Top Items:
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-RNC chiefs rip Steele speaking fees — Party chairman charging $8,000 to $20,000 — Michael S. Steele, Republican National Committee chairman, is using his title to market himself for paid appearances nationwide, personally profiting from speeches with fees of up to $20,000 at colleges …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Fix, The Washington Independent, Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, Gawker, The Note and The Page
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
How Democrats plan to sell health care, and how the GOP will counter — Steele trap — What Playbook is giving for the holidays (really) — Nadeam baby — UK2K — BIRTHDAY: Diane Sawyer, who got to sleep in ... Beau Phillips. BIRTHWEEK: Nancy-Ann DeParle, who asked for cloture. THURSDAY: Daniel Pfeiffer
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Reid asks Senate to remain civil as chamber edges toward final vote — The Senate early Tuesday morning edged closer to approving a massive healthcare bill. — Senators approved a series of procedural votes Tuesday morning that brings them closer to a Christmas Eve vote on healthcare reform.
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New York Times:
Democrats Face Challenge in Merging Health Bills — WASHINGTON — Even as the Senate took a significant step toward passing its version of a sweeping overhaul of the health insurance system before Christmas, Democrats were grappling Monday with deep internal divisions over abortion …
David Saltonstall / NY Daily News:
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani expected to announce Tuesday he will not run for U.S. Senate — So long, Rudy. — Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to announce Tuesday he is not running for U.S. Senate or anything else in 2010, effectively ending his storied - and often stormy - electoral career, The Daily News has learned.
Discussion:
The Note, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Hotline On Call, Gothamist, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, Daily Kos, Scared Monkeys, MyDD, Swing State Project and GOP 12
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Maggie Haberman / New York Post:
Rudy Giuliani won't seek Senate seat next year
Rudy Giuliani won't seek Senate seat next year
Discussion:
CBS News
Quinnipiac University:
U.S. Voters Oppose Health Care Plan By Wide Margin, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Voters Say 3-1, Plan Should Not Pay For Abortions — As the Senate prepares to vote on health care reform, American voters “mostly disapprove” of the plan 53 - 36 percent and disapprove 56 …
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Protocol Society — In the 19th and 20th centuries we made stuff: corn and steel and trucks. Now, we make protocols: sets of instructions. A software program is a protocol for organizing information. A new drug is a protocol for organizing chemicals. Wal-Mart produces protocols for moving and marketing consumer goods.
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Dean Baker / Beat the Press:
David Brooks' Protectionist Economy — David Brooks argues that the U.S. economy will be all about protectionism going forward. Specifically, he says that we aren't going to be making things in the future, we will support ourselves with the rents earned on patents, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property claims.
Erick Erickson / RedState:
We Are No Longer a Nation of Laws. Senate Sets Up Requirement for Super-Majority to Ever Repeal Obamacare — If ever the people of the United States rise up and fight over passage of Obamacare, Harry Reid must be remembered as the man who sacrificed the dignity of his office for a few pieces of silver.
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Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:
States' jobless funds are being drained in recession — The recession's jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks.
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Insurance Stocks Rise on News of Health Care Deal; What's It Mean? — As of 11 AM Eastern time, stocks for the six largest publicly-traded health insurance companies have risen by an average 4.49 percent, as weighted by their market capitalization. As the S&P 500 index had gained 1.09 percent as of 11 AM …
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Ezra Klein:
Jane Hamsher's 10 reasons to kill the bill — I've gotten a lot of requests to respond to Jane Hamsher's list of 10 reasons to kill the Senate bill. At this point, I'm not sure there's much in the way of productive dialogue to be had here. Some of the list is purposefully misleading …
Discussion:
BlueOregon, The Daily Beast, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, Firedoglake and The Huffington Post
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Don't Kill the Bill, Cont'd
Don't Kill the Bill, Cont'd
Discussion:
About.com US Liberal Politics, A plain blog about politics, The Reaction, Lean Left, Wonk Room, Feministe, The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias, The Daily Dish, The Gaggle, Kaiser Health News, Townhall.com, Ezra Klein, RADAMISTO, Democracy in America, Ben Smith's Blog and Pam's House Blend
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Exclusive: ACORN Qualifies for Funding in Senate Health Care Bill — Senator Roland Burris is claiming credit for a provision in Harry Reid's “manager's amendment,” unveiled Saturday morning, that could funnel money to ACORN through the health care bill. — On December 9, Burris …
Brian Maloney / The Radio Equalizer:
MSNBC Libtalker: ‘Morning Joe’ Team Takes Direction From WH — STATE CONTROL? — Schultz: WH Contacts Team ‘Joe’ Directly During Program! — For anyone wondering why an increasing number of conservatives now use the term “state-controlled media” (which originated with Rush Limbaugh) …
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Trial tarnishes Whitman's CEO glow — Meg Whitman's successful leadership as CEO of eBay is the central pitch in her bid to become California's Republican nominee for governor, but a legal spat between her former company and Craigslist, the groundbreaking online classified-ad company …
Discussion:
GOP 12
David Aaronovitch / Times of London:
Copenhagen: well that made us think, didn't it? — Agreement was always going to be almost impossible. But it wasn't a waste of time: it gave us a crash course eco-education — My Copenhagen reverie stopped the moment that I heard a man with an Australian accent casting his vote …
Todd Woody / New York Times:
Desert Vistas vs. Solar Power — AMBOY, Calif. — Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation in Congress on Monday to protect a million acres of the Mojave Desert in California by scuttling some 13 big solar plants and wind farms planned for the region.
The Independent:
Home > News > UK > Home News — Hundreds of British schoolgirls are facing the terrifying prospect of female genital mutilation (FGM) over the Christmas holidays as experts warn the practice continues to flourish across the country. Parents typically take their daughters back to their country …
Emily Chang / CNN:
TV show exposes China's race issue — Shanghai, China (CNN) — It all started with the lure of the glitz, the glamour and the dream of being China's next pop star. But, as with many reality shows, Lou Jing's instant fame came with unanticipated consequences.
Federal Bureau of Investigation:
CRIME RATES FALL — In the First Half of 2009 — For the third year in a row, our Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report shows that violent crime, property crime, and arson have decreased. The latest report compares January-June 2009 figures with the same time period in 2008.
Little Green Footballs:
Why I Left the Right, Exhibit P for Pawlenty — Newsweek has an interview with Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the very model of a modern GOP candidate, considered by many as a possible front runner for the Presidency in 2012: Anti-science and anti-gay. … Is this a kind of “moderate” creationism?