Top Items:
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
G.O.P. Lobbyist to Plead Guilty in Deal With Prosecutors — WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to three felony counts in Washington on Wednesday as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether the Republican lobbyist …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Boston Globe, Bloomberg, Houston Chronicle, Brilliant at Breakfast, Booman Tribune, Obsidian Wings, Democrat Taylor Marsh …, The Carpetbagger Report, David Corn, The Heretik, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Hotline On Call, Politics in the Zeros, TAPPED, The Green Knight, NewsBusters.org, The All Spin Zone, Blanton's and Ashton's, Donklephant, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and The Moderate Voice
RELATED ITEMS:
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
Abramoff Plea Deal Reached — The NYTimes is reporting on the details of the Abramoff plea deal. According to Anne Kornblut, Abramoff will plead guilty to three counts in the DC phase of the investigation — public corruption, fraud, and tax evasion — resulting in a maximum exposure of about 10 years in federal prison.
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, Eschaton, PSoTD, The Truth Laid Bear, Fired Up! America, Off the Kuff, Norwegianity, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Daily Kos
Jason Leopold / rawstory.com:
How they got caught: After lobbyist broke off engagement, ex-fiancee told of illicit dealings to FBI — Michael Scanlon found himself at the center of one of the biggest political scandals in Washington history as a result of cheating and lying—but not the type involving the numerous clients …
Washington Post:
Abramoff Expected to Plead Guilty to 3 Felony Charges — Former high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff is expected to plead guilty today to three felony charges in a Washington courtroom, a Justice Department spokesman said. — The plea deal opens the prospect that Abramoff could provide testimony …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Stakeholder, Democratic Veteran, The Sideshow, Left in the West and ScrappleFace
CNN:
Lobbyist admits kickbacks, influence peddling — Abramoff agrees to cooperate in corruption probe — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges, agreeing to cooperate in a federal corruption probe in Washington.
MSNBC:
Top lobbyist to plead guilty in corruption case — Abramoff cuts deal in congressional, gambling boat investigations … MSNBC TV — WASHINGTON - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to federal charges in Washington and Miami, clearing the way for him to cooperate …
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Abramoff Makes Plea Deal, Will Cooperate — WASHINGTON - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to federal charges in Washington and Miami, clearing the way for him to cooperate in a massive government investigation of influence peddling involving members of Congress, lawyers said Tuesday.
Discussion:
IntoxiNation-News …
Scott Shields / MyDD:
How Bush Failed the Sago 13 — I haven't seen much discussion of it in the blogosphere, but there are 13 coal miners trapped under 260 feet of dirt right now in West Virginia. It's worthy of discussion here because, once upon a time, these guys were the bread and butter of the Democratic Party …
RELATED ITEMS:
James Dao / New York Times:Rescuers Continue Search for 13 Workers Trapped in Mine
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
Steven E. Landsburg / Slate:
Do the Poor Deserve Life Support? — A woman who couldn't pay her bills is unplugged from her ventilator and dies. Is this wrong? — Tirhas Habtegiris, a 27-year-old terminal cancer patient at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Plano, Texas, was removed from her ventilator last month because she couldn't pay her medical bills.
Reuters:
Murtha says he wouldn't join military now — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. John Murtha, a key Democratic voice who favors pulling U.S. troops from Iraq, said in remarks airing on Monday that he would not join the U.S. military today. — A decorated Vietnam combat veteran who retired …
Opinion Journal:
Teachers' Pets — The NEA gave $65 million in its members' dues to left-liberal groups last year. — If we told you that an organization gave away more than $65 million last year to Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Amnesty International …
Discussion:
QandO, Kobayashi Maru, Betsy's Page, sisu, SCSUScholars, Generation Why?, Daily Pundit, Everything I Know Is Wrong and Bookworm Room
rconversation.blogs.com:
Microsoft takes down Chinese blogger — Microsoft's MSN Spaces continues to censor its Chinese language blogs, and has become more aggressive and thorough at censorship since I first checked out MSN's censorship system last summer. On New Years Eve, MSN Spaces took down the popular blog written by Zhao Jing, aka Michael Anti.
Discussion:
La Shawn Barber's Corner
Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Barbie Accused of Being Part of the Transgender Movement — WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 3, 2006 — The Concerned Women for America were ... well, concerned. Outraged, even. Was Barbie becoming part of the transgender movement? — On Dec. 30, 2005, CWA, a leading Christian conservative group …
USA Today:
'Dog Days' squares with Washington — You may not know Ana Marie Cox. However, if you are one of the millions who take their information nourishment from Internet blogs, odds are you know Wonkette, her electronic nom de plume. — Cox's Wonkette is to snarky inside-politics blogs …
RELATED ITEM:
Ronald Brownstein / Los Angeles Times:
Presidential History Lesson on the Value of Building Consensus — The president whom George W. Bush may resemble most is not his biological father, George H.W. Bush, or even Ronald Reagan, who often seems his ideological father, but James K. Polk, a dynamic and willful leader few discuss anymore.
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
For Bush, a Test in the Midterms — Elections at midterm can be low-interest affairs or immensely important. This fall's congressional elections will be a big show with large consequences, because 2006 is looking a lot like the political years 1958, 1966 and 1978, all of which heralded major political transformations.
