memeorandum: Bush, Cheney meet for first time since 2009 inauguration (Kevin Bohn/CNN)

7:15 AM ET, February 26, 2010

Top Items:

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

David Gergen on the summit: Republicans had their best day in years — Via Hengler, a succinct statement of Jay Nordlinger's point and of what I suspect will be the media consensus tomorrow. Not the only kind words he had for the GOP either: … I don't think they seriously expected …

Discussion: CBS News, The Politico, The Corner on National …, NO QUARTER and Instapundit

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Sanders: Senate has the votes to pass public option via reconciliation — The Senate has the 50 votes necessary to pass a public health insurance option using the budget reconciliation process, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Thursday. — Sanders, a self-described “democratic socialist” …

Discussion: The Politico, The Reaction, Open Left and Weasel Zippers

Associated Press:

FACT CHECK: Dueling polls and dubious stats — WASHINGTON (AP) — Beware of politicians quoting poll numbers. That was one lesson from the White House health policy conference Thursday as lawmakers in both parties cherry-picked survey results, ignored contrary findings and presented public opinion …

Discussion: The Page

The Politico:
Bunning holds floor: ‘Tough s—t’

Discussion: RedState

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
No clear winner in seven-hour gabfest

Discussion: The Fix, CentristNet and Ben Smith's Blog

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Ryan: “We don't think all the answers lie in Washington”

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Lonely Conservative, NewsBusters.org, Pundit & Pundette, CentristNet, The Politico and RedState

Yuval Levin / The Corner on National Review Online:
The Summit So Far — By: Yuval Levin

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Moonbattery, delawareonline and Commentary

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Exclusive: What happens next

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, The Daily Caller, CNN, Newsweek Blogs, PostPartisan, ABCNEWS, Political Punch, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Other McCain and Weasel Zippers

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Winners and losers from the health care summit — After spending our day watching the high-stakes or, at the very least, high-profile health care summit at Blair House, we came up with a list of our winners and losers from the proceedings. — Those who we think soared and bored are below.

Discussion: The Confluence, Another Black Conservative, No Sheeples Here, Washington Post, And So it Goes in Shreveport, The Moderate Voice, Left Coast Rebel and Hullabaloo

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Obama To GOP: It's Over — Obama listened politely for six hours, with occasional flashes of temper, but in the end, the message was clear: It's over. We're moving forward without Republicans. — Whether Obama and Dems will succeed in passing reform on their own is anything but assured, to put it mildly.

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:

Michael Steele says Obama should have held a summit a year ago. Then it's pointed out to him that in fact he did. — Michael Steele went on MSNBC this morning before the health-care summit and began attacking President Obama for a “dog and pony show” — and claimed that the president …

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE, Mediaite, Think Progress and Hullabaloo

Washington Wire:
The Best Tweets from the Health-Care Summit: Part I

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh and The Fix

Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
A Productive Day & Another Step Towards Putting Americans in Charge …

Discussion: The New Republic

Andy McCarthy / The Corner on National Review Online:

While You Are Distracted by the Summit, Obama Democrats Are Targeting the CIA — By: Andy McCarthy — The Obama Democrats have outdone themselves. — While the country and the Congress have their eyes on today's dog-and-pony show on socialized medicine, House Democrats last night stashed …

Discussion: The Politico, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Hot Air, ATTACKERMAN, Power Line, Michelle Malkin, YID With LID, The Jawa Report and The Lonely Conservative

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:

Intel bill pulled over controversial added interrogation provision — A controversial bill that would have levied criminal punishments on intelligence officers for harsh interrogations was pulled Thursday evening. — House Republicans charged Democrats with trying to sneak a provision …

Discussion: Political Wrinkles

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Sylvestre Reyes Inserts Anti-Torture Provision Into Intelligence Funding Bill.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Examiner, alicublog and The Washington Independent

John McCormack / Weekly Standard: Liz Cheney on the Democrats' Bill to Punish the CIA

The Politico:

Committee scolds defiant Rangel — The House ethics committee put another dent in the armor of embattled Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel Thursday, admonishing him for violating House gift rules by accepting corporate-funded trips to the Caribbean through an organization called the Carib News.

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air, CNN, Michelle Malkin, DISSENTING JUSTICE and JammieWearingFool

New York Times:
Panel Admonishes Rangel for Taking Trips as Gifts

Discussion: Politics Daily, New York Magazine, The Page, Gateway Pundit and USA Today

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Panel finds Rangel broke ethics rules

Discussion: The Politico and MyDD

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Afflicting the Afflicted — If we're lucky, Thursday's summit will turn out to have been the last act in the great health reform debate, the prologue to passage of an imperfect but nonetheless history-making bill. If so, the debate will have ended as it began: with Democrats offering moderate plans …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and The Moderate Voice

The Note:
Health Care Summit Fact Check: Will Premiums Go Up?

Discussion: CNN, The Mahablog and JammieWearingFool

Ezra Klein:
Did the Congressional Budget Office find that premiums costs will go down?

Discussion: Wonk Room, The Plum Line, Liberal Values, The New Republic, CNN, Daily Kos, Newsweek Blogs, Washington Wire, Guardian, New York Times, Washington Monthly and NOW! Blog

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
First Reaction to The Health Care Summit

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, Commentary, AmSpecBlog and Swampland

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Al-Arian roils Calif. Senate race — A bespectacled former college professor who has pleaded guilty to aiding the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad helped tip the balance in a 2004 Senate contest in Florida. Now, six years later, Sami Al-Arian could be on the verge of doing it again, this time in California.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Commentary, The Washington Independent and AmSpecBlog

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
GOP Senate race grows heated over Israel

Discussion: Hotline On Call, Maggie's Farm, Israel Matzav and Commentary

Dawn Kopecki / Bloomberg:

Obama May Prohibit Home-Loan Foreclosures Without HAMP Review — Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration may expand efforts to ease the housing crisis by banning all foreclosures on home loans unless they have been screened and rejected by the government's Home Affordable Modification Program.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Market Ticker, Calculated Risk and EconomicPolicyJournal.com

Kevin Bohn / CNN:

Bush, Cheney meet for first time since 2009 inauguration — Washington (CNN) - Former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney met Thursday - the first time they two had seen each other since the inauguration of President Barack Obama over a year ago, officials for the two men tell CNN.

Discussion: Washington Wire

The Note:
Bush and Cheney Reunite, First Since Leaving Office

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and The Lonely Conservative

Matthew Continetti / Weekly Standard:

The Main Event: Ryan v. Obama — On deficits and spending. — Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin, just launched a full-bore assault on the faulty assumptions behind the claim that the Obama health care plan will reduce the deficit. Obama didn't even bother questioning Ryan's presentation.

Discussion: Althouse, Swampland, The Daily Dish, The Lonely Conservative and Hot Air

Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:

MSNBC Talker: Let's Rip Out Cheney's Heart — SAY HI TO MIKE — With Deranged Cheney Rant, Ed Moves Into Malloy Territory — *** CAUGHT-ON-TAPE EXCLUSIVE *** — *** NEWSBUSTERS REACTS *** — With his cable talk show preempted for Olympics coverage this week …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and NewsBusters.org

Frank Ahrens / Economy Watch:

New jobless claims unexpectedly rise 22,000 — Unemployment claims filed last week rose unexpectedly, coming in at 496,000, up 22,000 from the previous week. — Taken with other discouraging news released this week — record-low January new home sales and a slide in consumer confidence …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Associated Press, Townhall.com, Political Wrinkles, DaTechguy's Blog and Politics Daily

Timothy R. Homan / Bloomberg:
Jobless Claims in U.S. Increased 22,000 Last Week to 496,000

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and The Page

Yukari Iwatani Kane / Digits:

Palm CEO's Letter to Employees — Palm said on Thursday that its phones aren't selling as well as it had hoped and that revenues for its fiscal year would be “well below” its forecasts. In an internal company-wide email, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein elaborated further about the reasons behind …

Discussion: Engadget, Wall Street Journal and Silicon Alley Insider

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Obama campaign arm focuses on talk radio — The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America has quietly launched an initiative aimed at making Obama supporters' voices heard on the largely conservative airwaves. — “The fate of health reform has been a focus of debate in living rooms …

Discussion: techPresident, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers