memeorandum: Rep. Stupak: White House Pressuring Me to Keep Quiet on Abortion … (Pete Winn/CNSNews)

3:40 PM ET, December 23, 2009

Top Items:

Obama plans for health care delay, new jobs bill — The White House privately anticipates health care talks to slip into February — past President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address — and then plans to make a “very hard pivot” to a new jobs bill, according to senior administration officials.

Discussion: CBS News, The Lonely Conservative, Another Black Conservative, Commentary, Moe Lane, National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mike Allen / The Politico:

SIREN: White House plans ‘very hard pivot to jobs’ next month — will be ‘prescriptive’ — Health reform NOT expected to pass before SOTU, but opponents concede it's ‘when’ not ‘if’ — BREAKING — AP's Glen Johnson, in Boston: “Teresa Heinz says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Monthly and The Page

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

WH putting health-care off until ... February? — Politico's Mike Allen and Alexander Trowbridge have some bad news for Democrats, especially in the Senate, where Harry Reid has kept the chamber locked in battle over ObamaCare for weeks in an attempt to hit the finish line by Christmas.

Discussion: The Politico, Riehl World View and The Caucus

Pete Winn / CNSNews:

Rep. Stupak: White House Pressuring Me to Keep Quiet on Abortion Language in Senate Health Bill — (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said the White House and the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives have been pressuring him not to speak out on the “compromise” …

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, Townhall.com, Another Black Conservative and The Lonely Conservative

Charlie Savage / New York Times:

Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces a New Delay — WASHINGTON — Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, And So it Goes in Shreveport, The Washington Independent, Law Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, ATTACKERMAN, JustOneMinute, ChattahBox News Blog, Politics Daily, National Review, Commentary, Truthdig, Neptunus Lex, TalkLeft, Althouse, The Corner on National …, The Page and IntoxiNation

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
From Guantánamo to Desk at Al Jazeera

Discussion: Politics Daily and The Washington Independent

The Note:
Lyndon Baines Reid: A Moment of Triumph, but How Long Will It Last?

Discussion: Washington Times, Swing State Project and Eye on 2010

Zaz Hollander / Anchorage Daily News:

Palin's Wasilla book signing feels like a homecoming — AT HOME: Only signs seen for conservative causes or Christmas. — zhollander@adn.com — WASILLA — Sarah Palin was treated like a homecoming queen when she brought her national book tour to Wasilla on Tuesday.

Discussion: Gawker, Think Progress, TPMMuckraker, Personal Democracy Forum blogs and The Immoral Minority

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Why I Don't Write About Sarah Palin's Facebook Posts — Last week, PolitiFact.com announced its “Lie of the Year”: Sarah Palin's claim that the health care bill might create “death panels” that would kill elderly or disabled Americans. It was a lie, the editors pointed out …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Impolitic, Top of the Ticket, The Gavel and Cato @ Liberty

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Palin: I told you so! — It didn't take long for Jim DeMint's outrage over highly unusual language protecting a care-rationing board to generate a response from Sarah Palin. This came just days after Politifact called her statement about “death panels” the “lie of the year,” …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, Conservatives4Palin.com and YID With LID

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Sarah Palin Tries To Rewrite History Of Her Own “Death Panel” Falsehood

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Washington Independent, Media Matters for America and Anchorage Daily News

Louise M. Slaughter / CNN:

A Democrat's view from the House: Senate bill isn't health reform — Editor's note: Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Democrat, represents the 28th Congressional District of New York. Slaughter is the first woman to chair the House Rules Committee and the only microbiologist in Congress.

Discussion: The Politico, AmSpecBlog, The Confluence and TPMDC

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Senior Dem: Kill the Senate health reform bill and start over — The Senate's healthcare bill is fatally flawed, a senior Democrat atop a powerful committee said on Wednesday. — Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee and co-chairwoman …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Ezra Klein:

Yes, Obama did campaign on the public option — Oy. I'll defend the argument that the health-care bill that looks likely to pass is structurally similar to the health-care proposal released by the Obama campaign. But it's impossible to defend Obama's statement that “I didn't campaign on the public option.”

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Salon, The Impolitic, Federal Eye and The Moderate Voice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE PUBLIC OPTION'S HISTORY, REVISITED.... President Obama sat …

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, Firedoglake, Think Progress, The Huffington Post, Paul Krugman, Wake up America, Jules Crittenden, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, Political Punch and Politics Daily

The Huffington Post:
Did Obama Campaign On The Public Option? Yes But Not Entirely

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, msnbc.com, TPMDC, Firedoglake, Matthew Yglesias, AMERICAblog News, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Political Punch, Hot Air, The Politico, The Political Carnival and NO QUARTER

James Warren / Atlantic Correspondents:

Colbert Dishes On Bush, Glenn Beck, and MSNBC — When Chicago's Second City comedy troupe held a weekend-long 50th anniversary bash, the obvious highlights were Friday and Saturday shows with Martin Short, Steve Carell, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, George Wendt, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Mediaite and Pressing Issues

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

After quiet first months, Franken's sharp tongue emerges in Senate — Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota who won election to the Senate after a successful career as a comic and author, has begun to show the sharp-tongued side of his personality by ripping into GOP staffers behind the scenes.

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant, Prairie Weather and MyDD

Ezra Klein:

In praise of the Nelson deal — Ben Nelson is getting a lot of blowback for the deal he struck exempting Nebraska from paying for its Medicaid expansion. But though it was his deal, it wasn't his preference. It was Harry Reid's. And Reid made the right decision.

Discussion: TalkLeft, TPMDC and No More Mister Nice Blog

Igor / Think Progress:
Nelson Insists Carve-Out Isn't 'A Special Deal For Nebraska …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
For Sale: One senator (D-Neb.) No principles, low price.

Discussion: The Politico, James Fallows and Top of the Ticket

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:

Change... Obama Now More Loathed Than Bush at End of His Second Term — A Good Solid B+ — Barack Obama's approval index number dropped to a new low today. — Rasmussen reported: … At the end of his second term President George W. Bush had a 43% disapproval rating.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Power Line and WILLisms.com

Capitol Confidential / Big Government:
EXCLUSIVE: Transvestites, Mao And Obama Ornaments Decorate White …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, Gateway Pundit, TBogg, Another Black Conservative, Gawker, Pundit & Pundette, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Osborne Ink, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Moonbattery, The Lonely Conservative, Big Hollywood and Weasel Zippers

Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
US voters give Barack Obama an F

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

Los Angeles Times:

Schwarzenegger to seek federal help for California budget — Facing another huge deficit, the governor wants $8 billion or threatens massive cuts in social services. He also plans to renew push for offshore oil drilling. — Reporting from Sacramento - Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, Calitics, JammieWearingFool, QandO, L.A. NOW, Another Black Conservative and American Power

John Holbo / Crooked Timber:

Star Trek and Moral Judgment — Kevin Drum is amused, and rightly so, by this bit from the Corner's Mike Potemra: … Kevin notes it is not every day you get conservatives to admit they oppose (or at least dislike) peace, tolerance, due process and progress.

Discussion: The Corner on National … and RADAMISTO

Mike Potemra / The Corner on National Review Online:
Congratulations to Captain Picard! — By: Mike Potemra

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones and The Other McCain

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

CRS report: ACORN didn't break law — A Congressional Research Service report commissioned by the House Judiciary Committee says ACORN hasn't violated any federal regulations the last five years. — The report, released by Judiciary Chairman John Conyers' (D-Mich.) staff Tuesday evening …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress and The Page

Janie Lorber / The Caucus:
Report Finds Acorn Broke No Laws

Discussion: Indecision Forever

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Cornyn: Conservatives ‘have to yield’ to reality in upcoming Senate races — Conservative primary voters “have to yield” to reality, Senate Republicans' campaign chairman said Wednesday. — Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) …

Discussion: Reuters, Riehl World View and RedState

Richard A. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:

Harry Reid Turns Insurance Into a Public Utility — The health bill creates a massive cash crunch and then bankruptcies for many insurers. — Printer — Friendly — As Harry Reid's 2,000 page health-care bill is being rammed through the Senate, most of the public debate has been focused …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, JammieWearingFool, Real Clear Politics, National Review and RADAMISTO

The Note:

Will the GOP Promise to Repeal ‘ObamaCare’ if Returned to Power? — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: If health-care legislation makes it through Congress and is signed into law by President Obama, Republicans are going to face a big choice between accommodation and repudiation.

Discussion: The Hill and ABCNEWS