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The Court's Blow to Democracy — With a single, disastrous 5-to-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has thrust politics back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century. Disingenuously waving the flag of the First Amendment, the court's conservative majority has paved the way for corporations …
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Justice Stevens Stumbles: A Step To Retirement? — Justice John Paul Stevens has left some clues he's planning to retire this year, shortly after he turns 90 years old. He's only hired one law clerk for next term, for example, and not the four that sitting justices typically hire every year.


Watching as the Supreme Court turns a corporation into a real live boy.
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ProfessorBainbridge.com, Emptywheel, ACS Blog, James Fallows, unbossed.com, Newsweek Blogs, The Huffington Post and Feministe

Political Fallout From the Supreme Court Ruling
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The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Big Journalism, New York Times, Betsy's Page, CANNONFIRE, Big Brass Blog, BBC, SCOTUSblog, Grist, No Sheeples Here and Commentary

Statement from the President on Today's Supreme Court Decision
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Washington Post, Firedoglake, Sister Toldjah, Big Journalism, The Hill, Truthdig, Pajamas Media, The Hill, SEIU, Crime and Consequences Blog, AmSpecBlog and theblogprof

Analysis: A few open, or not so open, questions
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Ben Smith's Blog, Truthdig, Sunlight Foundation, Campaign Diaries and The Moderate Voice

The Supreme Court kills campaign finance reform.
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Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Democracy 21, OpenSecrets.org, Keyboard Militia, SCOTUSblog, Daily Kos, Cato @ Liberty, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Newsweek Blogs, Washington Times, Sunlight Foundation, Associated Press, ProfessorBainbridge.com, The Huffington Post, JammieWearingFool and Election Law


Dem health care talks collapsing — Health care reform teetered on the brink of collapse Thursday as House and Senate leaders struggled to coalesce around a strategy to rescue the plan, in the face of growing pessimism among lawmakers that the president's top priority can survive.
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Do the Right Thing — A message to House Democrats: This is your moment of truth. You can do the right thing and pass the Senate health care bill. Or you can look for an easy way out, make excuses and fail the test of history. — Tuesday's Republican victory in the Massachusetts special election means …
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Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, USA Today, TPM LiveWire, Kausfiles and Prairie Weather

Senate Dems Not Sure They Can Get Enough Votes to Reconfirm Bernanke — Amidst the voter anger at Wall Street and Washington, D.C., ABC News has learned that the Senate Democratic leadership isn't sure there are enough votes to re-confirm Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

So Is It Really Over? — Let me take a moment and explain where I think we are on the Health Care Reform front. — As I've argued, procedurally, with the senate Dems reduced to 59 votes, there's no way to get a better or revised bill through the senate. (Frankly, it's not clear to me that there are still 59 votes.)


A New Search for Consensus on Health Care Bill — WASHINGTON — Even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi affirmed her commitment to pass far-reaching health care legislation this year, members of Congress and health policy experts began Thursday to deal with the reality that a smaller bill would have a better chance.

Fluid and Muddle — I've been poking around some sources …
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The Greenroom

In U.S., Majority Favors Suspending Work on Healthcare Bill — Seven in 10 say Massachusetts election result reflects frustrations shared by Americans — PRINCETON, NJ — In the wake of Republican Scott Brown's victory in Tuesday's U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, the majority of Americans …
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Will the Base Abandon Hope? — Imagine for a moment that you're a liberal. Oh, I know, that won't be a stretch for some of you. Over the years, you've developed a pretty thick skin, since while you've won an election now and then, you haven't had too many policy victories since ... well, since forever.

Fox News Poll: Voters Split On Congressional Elections
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Media Matters for America, The Washington Independent, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12

Geithner has reservations on US bank limits-sources — President Barack Obama's newest Wall Street crackdown was met with hesitation from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is concerned that politics could be sacrificing good economic policy, according to financial industry sources.
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Bloomberg Hammers Obama, Congress Over Bank Plan — Mayor Says President's Idea To Limit Size And Investments Will Lead To Big Problems For NYC, Including Layoffs — Hizzoner Suggests Salaries Of D.C. Lawmakers Be Held Back For Decade — NEW YORK (CBS) ― President Barack Obama's demand Thursday …

Senator John Thune: Obama seeks to spark ‘class warfare’ with populist rhetoric
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RedState

Air America, the Talk Radio Network, Will Go Off the Air — Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network, abruptly shut down on Thursday, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.” — The chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker …
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CANNONFIRE
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Jay Leno to keynote White House Correspondents Dinner — White House Correspondents Association has picked this week's most unpopular stand-up comic Jay Leno be the keynote speaker at this year's White House Correspondents DInner. — An NBC rep confirmed the invitation to The TV Column.
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Detainees Will Still Be Held, but Not Tried, Official Says — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to continue to imprison without trials nearly 50 detainees at the Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba because a high-level task force has concluded that they are too difficult …
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Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Washington Independent, Discourse.net and Prairie Weather


Scott Brown's Wife Music VIDEO: Gail Huff's RACY ‘Girl With The Curious Hand’ (PHOTOS) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — On Tuesday night, Scott Brown's wife pleaded with her husband to stop advertising his “available” daughters, but a video we've dug up reveals that Gail Huff wasn't always so prim and proper.
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Mediaite, The Lonely Conservative, Gateway Pundit, Boston Globe, POWIP, DaTechguy's Blog, BuzzFlash.org and Michelle Malkin

Prop. 8 backer stands by views on pedophilia — SAN FRANCISCO — A proponent of California's same-sex marriage ban testified Thursday that he thinks gays are more likely to be pedophiles and that allowing them to wed would lead to efforts to lower the age at which teenagers can legally have sex with adults.


The World Bids Farewell to Obama — US President Barack Obama suffered a painful defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday. With mid-term elections looming, it means that Obama will have to fundamentally re-think his political course. German commentators say it is the end of hope.

Man Claims Terror Ties in Little Rock Shooting — MEMPHIS — A Tennessee man accused of killing a soldier outside a Little Rock, Ark., military recruiting station last year has asked a judge to change his plea to guilty, claiming for the first time that he is affiliated with a Yemen-based affiliate of Al Qaeda.


Big Banks Have Already Figured Out The Loophole In Obama's New Rules — Big banks have already begun poking the holes in Obama's new rules—holes they expect their banks to pass through basically unchanged. — The president promised this morning to work with Congress to ensure that no bank …

ADL whacks Limbaugh — The Anti-Defamation League, which recently criticized a range of conservative figures, including Glenn Beck, as “extremists,” has turned its sights on Rush Limbaugh for a “borderline anti-semitic remark” about Jews — The line in question:
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Daily Kos