Top Items:
The Politico:
O-bummer — Congressional Democrats are firing a surprising number of unexpectedly sharp brush-back pitches at President-elect Obama and his staff over policy plans and personnel picks, making him look embattled during what was to be a triumphant debut week in Washington.
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New York Times:
Senate Allies Fault Obama on Stimulus — WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's economic recovery plan ran into crossfire from his own party in Congress on Thursday, suggesting that quick passage of spending programs and tax cuts could require more time and negotiation than Democrats once hoped.
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Obama Gap — “I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't take dramatic action as soon as possible. If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years.” — So declared President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday, explaining why the nation needs …
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Rifts show as Obama urges quick action on stimulus — Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition — WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are under orders to finish action on President-elect Barack Obama's nearly $800 billion economic recovery plan by mid-February.
Paul Kane / Washington Post:Pelosi Urges Obama to Raise Taxes on Wealthy This Year
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Wake up America, Commentary, The Confluence, MyDD and George's Bottom Line
CNN:Key Senate Democrats blast Obama tax proposals
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Washington Independent, Macsmind, TPM Election Central and Ben Smith's Blogs
Greg Hitt / Wall Street Journal:Democrats Raise Doubts on Obama Plan
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Suzanne Goldenberg / Guardian:
Barack Obama administration ‘prepared to talk to Hamas’ — The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush's doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Buck Naked Politics, Right Wing Nut House, A Blog For All, Boker tov, Boulder!, Fausta's Blog, Commentary, The Other McCain, Pajamas Media, Right Wing News, Daled Amos, Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations, MyDD, Atlas Shrugs, Sister Toldjah, Snapped Shot, Firedoglake, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Muqata, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Don Surber, The Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Soccer Dad, AMERICAblog News, YID With LID, Jihad Watch, Israel Matzav, Stop The ACLU, Macsmind, American Power and Time
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Louis Uchitelle / New York Times:
Unemployment Hits 7.2%, 16-Year High — With the recession in full swing, the nation's employers shed 524,000 jobs in December, the government reported Friday, and a rapidly deteriorating economy promised more significant losses in the months ahead. December's job losses brought the total …
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Brian Blackstone / Wall Street Journal:
Jobless Rate Surges to 7.2% in December — WASHINGTON — The final employment report for 2008 closed the books on a miserable year for U.S. workers with payrolls plunging last month by more than half a million, pushing the unemployment rate to a 16-year high.
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Lei-off: Obama snubs Dean — The conspicuous absence of Howard Dean from Thursday's press conference announcing Tim Kaine's appointment as Democratic National Committee chair was no accident, according to Dean loyalists. — Rather, they say, it was a reflection of the lack of respect accorded …
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Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Jan. 1 Attack By CIA Killed Two Leaders Of Al-Qaeda — A New Year's Day CIA strike in northern Pakistan killed two top al-Qaeda members long sought by the United States, including the man believed to be behind September's deadly suicide bombing at a Marriott hotel in the Pakistani capital …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, The Atlanticist, The Long War Journal, Outside The Beltway, On Deadline and BLACKFIVE
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Wall Street Journal:
Mere Presidents — American leaders are mortal, not magical. — He didn't seem distracted, like he was thinking about lunch, and he didn't seem to be deflecting responsibility, but taking it. This was a relief, and rather unusual in a Washington politician, or pretty much any politician.
Hoystory:
Cover-up continues — Pro-Israel and conservative blogs have been all over the story of CNN peddling a bit of Hamas theater today. As you watch this video, take a good look at the supposed “victim” and the medical treatment he receives. — After the uproar erupted …
Washington Post:
What ‘Yes, We Can’ Should Mean for Our Schools — In 1994, we founded KIPP, the Knowledge Is Power Program, by starting one middle school in the South Bronx and one in Houston. Today, KIPP is a growing network of 66 public charter schools serving 17,000 children in 19 states and the District.
Los Angeles Times:
Eric Holder pushed for controversial clemency — As deputy attorney general in 1999, Holder — now attorney general nominee — pressed subordinates to drop objections to clemency for 16 members of violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations. — Reporting from Washington …
Adam Nossiter / New York Times:
Sheriff Accused of Stealing Jail Food Allowance — DECATUR, Ala. — The prisoners in the Morgan County jail here were always hungry. The sheriff, meanwhile, was getting a little richer. Alabama law allowed it: the chief lawman could go light on prisoners' meals and pocket the leftover change.
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
Obama Picks CIA Veteran Brennan as Counterterror Adviser — Brennan Has Drawn Fire on Interrogations — Barack Obama has picked John O. Brennan as his top adviser on counterterrorism, a role that will give the CIA veteran a powerful voice on the government's use of security contractors …
David Cho / Washington Post:
Geithner Preparing Overhaul Of Bailout — Obama Team Broadens Scope to Secure Final $350 Billion for Rescue — Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team …
New York Post:
FORMER GOPER MIKE WANTS TO GET BACK IN — Mayor Bloomberg has begun reaching out to city Republican leaders to gauge whether he could run on the GOP line in his re-election bid this year, several sources told The Post. — The maneuvering began in the past two weeks, and sources said the mayor …
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Confidence Surplus — Christina Romer is Barack Obama's choice to lead his Council of Economic Advisers. In 1994, Romer and her husband, David, wrote an essay entitled “What Ends Recessions?” In the first paragraph, the Romers noted that “economists seem strangely unsure …
Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Mitch McConnell Lost His Testicles and Now Infects the Senate GOP With a Cancer — Allow me to be blunt: — There are some of you who have fallen under McConnell's spell in the same way the lefties have fallen under Obama's spell. McConnell can do no wrong.
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Online, Sarah Palin Has Unkind Words for the Press — Sarah Palin, still smarting over coverage of her vice presidential run, calls the media's reporting on her family “very scary” and says there may be “a class issue” that explains the more sympathetic treatment of Caroline Kennedy.
Amir Taheri / Times of London:
No way forward while the Hamas hydra lives — For Islamists in Gaza, Palestine is part of a global religious struggle not a battle to create an independent state — The conflict in Gaza has been triggered by Israel's belief that the status quo has become intolerable and should be overturned.
Jennifer Lawinski / Fox News:
High-Profile Doctor in Gaza Called an ‘Apologist for Hamas’ — A high-profile Norwegian doctor who has said the September 11 terrorists were justified in their attack is now treating patients in Gaza and is being accused of presenting “hard-core propaganda” to TV interviewers in his telling of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
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Joe Klein / Time:
The Bush Administration's Most Despicable Act — “This is not the America I know,” President George W. Bush said after the first, horrifying pictures of U.S. troops torturing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq surfaced in April 2004. The President was not telling the truth.
Discussion:
The Mahablog, JammieWearingFool, Salon, Swampland, Democrats.com, Liberal Values and NewsBusters.org
Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
A Difficult Road Awaits Panetta at the C.I.A. — WASHINGTON — As every previous director could attest, succeeding at the helm at the Central Intelligence Agency requires an uneasy balance: being firm enough to impose a White House agenda without inciting a revolt, while winning allegiance …
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