Top Items:
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room — Lawmakers are about to bombard the American public with proposals that would crack down on lobbyists. Several prominent plans, including one outlined yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would specifically ban meals and privately paid travel for lawmakers.
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John Shadegg / Opinion Journal:
The Spirit of 1994 — Republicans need to look again to the examples of Goldwater and Reagan. — WASHINGTON—Ten years ago, the American people put Republicans in control of the House of Representatives for the first time in more than 40 years. It was a historic achievement …
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
2 Parties Rush to Offer Curbs for Lobbying — WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - House Republican leaders laid out a proposal on Tuesday to rewrite House rules governing lobbying as they moved to contain the political damage from an election-year scandal over undue influence and access afforded to lobbyists.
Discussion:
Wonkette
Larry Margasak / bonnercountydailybee.com:House Republicans Unveil New Ethics Plan
Discussion:
Sirotablog
Newsday:
Hillary's hardball — In MLK day speech, Sen. Clinton slams the Bush team, saying GOP Congress is 'run like a plantation' — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton sparked a Martin Luther King Day political firestorm yesterday by describing the GOP-controlled Congress as a "plantation" …
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Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:A Sneak Peek at "Al vs. Hillary"
Discussion:
The Left Coaster, Talking Points Memo, TalkLeft, Comments From Left Field, In the Bullpen and Generation Why?
Deepti Hajela / Associated Press:Clinton Says House Run Like 'Plantation'
Discussion:
Associated Press, Comments From Left Field, NewDonkey.com, Demagogue, RedState and Air America Radio
Manuel Roig-Franzia / Washington Post:
New Orleans Mayor Apologizes for Remarks About God's Wrath — NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 17 — An avalanche of criticism, stoked by heated talk-radio rants, forced Mayor C. Ray Nagin to apologize Tuesday for declaring that God wants New Orleans to be a "chocolate city."
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rawstory.com:
Gore responds to White House 'hypocrisy' comments — RAW STORY — In response to White House comments that Gore exhibited "hypocrisy" in calling for a Special Prosecutor, saying that the Clinton administration had wiretapped some Americans, Gore will make this statement shortly.
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Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Update 15: White House Lobs Accusations at Gore — Former Vice President Al Gore and the White House traded accusations over national security Tuesday in a dispute that also pulled in President Bush's other presidential election rival, John Kerry. — At issue was Bush's secret domestic …
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim — WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles …
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Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Update 10: Iraqi Captors Threaten Death of Hostage — Hostage American reporter Jill Carroll appeared in a silent 20-second video aired Tuesday by Al-Jazeera television, which said her abductors gave the United States 72 hours to free female prisoners in Iraq or she would be killed.
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New York Times:
Fraught Issue, but Narrow Ruling in Oregon Suicide Case — PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 17 - Just 30 terminally ill people exercise a right each year that is unique in America to the state of Oregon, hastening their deaths with a lethal dose of drugs prescribed by doctors.
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ
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Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:Supreme Court Removes Obstacle to Assisted-Suicide Laws
Discussion:
Feministe
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The Iran Charade, Part II — "It was what made this E.U. Three approach so successful. They [Britain, France and Germany] stood together and they had one uniform position." — German Chancellor — Angela Merkel, Jan. 13 — Makes you want to weep.
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Christopher Hitchens / The Huffington Post:
What Reason Do We Have to Trust the State to Know Best? — Although I am named in this suit in my own behalf, I am motivated to join it by concerns well beyond my own. I have been frankly appalled by the discrepant and contradictory positions taken by the Administration in this matter.
Discussion:
Decision '08, ACLU, Sisyphus Shrugged, BrothersJudd Blog, Begging to Differ, The Poor Man Institute and Booman Tribune
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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Connecting The Dots - Booooring... The NY Times delivers the latest on the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program - it generated far too many dead-end leads to be useful to the FBI. … "Virtually all" were useless? Uh Huh. And since, to pick an odd example, most New York City cops …
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Rebecca Traister / Salon:
My lunch with an antifeminist pundit — My lunch interview with Kate O'Beirne, Washington editor of National Review and author of the new antifeminist book "Women Who Make the World Worse," was on a Friday. I had stayed up Thursday night reading the 200-page galley copy of the book and taken copious notes.
Thomas Ferraro / Reuters:
Senate Democrat backs Alito for US Supreme Court — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate voice in the U.S. Congress, on Tuesday became the first Senate Democrat to announce his support for conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who is expected to be confirmed later …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
MEMRI:
Iran TV Discussion on the Myth of the Gas Chambers and the Truth of Protocols of the Elders of Zion; "The Only Solution for This Cancerous Tumor [Israel] is Surgery" — The following are excerpts from an Iranian television discussion on the Holocaust, which was aired on Iran's Channel 2 on January 5, 2006.
Discussion:
Link Mecca
Darrell Bricker / ipsos-na.com:
As Final Week Of 2006 Election Begins, Tories Within Close Striking Distance Of Winning Majority Government — Tories (38%, +1 Point) Have 12-Point Lead Over Grits (26%, Unchanged) — NDP (19%, +1 Point) And Green (5%, Unchanged) — In Quebec: Bloc Quebecois (48%, -5 points) Vs. Tories (25%, +5 Points) And Liberals (13%, -2 Points)
