CQ Politics' Web Picks

Washington Post: In Record Numbers, Employers Move to Block Unemployment Payouts

As unemployment rolls swell in the recession, many workers seem surprised to find their benefits challenged, their former bosses providing testimony against them. The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute.

New York Times: Obama's Battle on Stimulus Shows Threats to His Agenda

Both the substance of his first big legislative accomplishment and the way President Obama achieved it underscored the scale of the challenges facing the nation and how different a political climate this is from the early stages of recent administrations.

Time: Selling a Plan Without the Details

When three top aides to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner were sent to brief members of the Senate Banking Committee staff on Monday at 6:30 p.m. E.T., they walked into a hostile environment. The GOP was in the middle of losing a hard-fought battle over the near $800 billion economic stimulus bill, while Democrats were being bombarded by complaints about the party's support for it. The last thing any of the staffers wanted to hear were details of a new multibillion-dollar program to try and stabilize the housing, credit and financial markets. As it turned out, they didn't hear much.

McClatchy: White House Limits Release of Records

The Obama administration, which vowed to usher in a "new era of openness in our country," either has delayed action on requests for access to government records or refused to disclose them in three early, high-profile tests of the pledge.

Daily Beast: How the Party of Lincoln Forgot About Lincoln

For the Republican Party today's 200th birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln is at best bittersweet. The Party of Lincoln has really become the Party of Reagan in instinct and self-conception. It is ideologically conservative and traditionalist--whereas Lincoln's Republican Party was the progressive party of its day. It finds philosophical structure in concepts that comforted southern Democrats of the John C. Calhoun variety. And, the party's strongest support now comes from the states of the former Confederacy.

Foreign Policy: Sure He's Crazy, but It's Time to Talk to Iran

"The United States Should Wait to Engage Iran Until Ahmadinejad Is Gone." Wrong. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not the problem, and his rival Mohammad Khatami is not (necessarily) the solution. For many years, U.S. administrations have thought that, if they just waited, Iranian politics would produce a leader that Washington would like dealing with. This misses an important reality: The Islamic Republic of Iran actually has a system of government, with multiple and competing power centers.

Wall Street Journal: Farmers Face Empty-Nest Syndrome Amid Chicken Housing Crisis

In the wake of last year's bankruptcy filing by poultry giant Pilgrim's Pride Corp., hundreds of farmers suddenly find themselves unable to make mortgage payments on their pricey chicken coops. To cut costs, Pilgrim's, the nation's second-largest chicken company, has terminated contracts with at least 300 farms in Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina.

Chicago Tribune: Flight Limits Over Obama's Chicago Home

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a notice creating temporary flight restrictions because of President Obama's visit to Chicago, limiting private pilots from getting too close to his home. All airspace from the ground up to 18,000 feet is included for miles around.