Top Items:
CNN:
Jackson, Jr. an informant to Blago investigations — SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (CNN) — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — who was cited in a criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich — has been an informant for at least a decade with the U.S. Attorney's office, and has informed on the embattled governor of Illinois …
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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, TIME.com, Emptywheel, Hot Air, The Note and Jack & Jill Politics
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 …
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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.
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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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:
The Moderate Voice, Political Machine, Think Progress, Macsmind, Washington Monthly, Riehl World View, AMERICAblog News and TIME.com
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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.
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 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.
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
HOW WE KILLED ZARQAWI. — Reuel Marc Gerecht still thinks life is an episode of 24. “If you had been confronted on 7 September 2001 with a captured Khalid Shaykh Muhammad or Abu Zubaydah,” he says in response to Andrew Sullivan, “and you knew that a major, mass-casualty terrorist strike …
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Jello Biafra / Firedoglake:
Jello Biafra Writes An Open Letter To Barack Obama — (Jello Biafra's 1979 mayoral campaign against Diane Feinstein was the first I ever worked on, which probably says a lot. We're proud to publish his open letter to Barack Obama — jh) — My Friends (couldn't resist, I had to say it),
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:
Statement Regarding Madoff Investigation — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 2008-297 — Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2008 — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox issued the following statement today concerning its ongoing investigation in the case of SEC v. Madoff:
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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
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?
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 …
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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:
Times of London, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, MyDD, Taylor Marsh and Spin Cycle
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Reid Urged Paterson To Pick Kennedy
Reid Urged Paterson To Pick Kennedy
Discussion:
MSNBC, New York Times, Fox News, The Daily Politics, TIME.com, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Gawker and PoliticalBase.com Blog
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.
CBN.com:
Obama's Pick for Education Secretary Pushed For Gay High School — Obama's new pick for Education secretary is Arne Duncan, head of Chicago Public Schools. He's been pushing for Chicago to start their first gay high school. Not kidding. — Obama is going to get a lot of flack …
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NY Daily News:
State budget unveiled, full of new taxes and cuts — ALBANY - Gov. Paterson released a $121 billion slash-and-burn budget Tuesday morning that slams New Yorkers with 88 new fees and taxes - even on their iPods. — Calling the budget the “greatest economic and fiscal challenge of our lifetimes …
Christine Harper / Bloomberg:
Goldman Sachs's Tax Rate Drops to 1%, or $14 Million — A A A — Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which got $10 billion and debt guarantees from the U.S. government in October, expects to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion in 2007.
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.
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Southern Way — Nice piece from Mike Lillis at The …
The Southern Way — Nice piece from Mike Lillis at The …
Discussion:
The Bellows
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, Guardian, Wizbang, Taylor Marsh, Democrats.com, Don Surber, The BRAD BLOG, David Corn, Wall Street Journal and Hullabaloo