Top Items:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Liberal Revolt on Health Care Stings White House — WASHINGTON — In the great health care debate of 2009, President Obama has cast himself as a cold-eyed pragmatist, willing to compromise in exchange for votes. Now ideology — an uprising on the Democratic left — is smacking the pragmatic president in the face.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Politico, DISSENTING JUSTICE, American Power, Beat the Press, QandO, Taylor Marsh, The Plum Line, The Reaction and Booman Tribune
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Washington Post:
Senate Democrats block GOP filibuster — Senate Republicans failed early Friday in their bid to filibuster a massive Pentagon bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an unusual move designed to delay President Obama's health-care legislation. — On a 63 to 33 vote …
Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Pelosi, Rahm do not scare Rep. DeFazio — Rep. Peter DeFazio's phone rang. On the other end was Rahm Emanuel. — The White House chief of staff last month expressed frustration with DeFazio's resignation calls for President Barack Obama's top two economic aides — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
DeMint promises to delay health bill, force Christmas Eve vote — Sen. Jim DeMint said Thursday he is prepared to use every procedural tool to delay a vote on the Democratic healthcare legislation. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to schedule votes around the clock …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Note, Wake up America, New York Times, Betsy's Page, Flopping Aces, The Politico, Hotline On Call, Derek Wallbank, AmSpecBlog, The Hill, PoliPundit.com, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air and Senator Mitch McConnell …
Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Democratic congressman from North Carolina angers supporters by voting against health-care bill — KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — To voters in this hard-luck town where stable factory jobs and the health care that came with them have long since disappeared, change looked good a year ago.
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Obama: ‘Time for talk is over’ — COPENHAGEN — A visibly angry Barack Obama threw down the gauntlet at China and other developing nations Friday, declaring that the time has come to “not to talk but to act” on climate change. — Emerging from a multinational meeting boycotted …
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New York Times:
Obama Presses China for Accountability on Climate — COPENHAGEN — President Obama called on world leaders to come to an agreement on climate change, no matter how imperfect, and pressed for an accord that would monitor whether countries — primarily China — are complying with promised emissions cuts.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Washington Monthly, Guardian, msnbc.com, Jules Crittenden, The Gaggle, CNN, The Page, Washington Post, Copenhagen Insider and Prairie Weather
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
End It Today, Ben — There's a really big snowstorm coming to D.C.tonight. It would be unsafe to ask all the staffers and Hill employees who'd be needed at the Capitol if Congress stays open all hours this weekend, as Harry Reid intends, to drive to and from work—especially since …
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David Brooks / New York Times:
The Hardest Call — The first reason to support the Senate health care bill is that it would provide insurance to 30 million more Americans. — The second reason to support the bill is that its authors took the deficit issue seriously. Compared with, say, the prescription drug benefit …
Discussion:
Commentary, Hot Air, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Washington Post, National Review and Weekly Standard
New York Times:
A Race to Win One More Vote for Health Bill — WASHINGTON — The White House and Senate Democratic leaders seem willing to give Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, just about anything he wants to win his support of major health care legislation. Anything, that is …
Associated Press:
Franken shuts down Lieberman on Senate floor — WASHINGTON — Democratic Sen. Al Franken took the unusual step Thursday of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. — Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition …
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Michelle Malkin:
Franken's little snit fit against Lieberman; Reid moves to adjourn …
Franken's little snit fit against Lieberman; Reid moves to adjourn …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Achenblog, Raw Story, San Francisco Chronicle, NO QUARTER, GayPatriot, Gateway Pundit and The Sundries Shack
Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
Al Franken Cuts the Comedy, Goes for Drama in the Senate
Al Franken Cuts the Comedy, Goes for Drama in the Senate
Discussion:
The Awl
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Pass the Bill — A message to progressives: By all means, hang Senator Joe Lieberman in effigy. Declare that you're disappointed in and/or disgusted with President Obama. Demand a change in Senate rules that, combined with the Republican strategy of total obstructionism, are in the process of making America ungovernable.
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Moderate Voice, Newsweek Blogs, Raw Story, Prairie Weather, Hit & Run and The Huffington Post
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Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Dean's Blind Spot — Maybe one reason former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and so much of the digital Left can so casually dismiss the Senate health care reform bill is that they operate in an environment where so few people need to worry about access to insurance.
Monckton / The SPPI Blog:
Is the European police state going global? — From The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley in Copenhagen — Today the gloves came off and the true purpose of the “global warming” scare became nakedly visible. Ugo Chavez, the Socialist president of Venezuela, blamed “global warming” …
Discussion:
TBogg
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The Nation:
Axelrod Walks Back Insanity Defense on WH Blogger Call BY ARI MELBER — The White House swiftly organized a blogger conference call on Thursday evening to rally support for health care reform, in a bid to stem fallout from progressives over recent compromises in the Senate.
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Quinnipiac University:
Specter, Toomey Deadlocked In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Gets Good Score On War, Bad Marks For Health Care — Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter and Republican challenger Pat Toomey are deadlocked 44 - 44 percent in Pennsylvania's marquee 2010 U.S. Senate race …
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Politics Nation, National Review Online and Real Clear Politics
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Palin cuts vacation short — Sarah Palin announced Thursday night that she ended a Hawaii vacation early because of the ruckus raised after she blacked out “McCain” on her sun visor in an effort to elude paparazzi. — After the former Alaska governor was photographed on the beach earlier this week …
Political Punch:
Senior White House Official: The ‘Chinese Are Dug In’; 'We've Done What We Can' in Copenhagen — “We've done what we can here,” a senior White House official in Copenhagen, Denmark, tells ABC News. “The Chinese are dug in on transparency and are refusing to let people know they're living up to their end of the agreement.”
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Abortion Holdout — Ben Nelson doesn't come in for as much scorn as some of his Senate colleagues since he's never pretend to be anything other than an unusually conservative Democrat and since Nebraska has been a consistently reactionary state for many, many, many decades.
Guardian:
Obama speech fuels frustration at Copenhagen — US president offers no further commitment on reducing emissions or on finance to poor countries — Barack Obama stepped into the chaotic final hours of the Copenhagen summit today saying he was convinced the world could act “boldly and decisively” on climate change.
Foreign Policy:
The 10 Worst Predictions for 2009 — Ten pundits and politicians whose prognostications for this year completely missed the mark. … —Rahm Emanuel on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, April 19, 2009 — The bill the White House chief of staff was optimistically referring to …