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Barack Obama's gift for the Queen: an iPod, your Majesty — Barack Obama met the Queen at Buckingham Palace today and gave her a gift of an iPod loaded with video footage and photographs of her 2007 United States visit to Richmond, Jamestown and Williamsburg in Virginia.
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Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
Obama's Gift to the Queen — This just in: Diplomatic jaws dropped across the continent yesterday when it was revealed that U.S. President Barack Obama had, once again, fumbled a routine protocal of international statecraft: finding the right gift for a foreign leader or head of state.
Discussion:
Political Punch
Helene Cooper / The Caucus:
We're Not Keeping Score, but... LONDON — Is President Obama trying to muzzle his press corps? — The standard form during “joint press availabilities” — bureaucratic lingo for press conferences where leaders from two different countries stand next to each other and take questions from reporters …
Discussion:
Political Machine
Nia-Malika Henderson / The Politico:
Did Obama's iPod gift make the cut? — What do you get for a woman who has everything—palaces, crown jewels, a nation at her feet? If you're President Barack Obama, and it's the Queen of England, a personalized iPod, of course. — The bestowing of the Royal iPod brought a cringe …
Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blog:
NYT asks: ‘Obama trying to muzzle press?’ — NY Times White House reporter Helene Cooper, reporting from London, asked a provocative question on the paper's politics blog today: “Is Obama trying to muzzle his press corps.” (That item quickly moved to the lead story on Huffington Post).
Discussion:
The Swamp
Paul D. Ryan / Wall Street Journal:
The GOP's Alternative Budget — President Obama offers us the option of European big government. — Today, the House of Representatives will consider two budget plans that represent dramatically different visions for our nation's future. — We will first consider President Barack Obama's plan.
Discussion:
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
REASSURINGLY THE SAME — I realize that it doesn't afford me a lot of opportunities for personal or spiritual growth. But I'm nonetheless comforted by the fact that the Republicans running things in the House GOP caucus are still as clinically insane as in years past.
The Huffington Post:
GOP Budget Plan Assumes Americans Would Choose Higher Tax Rate — House Republicans set themselves a high bar last week when they promised to deliver an alternative budget that drastically slashed taxes while also cutting the deficit further than the White House has proposed.
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, MoJo Blog Posts and Wonk Room
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A BUDGET PERFECT FOR APRIL FOOLS' DAY.... Rumor has it that Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, is one of the House GOP Caucus' sharper members. He has a reputation for knowing what he's talking about, and doing his homework.
The Huffington Post:
White House: House GOP Budget A “Joke” — House and Senate Republicans emerged from an early morning meeting in a closed House chamber Wednesday morning to unveil their much-awaited budget alternative. — Roughly a hundred GOP men and women descended the East Capitol steps in a light drizzle …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Democrats Predict 210-Vote Victory in NY-20 — Venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) will win the special election in New York's 20th district by 210 votes after all outstanding absentee and military ballots are counted, according to projections made by Democratic Party officials and obtained by the Fix.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Politico, TPMDC, Hotline On Call, Politicker NY, Michael Barone, Swing State Project, Salon and PoliticalBase.com Blog
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Joe The Plumber Admits He Knows “Little” About EFCA, Gets Jeered By Workers — Oof. Looks like Joe the Plumber's campaigning against the Employee Free Choice Act in Pennsylvania didn't go so well. — Mr. Plumber, whose appearances were organized by the anti-EFCA group Americans for Prosperity …
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Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Joe the Plumber stumped on Employee Free Choice Act: 'I don't know everything about everything.' — Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” is currently in Pennsylvania shilling against the Employee Free Choice Act on behalf of the anti-labor group Americans for Prosperity.
Discussion:
Keystone Progress Blog, Wearecentralpa.com, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Pam's House Blend and Shakesville
Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama tax pledge up in smoke — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - One of President Barack Obama's campaign pledges on taxes went up in puffs of smoke Wednesday. — The largest increase in tobacco taxes took effect despite Obama's promise …
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:New Obama tax outrage: Nominee leaves IRS refunds unclaimed!
Discussion:
Christian Science Monitor
Nina Totenberg / NPR:
Sources: Sen. Stevens Conviction To Be Voided — Audio for this story will be available at approx. 9:00 a.m. ET — · NPR's has learned that the Justice Department will drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. — A jury convicted Stevens last fall of seven counts …
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P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org:
David Letterman Calls Bill O'Reilly a ‘Goon’ During Heated Interview — Whenever Bill O'Reilly appears on the David Letterman show you just know sparks are going to fly due to Letterman's inability to keep his anger managed and last night's show did not disappoint although it seems that Letterman …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Inevitable Triumph of the Neocons — Robert Farley expresses skepticism that Bill Kristol's new Foreign Policy Initiative is going to succeed: … I think that's way too optimistic. The commanding heights of the information economy remain incredibly friendly to neocon perspectives.
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David Crary / Associated Press:
Retired military officers: keep ban on gays — NEW YORK - More than 1,000 retired military officers, including several who were top commanders, are urging President Barack Obama and Congress to maintain the law that bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
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Moe Tkacik / TPMMuckraker:
Harvard Derivatives Whiz Fired For Emailing Larry Summers About “Frightening” Trades? — A former quantitative analyst at Harvard Management Company, the university's once-vaunted endowment manager, tells the Harvard Crimson she was fired for voicing concern to then-university president Larry Summers' chief …
New York Post:
MASTHEAD MASSACRE — FORBES AXES AT LEAST 20 FROM MAG AND WEB — RIGHT about now, U2 front man Bono is probably wondering what he's gotten himself into by buying such a big stake in Forbes Media. — Yesterday, the company cut at least 20 editorial positions in the latest move to stay ahead …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
BBC:
Bomb blows backside off Lenin statue — One of Russia's most famous statues of Vladimir Lenin has been bombed, leaving the Bolshevik revolutionary with a gaping hole in his rear. — The bronze statue, in the city of St Petersburg, was badly damaged before dawn on Wednesday, when the blast blew a hole in Lenin's coat.
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Barney: GOP suffers psych disorder — House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank was in quite a mood on the floor of the House today — questioning the sanity of Texas Republican John Culberson and other conservatives over their opposition to the new AIG bonus bill.
Rep. Alan Grayson / The Huffington Post:
Stop Stealing Our Money — I was elected last November because the people wanted change. And nowhere is change more desperately needed than on Wall Street, which is apparently the only place in the world where you can steal from the taxpayers and then bill them for services rendered.
Joseph E. Stiglitz / New York Times:
Obama's Ersatz Capitalism — THE Obama administration's $500 billion or more proposal to deal with America's ailing banks has been described by some in the financial markets as a win-win-win proposal. Actually, it is a win-win-lose proposal: the banks win, investors win — and taxpayers lose.
Andrew Walden / Front Page Magazine:
Barack Obama: Born in Hawaii — A fairly impressive internet industry has sprung up claiming that Obama was born in either Kenya or Indonesia. This is nonsense which distracts from the broadly unexplored story of Obama's upbringing. This kind of nonsense has emerged because the McCain campaign chose …
Discussion:
pw
Fox News:
Koh, No? Critics Decry Obama Nominee for State Department Legal Adviser — Harold Koh, President Obama's pick to become one of the State Department's top lawyers, has ignited fury among critics who say his legal views are a threat to American democracy. — FOXNews.com
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