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 …
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Washington Monthly, The Fix, Wonkette, TBogg, The Washington Independent, Raw Story, Gawker, Taegan Goddard's … 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
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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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 …
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 …
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.
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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 …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, The Politico, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, CBS News, The Page, The Hill and Prairie Weather
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Senate health-care reform bill passes another hurdle — The Senate cleared the second of three key procedural hurdles on President Obama's health-care legislation early Tuesday with another party-line vote, continuing the effort to pass the bill before Christmas.
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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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Reid: Senate needs to have a ‘Rodney King’ moment
Reid: Senate needs to have a ‘Rodney King’ moment
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TPM LiveWire
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.
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The Note, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Gothamist, TPMDC, Hotline On Call, JammieWearingFool, Daily Kos, At-Largely, Scared Monkeys, The Reaction, MyDD, Swing State Project and GOP 12
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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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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 …
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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.
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
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.
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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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 …
Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:
Economy grew 2.2 percent in third quarter — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The economy grew at a much slower pace than previously thought in the third quarter, restrained by weak business investment and a slightly more aggressive liquidation of inventories, data showed on Tuesday.
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