Top Items:
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Depends on how you define “contact”; Update: Blago newsletter photo included — Barack Obama has gone out of his way to make his incoming administration Clintonesque. Not only has he built 63% of his transition team from Clinton administration officials, he even picked Hillary Clinton for a Cabinet post.
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The Politico:
Obama to list staff contact with Blago — President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday morning that he is “confident” no one representing him took part in any pay-to-play dealings with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over filling Obama's U.S. Senate seat, and pledged to release details …
Rasmussen Reports:
84% of Illinois Voters Say Blagojevich Should Resign — Eighty-four percent (84%) of Illinois voters say indicted Governor Rod Blagojevich should resign, according to a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state Wednesday night. Just nine percent (9%) disagree.
New York Times:
Scandal Is an Early Test for Obama Team
Scandal Is an Early Test for Obama Team
Discussion:
Rough Sketch, The Politico, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, The Campaign Spot, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Gateway Pundit, WBBM-TV, NO QUARTER, Slate, Ben Smith's Blogs, Time, Commentary, NY Daily News, The Note, Outside The Beltway, Political Machine, Newsweek, AmSpecBlog, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Trust, But Verify, Buck Naked Politics and Jules Crittenden
New York Times:
Auto Bailout Appears Dead in Senate as G.O.P. Resists — WASHINGTON — The prospects of a $14 billion government rescue of the American auto industry seemed to vaporize Thursday morning as the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke out forcefully against the bill …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, naked capitalism, Balkinization, TIME.com and BAGnewsNotes
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David Rogers / The Politico:
McConnell deals major blow to bailout — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell broke with the White House Thursday over a proposed $14 billion loan package for ailing automakers, all but assuring its defeat this week and forcing the administration to consider other emergency steps …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Trust, But Verify and Below The Beltway
Robert Block / The Write Stuff:
NASA has become a transition problem for Obama — CAPE CANAVERAL - NASA administrator Mike Griffin is not cooperating with President-elect Barack Obama's transition team, is obstructing its efforts to get information and has told its leader that she is “not qualified” to judge his rocket program, the Orlando Sentinel has learned.
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Charles Lane / Washington Post:
The Unreal Bill Ayers — Three Decades After the Weather Underground's End, He's Still Justifying Its Means — I never thought Barack Obama's acquaintance with former Weather Underground leader Bill Ayers disqualified him for the White House. And now that Obama has been elected …
Aluf Benn / Haaretz:
Obama's atomic umbrella: U.S. nuclear strike if Iran nukes Israel — U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will offer Israel a “nuclear umbrella” against the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran, a well-placed American source said earlier this week.
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: NO ORDINARY HONEYMOON — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann — *** No ordinary honeymoon: While the political world continues to focus on the Blagojevich scandal, which at this point has been only a headache for the incoming Obama administration …
New York Times:
Obama's Health Care Briefing — The following is a transcript of Barack Obama's press conference about his health care team and the Blagojevich scandal, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions. — Speakers: — President-elect Barack Obama — Former Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota
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Robert Pear / New York Times:
Daschle Will Lead Health Care Overhaul
Daschle Will Lead Health Care Overhaul
Discussion:
Washington Wire, TPM Election Central, Washington Monthly, The New Republic and TIME.com
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Asking questions, and flagging them — A couple of analysts whose opinions I respect, including John Cole, criticized my item yesterday on what I see as an abuse of the “flagging” function on Obama's “Open for Questions” site. — I wrote about the ability of some readers to take a highly rated …
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
How the GOP Should Prepare for a Comeback — Organization and ideas are what matters. — What a difference a month makes. Since November's election, the GOP is three wins, no losses. — The first win came in Georgia, where Sen. Saxby Chambliss crushed his Democratic opponent by 15 points in a run-off election on Dec. 2.
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Politico, Commentary, Democracy in America and Wonkette
John Fritze / USA Today:
North Dakota tops analysis of corruption — WASHINGTON — Its largest city is legendary for machine-style politics and its elected leaders have been under investigation for years, but by one measure, Illinois is not even close to the nation's most-corrupt state. — North Dakota, it turns out, may hold that distinction instead.
Discussion:
A Blog For All, neo-neocon, Wonkette, Don Surber, The Swamp, TPMMuckraker and The New Republic
Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:
CAROLINE ‘EQUALS J.LO’: DEM — REP. TAKES SWIPE AT CAMELOT CELEB POWER — ALBANY - A prominent New York Democratic congressman publicly questioned Caroline Kennedy's credentials to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying she's no more qualified to hold office than Jennifer Lopez.
Marc Morano / U.S. Senate Committee …:
UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims — Study: Half of warming due to Sun! -Sea Levels Fail to Rise? - Warming Fears in ‘Dustbin of History’ — POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland …
Discussion:
Moonbattery, Climate Progress, Right Wing News, Facing South, The Foundry and The Strata-Sphere
Karen Brooks / Dallas Morning News:
Web mistake costly for George W. Bush Library — kmbrooks@dallasnews.com — AUSTIN - After losing a valuable piece of online real estate to enterprising cyber-squatters, the Bush presidential library has replanted its flag into that e-territory. — But the squatters …
Wall Street Journal:
The Mattress Stuffers — As the financial crisis swept across the nation these past few months, one of the first microtrend groups to emerge is the New Mattress Stuffers — people who have lost their trust in the financial world, and are preparing for the next meltdown.
Wall Street Journal:
Blagojevich's Legal Bills Top $500,000 — CHICAGO — The criminal complaint against Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich repeatedly refers to his family's financial troubles. Those problems include more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills, according to people familiar with the matter.
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Union Linked to Corruption Scandal — The Service Employees International Union has long boasted that it is on the cutting edge of the labor movement. But it found itself badly embarrassed this week when it was linked by name to Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's maneuvering to secure some financial gain …
Wall Street Journal:
Whitewashing Fannie Mae — Congress begins its self-absolution campaign. — Henry Waxman's House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform met Tuesday to examine “The Role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the Financial Crisis.” Alas, Mr. Waxman didn't come to bury Fan and Fred, but to bury the truth.