Top Items:
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Can Stupak Kill Obamacare in the House? — Are there enough votes in the House to pass a health care bill very close to the one the Senate is preparing to pass? Bart Stupak says the Senate bill's abortion language is “unacceptable” and has pledged to lead a group of pro-life Democrats …
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
National Organization for Women opposes Senate health bill
National Organization for Women opposes Senate health bill
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, AmSpecBlog, Swampland, The Corner on National …, Weekly Standard, Wonk Room, MyDD and Riehl World View
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
One Premium, Two Checks: How Abortion Will Be Paid For Under The Nelson Compromise
One Premium, Two Checks: How Abortion Will Be Paid For Under The Nelson Compromise
Discussion:
The Politico, The Nation, The Hill, Ezra Klein, Hullabaloo, FiveThirtyEight, Weekly Standard and Washington Monthly
Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Axelrod promises to push for drug re-importation after healthcare reform — A senior White House adviser said Sunday that the Obama administration will push forward on safe re-importation of pharmaceutical drugs after the healthcare reform bill is finished.
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Joe Biden / New York Times:
Why the Senate Should Vote Yes on Health Care — IF I were still a United States senator, I would not only vote yes on the current health care reform bill, I would do so with the sure knowledge that I was casting one of the most historic votes of my 36 years in the Senate.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Hill, The New Republic, AMERICAblog News, The Page, Prescriptions and Talking Points Memo
CNN:
Palin continues to blast climate change believers — (CNN)- In a late night posting on her Twitter feed, Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin continued to blast climate change believers Friday, calling the talks in Copenhagen, Denmark a representation of man's “arrogance,” for believing people have an impact on nature.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs
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New York Times:
Show Us the E-Mail — WE end this extraordinary financial year with news that the Treasury is in discussions with American International Group about selling the taxpayers' 80 percent ownership stake in that company. The government recently permitted several banks to break free …
Frank Rich / New York Times:
Tiger Woods, Person of the Year — AS we say farewell to a dreadful year and decade, this much we can agree upon: The person of the year is not Ben Bernanke, no matter how insistently Time magazine tries to hype him into its pantheon. The Fed chairman was just as big a schnook as every …
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Kristol: Ten Words To Remember — There are lots of embarrassing little things to mock in the Senate bill (e.g., the special provision for Nebraska), and lots of bad provisions to attack (the tax hikes and federal funding for abortion, to mention two). But Republicans shouldn't lose sight …
Discussion:
Pundit & Pundette
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama, Denied Full Victory on 2 Issues, Takes Validation — WASHINGTON — President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, likes to say that the only thing that is not negotiable is success. The last 48 hours offered a case study in how the president applies that maxim to governing.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
This Is Why I Named This Blog “Legal Insurrection” — I was in the car most of the day, so I haven't had a chance to post on the Ben Nelson sellout. So here are some initial thoughts: — Yes, it is that bad. The Democrats are about to put in place the legislative …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, Matthew Yglesias, The Other McCain, Jules Crittenden, Hit & Run and The Politico
BBC:
Top Iranian dissident cleric Montazeri dies — One of Iran's most prominent dissident clerics, Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri, has died aged 87. — Hoseyn Ali Montazeri was a moving spirit in the 1979 revolution which created Iran's Islamic state, and was at one stage set to become its leader.
Joel Siegel / ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: Ahmadinejad to Diane Sawyer: ‘Smoking Gun’ a U.S. Fabrication — Ahmadinejad Tells Diane Sawyer Document Detailing Nuke Bomb Plans Is Fake — Iran's president is dismissing a newly revealed secret document that purportedly shows Iran has been trying to develop a crucial component …
Discussion:
TVNewser
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Pyrrhic Victory? — Special editorial, December 19, 2009. — When a fellow conservative tried to cheer me up this morning by assuring me that the Senate Democrats' victory on health care was going to be a Pyrrhic one, I realized I didn't remember much about Pyrrhus. — I went of course to Wikipedia.
Discussion:
Riehl World View, Pajamas Media, NO QUARTER, The Other McCain and The Corner on National …
Liz Robbins / New York Times:
Winter Arrives Early, Blanketing East Coast — An enormous winter storm piled snow on New York and New England Saturday evening, after crippling the nation's capital and the mid-Atlantic earlier in the day, causing thousands of flights to be canceled across the country …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Senate healthcare bill steepens payroll tax for high-earners in 2013 — The Senate's final healthcare bill steepens the payroll tax rates high-income Americans will face. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a manager's amendment to the healthcare bill finalizing …
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Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Secure 60 Votes on Health Bill
Democrats Secure 60 Votes on Health Bill
Discussion:
RedState, HazZzMat, The Hill, The Corner on National …, Politics Daily and Bob McCarty Writes