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Mike Allen / The Politico:
Axelrod: Left ‘insane’ to sink bill — Trying to stave off a sudden fusillade from the left, White House senior adviser David Axelrod said Thursday that Howard Dean's criticisms of health-care reform are “predicated on a bunch of erroneous conclusions” and that for progressives to torpedo the legislation …
Discussion:
The Swamp, TalkLeft, Don Surber, Hot Air, National Review, Seeing the Forest, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Raw Story
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Andy Stern / SEIU:
Letter from President Andy Stern to SEIU members: Where do we go from here? — A little over a year ago, you stood up and showed a nation that Yes, We Can. You knocked on doors, picked up phones, wrote your friends and family and neighbors and helped ring in a resounding victory.
Matthew Dowd / Washington Post:Success on health reform holds risks for Democrats
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Commentary, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and Weekly Standard
Igor / Think Progress:Sen. Sanders: 'As of this point, I'm not voting for the bill.'
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Confluence, Left in the West, Open Left, Indecision Forever, Outside The Beltway, DownWithTyranny!, TPMDC, Wonk Room, The Politico, Taylor Marsh, Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's …, MyDD, Newshoggers.com and Liberal Values
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE KIND OF DEBATE THAT'S LONG OVERDUE.... Maybe this is an esoteric point, but it occurs to me that the quality of the policy debate between competing progressive contingents is infinitely better and more interesting than the policy debate between Democrats and Republicans we witnessed over the last eight or nine months.
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Tom Coburn / Wall Street Journal:
The Health Bill Is Scary — Government guidelines would likely have forbidden the test I used to discover Sheila's cancer. — Printer — Friendly — I recently suggested that seniors will die sooner if Congress actually implements the Medicare cuts in the health-care bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Peter Wallsten / Wall Street Journal:Democrat Blues Grow Deeper in New Poll
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Business Insider, Pollster.com All Content, Top of the Ticket, Taylor Marsh, Washington Examiner, The Note, Hotline On Call, Pundit & Pundette, Commentary, National Review Online, Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots, AmSpecBlog, Real Time Economics, Shot in the Dark, msnbc.com, The Lonely Conservative and American Power
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
20 Questions, 20 Responses — I'm happy that this debate seems to be evolving into something a little more civilized on all sides. This is my response to Markos Moulitsas (DK) at Daily Kos and Jon Walker (JW) at FireDogLake who were kind enough to respond to the 20 questions I posed earlier.
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Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Chat transcript: Reconciliation, cost controls and Lieberman, oh my! — Reconciliation: Howard Dean and others on the left are saying that a better health-care bill can still pass through reconciliation. What is your take on this? — Ezra Klein: I think there's no chance of it.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
TMZ.com:
Sarah Palin's McCain Cover Up — For the first time ever, Sarah Palin used her head to make a searing political comment — a frontal attack on Sen. John McCain. — The failed Vice Presidential nominee took time off from shilling her book to vacation with her son Trig …
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TMZ.com:
Todd Palin Goes Rogue with Message Tee — Taking a cue from Sarah Palin's McCain Visor-Gate, Todd Palin is now speaking his mind with the use of bad fashion too. — The failed Vice Presidential nominee's man-wife was spotted in President Barack Obama's birth state of Hawaii on Wednesday wearing …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Palin supports McCain ‘100 percent’ — Declaring that she “was honored and proud to run with him,” former Alaska governor Sarah Palin pushed back hard Wednesday against a report that she had disrespected Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) by blacking out his name on a sun visor she wore on vacation.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, The Note, msnbc.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Raw Story, Top of the Ticket, TPM LiveWire and The Awl
The Hill:
Nelson a ‘no’ on health reform bill pending further changes — Centrist Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.) won't advance healthcare reform efforts unless further changes are made, the senator said Thursday afternoon. — Nelson said that modifications to the bill, including provisions …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Wall Street Journal, TalkLeft, Betsy's Page, Raw Story, Riehl World View, Daily Kos, AMERICAblog News and Open Left
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Wall Street Journal:
Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones — $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected — WASHINGTON — Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need …
blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
Climategate goes SERIAL: now the Russians confirm that UK climate scientists manipulated data to exaggerate global warming — Climategate just got much, much bigger. And all thanks to the Russians who, with perfect timing, dropped this bombshell just as the world's leaders are gathering …
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Missouri Senate — Missouri Senate: Carnahan 46% Blunt 44% — Democrat Robin Carnahan and Republican Roy Blunt remain locked in a tight race to become the next U.S. senator from Missouri. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that Carnahan attracts 46% …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Swing State Project, MyDD, Scorecard's Blog, National Review Online, Weekly Standard and True North
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Washington Times:
Walpin-gate may snag Mrs. Obama — Skullduggery alleged in White House dismissal of inspector general — No inspector general can unearth corruption without access to his office, computer or staff. An “administrative leave” putting an IG in that position has the same effect, for all intents and purposes, as an immediate firing.
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
GAO tells Smith, Issa it will probe ACORN — The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has informed two House Republicans that it will investigate ACORN's use of federal funds. — The GAO sent a letter to Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee …
Christian Wienberg / Bloomberg:
Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming — Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Jawa Report, Townhall.com, The Lonely Conservative, Don Surber and race42008.com
The Politico:
Monica's back - says Clinton lied — In the years since their bitter battle, both former President Bill Clinton and independent counsel Ken Starr have predicted they'd be vindicated in the history books. — Now the first definitive history of the Clinton scandal is about to arrive …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Palin's Favorable Up Slightly; Obama's Holds Steady — Obama (56%) more popular than Palin (44%) — PRINCETON, NJ — After the release of her much-publicized autobiography and the ensuing book tour, Sarah Palin is still viewed more unfavorably than favorably by Americans …
Sydelle Moore / Congress Blog:
The Big Question: Will Congress pass healthcare by year's end? — Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer some insight into the biggest question burning up the blogosphere today. — Today's question: — Will the Senate pass a healthcare reform bill before it adjourns for the year?
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