Top Items:
Christopher Ruddy / Newsmax:
Trump Should Ditch Freedom Caucus, Seek Bipartisan Plan — Trump ran on a platform of taking on Obamacare, but he should reject the current GOP plan. — A A — President Donald Trump should be applauded for courageously tackling the “disaster” - as he calls Obamacare - in his first major legislative effort.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Raw Story, Political Wire, Business Insider, Mother Jones, TheBlaze, Breitbart, Hot Air, Mediaite, Vox, twitchy.com, The Week and CNN
RELATED:
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Close Trump friend says ditch Paul Ryan's plan and embrace universal health care — Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy calls for Medicaid for all. — A key Trump friend and ally is urging the president to dump Paul Ryan's Affordable Health Care Act and embrace something that sounds sort …
Discussion:
TheBlaze
CNN:
Hill moderates take issue with GOP health care plan — GOP's health care bill: Winners and losers — (CNN)A devastating analysis from the Congressional Budget Office on the House GOP bill to repeal Obamacare has rattled moderates Republicans in the House, who are uneasy about the prospects …
Discussion:
The Hill
Greg Hinz / Chicago Business:
Roskam blinks on Ryancare — A key member of Illinois' congressional delegation is signaling for the first time that he may be open to significant changes in the Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan being pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan and President Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Katie Leslie / Dallas Morning News:
Sen. Ted Cruz: Forecast for rising premiums ‘most troubling aspect’ of scathing CBO health care report — WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz is weighing in on the Congressional Budget Office's damning assessment of the GOP's health care bill, telling reporters the “most troubling aspect” …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway and Politico
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Washington Post:
Fact-checking the White House's rhetoric on the CBO report
Fact-checking the White House's rhetoric on the CBO report
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Vox, Hit & Run and FiveThirtyEight
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
The CBO's other bombshell: the Affordable Care Act isn't imploding
The CBO's other bombshell: the Affordable Care Act isn't imploding
Discussion:
Politico, New Republic, Washington Post, BillMoyers.com, Mother Jones, Rewire, NPR, Daily Kos and CNBC
Madeleine Weast / Washington Free Beacon:
Nancy Pelosi's Health Care Tweet Gets Unintended Response
Nancy Pelosi's Health Care Tweet Gets Unintended Response
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Vox and Daily Wire
Kelsey Snell / Washington Post:
White House tries to salvage GOP health-care proposal as criticism mounts
White House tries to salvage GOP health-care proposal as criticism mounts
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Bloomberg and The Daily Signal
Jonathan Cohn / The Huffington Post:
Devastating CBO Report Exposes The Empty Promises Of Obamacare Repeal
Devastating CBO Report Exposes The Empty Promises Of Obamacare Repeal
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, Center on Budget …, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Slate, Balloon Juice, Hit & Run and New York Magazine
Victoria McGrane GLOBE / BostonGlobe.com:
24 million could lose insurance, report says, dealing GOP a blow
24 million could lose insurance, report says, dealing GOP a blow
Discussion:
Political Wire, Washington Post and Politico
Aidan Quigley / Politico:
Republican governors skeptical of House GOP health care bill
Republican governors skeptical of House GOP health care bill
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Concord Monitor
Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:
No Magic in How G.O.P. Plan Lowers Premiums: It Pushes Out Older People
No Magic in How G.O.P. Plan Lowers Premiums: It Pushes Out Older People
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Fox News, The Mahablog, BizPac Review and Hullabaloo
Chris Massie / CNN:
Steve King: Blacks and Hispanics ‘will be fighting each other’ before overtaking whites in population — (CNN)Iowa Rep. Steve King said Monday that blacks and Hispanics “will be fighting each other” before overtaking whites in the US population. — King, a Republican …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America, Daily Kos, Raw Story, The Root, Mediaite, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, AOL, TheBlaze and The Hill
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Alastair Gale / Wall Street Journal:
When the Children Crashed Dad's BBC Interview: The Family Speaks — In their first interview, Korea expert Robert Kelly and his wife Kim Jung-A describe the circumstances, chaos, and global reaction to their now-infamous home-office Skype catastrophe; ‘she was in a hippity-hoppity mood’
Discussion:
IJR, Refinery29, New York Magazine, Mediaite, The Daily Edge and Mashable
Michael C. Bender / Wall Street Journal:
Steve Bannon and the Making of an Economic Nationalist — The controversial White House counselor says his father's 2008 financial trauma helped crystallize his antiglobalist views and led to a political hardening; 'I'm going to be totally wiped out' — Steve Bannon has played a lead role in honing Donald Trump's message.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Hullabaloo
Jamie Lovegrove / Dallas Morning News:
Watch: Texas congressman tells rowdy town hall attendee to ‘shut up’ — WASHINGTON — Facing an earful from angry constituents at a town hall this weekend, Rep. Joe Barton at one point told a loud attendee to “shut up” — setting off even more heated reactions.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, NBC News, Death and Taxes, Raw Story, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and AOL
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Sam Levine / The Huffington Post:
GOP Congressman Tells Man To ‘Shut Up’ During Town Hall
GOP Congressman Tells Man To ‘Shut Up’ During Town Hall
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
Monica Crowley Lost White House Job, Now She's Got One With Pro-Russian Oligarch — A would-be Trump White House appointee who withdrew in the face of plagiarism allegations is now lobbying on behalf of a Ukrainian oligarch who has recently advocated greater concessions to the Russian government, according to newly filed documents.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Politico, LegiStorm, Business Insider, Raw Story and The Daily Caller
John Nolte / Daily Wire:
BOMBSHELL: Fox News Sources Say Obama Used Brits To Spy On Donald Trump — While the American Intelligence Community (IC) plays “not us” when it comes to claims that the Obama Administration spied on President Trump (when he was both a candidate and President-elect), Fox News has learned …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Hot Air, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, TheBlaze, BizPac Review, The Resurgent and LewRockwell
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Defense Secretary Mattis withdraws Patterson as choice for undersecretary for policy — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has withdrawn retired senior diplomat Anne W. Patterson as his choice for undersecretary for policy after the White House indicated unwillingness to fight what it said would be a battle for Senate confirmation.
Discussion:
Salon and The Daily Caller
Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:
Senator Tom Cotton On The CBO Score and AHCA — Senator Tom Cotton joined me this morning: — Audio: — 03-14hhs-cotton — Transcript: — HH: On a snowy day on the East Coast, Senator Tom Cotton is still at work via the phone from Arkansas. He joins me, he is from Arkansas …
Discussion:
Axios, CNBC, Vox, Hot Air, Power Line, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Forbes, Politico, neo-neocon, twitchy.com, Mediaite and Politicus USA
Craig Whitlock / Washington Post:
Admiral, seven others charged with corruption in new ‘Fat Leonard’ indictment — The Justice Department unsealed a fresh indictment Tuesday charging eight current and former Navy officials — including an admiral — with corruption and other crimes in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case …
Discussion:
Axios
Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:
Breaking Faith — Over the past decade, pollsters charted something remarkable: Americans—long known for their piety—were fleeing organized religion in increasing numbers. The vast majority still believed in God. But the share that rejected any religious affiliation was growing fast …
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show and National Review
Foreign Policy:
Tillerson To U.N. Rights Council: Reform or We're Leaving — The Trump administration puts the human rights body on notice in a letter obtained by FP. — The Trump administration is threatening a withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council if it does not undertake “considerable reform …
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Israel Matzav, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Daily Wire
Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Presidential Executive Order on a Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch — COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR REORGANIZING THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH — By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Discussion:
Fox News, The Last Refuge, Vox Popoli, Townhall.com, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, Shakesville, The Resurgent and Snopes.com
Jennifer A Dlouhy / Bloomberg:
Trump to Drop Climate Change From Environmental Reviews, Source Says — Directive to reverse Obama-era mandate for agency actions — Clean Power Plan, methane rules and coal halt also addressed — President Donald Trump is set to sign a sweeping directive to dramatically shrink …
Discussion:
Reuters, Engadget, Washington Post and The Daily Caller
Reuters:
U.S. carrier joins South Korea drills, North Korea warns of ‘merciless’ strikes — As the USS Carl Vinson plowed through seas off South Korea on Tuesday, rival North Korea warned the United States of “merciless” attacks if the carrier infringes on its sovereignty or dignity during U.S.-South Korean drills.
Discussion:
CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine and Yonhap News Agency
Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Schools want out of Michelle Obama's lunch rules, kids say ‘Yuck’ — Faced with students who won't buy lunches low in salt and sugar and jacked up with bland-tasting grains, the nation's 54,000 school cafeteria workers are urging Washington to junk health-focused rules pushed by former first lady Michelle Obama.
Discussion:
IJR, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Daily Caller
Axios:
Exclusive: even deeper cuts being discussed for EPA — The Environmental Protection Agency isn't fighting the White House's initial budget that proposes to cut the agency's budget by about $2 billion — or roughly 25% — and reduce the agency's workforce by roughly 3,000 employees.
Discussion:
Political Wire and The Daily Caller
Molly Ball / The Atlantic:
Kellyanne's Alternative Universe — Even in triumph, Kellyanne Conway nursed a grudge. As she reflected on Donald Trump's November victory, she made clear that she hadn't forgotten how people treated her back when they thought she was a sure loser. Their attitude wasn't one of outright rudeness …
Ted Bridis / Associated Press:
Obama's final year: US spent $36 million in records lawsuits — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration in its final year in office spent a record $36.2 million on legal costs defending its refusal to turn over federal records under the Freedom of Information Act, according …
Discussion:
The Root, MichelleMalkin.com, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »
Carolyn Y. Johnson / Washington Post:
The GOP health bill would create more insurance plans that Trump called ‘practically useless’ — President Trump doesn't like high deductibles, and he's not alone. High deductibles, provisions of health insurance plans that leave people on the hook for thousands of dollars of medical costs …
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Patterico's Pontifications