The Short List - March 3, 2011

• In Libya, what is fairly obviously a civil war, or armed conflict, continues to rage.  There are reports this morning that three Dutch airmen are being detained by pro-Qaddafi forces after they attempted to evacuate European citizens.  SecDef Gates was on the hill yesterday poking holes in some senators' plans to institute a no-fly zone over Libya.  Gates remarked, "Let’s just call a spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses. That’s the way you do a no-fly zone. And then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that’s the way it starts."


• The Ohio State Senate passed a bill that will weaken public unions.  A new NBC/WSJ poll finds that 62% of Americans find it unacceptable to eliminate some employees' collective bargaining rights to cover deficits.  Meanwhile, the NFL's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at 11:59pm tonight if an agreement is not reached and one seems unlikely.  


• President Obama has invited congressional leaders from both parties to meet at the White House with VP Biden to work on a budget deal for the remainder of this fiscal year.  Meanwhile the previously mentioned NBC/WSJ poll finds that 60% of Americans are concerned steep budget cuts will impact their family.


• The SEC has brought charges of insider trading against Rajat Gupta, the former of the McKinsey consulting group.


• China warns foreign reporters against reporting any anti-government protests, while Iran has completely dropped off the page in what I would consider an eeriely effective media blackout perpetrated by the government.