Top Items:
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Preliminary Analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's Mark As Amended — CBO and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have just issued a preliminary analysis of the Senate Finance Committee Chairman's mark for the America's Healthy Future Act of 2009 …
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Igor / Wonk Room:
CBO: New Baucus Deficit Neutral Bill Costs $829B, Will Reduce Deficit By $81 Billion Over Next Decade — The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the new version of the Senate Finance Committee's health bill “will result in a net reduction in federal budget deficits of $81 billion over the 2010-2019 period.”
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
CBO's Latest Projections Out. Reason for Relief? And Concern? — CBO is out with its rough estimates of the Senate Finance bill as it looks now, following the amendments made during the recent markup hearings. Here's my initial take, informed loosely by a few conversations with experts and insiders:
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Weekly Standard, The Politico, Left in the West, AmSpecBlog, The Daily Dish and Democratic Strategist
Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
CBO: Baucus bill costs $829 billion, reduces deficit by $81 billion — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a cost estimate of the healthcare reform bill under consideration by the Senate Finance Committee, concluding it would increase federal spending by $829 billion over 10 years …
Discussion:
The Note, Ben Smith's Blog, The Swamp, The Politico, thedanashow.wordpress.com, Hot Air and George's Bottom Line
Amanda Carpenter / Washington Times:
A new mommy tax — When Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max …
A new mommy tax — When Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max …
Discussion:
Moe Lane
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Franken Wins Bipartisan Support For Legislation Reining In KBR's Treatment Of Rape — In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water …
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The Huffington Post:
Dems Discussing Public Option With Opt-Out Clause: The Silver Bullet? — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Senate Democrats have begun discussions on a compromise approach to health care reform that would establish a robust, national public option for insurance coverage but give individual states the right to opt out of the program.
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Barb Shelly / Midwest Voices:
Bob Dole outs naysayer Mitch McConnell — Bob Dole supports health care reform. — “This is one of the most important measures members of Congress will vote on in their lifetimes,” the former Republican Senate majority leader and presidential candidate told an audience in Kansas City today.
Jonah Goldberg / The Corner on National Review Online:
Ayers Dreams of Obama — By: Jonah Goldberg — I am not sure what to make of the story that Ayers has now admitted to writing Obama's autobiography. If it pans out, that is to my mind a very big story. Stay tuned. But I do think I should revise my earlier pooh-poohing of Jack Cashill's effort to prove the Ayers-Obama connection.
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Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Ayers: I wrote Obama's book! — Ever since the heat of the 2008 campaign, a handful of conspiracy theorists have circulated the rumor that Bill Ayers ghostwrote Barack Obama's first book, “Dreams from my Father.” — Now Ayers is coming forward to confirm the rumor, and he's demanding royalties!
Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner on National …:
This, Apparently, Is Not a Joke — By: Kathryn Jean Lopez — Barack Obama has this hanging in the White House: — It proves a gift to Nick Schulz.
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Carol Vogel / New York Times:
A Bold and Modern White House
A Bold and Modern White House
Discussion:
Ruby Slippers, Liberal Values, The Corner on National …, Conservatives4Palin.com and Michelle Malkin
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
ABC: Pentagon places “urgent” order for four massive bunker-busting bombs
ABC: Pentagon places “urgent” order for four massive bunker-busting bombs
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Aunohita Mojumdar / Christian Science Monitor:
‘Code Pink’ rethinks its call for Afghanistan pullout — In Afghanistan, the US women's activist group finds that their Afghan counterparts want US troop presence - as well as more reconstruction. — KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - — When Medea Benjamin stood up in a Kabul meeting hall this weekend …
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Wall Street Journal:
Battle of Books Rages in Afghan Debate
Battle of Books Rages in Afghan Debate
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden, Neptunus Lex, Weekly Standard, The Caucus, The New Republic and The Corner on National …
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel: Why The White House Remains Skeptical Of A New Troop Surge
New York Times:
Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force
Obama Rules Out Large Reduction in Afghan Force
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Salon, CNN, Commentary, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Hot Air, Christian Science Monitor, Weekly Standard, The Nation, Taylor Marsh, Mudville Gazette, FiveThirtyEight, The New Republic, TPMDC, Enduring America, Wonk Room, First Draft, Riehl World View, Politics Daily, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Times, Think Progress, Jules Crittenden, Ben Smith's Blog, Wake up America, Hullabaloo, The Faster Times, The Politico and The Huffington Post
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Rep. Waters: ‘Many members’ suffer from disclosure problems like Rep. Rangel — “Many members” of Congress suffer from the same disclosure issues as the embattled Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), one of his congressional allies suggested Wednesday. — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) …
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carter.house.gov:
Carter Joins New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Buffalo News, Minneapolis Star-Tribune in Calling for Chairman to Step Down — (WASHINGTON, DC) - House Members Wednesday will have to cast a recorded vote on whether it is acceptable …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Caucus, NewsBusters.org, PostPartisan, Politics Nation and Michelle Malkin
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCaughey And Me — I said my piece about this on this blog a while back. I do not think it's professional to air the specifics of internal battles after the fact, and I take full responsibility for being the editor of the magazine that published the piece. I accepted an award for it.
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Michael B. Oren / The New Republic:
Deep Denial — Toughened by their frontier ethos, steeled by serial wars, Israelis are not prone to flattery. Most, in fact, eschew using the closest equivalent to the Hebrew word for flattery—chanupa— in favor of the derisive Yiddish-derivative, firgun.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TIME FOR A WAKE-UP CALL, NOT FOR PANIC.... A new Gallup poll shows Democrats losing their edge on the generic-ballot question. Asked which party's congressional candidate they'd support if the election were held today, 46% preferred the Democratic candidate, while 44% sided with Republicans.
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Patterico's Pontifications:
Tom Shales: I'm Shocked to Be Told I Minimized Polanski's Crime!! Here, Let Me Do It Again! — From a Washington Post chat with Tom Shales today (thanks to several readers): … I'm sure it was you, Tom Shales. Evidently you need the citation, so here it is, from a column of yours dated June 9, 2008:
Michael R. Bloomberg / The Huffington Post:
Gun Show Undercover — Ever wonder how criminals are able to get guns so easily? It's depressingly simple. On any given weekend, at dozens of gun shows held in states across the country — criminals can buy guns from “private sellers” who are not required to perform background checks.
Tankerbabelc / From Cow Pastures to Kosovo:
Survivors in Afghanistan Need Immediate Help - 56 Soldiers Lost EVERYTHING — UPDATE as of 7 OCT 1430 hrs — We do NOT need fleece blankets, wash clothes or towels. Still need everything else on the list below — UPDATE as of 7 OCT 09 1300 hrs — STILL NEED
Nicholas Ballasy / CNSNews:
Reid ‘Likely’ to Make Entire Health Bill an Amendment to Unrelated Tax Bill That House Passed in March — (CNSNews.com) — A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CNSNews.com that it is “likely” that Reid will use H.R. 1586—a bill passed by the House in March to impose …