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Jason Hoppin / TwinCities.com:
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.
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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.
Charles Seife / New York Times:
Not Every Vote Counts — THE lizard people have eaten a vote in Beltrami County. That's not so strange in a recount like the one underway in Minnesota — voters do all kinds of inexplicable things like inscribing “lizard people” in the write-in slot, as one did, invalidating his ballot.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
MN-Senate: Counting Chaos! — The Minnesota Senate race could end up being decided by a few dozen votes. (Photo — Reuters/Eric Miller) — As the manual recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken nears its conclusion, the identity of the winner is growing increasingly unclear.
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 …
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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.
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Washington Post:
Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates — Intervention Would Aim to Buoy the Housing Market by Forcing Down the Cost of Loans — The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate …
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.
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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
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John Koblin / New York Observer:Meet Slate's New Columnist: Eliot Spitzer
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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
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The Politico:
Matthews advised to quit MSNBC — Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania - and shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.
Lisa Leff / Associated Press:
Poll: Calif. gay marriage ban driven by religion — SAN FRANCISCO - Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.
Discussion:
Welcome Back to Pottersville
Jonathan Gruber / New York Times:
Medicine for the Job Market — A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing low-income Americans and preventing discrimination against the ill. In recent weeks, Senators Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy …
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.
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Prairie Weather
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Yaakov Katz / Jerusalem Post:
IDF preparing options for Iran strike — The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned. — While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel …
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:
Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, FP Passport, Flopping Aces, Gateway Pundit, Mirror.co.uk and New York Times
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.
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
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.
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