memeorandum: Waxman Wrests Control of Energy and Commerce Panel From Dingell (Bloomberg)

11:50 AM ET, November 20, 2008

Top Items:

Pritzker as Commerce Secretary Unlikely — Hotel heiress Penny Pritzker, who commanded Barack Obama's record-shattering fundraising operation, has run into business obstacles that will likely prevent her from becoming Commerce secretary, sources close to the president-elect said.

Discussion: The New Republic, Top of the Ticket, The Washington Independent, TIME.com, Scared Monkeys and QandO

New York Times:

Discussions With Clintons as Obama Creates Team — WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton has agreed to all of the conditions sought by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team to eliminate potential conflicts of interest if Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state …

Discussion: Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, TalkLeft, Los Angeles Times, TIME.com, The Caucus, TPM Election Central, Lost in Transition, Associated Press, On Deadline and USA Today

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Barack Obama and the Culture of Leaks — Throughout the election cycle President-elect Barack Obama and his campaign remained tight-lipped. These days, it's tougher to keep a secret. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images) — Throughout President-elect Barack Obama's primary and general election campaigns …

Discussion: Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Perceptions and Political Radar

Washington Post:
Bill Clinton Agrees to Disclose Names of Foundation Donors

Discussion: Hot Air and TPM Election Central

CNN:
Sources: Pritzker, Napolitano vetted for Cabinet

Discussion: Democracy in America and Law Blog

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

Waxman wrestles gavel from Dingell — Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) will become the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee after House Democrats voted to replace current Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.). — Waxman won 137-122 in the secret ballot vote.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, AMERICAblog News and DownWithTyranny!

Bloomberg:

Waxman Wrests Control of Energy and Commerce Panel From Dingell — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — Representative Henry Waxman won the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, ousting John Dingell, the longest serving member of the U.S. House.

Discussion: Reuters and Associated Press

Paul Volpe / Capitol Briefing:

Waxman Defeats Dingell — Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) won the vote, 137-122, to become the new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, defeating the legendary Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.). — The vote came a day after the House Democratic steering committee recommended Waxman for the post in a narrow 25-22 vote.

Discussion: Hotline On Call

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Arizonan will head Homeland Security — Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible …

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
NAPOLITANO TO DHS.... There were widespread hopes that Arizona …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, Shakesville, MSNBC, Salon and The Reaction

Thomas Frank / USA Today:
Report criticizes Homeland Security

Discussion: Washington Post and TPMMuckraker

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Health Insurers Offer to Accept All Applicants, on Condition — WASHINGTON — The health insurance industry said Wednesday that it would support a health care overhaul requiring insurers to accept all customers, regardless of illness or disability. But in return, the industry said …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, PoliGazette, The New Republic, Connecting.the.Dots, Shakesville, Obsidian Wings, The Health Care Blog, The RBC and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:

Iran Said to Have Nuclear Fuel for One Weapon — Iran has now produced roughly enough nuclear material to make, with added purification, a single atom bomb, according to nuclear experts analyzing the latest report from global atomic inspectors. — The figures detailing Iran's progress …

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside The Beltway, Jules Crittenden and Right Wing News

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Auto Execs Fly Corporate Jets to D.C., Tin Cups in Hand — There are 24 daily nonstop flights from Detroit to the Washington area. Richard Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli probably should have taken one of them. — Instead, the chief executives of the Big Three automakers opted …

Discussion: PoliGazette, The Foundry, Commentary, Jules Crittenden and Wall Street Journal

The Politico:

Senate GOP in big funk — A day after losing Ted Stevens' seat, along with their best hope for getting Joe Lieberman to cross over, Senate GOP leaders preached party unity as the key to surviving the Obama years. — If that doesn't work, there's always psychotherapy.

Discussion: MSNBC

MinnPost:

Lights, camera, Senate recount: National and local media ‘brighten’ Minneapolis vote-tabulation scene — In a cold Northeast Minneapolis warehouse, election judges and campaign representatives gathered to start the laborious Coleman-Franken recount process. The day's biggest distraction, it turned out, was the massive media presence.

Discussion: www.redstate.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Minnesota Recount: Team Franken glad their supporters are uneducated?

Discussion: The Skepticians, Whistleblower, Blue Grass, Red State and Power Line

Bryan Bender / Boston Globe:

Kerry poised to cap long journey — Will lead panel that thrust him to fame in '71 — EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/file Barack Obama and John Kerry embraced at a political rally in Charleston, S.C., during the presidential campaign in January. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/GETTY IMAGES/file)

Discussion: TIME.com

Michelle Malkin:

eHarmony forced to offer same-sex dating services — So, this is “progress?” eHarmony, a Christian-targeted dating website, gets sued by a gay man demanding that the business match him up with a same-sex partner. The New Jersey Attorney General intervenes on behalf of the gay plaintiff …

Discussion: Moonbattery, Outside The Beltway, The Corner, Incertus, This ain't Hell …, Jules Crittenden, Los Angeles Times, Right Wing News, American Power, Shakesville and Riehl World View

Andy Kessler / Wall Street Journal:

Ignore the Stock Market Until February — The current volatility is less about fundamentals than forced selling. — Down in the morning, up in the afternoon. Or is it the other way around? The topsy-turvy stock market is tough to read. — In the last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average …

Discussion: The New Republic, Portfolio and John & Belle Have A Blog

Desi / Greatscat!:

Where is the love? — 11-19-08: CNN: George Bush snubbed at the G20 Summit. Everyone greeting each other and shaking hands, but Bush walks with his head down like the dejected most unpopular kid in high school. —Diane — Welcome Kossacks! Hope you'll check out the site …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Tennessee Guerilla Women and The Heretik

Nicholas Wade / New York Times:

Regenerating a Mammoth for $10 Million — Scientists are talking for the first time about the old idea of resurrecting extinct species as if this staple of science fiction is a realistic possibility, saying that a living mammoth could perhaps be regenerated for as little as $10 million.

Discussion: Althouse, Marginal Revolution and Amygdala

Salon:

New friendly fire coverup: Army shreds files on dead soldiers — Editor's note: On Oct. 14, 2008, Salon published an article about the deaths of Army Pfc. Albert Nelson and Pfc. Roger Suarez. The Army attributed their deaths in Iraq in 2006 to enemy action; Salon's investigation …

Discussion: The Raw Story, The E&P Pub and Greatscat!

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Now Obama Has to Govern — There may be more difficulties than he realizes in closing Gitmo. — Presidential transitions can be problematic. The candidate is utterly exhausted. Supporters have unattainable expectations and unrealistic personal hopes.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Heretik

New York Times:

Flunking the Electoral College — On Dec. 15, the United States will endure a quadrennial ritual born in the economics and politics of slavery and the quill-pen era. Members of the Electoral College are scheduled to meet in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia to formally choose the next president.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

CNN:

Moore: Automakers never listened to workers, consumers — (CNN) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans Wednesday to hold a test vote on an automakers' bailout bill on Thursday. Reid had planned to move on legislation that would have taken $25 billion from the $700 billion already approved …

Discussion: Donklephant

Christopher S. Rugaber / Associated Press:

Jobless claims jump unexpectedly to 16-year high — WASHINGTON - New claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence of a rapidly weakening job market expected to get even worse next year.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Patt Morrison / Los Angeles Times:

California Rep. Linda Sanchez's baby announcement — It was planned, and so is a wedding in the future with the father. — When was the last time you read a baby announcement on the Op-Ed pages? — Exactly. So this is obviously more than baby news. It's about how far we've come, and where we may still fall short.

Discussion: The Sleuth and Reliable Source