Alaska Dispatch: “Free of concerns about pesky ethics problems related to remote
possibilities of engaging in crony capitalism, former Alaska Gov. Sarah
Palin was decked out on Sunday as a walking advertisement for husband
Todd’s new Iron Dog sponsors — among them the Canadian company Ski-Doo.”
Has GOP Fallen Into Obama’s Trap on Budget Cuts?
Andrew Sullivan says Republicans will suffer politically if the sequestration cuts go into effect on March 1.
“I believe that is indeed Obama’s long game here. The precedent is the Gingrich government shutdown, which stopped his revolution in its tracks and gave Bill Clinton new political life. When cops are furloughed, when scientists complain about research cuts, when the military-industrial complex revs up its lobbying engines, I just don’t see how the sequester works politically for the GOP. It exists entirely because of their fixation on immediate austerity – despite the awful consequences that policy option has spawned in Europe.”
The Fix: “When people start paying attention to the sequester, President Obama
wants to make sure that he has the political high ground in the blame
game.”
Leak Could Push GOP Towards Immigration Plan
Talking Points Memo suggests the leak of the White House immigration reform plan — which Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) immediately shot down as “dead on arrival” — might be part of an overall strategy.
“Not wanting to be seen as a shill for a Democratic President’s signature achievement, Rubio’s strategy from the start has been to play up his differences with the White House as much as possible. This weekend’s outburst was only the latest incident: in interviews with the Wall Street Journal, Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, and other conservative thought leaders, Rubio has positioned himself as the right-wing antidote to a far-left White House on immigration.”
“This touring indignation act isn’t just for Rubio’s own benefit. The Republicans he needs to win over to pass a bill will be a lot more comfortable if they think they’re somehow thumbing their nose at Obama by voting for it.”
Lawmaker Apologizes for Rape Remark
A video of a Colorado lawmaker talking about rape while debating a gun bill involving college campuses has gone viral, the Denver Post reports, with Republicans and Second Amendment activists likening state Rep. Joe Salazar (D) to failed Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin (R).
Will Markey Walk to the U.S. Senate Unchallenged?
“The path to the U.S. Senate doesn’t get much easier than the one Rep. Edward J. Markey is on,” Roll Call reports. “But that smooth path could signal significant potholes ahead.”
Markey was “first elected to Congress more than 30 years ago by winning a multi-candidate primary with just 22% of the vote, and ever since, he’s faced scant opposition in his re-election bids… Markey is untested as a candidate. No one has had a reason to dig deep into his record, so it’s unclear what his opposition research file will contain. What’s more, the congressman’s campaign isn’t close to midseason form: Two months into his Senate run, his campaign website consists of nothing more than a splash page.”
Axelrod Joins NBC News
The Washington Post reports that David Axelrod, one of the chief architects of President Obama’s two presidential campaigns, is joining NBC News and MSNBC as a senior political analyst.
Stars Mug
Here is a very cool mug that shows stars giving way to the full flag when hot water is added.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The idea of a grand bargain is at best on life support. It seems like both sides are beginning to retreat to their own talking points. This may be good politics, but it doesn’t put us any closer to having our fiscal house in order.”
— Erskine Bowles, quoted by Politico, while unveiling a new plan to cut the federal debt.
Supreme Court Will Hear Case on Donation Limits
The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to campaign finance laws limiting how much an individual can give to political campaigns, the Associated Press reports.
The justices agreed to hear an appeal from an Alabama resident and the RNC who are arguing that it’s unconstitutional to stop a donor from giving more than $46,200 to political candidates and $70,800 to political committees and PACs.
Rick Hasen: “A ruling in this case could have important implications not only on the
issue itself, but on the broader question whether the Court will change
the standard for judging the constitutionality of limits on
contributions, an issue the Court expressly declined to address in Citizens United.”
Behind the First Lady’s Bangs
First Lady Michelle Obama cut her hair because she’s having a mid-life crisis, the New York Daily News reports.
Said Mrs. Obama: “This is my midlife crisis, the bangs. I couldn’t get a sports car. They won’t let me bungee jump. So instead, I cut my bangs.”
Here Comes the Bully Pulpit
President Obama will make a full court press to push Congress to avoid the automatic spending cuts set to take effect on March 1.
First Read: “Per the White House, the president will make these remarks surrounded by emergency responders — “the kinds of working Americans whose jobs are on the line if Congressional Republicans fail to compromise on a balanced solution,” it says… Today, Obama will be surrounded by first responders; tomorrow, it might be military families; and the day after that, it could be with essential government workers who could be furloughed. This is the one power a president has with Congress as it relates to domestic policy: the power of persuasion. We have seen the future of this sequester fight over the next few weeks, and it is today — a massive public-relations effort with the president using his pulpit to drop a political hammer on Congress.”
How Obama Shapes Media Coverage
President Obama “is a master at limiting, shaping and manipulating media coverage of himself and his White House,” Politico reports.
“Not for the reason that conservatives suspect: namely, that a liberal press willingly and eagerly allows itself to get manipulated. Instead, the mastery mostly flows from a White House that has taken old tricks for shaping coverage (staged leaks, friendly interviews) and put them on steroids using new ones (social media, content creation, precision targeting). And it’s an equal opportunity strategy: Media across the ideological spectrum are left scrambling for access.”
New Bowles-Simpson Plan Unveiled
Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson proposed a new framework to cut the country’s debt by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, CNN reports.
The Wall Street Journal notes the new proposal “would reduce the federal budget deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years, more than the $1.5 trillion package that White House officials have said is their goal. Obama administration officials say any deficit-reduction package must include new tax revenue as well as spending cuts.”
“House GOP leaders have not yet detailed the size of the deficit-reduction package they will propose, but they have said it would balance the budget within 10 years, which would put it in the $4 trillion range. They have said, though, that it won’t include any tax increases.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m not much different from Andrew Cuomo. I probably agree with him on 98% of the issues.”
— Chris Christie (R), quoted by the Glen Falls Chronicle, in a conversation with a union organizer.
House Democrats Score with Online Fundraising
Roll Call: “It’s usually easier to bring in big bucks when your party holds the speaker’s gavel. But last cycle, House Democrats crushed their competitors thanks to a dramatic spike in online fundraising.”
A Hard Endorsement to Use
Days before he died of congestive heart failure, the New York Times reports former New York City Mayor Edward Koch made an announcement in his hospital room: “I want to help Chris Quinn.”
“But it was not to be. Mr. Koch died three days later, and among his many legacies is now a peculiar question for Ms. Quinn: how to utilize an endorsement by a popular and influential advocate who also happens to be deceased.”
Staffer Leading Senate Democrats
New York Times: “After two grueling election cycles, Guy Cecil, the brains behind the Democrats’ improbable Senate showings in 2010 and 2012, was expected to set aside his political combat boots for tasseled loafers and a sinecure somewhere in this city that pays handsomely for success.”
“Then his old boss, Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, reluctantly took the helm of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, looking at another brutal map for Democrats eager to stay in control of Congress’s upper chamber. He had one demand: Keep Guy Cecil aboard.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is the largest organ in a body. That’s a big thing. That’s a big surgery. You don’t have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that.”
— Alabama state Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin (R), in an interview with the Montgomery Advertiser, defending her sweeping anti-abortion bill.
