Top Items:
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 …
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Fox News: Ben Nelson Opposes Health Reform Because He 'Understands …
Fox News: Ben Nelson Opposes Health Reform Because He 'Understands …
Washington Post:
Ben Nelson's Medicaid concerns questioned
Ben Nelson's Medicaid concerns questioned
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, Omaha World-Herald, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room and The Washington Independent
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Abortion Holdout — Ben Nelson doesn't come in for as much scorn …
The Abortion Holdout — Ben Nelson doesn't come in for as much scorn …
Discussion:
pandagon.net
Tony Romm / The Hill:
Nelson supports opt-in for ‘reformed health care system’
Nelson supports opt-in for ‘reformed health care system’
Discussion:
The Gaggle
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.
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Journalists Cheerfully Urinating On Senate Bill's “Ideological” Critics — It would really be nice if certain Beltway journalists could get it into their heads that the Senate bill's critics on the left have actual substantive differences with the bill's proponents, and are not motivated solely by …
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:
msnbc.com, TPMCafe, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Think Progress, Raw Story, Achenblog, Matthew Yglesias, Jezebel, BuzzFlash.org, Taylor Marsh, AMERICAblog News, DailyHowler.com, Democratic Strategist, The Gaggle, Wonk Room, Prairie Weather, Washington Post, QandO, Wake up America and The Moderate Voice
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Rahm Emanuel: Don't Worry About the Left — Turn off MSNBC. Tune out Howard Dean and Keith Olbermann. The White House has its liberal wing in hand on health care, says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. — “There are no liberals left to get” in the Senate, Emanuel said in an interview …
Chris Frates / The Politico:
MoveOn opposes Senate bill — Progressive standard bearer MoveOn is opposing the Senate bill and asking its millions of members to sign a petition calling on liberal Sens. Bernie Sanders, Roland Burris, and Russ Feingold to block the bill's passage until it can be strengthened. — From the email:
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.
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Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
On the verge of a deal in Copenhagen — COPENHAGEN — President Obama and world leaders are on the verge of finalizing a climate deal that caps the global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees — but punts major emissions decisions until 2012 — after a day of frantic leader-to-leader talks in Copenhagen.
New York Times:
Climate Deal Announced, but Falls Short of Expectations
Climate Deal Announced, but Falls Short of Expectations
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Newsweek Blogs, Guardian, Pajamas Media, BBC, Hot Air, Climate Progress, Green Inc., Jules Crittenden, Don Surber, INHABITAT, Copenhagen Insider, Truthdig, Agence France Presse, Matthew Yglesias, The Page, The Washington Independent, The Monkey Cage and Washington Post
Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
Washington in 60 Seconds: Reporter to James Inhofe — 'You're Ridiculous' — Good morning, Capitolists! The Senate has officially gone from herding cats to Christmas chaos, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announcing last night that he will hold procedural votes at 7:30 a.m. Saturday …
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid to unveil final offer on healthcare bill on Saturday morning
Reid to unveil final offer on healthcare bill on Saturday morning
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Webb ‘undecided’ on health bill for now
Webb ‘undecided’ on health bill for now
Discussion:
Virginia Politics Blog, AmSpecBlog, Public Policy Polling, The Other McCain and National Review
Michelle Malkin:
Coburn defends the Party of No; Durbin blasts “styptic-hearted Republicans;” Update: Video added — On the Senate floor a few minutes ago, GOP Sen. Tom Coburn gave a rousing defense of the “Party of No.” — “We're accused of being the party of no,” he said. But “no is a wonderful word.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Townhall.com, The Other McCain, Bob McCarty Writes and GayPatriot
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Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate — Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), acting on the orders of the Senate leadership, refused to grant Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “an additional moment” to continue speaking on the Senate floor after his 10 minutes expired.
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHEN MCCAIN'S BAD MEMORY AND MCCAIN'S HYPOCRISY COLLIDE. …
WHEN MCCAIN'S BAD MEMORY AND MCCAIN'S HYPOCRISY COLLIDE. …
Discussion:
Think Progress
Louise Roug / The Politico:
Inhofe gets cool reception in Denmark — COPENHAGEN — Sen. Jim Inhofe flew across the Atlantic and — on little sleep — braved the snow, the cold and the dark to deliver his skeptical message at the international climate conference. — What he found when he got here: a few aides and a single reporter.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, msnbc.com, The Plum Line and Raw Story
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Patrick J. Michaels / Wall Street Journal:
How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus — The East Anglia emails are just the tip of the iceberg. I should know. — Printer — Friendly — Few people understand the real significance of Climategate, the now-famous hacking of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU).
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kff.org:
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2009 — The December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a dip on several measures of public opinion on health care reform. The number of Americans who say they personally will be better off if reform passes fell to 35 percent in December, down from 42 percent last month.
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Ezra Klein:
What Lieberman has wrought — Joe Lieberman's reckless decision to blow up last week's compromise has had exactly the impact many of us predicted. Much of the left has flipped into vicious, angry opposition to the bill. Is that because the Medicare buy-in, a good but limited policy, has disappeared from the bill?
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 …
Bloomberg:
Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won't Explain — Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Anne Phillips Ogilby, a bond attorney at one of Boston's oldest law firms, on Oct. 31 last year relayed an urgent message from Harvard University, her client and alma mater, to the head of a Massachusetts state agency that sells bonds.
Michael Calderone / The Politico:
Editor's politics raise Qs at WSJ — Not long ago, a British conservative columnist and Weekly Standard contributor who once wrote a column asking if America was ready for a “dangerous left-winger” like Barack Obama would have been an unlikely second-in-command at The Wall Street Journal.
Washington Post:
Most influential person of the decade — Which of these nominees had the greatest influence in shaping the past decade, either by changing how we live or by making the greatest impact on our culture? Cast your votes now and we'll reveal the winner on Monday, Dec. 21st. Want to nominate someone else?
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:
Washington Wire, The Fix, Hot Air, Swing State Project, Scorecard's Blog, Politics Daily, TPMDC, Politics Nation and Talking Points Memo