Top Items:
Roger Simon / The Politico:
What if I didn't pay taxes? — Would it be OK if I stopped paying my taxes until Barack Obama names me to be his secretary of the treasury? — That is a deal I would like to get. That is the deal financial wizard Timothy Geithner got. — He didn't pay all of his federal taxes for years.
Discussion:
National Review, ProPublica, Commentary, Flopping Aces, Balloon Juice, RedState and The Campaign Spot
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New York Times:
More Questions for Mr. Geithner — President-elect Barack Obama's team reacted predictably to the disclosure that Timothy Geithner, the nominee for Treasury secretary, failed to pay a chunk of his federal taxes over several recent years. The script gets played out, with slight variations …
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:After Tax Errors Raised, GOP Leaders Defend Treasury Nominee
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, QandO, TPM Election Central, Sweetness & Light, PoliBlog, CNN, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Riehl World View
Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:Confirm Geithner; Approve The TARP Funds, and Get The Stimulus Right
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Associated Press:
Israel Shells UN Headquarters In Gaza — GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, engulfing the compound and the main warehouse in fire and destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees.
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Bob Woodward / Washington Post:
10 Take Aways From the Bush Years — There's actually a lot that President-elect Barack Obama can learn from the troubled presidency of George W. Bush. Over the past eight years, I have interviewed President Bush for nearly 11 hours, spent hundreds of hours with his administration's key players …
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Wall Street Journal:
Bush and the Libby Pardon — As the curtain closes on the presidency of George W. Bush, the one loose end dangling is the pardon of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. In 2007 Mr. Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, was convicted for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Intelligence Court Rules Wiretapping Power Legal — WASHINGTON — A federal intelligence court, in a rare public opinion, is expected to issue a major ruling validating the power of the president and Congress to wiretap international phone calls and intercept e-mail messages without a court order …
Discussion:
The Corner, Hot Air, Daily Kos, JammieWearingFool, theheretik.us and The Anonymous Liberal
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Obama Charms Even a Night's Grand Ol' Party — At one point during the party, CNBC's Larry Kudlow asked Barack Obama why he had hired several of the liberal guests who appeared on his program but left him Robert Reich. — “So someone will stick up for me on your show,” the president-elect replied.
Discussion:
Michael Calderone's Blogs
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Playing to the Pundits — If you think the chattering classes were chattering about the Osama tape or the fate of the second $350 billion in bailout money yesterday, let me enlighten you. — It was all about the dinner party. — To wit, which members of the conservative commentariat were invited to dine with Obama?
Amie Parnes / The Politico:
Clinton bids colleagues farewell — At an emotional private party just off the Senate floor, soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told her Senate colleagues Wednesday night that serving in the Senate “has been the greatest experience of my life” and that leaving them was “like leaving family.”
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Associated Press:
Holder to Senate: ‘Waterboarding is torture’ — Obama's nominee for attorney general vows break with controversial tactic — Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., shake hands just prior to Holder's confirmation hearing on Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Commitee.
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Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:Parties Brace for a Fight on Justice Dept. Choice
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Politico, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, MoJoBlog, Spin Cycle, MSNBC, Time, The Note, TIME.com and Democracy in America
Rick Santorum / Philly.com:
The Elephant in the Room: McCain may be Obama's secret weapon — A desire by both men to secure their places in history might forge an unlikely pairing. — I have been to New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington in recent weeks. In those cities, at least, you cannot watch the news …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Biden Outlines Plans to Do More With Less Power — WASHINGTON — He was in the Senate for 36 years and visited the White House under seven presidents. But Joseph R. Biden Jr. has never seen the inside of the vice president's office in the West Wing. “I never thought a lot about the vice presidency …
Discussion:
The Caucus, The Note, TIME.com, Anne Schroeder's Blogs, Think Progress, Lost in Transition and Prairie Weather
Richard L. Connor / CQ Politics:
History May See Lincoln-Like Greatness in George W. Bush — It's easy to make comparisons between President-elect Barack Obama and former President Abraham Lincoln. We have the Illinois connections and then the hovering, dark clouds of war, a nation divided and in crisis, and other similarities that provide a historic link.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Telegraph, Right Wing Nut House, Macsmind, theheretik.us and Talking Points Memo
Simon Romero / New York Times:
Chávez Lets West Make Oil Bids as Prices Plunge — CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to damage his efforts to establish a Socialist-inspired state, is quietly courting Western oil companies once again.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Daniel W. Drezner, Kevin Drum, Sweetness & Light, Fausta's Blog and Daimnation!
Eli Lake / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Panetta faces rendition queries — Panel eyes CIA pick's role in shaping policy during the Clinton era — President-elect Barack Obama's choice for CIA director, Leon Panetta, served as White House chief of staff during the time the Clinton administration accelerated a practice …
Discussion:
theheretik.us, Macsmind, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, AmSpecBlog, The Campaign Spot and Jeffrey Goldberg
Isabel Kershner / New York Times:
War on Hamas Saps Palestinian Leaders — JERUSALEM — Israel hoped that the war in Gaza would not only cripple Hamas, but eventually strengthen its secular rival, the Palestinian Authority, and even allow it to claw its way back into Gaza. — But with each day, the authority, its leader …
Thomas Nagorski / The World Newser:
West Wing ‘Ghost Town’ — From long-time ABC News White House correspondent Ann Compton: — President and Mrs. Bush fly to Camp David Friday afternoon for a final weekend in the rustic seclusion of “the Camp.” Over the next 36 hours, White House staffers will go through the behind …
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Audacity Without Ideology — For the past two years, Barack Obama has made it hard for anyone to pin him down philosophically. So when he raises his hand on Tuesday, exactly what — beyond the efforts of an eager, data-driven problem-solver — can the American people expect?
Del Quentin Wilber / Washington Post:
Citing Weak Evidence, Judge Orders Guantanamo Detainee Freed — A federal judge ordered the release yesterday of a detainee at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ruling that the government's evidence is too weak to justify the man's continued confinement.
Gail Collins / New York Times:
He's Leaving. Really. — Tonight President George W. Bush bids adieu to the American people. — Excitement mounts. — The man has been saying goodbye for so long, he's come to resemble one of those reconstituted rock bands that have been on a farewell tour since 1982.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, DailyHowler.com, Wall Street Journal, Taegan Goddard's … and The Sideshow
Blair Goldstein / Clarion-Ledger:
Jackson council drops its saggy-pants ordinance — Mayor says by phone that some of city issues “bigger” than the U.S. Constitution — For now, Jackson residents can wear their pants any way they want to. — The City Council voted 4-2 against a plan Tuesday that would have made it unlawful …
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
A Diplomat's View — I spoke yesterday to Aaron David Miller, author of The Much Too Promised Land and a former adviser to six different Secretaries of State, about the fallout from the war in Gaza and what, if anything, Barack Obama can do to revive the hopes for peace.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
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