Top Items:
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.
Discussion:
The Politico, Hot Air, Atlas Shrugs, Confederate Yankee, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Riehl World View
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John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Reid Bill Says Future Congresses Cannot Repeal Parts of Reid Bill — Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) pointed out some rather astounding language in the Senate health care bill during floor remarks tonight. First, he noted that there are a number of changes to Senate rules in the bill …
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
It Could Still Go Down — I've assumed for the last couple of days that the Democrats would succeed in passing the health care bill, and that our job was to make sure it turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory. Now I'm not so sure the legislation can't still be derailed. — Two reasons:
Discussion:
Washington Post
Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Exclusive: Rep. Parker Griffith switches to GOP — POLITICO has learned that Rep. Parker Griffith, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, will announce today that he's switching parties to become a Republican. — According to two senior GOP aides familiar with the decision …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, The Note, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, RedState, msnbc.com, The Washington Independent and race42008.com
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 …
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:
Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Fix, Wonkette, TBogg, The Washington Independent, Gawker, Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, AMERICAblog News 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
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
Democrats Face Challenge in Merging Health Bills
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, The Page, The Hill and Prairie Weather
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Reid: Senate needs to have a ‘Rodney King’ moment
Reid: Senate needs to have a ‘Rodney King’ moment
Discussion:
TPM LiveWire
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 …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, protein wisdom, Moonbattery, Michelle Malkin, Scared Monkeys and Commentary
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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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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.
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 Hill, The Note, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, JammieWearingFool, TPMDC, Daily Kos, Scared Monkeys, Gothamist, At-Largely, The Reaction, MyDD, Swing State Project and GOP 12
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Natalie Angier / New York Times:
Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too — I stopped eating pork about eight years ago, after a scientist happened to mention that the animal whose teeth most closely resemble our own is the pig. Unable to shake the image of a perky little pig flashing me a brilliant George Clooney smile …
Discussion:
Shot in the Dark
New York Times:
A Bill Well Worth Passing — The health care reform bill that Senate Democratic leaders have cobbled together to win support from all 60 members of their fractious caucus — the filibuster-proof majority needed to ensure passage — has drawn scornful attacks from a united Republican opposition.
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Bernanke and California — Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho have a nice story in the Washington Post today about the Fed's lackadaisical regulation of banks in the decade before the housing bust. It's worth a read. As a native Southern Californian, though, this passage jumped out at me:
Discussion:
American Prospect, Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Free exchange, Paul Krugman, The New Republic, Think Progress and Felix Salmon
John Markoff / New York Times:
Obama to Name Chief of Cybersecurity — Nearly seven months after highlighting the vulnerability of banking, energy and communications systems to Internet attacks, the White House on Tuesday is expected to name a technology industry veteran to coordinate competing efforts to improve …
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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.
Chris Frates / The Politico:
'Twas the Night Before Christmas — Republican style — With Democratic Sen. Roland Burris performing his version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas on the Senate floor this morning, we thought it only fair in this season of goodwill toward men to include a version for our Republican friends.
Discussion:
The Note
Wall Street Journal:
Apple TV-Service Proposal Gets Some Nibbles — CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co. are considering participating in Apple Inc.'s plan to offer television subscriptions over the Internet, according to people familiar with the matter, as Apple prepares a potential new competitor to cable and satellite TV.
Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Lobbyists on pace for record year — Main Street has had a tough year, losing jobs and seeing little evidence of the economic revival that experts say has already begun. — But K Street is raking it in. — Washington's influence industry is on track to shatter last year's record $3.3 billion spent …
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