACs Raise Big Money — John Bolton's political-action committees are pulling in big bucks. Together, the former United Nations ambassador's groups, a PAC and a super PAC that will back candidates who share Bolton's belief in a muscular foreign policy, raised nearly $2 million since their launch in November, sources say.
Doug Glanville / Reuters:
I Was Racially Profiled in My Own Driveway — A retired Major League Baseball player explains how he's trying to turn an upsetting encounter with the police into an opportunity for dialogue. — It was an otherwise ordinary snow day in Hartford, Connecticut, and I was laughing as I headed outside to shovel my driveway.
Discussion:
Shakesville and Daily Kos
Curtis Krueger / Tampa Bay Times:
Alex Sink will not challenge David Jolly for congressional seat in November — Democrat Alex Sink has decided not to run for Congress again this year, meaning there will not be a rematch of the nationally watched and extraordinarily costly campaign that Sink lost in Pinellas County a little …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics and National Republican …
David Hawkings / Roll Call:
Can You Lie in Politics? Supreme Court Will Decide — The Supreme Court has made pretty clear that putting your money where your mouth is deserves broad protection as a form of free political speech. The justices are about to consider whether outright lying in a campaign deserves a similar First Amendment shield.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Betsy's Page and The Reaction