memeorandum: Regular flu has killed thousands since January (Doug Gross/CNN)

11:05 AM ET, April 29, 2009

Top Items:

We Didn't Have to Lose Arlen Specter — IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's …, MSNBC, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Washington Monthly, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Think Progress, Boston Globe, progressiverepublican.info, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Balloon Juice, Donklephant and NY Daily News

William Kristol / PostPartisan:

Good News for Republicans! — On May 24, 2001, I wrote an op-ed for The Post in the wake of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords's party switch. I argued that the switch, which cost Republicans control of the Senate, could well turn out to be good for President Bush.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Mahablog, Washington Post, pandagon.net, Time, The Next Right, Wall Street Journal and Jules Crittenden

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Defection reshapes Senate — Sen. Arlen Specter stunned Capitol Hill on Tuesday by switching parties and bringing Senate Democrats within one seat of a filibuster-proof majority. — Specter's move shocked and angered Republicans, while Democrats rejoiced and contemplated a Congress …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Politico

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: 100 Days Winners and Losers

Discussion: Reuters, The New Ledger, Washington Post and PostPartisan

The Politico:
Dems win Specter bidding war

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

New York Times:
Specter Joins Democrats; Senate Count May Reach 60

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Note, Chris Floyd Online, The Caucus, Washington Post, Philly.com, MSNBC, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Los Angeles Times, Political Punch and New York Times

Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
Arlen Specter's Switch

Discussion: The Hill, Nashville Post, The Washington Independent, Booman Tribune, Sadly, No!, The Moderate Voice, D-Day and TPMDC

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Steele: Specter ‘flipped the bird’ at GOP

Discussion: The Politico, GayPatriot, Pro Patria, The Huffington Post and The Democratic Daily

Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner:
Specter on Jeffords — When Jim Jeffords became an “Independent” …

Discussion: Open Left, The New Republic, JammieWearingFool and The New Ledger

CNN:
Limbaugh to Specter: Please take McCain with you

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, Salon and AMERICAblog News

Tabassum Zakaria / Reuters:

U.S. officials want ‘swine’ out of flu name — Source: Reuters — What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, Fausta's Blog, MoJo Blog Posts, Fox News, PoliBlog, Israel Matzav, 24Ahead, Washington Post and Don Surber

Associated Press:

Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US — HOUSTON - A 23-month-old toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that has also swept Germany onto the roster of afflicted nations.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Reuters, Bloomberg, Clusterstock, Hot Air and Sister Toldjah

New York Times:

First U.S. Death From Swine Flu Is Reported — American authorities confirmed the first death outside of Mexico from swine flu on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed cases of the disease continued to rise in Europe. — President Obama, in a morning news conference …

Discussion: City Pages

Doug Gross / CNN:
Regular flu has killed thousands since January

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Impolitic, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Blue Crab Boulevard and Telegraph

CNN:
First swine flu death in U.S. reported

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Donklephant

David P. Fidler / asil.org:
ASIL Insights — The Swine Flu Outbreak and International Law

Discussion: SF Appeal

Associated Press:
Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

Discussion: pandagon.net, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Shakesville, normblog and The Corner

Andie Coller / The Politico:
Dems put swine flu to good use

Discussion: The Swamp and Macsmind

WCBS-TV:

FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic — Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out — Furious Obama Apologizes: “It Will Never Happen Again” — CBS News Interactive: Sept. 11 And Since

Discussion: CBS News, Scared Monkeys, Fausta's Blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, BitsBlog, Gateway Pundit, Don Surber and DISSENTING JUSTICE

Michelle Malkin:

100 Days of the Poser Presidency — My syndicated column commemorates Barack Obama's 100 days with the Scare Force One story as a take-off point. Imagine if this fiasco had happened under George Bush's watch. It would have made the Left's incessant carping over the “fake plastic turkey …

Bloomberg:

Obama Orders Review of New York Flight as Cost Put at $328,835 — President Barack Obama ordered a review of a publicity-photo shoot with one of the planes that serves as Air Force One that cost taxpayers $328,835 and caused a furor in New York City. — Obama said he wasn't informed …

Discussion: Fausta's Blog, The Corner, NewsBusters.org, The Virginian, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Redhot, The New Ledger, Clusterstock, Gateway Pundit and Power Line

JammieWearingFool:
Wonderful: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic, Proceeded Anyway

Discussion: GretaWire, Hot Air and Betsy's Page

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: FIRST QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009, (that is, from the fourth quarter …

Discussion: DailyFinance, BizzyBlog, Clusterstock, Donklephant and Calculated Risk

Jack Healy / New York Times:

U.S. Economy in 2nd Straight Quarter of Steep Decline — The American economy shrank rapidly in the first three months of the year, the government reported on Wednesday, a signal that the economy is likely to remain a dominant issue as the Obama administration looks beyond its first 100 days.

Discussion: The Big Picture and The Agonist

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:

Official Defends Signing Interrogation Memos — WASHINGTON — Judge Jay S. Bybee broke his silence on Tuesday and defended the conclusions of legal memorandums he had signed as a Bush administration lawyer that allowed use of several coercive interrogation practices on suspected terrorists.

Discussion: Time, Hot Air, ATTACKERMAN, Emptywheel, Newshoggers.com, Buck Naked Politics, Think Progress, TalkLeft, The Volokh Conspiracy, Democracy in America and Balloon Juice

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:

Economy shrinks at 6.1 percent pace in 1Q — Economy shrinks at worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace in first quarter — General Motors Corporation - , Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. - , Lockheed Martin Corporation — WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy shrank at a worse …

Discussion: Don Surber

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:
U.S. economy tumbles in first quarter

Discussion: Felix Salmon

Bloomberg:

Fed Is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks — At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said. — While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government …

Discussion: Wonk Room, The Big Picture, New York Times, Clusterstock and Newsweek Blogs

Wall Street Journal:
Citi Seeks Approval to Pay Out Bonuses

Discussion: Hot Air and Clusterstock

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Senate Confirms Kansas Governor as Health Secretary — WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of health and human services on Tuesday, allowing President Obama to fill the last vacancy in his cabinet with a seasoned politician who will take charge of the fight against swine flu.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Washington Monthly