NATIONAL

“While Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz labored to sell voters on their policies, Trump again demonstrated why he doesn’t have to.” – Politico

“The top White House spokesman said Wednesday that President Obama ‘regrets’ his 2006 decision to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court – after being accused of hypocrisy for blasting ‘obstructionist’ Republicans now vowing to block his next high court nominee.” – Fox News

“Quinnipiac has released a new national head-to-head matchups poll between the Republican field and the two remaining Democrats. Generally speaking, it shows that the frontrunners for the two major parties would actually present the weakest general election matchup for the other side, if the election were held today.” – Red State

“With Nikki Haley endorsing Marco Rubio, she’s getting criticized, as she should expect.” – National Review

“Throughout his 22 years in the trenches of South Carolina politics, U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford has seen more than enough to justify the state’s distinctively colorful reputation.” – Huffington Post

“What makes presidential primary races different from other elections – what makes them less like conventional wars and more like counter-insurgencies – is that so much of the dynamics of the race turns not just on when candidates are beaten, but when they admit to themselves that they are beaten. Of course, the psychological process of admitting defeat can be helped along by actual defeats at the ballot box, and for many campaigns the ‘time to go’ speech is delivered by the campaign’s donors cutting off the money.” – National Review

“During an MSNBC town hall Wednesday evening, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump caught Apple in his crosshairs, saying that, if he was president, he would ‘force’ the company to work with the government to hack into an iPhone beloning to one of the San Bernardino, California, killers.” – The Blaze

“It’s quite possible that Alyssa Rosenberg at the Washington Post is putting the cart just a bitbefore the horse when worrying about President Hillary Clinton. (We just had another poll yesterday showing her losing to every major Republican contender.) Still, it’s worth examining this running theme on the Left this morning because of the clever way which much of the liberal media tries to weave charges of both sexism and racism into a complicated shawl which somehow covers both Clinton and Barack Obama.” – Hot Air

“Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has reportedly secured South Carolina’s most coveted endorsement — Gov. Nikki Haley is planning to throw her weight behind the 2016 hopeful Wednesday night.” – The Blaze

“GOP frontrunner Donald Trump joined Breitbart News Daily with host Stephen K. Bannon on SiriusXM and responded to the recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll that shows him slipping to second place nationwide, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) taking first.” – Breitbart

LOUISIANA

“Governor John Bel Edwards’ budget balancing act calls for hundred of millions of dollars in new state tax revenue. Wednesday, the House Ways and Means committee began hearing tax proposals on a variety of items such as cigarettes and alcohol.” – WWLTV.com

“Les Miles is changing — at least that’s what he says — and he doesn’t care if you don’t believe him.” – The Baton Rouge Advocate

“Coming to terms with the sheer magnitude of the cuts facing Louisiana’s colleges and universities for the current school year, legislators on Wednesday started pointing fingers at who is to blame for the financial mess while spitballing potential ways to save money and keep the doors of the institutions open.” – The Baton Rouge Advocate

“If there is one group of Louisiana citizens that catches more budget grief than people associated with higher education. It would be Louisiana’s smokers. Granted smoking is a choice. It’s a tough choice to stop once you’ve started it but it’s still a choice. So why are smokers always the target of tax increases? They are an easy target, that’s why.” – KPEL965.com

“Retiring LSU sports broadcaster Jim Hawthorne and longtime Alexandria sportswriter Bob Tompkins are the recipients of the 2016 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.” – The New Orleans Advocate 

“A report for the Louisiana Legislative Auditor reveals hundreds of millions of dollars in misappropriated, missing or misused funds.” – KPLCTV.com

“Early voting for the Presidential Primary in Louisiana begins this Saturday, February 20th. You can vote from 8:30 am until 6:00 pm through Saturday, February 27th excluding Sunday, February 21st at your Registrar of Voters Office.” – KPEL065.com

“One of the two abortion clinics that operate in the New Orleans area has abruptly shut down, a surprise — and so far unexplained — development, given that Louisiana’s clinics have so far managed to stave off a new state law that might force them to close.” – The New Orleans Advocate