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:
Econbrowser, The Moderate Voice, TIME.com, Portfolio, Greg Mankiw's Blog, The Swamp, The Washington Note, Wonk Room and EconLog
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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:
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 …
Discussion:
Macsmind, Think Progress, Political Machine, AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly, TIME.com and Riehl World View
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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.
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, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, MSNBC, Spin Cycle and Hot Air
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:Reid Urged Paterson To Pick Kennedy
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, MSNBC, New York Times, Fox News, The Daily Politics, Gawker and TIME.com
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.
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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?
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, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Emptywheel, Hot Air, TIME.com, The Note and Jack & Jill Politics
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.) …
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Michael Calderone / Michael Calderone's Blogs:
NBC's Whitaker on press corps: 'We're going to have to get tougher' — During today's press conference, President-elect Obama brushed off a question from Tribune reporter John McCormick about the Blagojevich scandal, and what interaction any advisers had with the Illinois Governor.
Discussion:
New York Times, Stop The ACLU, Washington Monthly, TVNewser, Brilliant at Breakfast and Hot Air
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, Wall Street Journal, Guardian, Wizbang, Taylor Marsh, Democrats.com, The BRAD BLOG, David Corn, Hullabaloo and MoJoBlog
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Video: Joe Scarborough rips the Tanning Bed Media — Via the Newsbusters, Joe Scarborough belatedly discovers the vast difference in how the media treated Barack Obama and Sarah Palin in this election. As I mentioned a number of times, the national media rushed to Wasilla to cover …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
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 …
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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Mike Lillis / The Washington Independent:
Foreign Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies — General Motors production line. (Flickr: steelcityhobbies) — To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens facing Detroit's automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the laws of Adam-Smith capitalism.
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:The Southern Way — Nice piece from Mike Lillis at The …
Discussion:
The Bellows
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.
RELATED:
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.
James Salzer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Electoral College could be weakened — Two Atlanta lawmakers want measure to let popular vote decide presidential elections. Other states have voted on similar bills. — Atlanta area lawmakers plan to push legislation next year calling for the popular vote — rather than the Electoral College —
James Pethokoukis / Capital Commerce:
The 10 Dopiest Business and Economy Leaders of 2008 — ¡Ay, caramba! In a year when Wall Street imploded, the Big Three automakers neared collapse, and the economy plunged into its worst downturn in at least a generation, finding business and economy “leaders” who messed up badly isn't too hard.
John Gapper / John Gapper's Business Blog:
Eliot Spitzer shows his face in Chinatown — If Eliot Spitzer had had to choose a venue at which to make his re-entry into society, he would presumably not have selected a former massage parlour in Chinatown on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. — But Mr Spitzer, who resigned as governor …
Gary Andres / Weekly Standard:
Do You Tattoo? — According to Pew Research, nearly one out of four Americans under 40 has a tattoo. The new poll finds 36% in the 18-25 age group and 40% of folks age 26-40 sport this form of “self expression.” Pew writes this: … So maybe the new litmus test for Republican presidential hopefuls …
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