memeorandum: Decentralize The Government — From health care reform … (Joel Kotkin/Forbes)

3:30 AM ET, March 3, 2010

Top Items:

John Stanton / Roll Call:

Bunning Accepts Deal Allowing Benefits Bill to Advance — Under increasing pressure from Democrats and members of his own party, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) Tuesday night abandoned his one-man filibuster of a one-month extension to unemployment benefits and other programs.

Discussion: MyDD, Washington Post, Another Black Conservative, Firedoglake, PoliBlog, Gateway Pundit, Top of the Ticket, Liberal Values, RedState, TPMDC, The Political Carnival, Talking Points Memo, Sister Toldjah and JammieWearingFool

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Bunning ends his one-man filibuster — Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-Ky.) one-man filibuster ended on Tuesday. — Bunning agreed to stop blocking legislation to extend benefits and COBRA health plan subsidies to the unemployed after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) …

Discussion: Open Left and The Politico

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

G.O.P. Splits on Senator's Move to Block Benefits — WASHINGTON — The effort to end a Senate standoff over unemployment benefits and health coverage for the jobless escalated on Tuesday morning as Senator Susan Collins, the moderate Republican from Maine, became the latest lawmaker …

Discussion: Leader's Journal releases …, Washington Monthly, The Foundry, Reuters, Hullabaloo, Gateway Pundit, moneywatch.bnet.com, Open Left, Think Progress, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, FrumForum, Economix, Eschaton, Crooks and Liars and The Caucus

John Stanton / Roll Call:

Democrats May Force All-Night Session — Democrats are hoping to turn the procedural tables on Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and use Senate rules to break his blockade against an extension of unemployment insurance, including possibly forcing a round-the-clock session.

Discussion: TPMDC, The World Newser, The Note, Right Pundits, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Taegan Goddard's …, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, Hot Air, The Political Carnival and The Corner on National …

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Media Ignores Bomb Threats at Senator Bunning's Offices

Discussion: GayPatriot, Sister Toldjah, Moonbattery, NewsBusters.org and Pajamas Media

Lexington Herald-Leader:
Bunning's callous grandstanding

Discussion: Hotline On Call, The Atlantic Online, MyDD, Wonk Room, WataugaWatch, Daily Kos and Wall Street Journal

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
GOP's Bunning relents, OKs action on jobless bill

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Roll Call, The Lonely Conservative, AMERICAblog News and The Hill

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Jim Bunning and the End of Outrage

Discussion: The Plum Line, Los Angeles Times, democracyarsenal.org, TPMDC, Washington Monthly and Matthew Yglesias

The Hill:

Speaker Pelosi on Rangel: ‘I guess he is still chair of Ways and Means’ — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday night told The Hill that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) is still chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. — After huddling with Rangel for 45 minutes, Pelosi initially said …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Sister Toldjah, NewsReal Blog, Townhall.com and The Corner on National …

The Politico:

Rangel on the brink — Charlie Rangel emerged from a closed-door meeting in Nancy Pelosi's office Tuesday night to declare that he's still the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and hasn't agreed to give up his gavel - even as some media outlets were reporting that he'd done just that.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, The Note, Another Black Conservative, Firedoglake, The Lonely Conservative and Michelle Malkin

msnbc.com:

NBC: Rangel to give up tax committee gavel — Sources: Ways and Means head to ‘temporarily’ leave post amid ethics woes — WASHINGTON - After being admonished by an ethics panel for accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., will give up his chairmanship …

Discussion: The Hill, The Speakers Lobby, George's Bottom Line, YID With LID, Politics Daily, Left Coast Rebel, TPMDC, Swampland, The Page, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media and The Politico

Hasani Gittens / NBC New York:

Rangel Giving Up the Gavel — Could step down as early as tonight — Harlem Democrat Charles Rangel now says he will step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, NBC News has learned. — He may make the move as early as tonight and Michigan Democratic …

Discussion: The Speakers Lobby, Michelle Malkin and Weasel Zippers

New York Times: Under Fire, Rangel Appears to Be Losing Grip of Committee

CBS News:

Romney Tells Letterman: Palin “Has a Rifle, You Know” — Posted by Brian Montopoli 5 comments - Share - - - Share - E-mail - Print - Font Likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared on CBS's “Late Show with David Letterman” Tuesday as part of his tour to promote his new book …

Discussion: Wilshire & Washington, The Page, Conservatives4Palin.com, Riehl World View and Wall Street Journal

The Note:

‘The View’ Couch Not So Cozy for Romney — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — Mitt Romney bounded onto the set of ABC's “The View” this morning, perhaps expecting a light chat about his new book and possible presidential run. — But once the former Massachusetts governor settled onto the couch …

Discussion: Eunomia, Ruby Slippers, Taylor Marsh and Hot Air

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
It's Jay Leno's new ‘Tonight Show’ starring Sarah Palin

Discussion: Liberal Values and Ruby Slippers

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
'Sarah Palin's primaries:' 55 party fights

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Rick Perry, Bill White win Texas primaries for governor — Gov. Rick Perry cruised to a victory tonight in a three-way Republican primary fight, crushing Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and setting the stage for a run for a third full term this fall. — Hutchison conceded the race …

Discussion: Swing State Project and The Page

Wall Street Journal:
Perry Rolls to Victory in Texas Primary

Discussion: Pajamas Media

R.G. Ratcliffe / Houston Chronicle:
Perry to face showdown against White in November

Discussion: FrumForum

David Catanese / The Politico:
Perry trounces Hutchison in Texas

Discussion: CNN

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

President Obama to Say Democrats Will Use Reconciliation to Pass Senate Health Care Reform Fix, If Not Given Up or Down Vote — White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah, The Politico, Slate, AMERICAblog News, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Conservatives4Palin.com and Ben Smith's Blog

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

AR-Sen: Public Option Proves Enduring Democratic Campaign Issue — Bill Halter's support for the public option symbolizes a thread of liberal politics that will last well beyond this current Congress, regardless of what happens with health care. The public option now becomes a litmus test …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Open Left

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Lincoln's Challenger: I Support Public Plan, And It Will Be Issue In Campaign

Discussion: TPMDC, Arkansas News, DownWithTyranny!, Open Left, The Political Carnival and Daily Kos

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
Little Room On Lincoln's Left As Democrats Prep To Rally Behind Arkansas Conservadem

Discussion: Swing State Project, Pollster.com All Content, Open Left and Daily Kos

Josh Gerstein / Josh Gerstein's Blog:

Liz Cheney group accused of McCarthyism — My colleague Ben Smith has word this morning of a video from the Liz Cheney-backed group Keep America Safe questioning the loyalty of Justice Department attorneys who previously represented Guantanamo detainees. — The video provocatively calls …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Ben Smith's Blog, The Corner on National …, The Lonely Conservative, Salon, The Washington Independent, At-Largely, Hot Air, The Daily Dish, Gateway Pundit, Laura Rozen's Blog, American Power and Keep America Safe

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:

Justices signal they're ready to make gun ownership a national right — A high court majority reviewing a handgun ban in Chicago indicates that it sees the right to ‘bear arms’ as national in scope, and can be used to strike down some state and local gun regulations.

Discussion: New York Times, The New Ledger, Raw Story, Hit & Run and Truthdig

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Analysis: 2d Amendment extension likely

Discussion: ACS Blog, The Moderate Voice, Althouse and CNN

NY Daily News:

Mortimer Zuckerman announces he will not run for the Senate — Daily News publisher Mortimer Zuckerman has announced he will not run for the Senate — The field in the battle for a New York Senate seat became a little clearer Tuesday when Mortimer B. Zuckerman announced he would not join the race.

Discussion: The Fix, Ben Smith's Blog, MyDD, Marist Poll, Mediaite, Swampland and JammieWearingFool

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Coffee Party Parasites — The New York Times and Washington Post are promoting a group called the “Coffee Party” organized by filmmaker Annabel Park. — The Coffee Party is a political parasite which presents itself as something it is not. As reported in the NY Times [see update below] …

Zombie / Pajamas Media:
Join the Cocoa Party!

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Telegraph:

Taliban cave network found in Pakistan mountains — Pakistan's army has discovered a complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border. — The tunnels, which are thought to have been created over five to seven years …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Hillary Rodham Clinton / US Department of State:

Remarks With Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner — La Casa Rosada — Buenos Aires, DC, Argentina — PRESIDENT DE KIRCHNER: (Via interpreter) (In progress) meeting with Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State of the USA, where we addressed different matters of common interest to our countries.

Discussion: Power Line, Telegraph, Bagehot's notebook, Guardian, The Daily Dish, Taylor Marsh, Laura Rozen's Blog and Hot Air

Alex Massie / The Daily Dish:
Hillary's Falklands Provocation

Discussion: Eunomia and FP Passport

John Cook / Gawker:

Roger Ailes Is a Self-Loathing Liberal — Roger Ailes, corpulent prick and president of Fox News, has come out of the closet as a liberal who opposes the war in Afghanistan and thinks wearing lapel pins to prove that you care about something is shallow. — In a 7-minute interview …

Discussion: The Corner on National … and News Hounds