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2:40 PM ET, February 15, 2014

Top Items:

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:

Volkswagen Vote is Defeat for Labor in South — CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — In a defeat for organized labor in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant here voted 712 to 626 against joining the United Automobile Workers. — The loss is an especially stinging blow for U.A.W. because Volkswagen …

Discussion: Wonkblog, Slate, Times Free Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh and Althouse

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Auto workers reject union in Tennessee — Employees at a Volkswagon plant in Tennessee have rejected joining the United Automobile Workers union in a major defeat for organized labor in the South. — The workers at the VW plant in Chattanooga voted 712-626 to stay out of the union …

Discussion: Liberaland

Detroit Free Press:

VW workers in Tennessee reject UAW in devastating defeat for union — CHATTANOOGA, TENN. — The UAW suffered a devastating defeat at Volkswagen's plant here as workers rejected union representation by a 712-626 margin. — The defeat, which came despite Volkswagen's neutrality …

Discussion: CNN, Scared Monkeys, americanthinker.com and Power Line

Neal E. Boudette / Wall Street Journal:

Union Suffers Big Loss at Tennessee VW Plant — Volkswagen workers rejected the UAW by a vote of 712 to 626. — The United Auto Workers union suffered a crushing defeat Friday, falling short in an election in which it seemed to have a clear path to organizing workers at Volkswagen AG 's plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Reuters:

Obama weighs in on contentious union vote at Volkswagen plant — (Reuters) - P resident Barack Obama on Friday waded into a high-stakes union vote at Volkswagen AG's plant in Tennessee, accusing Republican politicians who oppose unionization of being more concerned about German shareholders than U.S. workers.

Discussion: Hot Air, WFPL, Talking Points Memo and The Gateway Pundit

Associated Press:

Workers at Tennessee Volkswagen factory reject United Auto Workers union — July 31, 2012: An employee works on a Passat sedan at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.AP — CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Workers at a Volkswagen factory in Tennessee have voted against union representation …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Independent Journal Review and Times Free Press

Bernie Woodall / Reuters: Tennessee Volkswagen plant votes against union in UAW defeat

Bill McMorris / Washington Free Beacon:
UAW Loses at VW

Discussion: BizPac Review

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

High cost of an ego trip — Very few Americans know how close the country came to catastrophe this week. — The final tally shows that the Senate voted by a wide margin Wednesday, 67 to 31, to break Sen. Ted Cruz's filibuster of an increase in the debt limit, thus avoiding a default on the United States' full faith and credit.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, The Federalist, Hot Air and Talking Points Memo

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

Innovation, Optimism and Jobs — Is digital technology destroying middle-class jobs? Does it exacerbate income inequality? Does it boost economic growth and productivity — without creating the jobs that ought to come with economic growth? — Last month I gave space to a book titled …

Investor's Business Daily:

California's Drought Isn't Due To Global Warming, But Politics — Water Wars: President Obama visited California's drought-hit Central Valley Friday, offering handouts and blaming global warming. But the state's water shortage is due to the left's refusal to deal with the state's water needs.

Discussion: Hot Air, americanthinker.com and The Gateway Pundit

Lateef Mungin / CNN:

Actress Ellen Page: “I am gay” — Coming out in Hollywood — (CNN) — Hollywood actress Ellen Page, known for her role in the movie “Juno,” announced she is gay, in a very public way. — Page broke the news during an emotional speech Friday in a crowded conference hall in Las Vegas, her publicist confirmed to CNN.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, NY Daily News, The Week and Gawker

Ed Rogers / PostPartisan:

The Insiders: The IRS, the Democrats' cat's paw — Encouraged by the lack of a public backlash, an uninquisitive press, cover from the White House and an eager-to-please bureaucracy, the Democrats are boldly counting on the IRS to be their political and policy enforcer.This statement …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Right Wing News

Arizona Republic:

FONT: — The Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team — A Pinal County inmate looking to spend some time with his valentine was taken into custody more than three hours after he escaped from jail earlier Friday. — Officials said Joseph Andrew Dekenipp, 40, was arrested without incident …

Discussion: Associated Press, Guardian and Mediaite