Top Items:
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Tentative Deal on Economic Stimulus Plan — WASHINGTON — House leaders and the White House on Thursday announced a tentative agreement on an economic stimulus package of roughly $150 billion that would pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per family and provide tax incentives for businesses to encourage spending.
Discussion:
PrestoPundit, The Carpetbagger Report, Buck Naked Politics, Norwegianity, PoliGazette and The Agonist
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John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:
The Dems just gave away your stimulus check — According to AP, congressional leaders have reached a deal on those economic stimulus checks. And rather than being geared towards helping the economy, they're apparently geared towards redistributing wealth (that would be our wealth) to the poor.
RushLimbaugh.com:
Let's Hear Some Straight Talk — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — RUSH: A new California poll taken just after Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Republican primary shows Mitt Romney as leading big over McCain in California when it comes to which candidate best represents the Republican Party.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Macsmind, New York Times, Riehl World View, PoliGazette, DownWithTyranny!, The Politico and MiamiHerald.com
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Steven Stark / Real Clear Politics:
Who Said Freddy's Dead? — The Republican race is coming into focus. Well, sort of. If John McCain can win the Florida primary on January 29, he'll be the clear front-runner heading into Super Tuesday a week later. — But Florida is hardly a sure thing for McCain.
Jim Ash / News Press:
Poll: Romney slightly ahead in Florida — TALLAHASSEE — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney holds a slight edge in Florida over his closest GOP rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, with just five days to go before Tuesday's presidential primary, according to a poll released today.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Jay Rockefeller's unintentionally revealing comments — (updated below - Update II - Update III) — As the Senate takes up “debate” today over granting the President new warrantless eavesdropping powers and granting immunity to lawbreaking telecoms, the individual who joined forces …
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Washington Post:
Some in Party Bristle At Clintons' Attacks — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign aired a new radio ad here Wednesday that repeated a discredited charge against Sen. Barack Obama, in what some Democrats said is part of an increasing pattern of hardball politics by her and former president Bill Clinton.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Opinionator, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, TIME: Swampland, The Daily Dish, MCDAC, The Caucus, Greenville News, Weekly Standard, Liberal Values, MSNBC, Commentary, Trailhead, Dick Polman's American Debate, Classical Values, Norwegianity, michellemalkin.com, The Campaign Spot, TIME, Wizbang, Hot Air, Real Clear Politics, GINA COBB, The Heretik, The Strata-Sphere, JustOneMinute, Riehl World View, Marc Ambinder, Blue Crab Boulevard, Captain's Quarters, politburo diktat 2.0, Redstate, The Page, New York Times, Reuters and The Australian
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Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:
Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes — He pushed the wrong button, he asserted at the time. Two of the admitted flubs were on hotly contested issues. — Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side.
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Robert A. Guth / Wall Street Journal:
Bill Gates Issues Call For Kinder Capitalism — Famously Competitive, Billionaire Now Urges Business to Aid the Poor — Free enterprise has been good to Bill Gates. But today, the Microsoft Corp. chairman will call for a revision of capitalism. — In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos …
MiamiHerald.com:
Poll: McCain rising, Giuliani fading — Asked whom they'll support in Tuesday's presidential primary, Democrats said Clinton. Republicans favored McCain and Romney. — AIM — breinhard@MiamiHerald.com — Reinvigorated by early-state victories, John McCain and Mitt Romney are jockeying …
Discussion:
CNN, Captain's Quarters, NYT, Real Clear Politics, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, MSNBC, Riehl World View, The Heretik, Political Punch and PoliBlog (TM)
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Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Obama's SC lead slipping but still wide — Edwards makes gains amid shifting voter preferences — Utica, NY - Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's lead over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has shrunk by four points overall and by nine points among black voters …
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Jim Kuhnhenn / Associated Press:
Anti-Bush campaign planned — WASHINGTON - A liberal advocacy group plans to spend $8.5 million in a drive to ensure that President Bush's public approval doesn't improve as his days in the White House come to an end. — Americans United for Change plans to undertake a yearlong campaign …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters, At-Largely, The Carpetbagger Report, JammieWearingFool and Shakespeare's Sister
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Gail Collins / New York Times:
Editing Hillary's Story — Last summer, I asked Hillary Clinton if she had any reservations about using her husband in her campaign. She said no, that having Bill on the team was “a great gift. I have always believed you should get the very best people to advise you." — I never really made use of the interview.
Agence France Presse:
Bono confesses sins to ‘father’ Al Gore — Having climate campaigner Al Gore round to your house is to open yourself to a self-flagellating guilt trip, Irish rock star Bono confessed Thursday. — Sharing a stage with the former US vice president at the annual gathering of world movers …
Discussion:
michellemalkin.com
Rich Lowry / The Corner:
The Rudyification of Romney and the Romnification of Rudy (or Something Like That) — It's interesting how Romney and Rudy have swapped strategies recently. Initially, before his ads failed in New Hampshire and he pulled out of the early states entirely, Rudy's strategy was to do respectably in the early states.
Discussion:
Ross Douthat
Erin Ballou / zwire.com:
Muslim opening prayer at Iowa Statehouse raises concerns — The Iowa Legislature started just over a week ago and some people were upset before the first issue was every addressed. — When the session began, a Muslim Imam began the prayer in the Iowa Legislature. This is where the controversy begins.
Azi Paybarah / New York Observer:
Source at Fund-Raiser: Edwards Calls McCain ‘Crazy’ and Says Hillary Thinks There's More on Rezko — Before John Edwards let David Letterman mess up his hair on the Late Show last night, the former Senator was at a private fund-raiser in midtown Manhattan, also attended by Kevin Bacon …
Paul Krugman:
Stimulus disappointment — If this description is correct, the stimulus bill will be a real disappointment. As I pointed out in an earlier post, economic theory — Milton Friedman's theory! — suggests that if we want stimulus funds spent, they should go to people in temporary economic difficulty …