Top Items:
Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
California voters exercise their power — and that's the problem — Residents relish their role in the lawmaking process, but they share the blame for the state's severe dysfunction. — Californians are well known for periodic voter revolts, but on Tuesday they did more than just lash …
Discussion:
Reason, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Michelle Malkin, PoliBlog, Hot Air, DownWithTyranny!, Say Anything and American Power
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Eric Bailey / Los Angeles Times:
California voters kill budget measures — Only salary curbs survive in a rout of Schwarzenegger's slate of reforms — Reporting from Sacramento — The “big five” elected leaders — Schwarzenegger and the legislative chieftains from both houses — are slated to begin closed-door meetings today upon …
Megan McArdle:
Is California Too Big to Fail? — So what about California? A reader asks. Ummm, that's a tough one. No, wait, it's not: California is completely, totally, irreparably hosed. And not a little garden hose. More like this. Their outflow is bigger than their inflow.
Discussion:
The Campaign Spot, Commentary, Shot in the Dark, Balloon Juice, ParaPundit and Gateway Pundit
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Calif. Voters Reject Measures to Keep State Solvent — LOS ANGELES — A smattering of California voters on Tuesday soundly rejected five ballot measures designed to keep the state solvent through the rest of the year. — The results dealt a severe setback to the state's fragile fiscal structure …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org, Sweetness & Light, L.A. Now and Michelle Malkin
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Advocates of Gun Rights Are Poised for a Victory — WASHINGTON — Advocates of gun rights are poised to win a Congressional victory that eluded them under a Republican president. — To the frustration and discouragement of many Democrats, House and Senate lawmakers and aides …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Caucus, The Politico, Philly.com, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, Cafe Talk Aggregator, The Page and Swampland
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David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Democrats in Senate Block Money to Close Guantánamo — WASHINGTON — In an abrupt shift, Senate Democratic leaders said on Tuesday that they would not provide the $80 million that President Obama requested to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
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The Politico:
Obama, Cheney plan dueling speeches — President Barack Obama will attempt to regain control of a boiling debate over anti-terrorism policy with a major speech on Thursday—an address that comes on the same day that former Vice President Cheney will be weighing in with his own speech on the same theme.
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Cheney Grabs a Third Term — Dick and Rummy are at Cafe Milano in Georgetown, holding court. The maître d' fawns. Waiters hover. Tourists snap pics on their digital cameras. Cable chatterers stop by to ingratiate themselves. — It isn't so much that Dick and Rummy are back.
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Obama's biggest critic: Krauthammer — The dinner guest that night at George Will's house in Chevy Chase was intellectually nimble, personally formidable and completely baffling, recalled columnist Charles Krauthammer - who was getting his first up-close look at President-elect Barack Obama.
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John Podhoretz / Commentary:
A Small Man — This blog has had many differences with Joe Klein of Time magazine, whom I once considered a very friendly acquaintance before he accused me and those who argued for an aggressive policy in Iraq and with Iran of being war criminals and began spouting anti-Semitic conspiracy nonsense that …
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Washington Sketch: When Steele Talks, Republicans Check Their BlackBerrys — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, working the room at a luncheon gathering of party officials yesterday, had the same parting words for each man he met: “Stay out of trouble.”
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Newt Gingrich / Human Events:
Why Pelosi Should Step Down — The case against Nancy Pelosi remaining Speaker of the House is as simple as it is devastating: — The person who is No. 2 in line to be commander in chief can't have contempt for the men and women who protect our nation. America can't afford it.
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Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Clinton-era hard drive missing from archives — A massive amount of sensitive, national security-related information from the Clinton administration has gone missing from the national archives. — The Inspector General of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel
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Associated Press:
Clinton: Iran can't have nuclear arms capability — WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that a nuclear-armed Iran is “going to spark an arms race” in the Middle East. — In an appearance before a Senate Appropriations panel, Clinton reiterated …
Discussion:
The Page
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Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Democrats' Assault On the CIA — In a little over 100 days, the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress have delivered a series of blows to the pride and morale of the Central Intelligence Agency. — It began with the release of the Justice Department memos …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, DownWithTyranny!, First Draft, Commentary and TPMMuckraker
C. J. Chivers / New York Times:
Arms Sent by U.S. May Be Falling Into Taliban Hands — KABUL — Insurgents in Afghanistan, fighting from some of the poorest and most remote regions on earth, have managed for years to maintain an intensive guerrilla war against materially superior American and Afghan forces.
Discussion:
Shadow Government, The Page, The Stimulist, NPR Blogs, Registan.net, ATTACKERMAN and Associated Press
ABCNEWS:
America's Richest Givers Hold Secret Meeting — Oprah, Gates, Buffett Gather in NY to Compare Notes About Charity, Economy — Under a cloak of secrecy, some of the world's wealthiest people gathered in an unprecedented meeting early this month in New York City possibly to coordinate strategies …
Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:
Spitzer rips Paterson administration over Troopergate — ALBANY - A rude, testy Eliot Spitzer blasted his successor's administration while being grilled about the Troopergate scandal, newly released records show. — Spitzer was terse, combative - and seemingly forgetful …
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Quinnipiac University:
Christie Has 23-Point Lead In New Jersey GOP Primary, Quinnipiac University New Jersey Poll Finds; Corzine, With Low Approval, Gains No Ground On Christie — Two weeks before the primary in the New Jersey Governor's race, former federal prosecutor Christopher Christie leads former Bogota …
Theresa Cook / Legalities:
Judge Wood Goes to Washington — Just two days after Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's sudden appearance in Washington set off a flurry of speculation about Supreme Court interviews, here's something that actually could be significant: — Federal Appears Court Judge Diane Wood …
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Gay Marriage Slow to Draw an Opposition in N.Y. — ALBANY — Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn was feeling distressed. — The State Assembly had just voted to legalize same-sex marriage, after gay rights groups flooded the Legislature with visits, phone calls and e-mail messages.
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Kaine to Pawlenty: Drop Coleman — Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine urged Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday to call on fellow Republican Norm Coleman to drop his bid for the contested Minnesota Senate seat. — “No one will deny that the race was incredibly close …