memeorandum: Obama aides to meet with atheists on White House grounds (Margaret Talev/McClatchy Washington Bureau)

7:20 PM ET, February 26, 2010

Top Items:

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Ben Nelson: Dems may have to abandon comprehensive health bill, go step-by-step — Democrats may have to abandon their effort for comprehensive healthcare legislation in favor of a piecemeal approach, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Friday. — Nelson, a centrist Democrat whose vote is critical …

Discussion: The New Republic

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Greenwald, Weiner Talk Health Care on Morning Joe: No Reason Not to Vote on Public Option — I still don't think the Senate/White House bill is going anywhere, either with or without a public option, for reasons I've outlined before — though some seem to be hell-bent on forcing House Democrats to throw themselves on its funeral pyre.

Discussion: Economix

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Top Dem chairman signals House will act first on healthcare — The House could act first to pass a healthcare bill within the next month, a top House chairman signaled Thursday. — Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee and a close ally …

Discussion: TPMDC, CNN, The Politico, Citizentube, The Swamp, RedState and AmSpecBlog

The Politico:

Dems call for Rangel's gavel — After months of holding ranks, Democrats are finally turning on House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) in the wake of an ethics committee finding that he violated House rules by accepting a Caribbean junket. — Early Friday, Rep. Paul Hodes …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, Don Surber, ABCNEWS, TPMMuckraker, The Corner on National …, TPMDC and USA Today

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Reconciliation Ball Moves Forward...

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TPM LiveWire, Daily Kos and CNN

Political Punch:
Is There a Plan C?: …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Commentary and The Corner on National …

Jared Allen / The Hill:
Pelosi sticks with Rangel, notes ethics committee ‘did not take action’

Discussion: The Politico, The Hill, Big Government, The Page, Atlas Shrugs and The Lonely Conservative

Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun Times:

White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers to step down — WASHINGTON—White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers told me Friday she will step down next month, after presiding over 330 events in the White House in 14 months. — Rogers is departing after achieving a major goal …

Discussion: Politics Daily, ABCNEWS, Vanity Fair, The Lonely Conservative, Swampland, Newsweek Blogs, New York Magazine, Michelle Malkin, The Page, Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog, No Sheeples Here and Political Punch

The Politico:

Desiree Rogers will resign — White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will leave her post next month, according to a White House source, months after she drew criticism for a major security breach at a state dinner in November. — The leading candidate to replace Rogers is Julianna Smoot …

Discussion: The Swamp, Top of the Ticket, Gawker and Wilshire & Washington

CNN: White House social secretary to step down

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Professor Obama schools lawmakers on health-care reform — Republicans had been hesitant to accept President Obama's invitation to participate in Thursday's White House health-care summit. Their hesitance turned out to be justified. — An equal number of Democratic and Republican lawmakers …

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Corner on National …, About.com US Liberal Politics and NewsBusters.org

Darleen Click / protein wisdom:
Full speed off the cliff

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, The Moderate Voice and NewsBusters.org

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Afflicting the Afflicted — If we're lucky, Thursday's summit …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Ezra Klein, Roll Call, Suburban Guerrilla, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Jules Crittenden, TalkLeft, Blue Virginia, The Atlantic Online, Prairie Weather, GOP.gov Blog, Hot Air, Dennis the Peasant and The Corner on National …

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
At summit, Republicans prove they aren't putting America's health first

Discussion: New York Times, The Washington Independent, USA Today, The Politico, The Moderate Voice and Ezra Klein

Joseph Curl / Washington Times:
At summit, Obama mostly hears Obama

Discussion: Swampland, Time, Times of London, Associated Press, NewsBusters.org, The Foundry and Political Wrinkles

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WITH OR WITHOUT YOU.... The stated goal of the White House summit …

Discussion: TPMDC, The Fix, Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, PostPartisan, CBS News, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice and Balkinization

Ezra Klein:

Judd Gregg: 'If you've got 51 votes, you win' — “The point is this,” Sen. Judd Gregg says in this 2005 defense of the Republicans' use of the budget reconciliation process. “If you've got 51 votes, you win.” — The idea “that it is outside the rules to proceed within the rules,” Gregg laughs, “is a very unique view on the rules.”

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Open Congress and Guardian

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Gregg: Reconciliation Is The Rule Of The Senate (VIDEO)

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MEET THE NEW WAY FORWARD (SAME AS THE OLD WAY FORWARD). …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mother Jones and Daily Kos

Bill Frist / Wall Street Journal:
A Historic and Dangerous Senate Mistake

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias and The Hill

Teddy Partridge / Firedoglake:
Judd Gregg Loved Reconciliation, Defended It on Senate Floor in 2005

Discussion: Blue Virginia

The Politico:

Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’ — Senate Democrats spent Thursday night hammering away at Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) for single-handedly holding up action in the upper chamber - but he blurted out a message to one of them on the Senate floor: “Tough s—t.”

Discussion: The Caucus, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, Swampland, The Lonely Conservative, Democracy in America, Top of the Ticket, Wonk Room, Think Progress, Daily Kos, Liberal Values, Washington Monthly, Indecision Forever, The Moderate Voice, Grim's Hall and Raw Story

Reuters:

Jim Bunning Repeatedly Blocks Unemployment Benefits Extension, Tells Dem ‘Tough S**t’ — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, is single-handedly blocking Senate action needed to prevent an estimated 1.2 million American workers from prematurely losing their unemployment benefits next month.

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars and Clusterstock

Tuathadedannan / Associated Press:
Unemployment Extension Fails in Senate

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:

Gov. David Paterson pulls plug on election bid, but will not resign: insider — Embattled Gov. Paterson has pulled the plug on his election bid, a source close to the governor said Friday. — Paterson will announce the decision later Friday. — Paterson has been under fire for having contacted …

New York Times:
Paterson Drops Out of Governor Race

Discussion: USA Today, New York Magazine, Room for Debate, Main Justice, The Nation, RHRealityCheck.org, The Daily Beast, Wonkette, The Save Jersey Blog, The Page and Truthdig

Danny Hakim / City Room:
Paterson to Drop Out of Race for Governor

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Guardian, The Fix, The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, SpeakEasy, Above the Law, Politics Daily, The Note, Mediaite, The Hill, TPM LiveWire, MyDD and The Lonely Conservative

NY Daily News:
Editorial: For everyone's sake, please go, Gov. Paterson

Discussion: Hotline On Call, New York Times, Gothamist, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Ben Smith's Blog

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Bush endorses Cheney role — For the first time, former President George W. Bush has said publicly that he approves of former Vice President Dick Cheney's high-profile role in defending the past administration's national security policies. — “I'm glad Cheney is out there,” …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Weasel Zippers and HotAirPundit

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:

McCain Warns Dems on Health Care — Former GOP Presidential Candidate Says Democrats Need to Start Over on Health Care — President Obama's health care summit was a good opportunity for Americans to consider the contentious issue, but passing a Senate bill with 51 votes …

Discussion: AMERICAblog News, The Foundry, Hot Air, The Impolitic, George's Bottom Line and The Note

Mike Allen / The Politico:
One last health-reform sprint: House, Senate race to an Easter …

Discussion: Swampland, CNN, Think Progress, Mediaite and The Note

Mike Stark / StarkReports.com:

Bipartisanship is dead — At yesterday's health care discussion, Louise Slaughter told a moving story. — An elderly woman needed dentures but couldn't afford them. Her sister had dentures. When she passed, the surviving sister “inherited” the dentures and used them as her own.

Discussion: The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress and TPM LiveWire

Walid Zafar / Media Matters Action Network:
Rep. Trent Franks: Blacks Better Off Under Slavery

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Nick O'Neill / All Facebook:

Facebook Patents The News Feed (Updated) — On Tuesday, Facebook was awarded a major patent for “Dynamically providing a news feed about a user of a social network”. This is a huge deal for a number of reasons, most significantly that it grants Facebook the opportunity to pursue …

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, Scripting News and Silicon Alley Insider

National Journal Online:

Senate Ratings — HOW SENATORS SCORED ON LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE SCALES IN THREE ISSUE CATEGORIES AND OVERALL. … In the following list, senators are assigned separate scores for their roll-call votes on key economic, social and foreign-policy issues during 2009.

Discussion: Think Progress, AmSpecBlog, The Spot, Open Left, Real Clear Politics and Don Surber