The Commentariat -- February 13, 2012

Abso-fucking-lutely not. -- Christina Romer, in 2009, on whether the stimulus had been big enough ...

... ** Norm Scheiber of The New Republic on "Obama's worst year." Scheiber lays out the 2011 internal White House deliberations on the budget, the deficit, the debt ceiling. Not a pretty picture. Read the whole thing; here's Scheiber's conclusion:

For voters contemplating whether [President Obama] deserves a second term, the question is less and less one of policy or even worldview than of basic disposition. Throughout his political career, Obama has displayed an uncanny knack for responding to existential threats....But, in every case, the adjustments didn’t come until the crisis was already at hand. His initial approach was too passive and too accommodating, and he stuck with it far too long.

Given the booby traps that await the next president — Iranian nukes, global financial turmoil — this habit seems dangerously risky.... Is Obama’s newfound boldness on the economy yet another last-minute course-correction? Or has he finally learned a deeper lesson? More than just a presidency may hinge on the answer.

... As Paul Krugman wrote,

Yet it seemed totally obvious to me that

1. There would be no going back to the well if the first stimulus fell short
2. Obama would get no credit for fiscal responsibility, no matter what he offered by way of spending cuts
3. The GOP would ruthlessly exploit whatever leverage it was given

So how is it that all these worldly-wise political types got these things so wrong?

       ... CW: this is the same thing I asked yesterday in response to Jim Fallows' analysis of the Obama presidency.

Kathleen Hennessey & Christi Parsons of the Los Angeles Times: "President Obama's 2013 budget, scheduled for release Monday, offers a preview of the November election as both parties angle to refine the vision they hope to sell to voters. Obama's plan and the House Republicans' answer, due in the spring, are aimed as much at offering voters a choice as at promoting policies destined for enactment. For the president, the budget is another opportunity to try to position himself as a defender of the middle class, a leader willing to ask the wealthiest to pay more in taxes and to use government spending to spur job growth. It will give a nod to the president's call for balanced deficit reduction, while also aiming to preserve Democrats' brand as guardians of the social safety net. Over the last year the conversation was about 'How much do we cut?' Obama's budget will try to shift to more politically advantageous questions: 'Who should pay more?' and 'What is fair?'"

Bill Moyers talks to Reagan administration economist Bruce Bartlett on where the right went wrong. The transcript is here:

Cullen Murphy in a New York Times op-ed on the dangers inherent in moral certitude. "Triumphalist rhetoric about the Constitution ignores the skeptical view of human nature that underlies it."

Prof. Nancy Folbre in the New York Times: "A political and cultural battle has now become an economic siege. Having failed to roll back legal access to abortion and contraception, opponents now seek to make them as costly as possible. It’s a clever strategy, because it does not require majority political support.... The women most directly affected are those with the weakest political voice and the lowest discretionary income." In Kansas & Virginia, where "supply-side" restrictions (like imposing specific square-footage requirements for the janitors' closet!) "the provider best able to withstand the regulatory assault is Planned Parenthood, which helps explain why this organization has come under Congressional investigation and was — at least temporarily — threatened by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation with withdrawal of support."

Click on the image to see the entire strip by Brian McFadden of the New York Times.

Right Wing World

Paul Krugman: "... tinfoil hats have become a common, if not mandatory, G.O.P. fashion accessory.... For decades the G.O.P. has won elections by appealing to social and racial divisions, only to turn after each victory to deregulation and tax cuts for the wealthy.... Over time, however, this strategy created a base that really believed in all the hokum — and now the party elite has lost control."

Blame My Wife. -- Rick Santorum. Brian Knowlton of the New York Times: When George Stephanopoulos asked Rick Santorum on Sunday "to explain a remark in his book 'It Takes a Family' that accuses 'radical feminists' of undermining families and trying to convince women that they could find fulfillment only in the workplace..., Mr. Santorum said that his wife, Karen, had written that section of the 2005 book — though only his name is on the cover and he does not list her, in his acknowledgements, among those 'who assisted me in the writing of this book.' ... Mr. Santorum pleaded unfamiliarity with the citation, saying, 'I don’t know — that’s a new quote for me.' ... Mr. Stephanopoulos had asked him about the same quote in 2005."

Alex Koppelman of the New Yorker: Mitt Romney's narrow win (194 more votes than Ron Paul got) in the sparsely-attended, non-binding Maine caucuses & in the CPAC straw poll (he's won it three times before) don't mean much. And neither does he: "... there never seems to be any depth of feeling there; his speeches are, like the man himself, all surface perfection, and not much underneath. Saying the word 'conservative' almost once per minute substitutes for real passion."

NEW. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "For a candidate running against the entrenched interests of Washington, Mitt Romney keeps an awful lot of lobbyists around." ...

... Amy Shipley of the Washington Post writes a story under the headline, "10 years after Salt Lake City Olympics, questions about Romney's contributions." You might think it would be a shocking exposé of Romney's shoddy work & total sleaziness. It isn't. The article pretty much says the answer to the "questions" posed in the headline is -- "Romney is fantastic!" The only raps: he took the job for political reasons (no kidding!) & he secured a lot of federal government funding for the games. So call this a puff piece masquerading as a critical report. ...

... An homage to Gail Collins:

Who's Writing the Laws? New York Times Editorial Board: "The American Legislative Exchange Council was founded in 1973 by the right-wing activist Paul Weyrich; its big funders include Exxon Mobil, the Olin and Scaife families and foundations tied to Koch Industries. Many of the largest corporations are represented on its board.... It is no coincidence that so many state legislatures have spent the last year taking the same destructive actions: making it harder for minorities and other groups that support Democrats to vote, obstructing health care reform, weakening environmental regulations and breaking the spines of public- and private-sector unions. All of these efforts are being backed — in some cases, orchestrated — by [ALEC].... Voters have a right to know whether the representatives they elect are actually writing the laws, or whether the job has been outsourced to big corporate interests." ...

... Mike Ludwig of Truthout: "Over the past year, Ohio lawmakers introduced 33 bills that are identical to or 'appear to contain' elements of the ALEC's infamous model legislation that promotes a pro-corporate agenda, according to a report released this week by watchdog groups." The report, commissioned by a number of watchdog groups, is here. Thanks to contributor Dave S. for the link.

Prof. Alexander Keyssar in a New York Times op-ed on the long history of voter suppression in this country. The one the right is foisting on us now fits right in with this sordid history. "No state has ever attempted to disenfranchise upper-middle-class or wealthy white male citizens. Acknowledging the realities of our history should lead all of us to be profoundly skeptical of laws that burden, or impede, the exercise of what Lyndon B. Johnson called 'the basic right, without which all others are meaningless.'”

News Ledes

President Obama presented the National Medals of Arts & Humanities today:

     ... Related post here.

Washington Post: "Trying to avert another tax showdown, House Republican leaders Monday proposed an extension of the withholding-tax holiday to the end of the year without offsetting spending cuts.... The top three House GOP leaders backed off previous demands that its extension be accompanied by spending reductions to shore up the finances of the Social Security program, which is funded through withholding taxes."

Seattle Times: "In a crowded reception room surrounded by applauding gay couples and lawmakers, and with media from around the country looking on, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday signed landmark legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington state. The historic event brings Washington in line with six other states and the District of Columbia, which allow gays to marry." ...

... AP: "In a move that supporters called a civil rights milestone, New Jersey's state Senate on Monday passed a bill to recognize same-sex marriages, marking the first time state lawmakers officially endorsed the idea — despite the promise of a veto by Gov. Chris Christie. Monday's vote was 24-16 in favor of the bill, a major swing from January 2010, when the Senate rejected it 20-14."

New York Times: "Apple said Monday that it had asked an outside organization to conduct special audits of working conditions inside Chinese factories where iPhones, iPads and other Apple products are manufactured.... Apple said the group, the Fair Labor Association, started its first inspections Monday at a factory in Shenzhen, China, known as Foxconn City.... Working conditions in Foxconn factories, including safety lapses that led to worker deaths, were the subject of; an investigative article last month by The New York Times. Last week, coordinated protests of worker abuses occurred at Apple stores around the world."

NPR: "Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has been the victim of an armed robbery but is unharmed. Breyer, his wife, Joanna, and a friend were at the Breyer vacation home on the Caribbean island of Nevis when a man broke in with a machete and confronted them."

President Obama speaks about the FY 2013 budget:

Washington Post: "White House Chief of Staff Jacob J. Lew on Sunday dismissed Republican criticism of President Obama’s latest spending plan, arguing that it charts a long-term strategy for tackling the national debt while offering a short-term boost to the recovering economy. The budget request, due on Capitol Hill on Monday, calls for spending $3.8 trillion in 2013, according to sources with knowledge of the document, including fresh increases for roads, infrastructure, manufacturing and education, as well as a year-long extension of emergency unemployment benefits and a temporary payroll tax holiday." AP story here. ...

     ... Update: here's the New York Times story on the budget, which has now been released.

Yahoo! News: "China's Vice President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington late Monday for a whirlwind visit to the White House, Pentagon, Iowa and Los Angeles. White House officials describe the visit as an opportunity to build relations with the man expected to become China's president next year." Washington Post story here.

Reuters: "Syrian forces bombarded districts of Homs and attacked other cities on Monday after Arab states pledged support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad and called for international peacekeepers to be sent to the country." Al Jazeera's liveblog is here.

Al Jazeera: "Israeli diplomats have been targeted for car bombings in India and Georgia, leaving three injured and the nation's foreign minister promising a response. An Israeli embassy van blew up in New Delhi, the Indian capital, injuring an Israeli diplomat and two other people, but it was not immediately known whether the explosion was caused by a bomb, officials said." ...

... Haaretz: "The wife of an Israeli diplomat was moderately wounded on Monday when a car bomb exploded outside of Israel's embassy in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Haaretz has learned."

Washington Post: "Coroner’s officials say they will not release any information on an autopsy performed Sunday on [singer Whitney Houston] at the request of police detectives investigating the singer’s death. Houston was found in the bathtub of her room, but Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined to say anything more about the room’s condition or any evidence investigators recovered. There were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston’s body, but officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they have toxicology results, which will likely take weeks to obtain." ...

... ABC News: "Whiney Houston probably died from a combination of the drug Xanax and other prescription medication mixed with alcohol, TMZ reported, citing family sources who were briefed by L.A. County Coroner officials. Coroners informed Houston's family that there was not enough water in the singer's lungs for her to have drowned, and that she may have died before her head became submerged in the bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where her body was found Saturday, TMZ.com reported."

The Commentariat -- February 12, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on Ross Douthat's riff on Charles Murray's book about the moral decline of working-class white Americans. It's a short-course in how conservatives mischaracterize liberal policies and hide their own true agendas behind policies that sound good or that contains appealing elements. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.

James Fallows, in a long Atlantic article, "explains" President Obama & his presidency. CW: I think you're still going to come away asking, "How could Obama have made such mistakes -- of personnel and tactics -- that even I could see were mistakes?" There's not a chance, for instance, that I would have larded top-tier Cabinet & staff positions with Clinton leftovers, especially since the Clinton people were part of the problem in the first place.

"Kill the Pill." Rachel Maddow in a Washington Post op-ed on the right's war on birth control, one which all the GOP presidential candidates have pledged to lead or embraced "absolutely." ...

... Nicholas Kristof: "I had thought that Jesus talked more about helping the poor than about banning contraceptives.... The cost of birth control is one reason poor women are more than three times as likely to end up pregnant unintentionally as middle-class women.... Coverage for contraception should be a pillar of our public health policy — and ... of any faith-based effort to be our brother’s keeper, or our sister’s.... Every dollar that the United States government spends on family planning reduces Medicaid expenditures by $3.74.... We try to respect religious beliefs, and accommodate them where we can. But we ban polygamy, for example.... Your freedom to believe does not always give you a freedom to act."

** Binyamin Appelbaum & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "... many ... residents who describe themselves as self-sufficient members of the American middle class and as opponents of government largess are drawing more deeply on that government with each passing year. Dozens of benefits programs provided an average of $6,583 for each man, woman and child in the county in 2009, a 69 percent increase from 2000 after adjusting for inflation.... The government now provides almost $1 in benefits for every $4 in other income. Older people get most of the benefits, primarily through Social Security and Medicare, but aid for the rest of the population has increased about as quickly through programs for the disabled, the unemployed, veterans and children.... Politicians have expanded the safety net without a commensurate increase in revenues.... In 2000, federal and state governments spent about 37 cents on the safety net from every dollar they collected in revenue.... A decade later..., spending on the safety net consumed nearly 66 cents of every dollar of revenue."

** Rod Nordland of the New York Times: The war in Afghanistan "is a war where traditional military jobs, from mess hall cooks to base guards and convoy drivers, have increasingly been shifted to the private sector. Many American generals and diplomats have private contractors for their personal bodyguards. And along with the risks have come the consequences: More civilian contractors working for American companies than American soldiers died in Afghanistan last year for the first time during the war. American employers here are under no obligation to publicly report the deaths of their employees and frequently do not."

Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: "Far from dissipating, [Occupy] groups around the country say they are preparing for a new phase of larger marches and strikes this spring that they hope will rebuild momentum and cast an even brighter glare on inequality and corporate greed.... Though still loosely organized, the movement is putting down roots in many cities. Activists in Chicago and Des Moines have rented offices...." With photos. CW: this article is pretty negative, but try to read past Eckholm's skepticism for the content.

New York Times Editors: "The $26 billion foreclosure settlement between the big banks and federal and state officials is a wrist slap.... The banks did not get the blanket release they originally sought from legal liability for all manner of mortgage misconduct. But the settlement still shields them from state and federal civil lawsuits for most foreclosure abuses.... The banks are not off the hook for criminal prosecutions ... or for private lawsuits. They are also not off the hook for wrongdoing in their aggressive pooling of mortgages into securities.... President Obama will need to press his own administration hard to deliver an unsparing follow-on investigation that results in more clarity, more money and more justice." ...

... New York Times Editors: "The [Obama] administration has put forth far-reaching proposals to help homeowners qualify for refinancing. But the proposals would be paid for, in part, by a new tax on banks. That requires Congressional approval, which Republicans are unlikely to provide. The White House needs to challenge Republicans to explain why they are more interested in protecting the banks than protecting homeowners.... Too much time has already been wasted."

** Adam Liptak, who reports for the New York Times on the Supreme Court, writes an important op-ed on the "high-tech war on leaks.... "It used to be that journalists had a sporting chance of protecting their sources. The best and sometimes only way to identify a leaker was to pressure the reporter or news organization that received the leak, but even subpoenas tended to be resisted. Today, advances in surveillance technology allow the government to keep a perpetual eye on those with security clearances, and give prosecutors the ability to punish officials for disclosing secrets without provoking a clash with the press." CW: technological surveillance is not only a threat to privacy; it is also a threat to a free press.

Sarah Lyall & Ravi Somaiya of the New York Times: "As dozens of investigators and high-powered lawyers converge on Rupert Murdoch’s News International in the phone hacking scandal, attention has focused on the printout of an e-mail excavated three months ago from a sealed carton left behind in an empty company office. Addressed to Mr. Murdoch’s son James, it contained explosive information about the scale of phone hacking at The News of the World tabloid — information James Murdoch says he failed to take in because he did not read the whole e-mail chain."

Stephanie Coontz in a New York Times Sunday Review article on the changing patterns of men's views on the qualities that make a desirable mate. It's good news all around for well-educated women who want to marry men. CW: Coontz doesn't say so, but obviously men's drastically changed attitudes are a result of the women's equality movement. So, you're welcome, young women, for all of the effort women of my generation made to make your life more fulfilling. And if you're married and your husband is "evolved," figure out a nice way to thank him, too!

Vanessa Thorpe of the Guardian: "A close-knit band of friends and colleagues around Bill Clinton at the time of the Monica Lewinsky affair will speak publicly for the first time of their disbelief and sense of betrayal this month in a much-anticipated four-hour documentary about the former US president." CW: the documentary will air on PBS's "American Experience" February 20 & 21. Here's an extended preview:

Right Wing World

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post has a long piece on the GOP presidential nominating fiasco: "... what is happening to prevent the party from coalescing? GOP veterans say there are at least five forces at work: unsettled voters, lackluster candidates, muddled messages, an unprecedented inflow of money, and new rules that have prolonged the race."

Rick Santorum tells Sam Stein of the Huffington Post that health insurance should not cover contraception at all. ...

Cartoon by Drew Sheneman. In case you can't read it, the caption says, "Seriously? Him? First Gingrich, and now this? Is this a joke? Am I being punked?"CW: Willard may have won the Maine beauty pageant (nonbinding caucuses) yesterday & the CPAC poll, but Public Policy Polling reports, "Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories on Tuesday Rick Santorum has opened up a wide lead in PPP's newest national poll. He's at 38% to 23% for Mitt Romney, 17% for Newt Gingrich, and 13% for Ron Paul." Great. Because contraception is just wrong. *

* Economist Brad DeLong says the poll sample size is too small.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times on Mitt Romney's evolution from abortion rights supporter to anti-contraception, anti-abortion orthodoxy. CW: while Stolberg allows a surrogate to complain that Romney had not signed the "personhood pledge," she does not bother to tell the reader that Romney said he "absolutely" agreed with it.

News Ledes

Reuters: "Greek lawmakers looked set to agree to a deeply unpopular bailout deal on Sunday to avert what Prime Minister Lucas Papademos warned would be 'economic chaos,' and Germany demanded Athens dramatically change its ways to stay in the euro." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "After violent protests left dozens of buildings aflame in Athens, the Greek Parliament voted early on Monday to approve a package of harsh austerity measures demanded by the country’s foreign lenders in exchange for new loans to keep Greece from defaulting on its debt."

Here's the New York Times obituary of singer Whitney Houston, who was found dead yesterday. Story includes a photo slideshow & links to related stories. Links to the Los Angeles Times obituary and related content are here.

The Commentariat -- February 11, 2012

President Obama's Weekly Address. Text here:

Move Over, Clint Eastwood:

** "Obama Punks the GOP on Contraception." Amanda Marcotte of Slate: "The fun part of this is that Obama just pulled a fast one on Republicans. He drew this out for two weeks, letting Republicans work themselves into a frenzy of anti-contraception rhetoric, all thinly disguised as concern for religious liberty, and then created a compromise that addressed their purported concerns but without actually reducing women's access to contraception, which is what this has always been about.... What most people will remember is that Republicans picked a fight with Obama over contraception coverage and lost.... I expect to see some ads in the fall showing Romney saying hostile things about contraception and health care reform, with the message that free birth control is going away if he's elected. It's all so perfect that I'm inclined to think this was Obama's plan all along." ...

... Republicans Demur. Gail Collins: "National standards, national coverage — all of that offends the Tea Party ethos that wants to keep the federal government out of every aspect of American life that does not involve bombing another country. But that shouldn’t be a Catholic goal. The church has always been vocal about its mission to aid the needy, and there’s nobody needier than a struggling family without health care coverage. The bishops have a chance to break the peculiar bond between social conservatives and the fiscal hard right that presumes if Jesus returned today, his first move would be to demand the repeal of the estate tax." ...

... When It Comes to Women's Health Issues, Men Know Best. Thanks to Think Progress:

... I don't think we did anything wrong. -- Cardinal Edward Egan, on his handling of the sexual abuse scandal in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for which he initially apologized in 2002. More than 90 Bridgeport parishoners made abuse claims ...

... CW: I missed this one in all the brouhaha. Andy Newman of the New York Times: "In 2002, at the height of the outcry over the sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic priests, the Archbishop of New York, Edward M. Egan, issued a letter to be read at Mass. In it, he offered an apology about the church’s handling of sex-abuse cases in New York and in Bridgeport, Conn., where he was previously posted.... Now..., in retirement, Cardinal Egan has taken back his apology.... He said many more things in the interview, some of them seemingly at odds with the facts. He repeatedly denied that any sex abuse had occurred on his watch in Bridgeport. He said that even now, the church in Connecticut had no obligation to report sexual abuse accusations to the authorities. (A law on the books since the 1970s says otherwise.)” CW: this might not have been the best week to remind Americans about priests having sex for fun with children, what with the rest of the Church hierarchy all puffed up in righteous indignation about ladies having sex for fun.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "President Obamawill lay out a budget blueprint on Monday that amounts to an election-year bet that a plan for higher taxes on the rich and more spending on popular programs like infrastructure and manufacturing will trump concerns over the deficit. The new budget proposal contrasts with the deficit-cutting promises that attended the budget rollout last year and the debates that followed."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "At a time when President Obamaand his opponents are blamed for shrinking from painful remedies for a sluggish nation, Michelle Obama is back on the road as a tireless, cheerful dispenser of them." ...

New York Times Editors: "Spain’s Supreme Court this week found the Judge Baltasar Garzón guilty of misapplying the country’s wiretap law and suspended him from the courts for 11 years. Judge Garzón has played an important role in Spain’s transition to democracy, as a scourge of corrupt politicians left and right and a powerful champion of international human rights law.... As this week’s miscarriage of justice plainly demonstrates, Spain still needs his help in keeping its judiciary fearless and independent." CW: Garzon also was the judge investigating Bush-era torture facilitators John Yoo & five others.

Right Wing World

Quote of the Day. Rick Santorum isn’t the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. He’s the conservative alternative to reality. -- Steve Stromberg of the Washington Post

 Runner-up. I know it seems like government doesn't like you. I love you. -- Mitt Romney, to 900 businesspeople. See, he is concerned about the wealthy, after all. ...

... Steve Benen lists the five top Romney lies of the week. ...

... "Severely Conservative." Ewen MacAskill of the Guardian: "Mitt Romney attempted to get his presidential campaign back on track Friday with a speech aimed at winning over conservatives at their mega-conference in Washington. Romney ... dispensed with his normal stump speech and instead set out his credentials as a conservative to a largely sceptical audience. He used the word 'conservative' more than 20 times in his speech and described himself, in an odd choice of words, as 'severely conservative'. [Rick] Santorum and Newt Gingrich also appeared before crowded rooms, each receiving standing ovations Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the biggest gathering of conservatives in the country." The New York Times story, by Jeff Zeleny, is here. Washington Post story, by David Fahrenthold, here. ...

... "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism." Dana Milbank went to CPAC, too, and he says Republicans have "an anger management problem." He does a nice job of gleaning the flavor of the rhetoric at CPAC.

** Prof. Molly Worthen in the New York Times: Rick "Santorum’s [string of bigoted] statements reflect not knee-jerk prejudice, but something much more powerful: philosophically reasoned prejudice, based on centuries of Roman Catholic natural law.... According to the tradition of natural law, every part of our bodies has a telos too. In the case of our genitalia, that natural end is heterosexual sex for the purpose of procreation. It follows that marriage between a man and a woman 'is fundamentally natural,' Santorum writes.... Natural law is a noble tradition that has shaped Western jurisprudence, but in the hands of conservative activists like Santorum it has become a dangerous cult of first principles." ...

... Since we're talking about the philosophy of wingers, Krugman has a good post on how Charles Murray -- author of Coming Apart -- uses one standard for poor people & another for the rich; to wit, if poor people earn less, they'll work harder; if rich people earn less (because the government taxes 'em at a higher rate), they'll quit working. ...

     ... A commenter to Krugman's post, skeptoeconomist, writes, "Different wage-effort slopes are quite common in all sorts of conservative politico-economic rhetoric, for example comparing the effects of rewards on the efforts of CEO's and physicians versus those on the efforts of teachers and other civil servants." CW: S/he's right; somehow millions in profits/shareholder dividends must be diverted to compensate (or even to fire) a CEO if a company wants to get (fire) a "good" CEO, but teachers take home way too much & get far too many benefits.

Peter Hart: New York Times reporter Trip Gabriel s Newt Gingrich as "the candidate of big ideas, hatched from a deep knowledge of politics and policy," etc. Hart begs to differ.

Local News

First Posted Late Yesterday. Pat Garofalo of Think Progress: "... Under the terms of the [foreclosure] settlement [see above], Wisconsin is set to receive $140 million, $31.6 million of which comes directly to the state government. And [union-bustin' man of the people Gov Scott] Walker is planning to use $25.6 million of that money to help balance his state’s budget." The underlying story, by Jason Stein & Paul Gores of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is here. CW: that jerk never quits. The big question is, will he be indicted before he's recalled? Thanks to reader AJT for the heads-up.

News Ledes

AP: "Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music’s queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48."

     ... Los Angeles Times Update: "Singer Whitney Houston ... was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel room Saturday. Law enforcement sources told The Times that paramedics arrived at the Beverly Hilton hotel, where Houston was staying, and found her dead. Her cause of death was unknown...."

New York Times: "The nation’s Roman Catholic bishops have rejected a compromise on birth control coverage that President Obama offered on Friday and said they would continue to fight the president’s plan to find a way for employees of Catholic hospitals, universities and service agencies to receive free contraceptive coverage in their health insurance plans, without direct involvement or financing from the institutions."

Washington Post: "Mitt Romney won the support of those attending Republican presidential caucuses in Maine Saturday.... Romney’s superior organization and dominating advantage with endorsements of top state Republicans had given him a significant edge in the low-turnout and nonbinding affair. But Texas Rep. Ron Paul had aggressively worked the state’s grass roots in hopes of snagging his first win of the presidential primary season in Maine. Romney won 39 percent of the votes...; Paul took 36 percent of the vote, while ... Rick Santorum captured 18 percent.... Newt Gingrich won 6 percent." New York Times: "... fewer than 6,000 votes were cast — about 2 percent of registered Republicans." CW: What enthusiasm gap? ...

... New York Times: "Mitt Romney won the annual straw poll of conservative activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, conference officials announced on Saturday in Washington. Mr. Romney received 38 percent of the 3,408 votes cast, compared to 31 percent for Rick Santorum, 15 percent for Newt Gingrich and 12 percent for Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who did not attend the meeting this year."

Washington Post: "The daylight assassination of a top general in a residential neighborhood of the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Saturday underscored the growing militarization of the uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and also perhaps its increasing militancy.... Brig. Gen. Issa al-Kholi was fatally shot by three gunmen waiting outside his home in the Rukn Eddin neighborhood...." New York Times story here.

New York Times: "British authorities arrested eight people on Saturday, including five employees of Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun tabloid, as part of an investigation into bribery of public officials by journalists, Scotland Yard and the parent company of the newspaper said. In addition to the Sun employees, those arrested included a serving police officer, a government official and a member of the British armed forces." ...

... Guardian: "The Sun has been plunged into crisis following the arrest of five of its most senior journalists, including the deputy editor, over allegations of inappropriate payments to police and public officials."

Reuters: "Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ... is under investigation by federal authorities, a source with direct knowledge of the probe said. The source told Reuters on Friday that several people linked to Nagin or the New Orleans city administration during his two terms as mayor ending in 2010 were cooperating with the U.S. Justice Department and the FBI."

Global Post: "Bradley Manning, the US army officer accused of linking information to WikiLeaks, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the group The Movement of the Icelandic Parliament."

AP: "A 49-year-old brigadier general died Friday in Afghanistan of apparent natural causes, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. soldier to die there, the military said Saturday. Fort Hood announced Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner's death in a statement posted on its website."

Reuters: "Syrian forces unleashed new tank and rocket bombardments on opposition neighborhoods of Homs on Saturday while diplomats sought U.N. backing for an Arab plan to end 11 months of bloodshed in Syria."

AP: "Thousands of cheering supporters swarmed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday as the democracy icon took her historic campaign for a parliament seat to the southern constituency she hopes to represent for the first time."