memeorandum: Obama taps Virginia's Gov. Tim Kaine as part-time DNC chair (Andrew Malcolm/Top of the Ticket)

1:35 PM ET, January 5, 2009

Top Items:

Funny Business in Minnesota — In which every dubious ruling seems to help Al Franken. — Strange things keep happening in Minnesota, where the disputed recount in the Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken may be nearing a dubious outcome. Thanks to the machinations …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, Gateway Pundit, RedState, Stop The ACLU, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, The Radio Equalizer, MinnPost and TPM Election Central

Amy Forliti / Associated Press:

Minnesota canvassing board expected to say that Democrat Al Franken is winner in Senate race — MINNEAPOLIS - The state Canvassing Board was posed to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor — but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over.

Discussion: TIME.com, Hot Air, TPM Election Central and MSNBC

Pat / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Court rejects Coleman bid to consider rejected absentee ballots

Discussion: Scorecard's Blogs

Michelle Malkin:
A real clown takes a Senate seat

Discussion: Reuters, Riehl World View and Moonbattery

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Fighting Off Depression — “If we don't act swiftly and boldly,” declared President-elect Barack Obama in his latest weekly address, “we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment.” If you ask me, he was understating the case.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, The Confluence, Boston Globe, Hullabaloo, Wake up America, theheretik.us, The Foundry, Buck Naked Politics, Wall Street Journal, Angry Bear, Connecting.the.Dots, Economist's View, Prairie Weather and Kevin Drum

Paul Krugman:

Is Obama relying too much on tax cuts? — I don't know yet. But news reports this morning certainly raise questions. — Let's lay out the basics here. Other things equal, public investment is a much better way to provide economic stimulus than tax cuts, for two reasons.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The New Republic, OurFuture.org, Firedoglake, The Plank, Washington Post, AMERICAblog News, Angry Bear, New York Times, The Volokh Conspiracy, Political Machine, AmSpecBlog, The Swamp, Commentary, Facing South, The Agonist and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

William Kristol / New York Times:

Why Israel Fights — The Israeli assault on Hamas in Gaza is going to be a replay, we're told, of the attempt to subdue Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006. And the outcome, it's asserted, will be the same: lots of death and destruction, no strategic victory for Israel …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Swampland, TPMCafe, New York Times, Guardian, Booman Tribune, CFR.org, Soccer Dad, Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations, Wall Street Journal, No More Mister Nice Blog and Jules Crittenden

John R. Bolton / Washington Post:

The Three-State Option — War in the Gaza Strip demonstrates yet again that the current governance paradigm for the Palestinian people has failed. Terrorists financed and supplied by Iran control Gaza; the Palestinian Authority is broken, probably irretrievably; and economic development is stalled in Gaza and the West Bank.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Tammy Bruce, BLACKFIVE, Sadly, No!, Israel Matzav, Israpundit, Soccer Dad, Don Surber and Atlas Shrugs

Pajamas Media:
Is Iran in Trouble? — After years of refusing to see Iran's …

Discussion: Hot Air and Power Line

Change.gov:

President-elect Obama announces key Department of Justice posts — WASHINGTON—Today, President-elect Barack Obama announced that he intends to nominate the following individuals for key posts at the United States Department of Justice: David Ogden, Deputy Attorney General; Elena Kagan …

Discussion: Think Progress and ACSBlog

Tim Fernholz / American Prospect:

TRANSITION TO JUSTICE. — The latest news from the Transition Office: We have sub-cabinet Justice Department nominees — bios after the jump: … Initial impressions: Kagan is the real story and has been on the short-list for this post since the very beginning of the transition process …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blogs and Feministing

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Kagan nominated for solicitor general

Discussion: Salon, Think Progress and The Volokh Conspiracy

New York Times:

Restore the Senate's Treaty Power — THE Constitution's Treaty Clause has long been seen, rightly, as a bulwark against presidential inclinations to lock the United States into unwise foreign commitments. The clause will likely be tested by Barack Obama's administration …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Daniel W. Drezner, The New Republic, democracyarsenal.org, Kevin Drum, Reason, TPMCafe, theheretik.us, PoliBlog, Balloon Juice and The Impolitic

Associated Press:

Chronology of key events in Richardson withdrawal — Notable events leading to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's withdrawal of his bid to become commerce secretary: — _ Early 2003: Richardson wins legislative approval of a $1.6 billion highway and transportation construction program …

Discussion: American Spectator and Fausta's Blog

Marc Ambinder:
Top Of The Morning — Countercyclical spending: Obama plans …

Discussion: The Politico, The New Republic, marbury and TIME.com

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Team pressed Richardson, got nothing

Discussion: Commentary, The Opinionator, TIME.com, The Sundries Shack, TalkLeft, Associated Press, The Swamp, Buck Naked Politics, Political Machine, Liberal Values, MSNBC, Democracy in America, theheretik.us, RBO, Washington Monthly, George's Bottom Line, Reuters and Top of the Ticket

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Obama taps Virginia's Gov. Tim Kaine as part-time DNC chair

Discussion: RedState, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air and The Confluence

Right Wing News:

The 7th Annual “20 Most Annoying Liberals Of 2008” — Honorable Mentions: Bill Ayers, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Juan Cole, Kent Conrad, The Daily Kos, Bill Delahunt, Glenn Greenwald, Alcee Hastings, Christopher Hitchens, The Huffington Post, Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr. Caroline Kennedy …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com

Connie Hair / Human Events:

Pelosi Erases Gingrich's Long-Standing Fairness Rules — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi's proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol …

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Speaker Makes Room for New No. 1 Democrat

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, The Caucus, TIME.com and The Corner

Chicago Sun Times:

Secretary of the Senate rejects Burris' appointment — Judge also grants prosecutors 90-day extension to indict Blagojevich, former chief of staff — Firing the first shot in Washington in the fight over the appointment of Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate, Gov. Blagojevich's acting chief …

Discussion: Political Machine, TIME.com, The Capitol Fax Blog and Chicago Breaking News

Chicago Breaking News:
U.S. granted more time to indict Blagojevich

Discussion: TIME.com

Fares Akram / The Independent:

Gaza: The death and life of my father — For Fares Akram, The Independent's reporter in Gaza, the Israeli invasion became a personal tragedy when he discovered his father was one of the first casualties of the ground war — The phone call came at around 4.20pm on Saturday.

Discussion: Mondoweiss

Trevor Mostyn / Guardian:
Nizar Rayan — Senior Hamas leader and cleric considered a hero on the streets of Gaza

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations and Associated Press

Agence France Presse:

US ex-envoy says Mideast two-state solution unworkable — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution …

Discussion: The Angry Arab News Service/

Michael Lerner / Times of London:
It breaks my heart to see Israel's stupidity

Discussion: QandO, Progressive Alaska and Elder of Ziyon

Maria Recio / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Bush first ex-prez to face limit on Secret Service protection — WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush's “after-life,” as Laura Bush calls the post-presidency, is shaping up to be pretty comfortable, with a Dallas office, staffers, Secret Service protection, a travel budget …

Discussion: Political Machine and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:

‘Like Son Jeb as President’ — Former President Bush (there's currently only one of those!) has endorsed his other governor-son for president. As we await David Paterson's Caroline Kennedy Senate appointment, I have to think that Jeb for President is not the craziest idea.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, MSNBC and Matthew Yglesias

David J. Lynch / USA Today:

Investors dump $89B in U.S. securities in historic fire sale — The deep river of private money that helped knit together the global economy has abruptly dried up, new government figures show. — As the global financial crisis grew more severe this summer, foreigners sold almost $90 billion …

George Selgin / Wall Street Journal:

Argentina Is Short of Cash - Literally — Spare some change? — Suppose you want to ride the bus or feed a parking meter without exact change. Or suppose you just want to drop a few cents in a street musician's hat. Nothing easier, right? Not if you live in Argentina.

Discussion: Reason and LewRockwell.com Blog

Richard Pérez-Peña / New York Times:

The Times to Sell Display Ads on the Front Page — In its latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression, The New York Times has begun selling display advertising on its front page, a step that has become increasingly common across the newspaper industry.

Discussion: Agence France Presse, TVNewser and Michael Calderone's Blogs