Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Palin: Obama birth certificate ‘a fair question’ — Speaking to the conservative talker Rusty Humphries today, Sarah Palin left the door open to speculation about President Obama's birth certificate. — “Would you make the birth certificate an issue if you ran?” she was asked (around 9 minutes into the video above).
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Sister Toldjah, Confederate Yankee, Daily Kos, Rumproast, Little Green Footballs, The Washington Independent, Hotline On Call, The Reaction, DaTechguy's Blog, Bree Palin, At-Largely, Taegan Goddard's …, marbury, Althouse, American Glob, AMERICAblog News and Towleroad News #gay
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Palin: Obama's birth certificate is fair game; Update: Transcript added; Update: Palin responds — At 7:45, your quote of the day. Something for (almost) everyone here: For the left, smoking-gun proof that she's a fringe character, and for Birthers, smoking-gun proof that their concerns are mainstream.
Facebook:
Stupid Conspiracies — Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I've pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child.
Discussion:
The Hill, Politics Daily, The Washington Independent, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, GOP 12 and The Awl
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME.... I'm not surprised Sarah Palin would lend credence to the “birther” nonsense; I'm surprised it took her this long. — Alex Koppelman posted this transcript of Palin's on-air chat yesterday with far-right talk-show host Rusty Humphries.
Javier C. Hernandez / New York Times:
U.S. Economy Lost Only 11,000 Jobs in November — The United States economy shed 11,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 10 percent, down from 10.2 percent in October, the Labor Department said Friday. — The government also revised the October number to show …
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Christina Romer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
On the Employment Situation in November — Today's employment report was the most hopeful sign yet that the stabilization of financial markets and the recovery in economic growth may be leading to improvements in the labor market. — Payroll employment declined 11,000 in November.
Discussion:
CEPR, The Hill, The New Republic, The Atlantic Politics Channel, msnbc.com and Swampland
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Bernanke's Plan for Unemployment: Do Nothing — I've been holding out some kind of vague hope that Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearings might provide a way out of our political impasse on the jobs front. After all, Bernanke's job is to try to achieve as close to full employment …
Wall Street Journal:
Unemployment Rate Falls to 10% — U.S. job losses slowed sharply in November and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined, in a sign the labor market is finally starting to heal as the economy recovers. — Nonfarm payrolls fell by just 11,000 last month, slowing down from a downwardly …
Discussion:
Forbes, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Real Time Economics, Taegan Goddard's …, Don Surber and Associated Press
The Huffington Post:Bernanke Channels Willie Sutton In Assault On Social Security …
Discussion:
Open Left, The Reaction, The Sideshow, Blue Jersey, Hullabaloo, Calculated Risk, The Huffington Post, The Confluence and The Agonist
The Politico:
POLITICO Q & A: Al Gore — Former Vice President Al Gore, who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, talked with POLITICO's John F. Harris and Mike Allen about climate issues and the upcoming United Nations conference in Copenhagen. Here are edited excerpts.
Discussion:
QandO
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Reform or Else — Health care reform hangs in the balance. Its fate rests with a handful of “centrist” senators — senators who claim to be mainly worried about whether the proposed legislation is fiscally responsible. — But if they're really concerned with fiscal responsibility …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Politico, Washington Times, The Mahablog, Cup O' Joe, Prairie Weather, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, TigerHawk and Time
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Scott Shane / New York Times:
C.I.A. Authorized to Expand Use of Drones in Pakistan — WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago in Pakistan, Central Intelligence Agency sharpshooters killed eight people suspected of being militants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and wounded two others in a compound that was said to be used for terrorist training.
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Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:Obama takes the wrong path in Afghanistan
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Nelson amendment expected to fall short even with GOP support — An amendment restricting abortions does not appear to have enough support to be attached to the Senate healthcare bill. — Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.) said he expected that all but a few Republicans would support …
RELATED:
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:Sen. Reid has recipe for getting health-care deal done
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Politico, Shakesville, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, The Page and Associated Press
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans Split on Whether Goals in Afghanistan Will Be Met — Forty-eight percent say the U.S. is certain or likely to meet its goals — PRINCETON, NJ — The unveiling of President Obama's new military strategy for Afghanistan has not left Americans overly confident that it will succeed …
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J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Coburn, Vitter want to force Congress into public health plan — Two of the Senate's most ardent opponents of a public health program, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and David Vitter (R-La.), are preparing an amendment to force members of Congress into any plan that is passed.
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New York Times:
NATO Pledges 7,000 More Troops for Afghanistan — BRUSSELS — Responding to American entreaties for more soldiers in Afghanistan, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, announced Friday that the alliance had agreed to contribute a further 7,000 “new forces” to the coalition …
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Benjamin Spillman / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
SENATE RACE: Reid in a battle, poll reveals — Nine Republicans running for seat — Nevadans aren't warming up to Sen. Harry Reid, despite plenty of early advertising designed to boost his image, a new poll shows. — Just 38 percent of respondents said they had a favorable opinion …
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool, National Review Online, The Tolbert Report, Scorecard's Blog and TPMDC
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Analytic Mode — Many Democrats are nostalgic for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign — for the passion, the clarity, the bliss-to-be-alive fervor. They argue that these things are missing in a cautious and emotionless White House. — But, of course, the Obama campaign …
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