Top Items:
New York Times:
The Travails of Tom Daschle — When President Obama nominated former Senator Tom Daschle to be his secretary of health and human services, it seemed to be a good choice. Mr. Daschle, as the co-author of a book on health care reform, knew a lot about one of the president's signature issues.
Discussion:
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The Politico:
Daschle pushed Hindery for Obama job — Tom Daschle backed the patron who paid him a million-dollar salary and supplied him with a free car and driver for a job inside the Obama administration, two Democrats said Monday. — Leo Hindery, whose InterMedia Partners employed the former Senate majority leader …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama's Pledge to Reform Ethics Faces an Early Test — WASHINGTON — During almost two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama vowed to slay the demons of Washington, bar lobbyists from his administration and usher in what he would later call in his Inaugural Address a “new era of responsibility.”
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, TalkLeft, Washington Post, MSNBC, USA Today, Associated Press, The Caucus, Time, Betsy's Page, The Note, TIME.com and JammieWearingFool
Washington Post:
Back Taxes, Part Two — THE TAX PROBLEMS plaguing the nomination of former senator Thomas A. Daschle to be secretary of health and human services are troubling — as were the problems of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. In both cases, the nominees had failed to pay the full amount of taxes they owed.
George Packer In / New Yorker:
OBAMA CAN'T AFFORD HYPOCRISY — It's more than a little disappointing that, just two weeks into President Obama's “new era of responsibility,” a second major cabinet appointee turns out to have underpaid his taxes by tens of thousands of dollars. Maybe a better word for it is “cheated.”
Discussion:
marbury
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
ANOTHER TAX PROBLEM FOR OBAMA? — From NBC's Lisa Myers, Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie — NBC News has learned that the president's choice for “chief performance officer” — technically a deputy OMB director post — could end up having to withdraw over a number of issues, including tax problems.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Think Progress, Political Machine, Emptywheel, The Campaign Spot and Hotline On Call
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Associated Press:
Official: Performance czar withdraws candidacy … WASHINGTON (AP) - Nancy Killefer, who failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes on household help, has withdrawn her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, the White House said Tuesday.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Don Surber, Reuters, protein wisdom and Breitbart.tv
Washington Post:
Obama's Choice for Chief Performance Officer Withdraws Name — Nancy Killefer, the management consultant and former Treasury official who had been picked by President Obama to serve as the country's chief performance officer, has withdrawn from consideration for the post, White House officials confirmed this morning.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
JOE THE REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST.... Once in a while, I get the sense Republicans on Capitol Hill want to be made fun of. … This is what it's come to for Republican staffers in Congress. In the midst of an economic crisis, and after balking at a stimulus package, the GOP is turning …
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Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Joe the Plumber advises GOP-ers — Fresh off his stint as a war correspondent in Gaza, Joe the Plumber is now doing political strategy with Republicans. — When GOP congressional aides gather Tuesday morning for a meeting of the Conservative Working Group, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher …
Wall Street Journal:
Daniel Pearl and the Normalization of Evil — When will our luminaries stop making excuses for terror? — This week marks the seventh anniversary of the murder of our son, former Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. My wife Ruth and I wonder: Would Danny have believed that today's world emerged after his tragedy?
David S. Cloud / The Politico:
Secret report urges new Afghan plan — The Pentagon's top military officers are recommending to President Barack Obama that he shift U.S. strategy in Afghanistan — to focus on ensuring regional stability and eliminating Taliban and Al Qaida safe havens in Pakistan, rather …
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The “defense cut” falsehood from The Washington Post and Robert Kagan — (updated below - Update II) — Even for the standard-less Washington Post Op-Ed page, which will publish any version of neocon claptrap regardless of how factually false it is, this is rather striking:
Robert Kagan / Washington Post:No Time To Cut Defense — Pentagon officials have leaked word …
Discussion:
Conventional Folly
David Rogers / The Politico:
Obama picks Gregg for Commerce — Sen. Judd Gregg will be nominated as the new Commerce secretary Tuesday morning, giving President Obama a fresh independent voice in his Cabinet but at a huge cost to Republicans and the larger Senate. — The run-up to the nomination has focused on backroom deals …
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David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
Martinez Eyeing Early Exit as Crist Looks at Senate Seat — In what could be a Sunshine State one-two punch, multiple Republican sources are confirming that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is giving serious consideration to running for Senate — and that Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) …
Discussion:
CNN, Taegan Goddard's …, Scorecard's Blogs, Swing State Project and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Richard Lloyd Parry / Times of London:
North Korea ‘prepares to test long range missile’ — North Korea is preparing to test fire a long range missile capable of striking the United States, according to media reports in South Korea and Japan this morning. — The Yonhap News Agency in Seoul quoted South Korean officials …
Discussion:
Flopping Aces
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Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Support Stimulus, but Many Want Major Changes — Most say plan will not have major impact this year — USA - Business and Economy - Congress - Credit Crisis - Personal Finances - Taxes - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — A strong majority of Americans (75%) …
Wall Street Journal:
What Other Financial Crises Tell Us — The lesson of history is grim: Expect a prolonged slump. — Perhaps the Obama administration will be able to bring a surprisingly early end to the ongoing U.S. financial crisis. We hope so, but it is not going to be easy.
Mesh / Middle East Strategy at Harvard:
Behind the blow-out at Davos — From Michael Reynolds — Origins of cooperation. For the past two decades, cooperative relations between Turkey and Israel had been one of the constants of international relations in the Middle East. While it would be incorrect to describe those ties …
Rasmussen Reports:
42% Say Obama Governing on Bipartisan Basis, Only 22% Say Congress Doing the Same — Forty-two percent (42%) of U.S. voters say President Barack Obama is governing on a bipartisan basis while 39% say he is governing as a partisan Democrat. — But the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows …
Discussion:
The Plum Line
Simon Romero / New York Times:
In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism — UYUNI, Bolivia — In the rush to build the next generation of hybrid or electric cars, a sobering fact confronts both automakers and governments seeking to lower their reliance on foreign oil: almost half of the world's lithium …
Discussion:
Fausta's Blog
The Huffington Post:
Stimulus Spin War: Obama To Go On Media Offensive — Barack Obama is slated to sit down with the five major television news networks tomorrow, a media play that is almost certain to be part of a broader effort to sell his stimulus package to the American public.
Binyamin Appelbaum / Washington Post:
Despite Federal Aid, Many Banks Fail to Revive Lending — The federal government has invested almost $200 billion in U.S. banks over the last three months to spark new lending to consumers and businesses. — So far, it hasn't worked. Lending has declined, and banks that got government money …
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