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George W. Bush opens up on Trump's war with the media, Russia and travel ban — In his first in-depth interview since Donald Trump's inauguration, former President George W. Bush gave his take on the current commander in chief's first month in office, addressing Trump's attack on the media …
Discussion:
The Hill, Western Journalism, Fox News Insider, Washington Post, Hot Air, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, AOL, The Week, TheBlaze, The Slot and Althouse
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Bush breaks with Trump, calls media ‘indispensable to democracy’
Discussion:
Salon, ABC News, Hullabaloo and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »


GOP's New Plan to Repeal Obamacare: Dare Fellow Republicans to Block Effort — GOP lawmakers gamble that setting bill in motion to strike Affordable Care Act will help break through intraparty disagreements — WASHINGTON—Republican leaders are betting that the only way for Congress …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Washington Post, The Week, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
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Trump: ‘Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated’ — President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated,” and again flirted with the idea that Republicans should let Obamacare “implode” so that Democrats shoulder the blame.
Discussion:
Political Wire and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES


With Obamacare in jeopardy, California considers going it alone with ‘single-payer’ system — Michelle Klein-Hass, who lives in Panorama City, was newly insured under Medi-Cal when Obamacare expanded it in 2014, and is also a supporter of a single-payer system. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Instapundit

Trump says “nobody knew that health care could be so complicated”
Discussion:
Daily Kos, ACASignups.net, Axios and The Week

Exclusive: Spicer arranged CIA, GOP intelligence push-back — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer personally picked up the phone and connected outside officials with reporters to try to discredit a New York Times article about Trump campaign aides' contact with Russia …
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Sean Spicer is losing his grip — Never let it be said that President Trump and his underlings don't work hard, especially when it comes to initiatives aimed at smearing and stymieing the White House press corps. Let's look at this crew's throughput over just the past three days.


House Intelligence chairman denies evidence of Trump team's ties to Russia
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, emptywheel, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Mother Jones and Politico

Trump gets ready for his biggest sell yet
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, RedState, Politicus USA and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Claim: Reporter laughs at Trump aide's emotion over SEAL death
Discussion:
IJR, Hit & Run, Fox News, Axios, Washington Free Beacon, The Root, Politico, Raw Story, The Federalist, The Week, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, The Slot and Talking Points Memo


Trump to Propose 10% Defense Increase in Budget Plan, Aides Say — Officials say other discretionary programs to face cuts — Mnuchin said Sunday that entitlement programs won't be touched — President Donald Trump will propose boosting defense spending by $54 billion in his first budget plan …
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Trump to propose 10 percent spike in defense spending, massive cuts to other agencies
Discussion:
Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal and Common Dreams

White House calls for $54B bump in defense spending, sharp domestic cuts
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon

Trump seeks ‘historic’ increase of 9 percent in U.S. military's budget
Discussion:
Western Journalism and Eduwonk


Oscars: Australian Producer Jan Chapman Devastated by Mistaken In-Memoriam Photo — Another Oscars Gaffe: In Memoriam Video Included Photo of Living Woman — Leading Australian producer, Jan Chapman was “devastated” by another mistake in the Oscars telecast.
Discussion:
TIME, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Guardian, Washington Post, TheBlaze, New York's PIX11, IJR, The Week, WCMH-TV, Fox News Insider, AOL, CBS Miami, 6abc.com and WREG-TV

Donna Brazile: ‘I was scared’ — ATLANTA — Donna Brazile has been through a lot — but nothing like the last eight months. — More than taking over a Democratic National Committee in crisis, more than seeing the party collapse from cruising victory to crushing defeat all in one night …
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and TheBlaze
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New DNC chairman Perez wants to make Ellison ‘the face of the Democratic Party’
Discussion:
National Review

The DNC isn't enough: Democrats demand more leadership changes
Discussion:
Common Dreams, ABC News and The Hill


He's a Local Pillar in a Trump Town. Now He Could Be Deported. — WEST FRANKFORT, Ill. — Ask residents of this coal-mining crossroads about President Trump's decision to crack down on undocumented immigrants and most offer no protest. Mr. Trump, who easily won this mostly white southern Illinois county …


Why I've Decided To Break Up With Bill Kristol — The first political campaign I volunteered for was the Bush-Quayle race in 1992. I had graduated from college a few years earlier and had big dreams of someday being the White House press secretary (I'm still available!).


Here's how the worst flub in Oscar history went down — Oscar got it wrong, wrong, soooo wrong. The presenters announced the wrong Best Picture; Moonlight was the winner, not La La Land. — It was the biggest, most embarrassing, most awkward mistake in the history of the Academy Awards …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Taylor Marsh


The Daily 202: Democrats predict anti-Trump ‘tsunami’ in 2018 governor's races — THE BIG IDEA: As a House freshman, Jay Inslee lost reelection in 1994 because of voter frustration with Bill Clinton's first two years as president. Tom Foley, who represented an adjacent district …
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Scraping by on six figures? Tech workers feel poor in Silicon Valley's wealth bubble — But workers claim the high cost of living in the Bay Area has them feeling financially strained — didn't become a software engineer to be trying to make ends meet," said a Twitter employee in his early 40s who earns a base salary of $160,000.

Puzder says ‘tsunami of fake news’ defeated him — Former labor secretary nominee Andrew Puzder on Monday blamed “a tsunami of fake news” and a campaign by Democrats and the left for ending his nomination. — Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardee's and Carl's Jr. …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money


Trump: 'I haven't called Russia in 10 years' … President Trump on Monday appeared to dismiss a question about his aides' alleged ties to Russia by saying he hasn't spoken to the country in a decade. — “I haven't called Russia in 10 years,” he told a reporter who asked him whether …