Top Items:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to establish a target range for the federal funds rate of 0 to 1/4 percent. — Since the Committee's last meeting, labor market conditions have deteriorated, and the available data indicate that consumer spending …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, TIME.com, The Swamp, Greg Mankiw's Blog, The Washington Note, Portfolio and Wonk Room
RELATED:
Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Fed Cuts Benchmark Rate to Near Zero — WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve entered a new era on Tuesday, setting its benchmark interest rate so low that it will have to reach for new and untested tools in fighting both the recession and downward pressure on consumer prices.
Bloomberg:
Fed Cuts Rate to as Low as Zero, Shifts Policy Focus — A A A — Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve cut the main U.S. interest rate to as low as zero for the first time and shifted its focus to the amount and type of debt it buys, seeking to revive credit and end the longest slump in a quarter- century.
Monica Davey / New York Times:
Blagojevich Impeachment Inquiry Stalls — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A committee of the Illinois House considering evidence and testimony in an impeachment inquiry against Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich adjourned its first day of hearings after about an hour on Tuesday, after the governor's lawyer …
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New York Post:
BUNGLING ON BLAGO — TEAM BAM MISMANAGES MEDIA — Barack Obama is experiencing the first “scandal” of his presidency before he's taken office - or so sayeth the media. — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is accused of (among much else) conspiring to sell or trade Obama's Senate seat for personal benefit.
Joe Carroll / Bloomberg:Illinois Democrats Let Blagojevich Keep Naming Power
Discussion:
The Politico, Fox News, Weekly Standard, The Swamp, The Capitol Fax Blog, Below The Beltway and Don Surber
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Clinton chides supporters on Kennedy — Hillary Clinton has told her supporters not to involve her in their efforts to stop Caroline Kennedy's path to the U.S. Senate, a person familiar with replacement discussions said. — The move clears a major obstacle between Kennedy and the seat.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Times of London, The Huffington Post, MSNBC, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, Spin Cycle and Hot Air
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Reid Urged Paterson To Pick Kennedy — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) urged New York Gov. David Paterson to appoint Caroline Kennedy to the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a Democratic strategist familiar with Reid's thinking.
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, New York Times, MSNBC, Fox News, The Daily Politics, Gawker, TIME.com, New York Post and PoliticalBase.com Blog
Timothy Williams / New York Times:
Iraqi Shoe-Thrower to Appear in Court — BAGHDAD — The Iraqi television reporter who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference is scheduled to appear before a judge on Wednesday, the first step in a potential criminal prosecution against him, a senior lawyer and the reporter' s brother said on Tuesday.
Discussion:
skippy the bush kangaroo
RELATED:
Ali Frick / Think Progress: Juan Williams: Iraqi Protesters Are ‘Ingrate[s]’ Who Should Appreciate U.S. Invasion
BBC:Shoe thrower ‘beaten in custody’
Discussion:
Guardian, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, Associated Press, Xinhua News Agency, Wall Street Journal, TalkLeft, JONATHAN TURLEY, At-Largely, BuzzFlash.org, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, theheretik.us, Informed Comment, Comments from Left Field, JammieWearingFool, Gawker, Feministe, Pensito Review, Newshoggers.com and Truthdig
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Newt denounces Blago attacks — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is denouncing Republican attempts to link President-elect Barack Obama and disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. — Senator John McCain Sunday distanced himself from Republican National Committee attacks on Obama …
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The Huffington Post:
Gingrich Rips RNC For Its Blagojevich Attacks — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sent a rather scathing letter to Mike Duncan on Tuesday, accusing the RNC chairman of engaging in “a destructive distraction” by attempting to tie Barack Obama to Rod Blagojevich.
Michael Sneed / Chicago Sun Times:
Rahm's calls on tape — The Blago scandal . . . Sneed hears rumbles President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is reportedly on 21 different taped conversations by the feds — dealing with his boss' vacant Senate seat! — A lot of chit-chat? — Hot air? — Or trouble?
John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Pelosi lays down the law with Rahm — In a recent conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel offered some advice on a Democratic House leadership race. Pelosi's response, according to several Democratic sources: It is “an internal House Democratic Caucus matter, and we'll handle it.”
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, Becoming 44, Liberal Values, Booman Tribune, Flopping Aces, RedState, Hullabaloo and theheretik.us
RELATED:
Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Vilsack Picked for Agriculture Secretary — CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama has settled on Tom Vilsack, a former governor of Iowa, as his Agriculture Secretary. The announcement will be made here on Wednesday morning, according to Democrats familiar with the decision …
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Vilsack and Salazar Nominations Expected Weds. — President-elect Barack Obama has tapped former Iowa governor Thomas J. Vilsack to be his secretary of agriculture and will introduce Vilsack tomorrow at a news conference in Chicago, where he will also name Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) …
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: Cheney Says He's Changed — Vice President Reflects on Time in Office, Assesses Obama's Team — In an exclusive interview with ABC News, a reflective Vice President Dick Cheney praised President-elect Barack Obama's national security team and admitted he's changed during his time in office.
Discussion:
The Hill, Don Surber, Taylor Marsh, Democrats.com, Wall Street Journal, Hullabaloo, Guardian, Wizbang, The BRAD BLOG, David Corn and MoJoBlog
Charles Thomas / WLS-TV:
Jackson, Jr. may have been working with feds to investigate gov. — Jackson has been fighting for his reputation since the federal complaint revealed his supporters were willing to raise money for the governor, if Jackson was appointed to the Senate. — The new information appears …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Emptywheel, Hot Air, TIME.com, The Note and Jack & Jill Politics
The Politico:
Madoff bought influence in Washington — Within a day of the Dec. 11 arrest of Wall Street financier Bernard L. Madoff, his Washington lobbyists were scrambling to sever all ties to a man who's been accused of a $50 billion fraud and who may go down in history as the largest financial scam artist ever.
RELATED:
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
GOP probes Holder's role in Elian Gonzales case — Senate Republicans have requested information about Attorney General nominee Eric Holder's role in the Elian Gonzales controversy as part of a broad probe into his tenure with the Clinton administration and potential ties to presidential scandals during that era.
RELATED:
Dana Goldstein / American Prospect:
MEET ARNE DUNCAN, OBAMA'S EDUCATION PICK. — With the Democratic Party embroiled in internal debate over public school reform, it is very much like Barack Obama to tap Chicago public schools CEO Arne Duncan as education secretary. Duncan is one of the only prominent education leaders …
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Southern Way — Nice piece from Mike Lillis at The Washington Independent about the tenuous commitment to free market ideology shown by the union-busting southern conservatives who want the domestic auto industry to die, in order to benefit Dixie-built cars from foreign-owned firms:
Discussion:
The Bellows
RELATED:
George Packer In / New Yorker:
SEAN PENN FOR SENATOR! — The cover of the December 15th Nation magazine features an article by the veteran foreign correspondent Sean Penn on his recent trip to Venezuela and Cuba. Travelling in the company of Douglas Brinkley, the noted actor, and Christopher Hitchens …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
An Empire of Sentimentality — I think this kind of sentiment from Dave Dilegge at the COIN hotspot Small Wars Journal reflects some dangerous trends in American culture: … Americans love and respect the men and women who volunteer for military service under our flag.
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