Top Items:
Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Abortion bill dropped amid concerns of female GOP lawmakers — This item has been updated. — House Republican leaders abruptly dropped plans late Wednesday to vote on an anti-abortion bill amid a revolt by female GOP lawmakers concerned that the legislation's restrictive language …
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Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Why Everyone Should Be Terrified By The GOP's Abortion Bill Debacle — Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court legalizing abortion on demand throughout pregnancy. The pro-life movement commemorates this day with marches, worship services and lobbying for bills to protect unborn children.
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Return of “Legitimate Rape” — Conservative antichoicers really, really just cannot help themselves. Many seem haunted by the idea that women are going to claim they were raped in order to get around the prospective abortion bans they dream of enacting. Others oppose any rape exception …
Discussion:
Democratic Strategist
Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Republicans Include Tax Hike In Latest Abortion Bill
Republicans Include Tax Hike In Latest Abortion Bill
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and Daily Kos
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Renee Ellmers Says She Won't Flip-Flop on Bill Protecting Viable Infants from Late-Term Abortion
Renee Ellmers Says She Won't Flip-Flop on Bill Protecting Viable Infants from Late-Term Abortion
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, RedState, The Daily Caller, Daily Signal, Talking Points Memo and LifeNews.com
Daniel Doherty / Townhall.com:
Surprise: White House Unlikely to Sign Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Into Law
Surprise: White House Unlikely to Sign Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act Into Law
Discussion:
Washington Post and Shot in the Dark
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Romney and Jeb Bush to Meet in Utah — WASHINGTON — Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney are scheduled to meet privately this week in Utah, raising the possibility that the two former governors will find a way to avoid competing presidential campaigns that would split the Republican establishment next year …
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Gary Langer / ABC News:
History's a Positive for Clinton; Not So for Bush or Romney — Hillary Clinton's potential place in history and her husband's tenure in the White House boost her presidential prospects, while Jeb Bush's political legacy and Mitt Romney's 2012 run for the office are negatives, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog and FOX News Radio
McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Here's The “Willie Horton” Ad Romney Almost Ran Against Mike Huckabee — “This is my daughter... she was murdered by a serial rapist released early from prison in Arkansas. Will we see a version of this unaired ad — obtained by BuzzFeed News — in 2016? — View Video ›
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Raw Story
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush to meet privately in Utah on Thursday
Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush to meet privately in Utah on Thursday
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and FOX News Radio
New York Times:
Sheldon Silver, New York Assembly Speaker, Is Accused of Taking Millions in Graft — The powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver, was arrested on federal corruption charges on Thursday and accused of using the power of his office to solicit millions in bribes and kickbacks, according to court documents.
Discussion:
Politico, New York Post, Gothamist, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse
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New York Times:
Sheldon Silver, New York Assembly Speaker, Faces Arrest on Corruption Charges — Federal authorities are expected to arrest Sheldon Silver, the powerful speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges on Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter said, in a case that is likely to throw Albany into disarray.
John Marzulli / NY Daily News:
NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver accused of $6 million bribery and kickback scheme, taken into custody
NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver accused of $6 million bribery and kickback scheme, taken into custody
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler and Moe Lane
Josh Rogin / Bloomberg View:
Israeli Mossad Goes Rogue, Warns U.S. on Iran Sanctions — The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has broken ranks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, telling U.S. officials and lawmakers that a new Iran sanctions bill in the U.S. Congress would tank the Iran nuclear negotiations.
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Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Mossad chief denies opposing new sanctions on Iran — PMO releases statement clarifying that he told U.S. senators ‘in the absence of strong pressure, the Iranians will make no meaningful compromises.’ — Mossad chief Tamir Pardo issued a rare press release on Thursday denying reports …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Carl / Israel Matzav:
Breaking: Full statement from Mossad head on Iran — The above was just posted on TwitLonger by Israel Radio reporter Chico Menashe. Here's my translation: … Welcome to Washington Prime Minister Netanyahu. — UPDATE 4:21 PM — Previous posts on this story here and here.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Elana Schor / Politico:
US Senate votes that climate change is real but Republicans stop short of attributing that to human activity — Republicans outfox Democrats on climate votes — The GOP accepts the notion of climate change - but not the way Democrats wanted them to. — Senate Republicans head-faked Democrats …
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Karoli / Latest from Crooks and Liars:
Joni Ernst's Family Got Hundreds Of Thousands In Farm Subsidies — I put Joni's SOTU response up there so you can listen to her little anecdote at the beginning again, but this time with a little more transparency and truth around her “bread bag” story. — Please be still, my beating heart …
Discussion:
Addicting Info, Raw Story, Liberaland and FreakOutNation
New York Times:
Measles Cases Linked to Disneyland Rise, and Debate Over Vaccinations Intensifies — LOS ANGELES — A measles outbreak that began at Disneyland is spreading across California and beyond, prompting health officials to move aggressively to contain it — including by barring unvaccinated students from going to school in Orange County.
Discussion:
Washington Post, NPR, The Verge and Eschaton
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Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:
Democrats Always Talk About Latino Voters, So Why Are They Snubbing Their Most Prominent Latino Leader?
Democrats Always Talk About Latino Voters, So Why Are They Snubbing Their Most Prominent Latino Leader?
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Power Line
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Clinton plans to astound, intimidate with fundraising 'like nothing you've seen' — Major donors are ready to announce huge financial commitments to Hillary Clinton as soon as she announces a second run for the White House, according to Clinton allies and Democratic fundraisers.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and Washington Examiner
USA Today:
Probe finds insufficient evidence to charge Darren Wilson — WASHINGTON — The federal investigation into the shooting death of black Ferguson, Mo., teenager Michael Brown has yielded insufficient evidence to support criminal charges against white officer Darren Wilson, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Mashable
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Jon Ward / Yahoo! News:
Orrin Hatch is the happiest senator in Washington — Yahoo News 2 hrs ago — WASHINGTON — It's good being the president pro tempore of the Senate. — Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has been in the Senate for 37 years, and he's seen it all. But for the first time in his career, he has a security detail.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Nick Hanauer / Politico:
The Pitchforks Are Coming... For Us Plutocrats — To: My Fellow Zillionaires — You probably don't know me, but like you I am one of those .01%ers, a proud and unapologetic capitalist. I have founded, co-founded and funded more than 30 companies across a range of industries …
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
The CIA's Most Important Overseer Is Abetting Its Torture Coverup — Senator Richard Burr now leads the Senate committee charged with keeping tabs on the spy agency. But he's behaving more like a CIA asset. — Senator Richard Burr is acting like a man who doesn't understand the role or duties that he now has.
Discussion:
VICE News, Prairie Weather, Politico, Daily Kos and Raw Story
Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:
A Debt-Free State of the Union — Want to understand why President Obama sounded so exuberant last night and the Republicans who responded to him sounded so cautious? The answer lies in the sudden disappearance of two all-important words from America's political lexicon: deficit and debt.
Discussion:
Washington Post, TIME and Towleroad News #gay
Julie Pace / Associated Press:
OBAMA WILL NOT MEET WITH NETANYAHU DURING TRIP TO WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he travels to Washington in March, the White House said Thursday, one day after being caught off-guard by Republicans' invitation …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, American Spectator, FOX News Radio, Bloomberg View and BuzzFeed