memeorandum: Birth Control Belongs in the Stimulus Bill (Katha Pollitt/The Nation)

11:50 AM ET, January 29, 2009

Top Items:

GOP defies Obama overtures — House Republicans have proposed an alternative that leaders say would create 6.2 million jobs for only $478 billion. — “What Member can't go back his or her District and explain: Rather than voting for a bloated bill, ... I voted for an alternative …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Hot Air, The Plum Line, Progress Illinois, TIME.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Think Progress and Brian Beutler

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

HALPERIN BLAMES OBAMA.... President Obama went to great lengths to reach out to House Republicans, trying to get them to support an economic stimulus in the midst of an economic crisis. The president not only offered them more tax cuts than seemed necessary, he also acted swiftly …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Agonist and Matthew Yglesias

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

1993 All Over Again? — One of the goals of the unanimous Republican “no” vote on the stimulus package Wednesday was producing news analyses like this one, from The New York Times. … And we all know what happened in 1994. Still, I don't think the analogy holds up. — 1. The Obama stimulus package is popular.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, FiveThirtyEight.com, Matthew Yglesias, Eunomia, Washington Post and Brilliant at Breakfast

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Dems: GOP will pay political price for stimulus vote — Democrats are blasting House Republican leaders for pressing their conference to vote against the stimulus bill and warn the party that it will face political consequences. — In a memo on the “Republican Problem” to “interested parties” …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE BIG, FAT “O”

Discussion: The Fix, Political Machine and Capital Journal

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:
Missing in Stimulus: Bipartisanship

Discussion: CBS News, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, Washington Post, The Politico and TIME.com

Hilzoy / Washington Monthly:
Bipartisanship And The Stimulus — As Steve noted earlier …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Prairie Weather, The Politico, CBS News and The Caucus

Americans United / americansunitedforchange.org: NEW ADS TARGET REPUBLICAN SENATORS ON RECOVERY BILL

Toby Harnden / Toby Harnden's blog listings:
Hollow victory: Republicans deliver slap in the face to Barack Obama

Discussion: Townhall.com, Don Surber, The Politico, Sadly, No!, culturekitchen, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Fox News, The New Republic and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:
House Passes $819 Billion Economic Stimulus

Discussion: MiamiHerald.com, Outside The Beltway, NY Daily News, PoliBlog, Liberal Values, USA Today, Sister Toldjah, TIME.com, Democracy in America, MSNBC, TPMDC, Hot Air, marbury, The Moderate Voice, Left in the West, Taylor Marsh and The Next Right

Rush Limbaugh / Wall Street Journal:

My Bipartisan Stimulus — Let's cut taxes, as I want, and spend more, as Obama would like. — There's a serious debate in this country as to how best to end the recession. The average recession will last five to 11 months; the average recovery will last six years.

Discussion: The Opinionator, The Atlantic Business Channel, NewsBusters.org, Political Machine, Don Surber, Hot Air, TIME.com, The Note, Commentary, Weekly Standard, Balloon Juice, Scared Monkeys, American Power and The Washington Independent

Lawrence B. Lindsey / Wall Street Journal:

How About a Payroll Tax Stimulus? — For a similar amount of money, we could give workers $1,500. — Congress and the Obama administration seem near to deciding the details of an economic stimulus package. Unlike the efforts of President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush …

Discussion: American Enterprise Institute, QandO, RedState, Weekly Standard and Betsy's Page

Martin Feldstein / Washington Post:
An $800 Billion Mistake

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

White House Unbuttons Formal Dress Code — WASHINGTON — The capital flew into a bit of a tizzy when, on his first full day in the White House, President Obama was photographed in the Oval Office without his suit jacket. There was, however, a logical explanation: Mr. Obama, who hates the cold, had cranked up the thermostat.

Discussion: Hot Air, JustOneMinute, Michelle Malkin, The Swamp, A Blog For All, Argghhh!, marbury, Wonkette, The Huffington Post, TIME.com, Gawker, Mudville Gazette, Lost in Transition, Rising Hegemon, Green Inc., The BLT, Riehl World View and Althouse

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama White House May Be a Crowded Mess — There will be four people in my old office. — On the campaign trail, Barack Obama criticized Washington for being “obsessed with the perpetual campaign.” As president he is the first occupant of the Oval Office to give his director of political affairs …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Yourish.com, Washington Monthly and AMERICAblog News

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

With Al Due Respect, We're Doomed — The lawmakers gazed in awe at the figure before them. The Goracle had seen the future, and he had come to tell them about it. — What the Goracle saw in the future was not good: temperature changes that “would bring a screeching halt to human civilization …

Discussion: Reason, Hullabaloo, Dot Earth, Shakesville and Jules Crittenden

Scott / Power Line: MILBANK MOCKS THE GORACLE OF DOOM

Washington Post:

Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Act — Former Goodyear employee Lilly Ledbetter of Alabama cut an ad for President Obama during his campaign for office. Today, the fair pay law named after her gets signed by the man she helped elect. Obama's statement on the law this morning:

Discussion: TalkLeft

Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
Obama set to sign equal-pay bill

Discussion: TPMDC, If I Ran the Zoo and TIME.com

New York Times:

Obama Seeks Accord With Military on Iraq — WASHINGTON — As President Obama moves to redefine the nation's mission in Iraq, he faces a difficult choice: Is he willing to abandon a campaign promise or risk a rupture with the military? Or can he finesse the difference?

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Commentary

Marc Lynch:
Obama vs Odierno

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Bloomberg:

Obama's Open Records Pledge Tested Over Citigroup Guarantees — Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. government guarantees on securities totaling $419 billion for bank bailouts provide an early test of President Barack Obama's pledge to be open with taxpayers about what they have at risk in the credit crisis.

Discussion: Don Surber and Daily Pundit

New York Times:
Geithner Says Plan for Banks Is in the Works

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, LiberalOasis, The Big Picture and Talking Points Memo

Edward Cody / Washington Post:

Bush War on Roquefort Raises a Stink in France — ROQUEFORT-SUR-SOULZON This seems an unlikely spot to fight a trade war. — A village of 600 souls in a remote part of southern France, Roquefort clings precariously to the side of Combalou Rock, a promontory overlooking a deep valley …

Discussion: FP Passport

Guardian:

Revealed: the letter Barack Obama's team hope will heal Iran rift — Officials of Barack Obama's administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned.

Discussion: Israel Matzav, TIME.com, Hot Air, Jules Crittenden, Reuters, Sister Toldjah, Telegraph and Pajamas Media

Marcia Kramer / WCBS-TV:

Mayor Bloomberg Declares War On ... Salt — Hizzoner Calls On U.S. Manufacturers To Reduce Salt Content Until It Results In A 50 Percent Cut In 10 Years — Citizens Revolt, Claim NYC Is Turning Into Nanny State — Singer Jimmy Buffett will never find his “lost shaker of salt” …

Discussion: Don Surber, The Strata-Sphere, Stop The ACLU and Riehl World View

Marc Ambinder:

The Long Tail Of Cooperation — Next week, according to administration officials, the Treasury Department will unveil a plan to buy toxic assets from banks, put them into a repository like the Resolution Trust Corporation held real estate from the S&L crisis), tend to them, securitize them …

Discussion: Brian Beutler

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Putting Torture Behind Us — President Obama is resisting calls for an investigation into torture and other abuses during the Bush years, so the chance to learn from our mistakes is slipping away. — Mr. Obama understandably wants to focus on economic recovery rather than a dissection of the past.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Brian Beutler

Andie Coller / The Politico:

The power of Obama's hand — Joe Lieberman has felt it. So has Joe the Plumber. — It's the Obama Touch — the squeeze on the biceps, the pat on the shoulder or the tap on the back that signals the displeasure of the commander in chief. Let others turn on the deep freeze or lose their cool when they're annoyed.

Discussion: Gawker and marbury

Rasmussen Reports:

Public Support for Economic Recovery Plan Slips to 42% — Public support for the economic recovery plan crafted by President Obama and congressional Democrats has slipped a bit over the past week. At the same time, expectations that the plan will quickly become law have increased.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Katha Pollitt / The Nation:

Birth Control Belongs in the Stimulus Bill — To the outrage of many feminists and family planners, yesterday Democrats heeded President Obama and dropped from the stimulus bill a provision that would have made it easier for states to offer contraception through Medicaid to low-income women not covered by Medicaid now.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Feministe, Brian Beutler and The Washington Independent

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Would I Have Voted No? — That's a good question. It's also a silly one, since the odds of my being a Republican Congressman as a married man are nil (they only want you to have a stable family life if you're straight). I'm not an economist and so it's very hard for me to judge how big …

Discussion: TalkLeft