memeorandum: As Cuts Loom, Governors Call for Discretion on How Federal Money Can Be Spent (Robert Pear/New York Times)

6:35 PM ET, February 23, 2013

Top Items:

Woodward Misses The Mark — For the past 18 hours Republicans have been giddily waving around a new article by Bob Woodward as a smoking gun that proves sequestration should be replaced with spending cuts and spending cuts only — and that President Obama once conceded the point.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider and Gretawire

Bob Woodward / Washington Post:

Obama's sequester deal-changer — Bob Woodward (woodwardb@washpost.com) is an associate editor of The Post. His latest book is “The Price of Politics.” Evelyn M. Duffy contributed to this column. — Misunderstanding, misstatements and all the classic contortions of partisan message management surround …

Discussion: The Hill, The Impolitic, Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Power Line, PERRspectives, Hot Air, Politico, Booman Tribune, NewsBusters blogs, Reuters, neo-neocon, Chicago Boyz, Weasel Zippers, CNN and Washington Examiner

Bill Wilson / Forbes:
The Non-Existent Spending Cuts Wrought By The ‘Devastating’ Sequester

Discussion: Economic Freedom, Wall Street Journal and American Power

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

13 GOP Pennsylvania Senators Introduce New Plan To Rig The Electoral College For Republicans … Earlier this year, Republican National Committee Chair urged Republican lawmakers in states “that have been consistently blue that are fully controlled red” — i.e. blue states with Republican legislatures …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Chris Hayes / msnbc.com:

My ultimatum on accepting CPAC's invitation — So last week, I was surprised and oddly delighted by something that my friend Rachel Maddow also picked up on: … Yes, the legendary Conservative Political Action Conference had invited yours truly to participate at its 40th annual conference this March.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller, Washington Examiner and Twitchy

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

House Republicans Strip Protections From LGBT Victims In New Violence Against Women Act — The Violence Against Women Act expired at the end of 2012 after House Republicans refused to accept the Senate bill's protections for LGBT, Native American, and undocumented victims.

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Other McCain

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
VAWA 2013: House GOP Unveils Bill With No LGBT Protections, Modified Tribal Provision

Discussion: msnbc.com, Back2Stonewall, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Top Dems Reject House GOP's Violence Against Women Act: ‘Simply Unacceptable’

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Democratic Daily, The Maddow Blog and Booman Tribune

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:

Ted Cruz Claims He Has A List Of Communists Who Have Infiltrated Harvard Law — During the confirmation hearing for Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Sen. Ted Cruz engaged in guilt-by-association tactics that reminded several observers (including this author) of former Sen. Joseph McCarthy (R-WI) …

Discussion: The Hill, Crooks and Liars and Addicting Info

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Montana Bill Would Give Corporations The Right To Vote … A bill introduced by Montana state Rep. Steve Lavin would give corporations the right to vote in municipal elections: … The idea that “corporations are people, my friend” as Mitt Romney put it, is sadly common among conservative lawmakers.

Discussion: The Raw Story, alan.com, Flathead Memo and Prairie Weather

D.B. Grady / The Atlantic Online:

Today Is Bradley Manning's 1,000th Day Without a Trial — What the treatment of the WikiLeaks detainee says about our government's most damning secret — Saturday, February 23, marks Bradley Manning's 1,000th day in prison without a trial. In 2010, he was arrested for allegedly passing …

Discussion: Bradley Manning Support …, Prairie Weather, Guardian and Firedoglake

Robert Pear / New York Times:

As Cuts Loom, Governors Call for Discretion on How Federal Money Can Be Spent — WASHINGTON — Governors of both parties said on Saturday that they knew federal budget cuts were coming, and they pleaded with President Obama and Congress to give them more discretion over the use of federal money …

Discussion: Lynn Sweet

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Obama's Backers Seek Big Donors to Press Agenda — President Obama's political team is fanning out across the country in pursuit of an ambitious goal: raising $50 million to convert his re-election campaign into a powerhouse national advocacy network, a sum that would rank the new group …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Washington Examiner

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

DOMA: U.S. takes tough line on marriage denial — The Obama administration, in a sweeping defense of marriage rights for same-sex couples, argued on Friday that the denial by states of those rights over the last decade is proof that discrimination against gays and lesbians still continues.

Discussion: Poliglot, Politico, Althouse and U.S. News