memeorandum: NO TRANSITION FROM NONESENSE — Congressional Quarterly bemoans … (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

8:10 AM ET, December 4, 2008

Top Items:

Minneapolis discovery costs Franken 46 votes — What Maplewood giveth, Minneapolis taketh away. — Elections officials in Minnesota's largest city today discovered that one precinct came up 133 ballots short of election day totals, resulting in a net loss for Democratic challenger Al Franken of 46 votes.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Weekly Standard, Braublog, Truthdig and The Hill

Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Franken's campaign protests 133 mystery ballots from Minneapolis — By Franken's count, he leads by 22 votes. By another count, Coleman leads by 316. — An uproar Wednesday over 133 mystery ballots that may or may not have disappeared in Minneapolis became the newest controversy to roil the U.S. Senate recount.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com and TPM Election Central

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Franken Camp's Claim: We're Now Ahead!

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Reaction, MyDD, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Senate Guru and Wonkette

Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Franken camp: 'We're winning'

Discussion: Associated Press, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Note, Wilshire & Washington, Salon, Washington Monthly and The Politico

Amie Parnes / The Crypt's Blogs:

Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on Obama. Twice. — Is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a little paranoid? — Maybe. — On Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman got a call from President-elect Barack Obama, didn't believe it was him, and hung up on him. Twice. — According to Ros-Lehtinen's flack Alex Cruz …

Discussion: marbury and TIME.com

The Trail / Washington Post:

Obama or an Obama-Impersonator? Ros-Lehtinen Flubs the Call — Twice on Wednesday, President-elect Barack Obama tried to reach across the partisan divide with a phone call to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida. — And twice, according to her office, she hung up on him.

Discussion: Hot Air and Don Surber

CNN:
GOP congresswoman hangs up on Obama — twice

Discussion: Discourse.net

New York Times:

U.A.W. Makes Concessions in Bid to Help Automakers — WASHINGTON — The United Automobile Workers union said Wednesday that it would make major concessions in its contracts with the three Detroit auto companies to help them lobby Congress for $34 billion in federal aid.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Moderate Voice, Where's the Outrage? and News Hounds

Ken Thomas / Associated Press: Automakers back to try to sell Congress on rescue

Kimberly S. Johnson / Associated Press:
UAW to renegotiate labor terms, suspend jobs bank

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics

Eliot Spitzer / Slate:

We need to stop using the bailouts to rebuild gigantic financial institutions. — Last month, as the financial crisis and the government rescue plan dominated headlines, almost everyone overlooked a news item that could have enormous long-term impact: GE Capital announced the acquisition …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider

John Koblin / New York Observer:
Meet Slate's New Columnist: Eliot Spitzer

Discussion: StephenBainbridge.com, City Room, Gawker, DealBook, Jobwire, Ben Smith's Blogs and Wonkette

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

NO TRANSITION FROM NONESENSE — Congressional Quarterly bemoans Obama's broken promise of a bipartisan cabinet since he's only appointed one Republican to one of the top three positions in government — State, Defense and Treasury ... I guess maybe it's a slow news period and there's not much to write about.

Discussion: TalkLeft

In Transition:

Last Call for a Bipartisan Cabinet — Now that President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet is, by his count, half picked, the odds are fading that he'll have more than one Republican on his team — suggesting that his campaign promise to include Republicans may have meant nothing more than the usual token appointment from the other side.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside The Beltway and AMERICAblog News

Martin Samuel / Times of London:

Mumbai police to use truth serum on ‘baby-faced’ terrorist Azam Amir Kasab — Indian police interrogators are preparing to administer a “truth serum” on the sole Islamic militant captured during last week's terror attacks on Mumbai to settle once and for all the question of where he is from.

Discussion: FP Passport, Patterico's Pontifications, Flopping Aces, New York Times, Gateway Pundit and Mirror.co.uk

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Eyes Plan to Lift Home Sales — Treasury Considers Encouraging Banks to Offer Mortgages at Rates as Low as 4.5% — WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department is considering a plan to revitalize the U.S. home market that would push down interest rates for loans to purchase a home, according to people familiar with the matter.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Swamp, Calculated Risk, Fox News, The Big Picture and Angry Bear

Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:

As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions — STERKSEL, the Netherlands — The cows and pigs dotting these flat green plains in the southern Netherlands create a bucolic landscape. But looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Ben Adler / American Prospect:
Are Cows Worse Than Cars?

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

RENDELL APOLOGIZES FOR AZ GOV COMMENT — From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum — During a news conference on budget reductions today, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) apologized for a hot mic statement he made yesterday, saying Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) is perfect for the position …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Salon and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Peter Mucha / Philly.com:
Rendell called sexist for ‘no life’ remark

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Wonkette

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:

Russian warship to cross Panama Canal … MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian warship will sail through the Panama Canal this week for the first time since World War II, the navy announced Wednesday, pushing ahead with a symbolic projection of Moscow's power in a traditional U.S. zone of influence.

Discussion: THE CUNNING REALIST, Pajamas Media and Don Surber

New York Times:

Rice Says Pakistan Pledges to Help Find Suspects — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the Pakistani government has pledged to cooperate in rounding up suspects of the Mumbai terror attacks who operated from Pakistani territory or were of Pakistani origin.

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

Mukasey Sees No Necessity for Pardons in Terror War — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that he saw no need for President Bush to issue blanket pardons of officials involved in some of the administration's most controversial counterterrorism policies.

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Holder pardon makes Dems squirm — Eric Holder's role in the pardon of Marc Rich is unlikely to derail his nomination as attorney general, but it will give Senate Republicans a chance to make their Democratic colleagues squirm. — With a confirmation hearing at least a month away …

Discussion: The Corner

Nick Britten / Telegraph:

School cancels Christmas nativity in favour of Muslim Eid celebrations — A primary school has cancelled its Christmas nativity in favour of Muslim festival of Eid celebrations because it would be too much for the children to do both. — Greenwood Junior School sent out a letter …

Discussion: Moonbattery and Don Surber

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

The Community Reinvestment Act and the Recent Mortgage Crisis — Good morning. I am pleased to welcome you to the Board and even more pleased to introduce today's discussion of the study conducted by the Federal Reserve System's Community Affairs program in partnership with The Brookings Institution …

Discussion: Economist's View, EconLog and The Big Picture

Michael Luo / New York Times:

In Banking, Emanuel Made Money and Connections — In late 1998, while Washington was in the throes of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Rahm Emanuel, a departing senior political aide to President Bill Clinton, ventured out to an elegant restaurant in Dupont Circle for something of a job interview.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!