memeorandum: Race and politics in Alabama (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blog)

1:50 PM ET, December 7, 2009

Top Items:

An Affordable Truth — Maybe I'm naïve, but I'm feeling optimistic about the climate talks starting in Copenhagen on Monday. President Obama now plans to address the conference on its last day, which suggests that the White House expects real progress.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Switchboard, Agence France Presse, The Glittering Eye, Daily Kos, Climate Progress, Beat the Press, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Financial Times

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Obama administration will formally declare danger of carbon emissions — The Obama administration will formally declare Monday that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a move that lays the groundwork for an economy-wide carbon cap …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Associated Press, The Hill, The Hill, Matthew Yglesias, Michelle Malkin, The Corner on National …, American Power, AmSpecBlog and Blue Virginia

Wall Street Journal:

Business Fumes Over EPA Rule — Carbon-Dioxide Emissions to Face Curbs — Officials gather in Copenhagen this week for an international climate summit, but business leaders are focusing even more on Washington, where the Obama administration is expected as early as Monday to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant.

Discussion: Green Inc., Alan Colmes' Liberaland, QandO, New York Times, Grist, Environmental Capital and The New Republic

Rasmussen Reports:

Tea Party Tops GOP on Three-Way Generic Ballot — Running under the Tea Party brand may be better in congressional races than being a Republican. — In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote.

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Mouth of the Potomac, FrumForum, The Other McCain, Tax Day Tea Party, Townhall.com, Raw Story, The Plum Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TPMDC and The Strata-Sphere

Andy Barr / The Politico:
‘Tea party’ polls better than GOP

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

NPR reporter pressured over Fox role — Executives at National Public Radio recently asked the network's top political correspondent, Mara Liasson, to reconsider her regular appearances on Fox News because of what they perceived as the network's political bias, two sources familiar with the effort said.

Discussion: Think Progress, Townhall.com, Power Line, NewsBusters.org, Politics Daily, Jules Crittenden, The Jawa Report, Sister Toldjah, Villainous Company, Pundit & Pundette, TPM LiveWire, Dependable Renegade, Weasel Zippers and Confederate Yankee

The Independent:

Home > News > World > Europe — The news that a leaked set of emails appeared to show senior climate scientists had manipulated data was shocking enough. Now the story has become more remarkable still. — The computer hack, said a senior member of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change …

Discussion: Times of London, Guardian, Robert Amsterdam, Raw Story, Informed Comment and Little Green Footballs

New York Times:

In Face of Skeptics, Experts Affirm Climate Peril — Just two years ago, a United Nations panel that synthesizes the work of hundreds of climatologists around the world called the evidence for global warming “unequivocal.” — But as representatives of about 200 nations converge in Copenhagen …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Politico, Coal Tattoo, EconLog, Climate Progress, Pajamas Media and Dot Earth

Richard Harris / NPR:
For Public, Climate Change Not A Priority Issue

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Gallup, The Corner on National …, Guardian, American Power, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and Hit & Run

Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
U.N. leaders: Clock has ticked to zero

Discussion: The Swamp

Ezra Klein:

Exclusive: Medicare buy-in attracting interest in the public option negotiations — Sources who have been briefed on the negotiations say that Medicare buy-in is attracting the most interest. Expanding Medicaid is running into more problems, though there's some appeal because …

Discussion: TalkLeft

Ezra Klein:
The not-a-public-option compromise, and beyond

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and Democratic Strategist

David Herszenhorn / Prescriptions:
Team of Ten's Goal: A Not-Quite-Public Plan

Discussion: The New Republic and The Moderate Voice

Guardian:

'14 days to seal history's verdict' — This editorial calling for action from world leaders on climate change is published today by 56 newspapers around the world in 20 languages — Copenhagen climate change summit - opening day liveblog — Today 56 newspapers in 45 countries …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Jawa Report, RaceWire, Grist, MyDD, Environmental Capital, QandO, Switchboard, Biased BBC, TigerHawk, The Impolitic, AMERICAblog News, Pundit & Pundette, The Strata-Sphere, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michelle Malkin:
56 Chicken Little newspapers on climate change

Discussion: Vanity Fair and NewsBusters.org

David Derbyshire / Daily Mail:
Copenhagen climate change summit to produce as much CO2 as an African country

Discussion: The Politico, Riehl World View, DaTechguy's Blog, Fausta's Blog, Gateway Pundit, JammieWearingFool and Pajamas Media

Jackie Calmes / Boston Globe:

US may recover most TARP loans — WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department expects to recover all but $42 billion of the $370 billion it loaned to ailing companies during the financial crisis last year, with the portion loaned to banks showing a slight profit, according to a Treasury report.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Financial Times and Plunderbund

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
U.S. Forecasts Smaller Loss From Bailout of Banks

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Caucus, Gothamist and The Page

Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Strange coalition targets Bernanke

Discussion: The New Ledger, The Big Picture, Big Government, The Washington Independent and LewRockwell.com Blog

Deborah Solomon / Wall Street Journal:
Estimated TARP Cost Is Cut by $200 Billion

Discussion: Associated Press, The Atlantic Business Channel, CBS News, The Huffington Post, The Corner on National …, Bloomberg, RealtyTrac, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Financial Times, Deal Journal and Washington Post

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

In Polls, Much Opposition to Health Care Plan Is From Left — Don't know why I didn't catch this earlier, but it strikes me as fairly important. — Ipsos/McClatchy put out a health care poll two weeks ago. The topline results were nothing special: 34 percent favored …

Discussion: The New Republic, Taegan Goddard's …, Weekly Standard and The Political Carnival

Ezra Klein:
Two-thirds of Americans don't understand the public option

Discussion: TalkLeft and Matthew Yglesias

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

No Firm Plans for a U.S. Exit in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration sent a forceful public message Sunday that American military forces could remain in Afghanistan for a long time, seeking to blunt criticism that President Obama had sent the wrong signal in his war-strategy speech …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, DownWithTyranny!, Fox News, The Nation, About.com US Politics, Washington Times, Commentary, Politics Daily, The Moderate Voice, AMERICAblog News, marbury and George's Bottom Line

Washington Post:
McChrystal's plan for Afghanistan war remains largely intact

Discussion: The Hill, Mudville Gazette, democracyarsenal.org, Jules Crittenden, Hotline On Call, Connecting.the.Dots, New York Times and CBS News

Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:

Secret Service counts 91 breaches — 2003 report has been used as training tool — Long before a pair of gate-crashers penetrated a White House state dinner, the Secret Service had detailed for its internal use a lengthy list of security breaches dating to the Carter administration …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, NewsBusters.org and The Page

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Race and politics in Alabama — Artur Davis's quest to become the first black Governor of Alabama has brought out — because of the state, because of the way state politics work — a different racial dynamic than even the presidential contest. And the latest episode is a column by Joe Reed …

Discussion: Eduwonk

Wall Street Journal:

Girlfriends and Double Standards — Before Max Baucus there was Paul Wolfowitz. Will the ethical uproar be the same? — Printer — Friendly — Here's a poser: Suppose a public official is accused of recommending his girlfriend for a promotion, though he was the one who first flagged …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Supreme Court to take up corruption law — ‘Honest services’ called too vague; prosecutors call provision vital — The Supreme Court this week will consider whether to apply the brakes to what critics have called a vague and limitless law that has proved essential to federal prosecutors …

Discussion: New York Times, Law Blog, The Washington Independent and SCOTUSblog

The Huffington Post:

Palin's Father: She Left Hawaii Because Asians Made Her Uncomfortable — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Did Sarah Palin leave Hawaii because there were too many Asians? In the New Yorker review of “Going Rogue,” Sam Tanenhaus writes that Palin's father suggested as much to the reporters who wrote “Sarah From Alaska.”

Discussion: The Other McCain, Firedoglake, Confederate Yankee and The Political Carnival

Sarah Palin / To The Point News Syndicated:

SARAH AT THE GRIDIRON — [The Gridiron Club, founded in 1865, is the oldest and most prestigious journalist organization in Washington DC. The annual Gridiron Dinner is attended by the media elite, at which the president is traditionally the speaker. This year, President Zero …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Taylor Marsh and Atlas Shrugs