Top Items:
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.
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The Politico:
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.
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
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:
Crooks and Liars, RedState, The Politico, Riehl World View, PoliPundit.com and The Caucus
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 …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MEDIA MANIPULATION AT ITS MOST INANE.... You've probably noticed the phenomenon. Former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin will say something ridiculous on Facebook or Twitter, which immediately becomes “news,” regardless of merit. There's a problem with this that goes beyond news outlets' comically poor judgment …
Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Senate bill poised for Christmas Eve passage with 60-39 cloture vote — The Senate on Wednesday cleared the last procedural hurdle on landmark healthcare reform legislation and is positioned to pass the bill on Christmas Eve. — Democrats united against Republicans, voting 60-39 to end debate on the underlying bill.
Discussion:
MyDD
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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.”
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Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:
DID OBAMA CAMPAIGN ON PUBLIC OPTION?
DID OBAMA CAMPAIGN ON PUBLIC OPTION?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, Think Progress, MyDD and The Plum Line
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 …
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Jane Hamsher, Grover Norquist Call for Rahm Emanuel's Resignation — Today, Grover Norquist and I are calling for an investigation into Rahm Emanuel's activities at Freddie Mac, and the White House's blocking of an Inspector General who would look into it. The letter follows:
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,” …
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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:
TPMMuckraker, Gawker, Think Progress, Truthdig, Personal Democracy Forum blogs and The Immoral Minority
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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.
Mike Potemra / The Corner on National Review Online:
Congratulations to Captain Picard! — By: Mike Potemra — Palace sources say Patrick Stewart is about to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. It turns out he is an avid supporter of Britain's Labour party; his support must be especially welcome in this, one of Labour's darker hours.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Matthew Yglesias, pandagon.net, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly and The Other McCain
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John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
For Their Next Trick . . . The latest example of violating principles of transparency and accountability in the single-minded pursuit of legislative victory. — Printer — Friendly — Look for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to try to circumvent …
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.
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Igor / Think Progress:
Nelson Insists Carve-Out Isn't 'A Special Deal For Nebraska …
Nelson Insists Carve-Out Isn't 'A Special Deal For Nebraska …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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 Huffington Post, CBS News, New York Times, USA Today, The Note, Fausta's Blog, The Washington Independent, Law Blog, Think Progress, No More Mister Nice Blog, ATTACKERMAN, ChattahBox News Blog, The Lonely Conservative, TPM LiveWire, And So it Goes in Shreveport, JustOneMinute, Politics Daily, Truthdig, The Corner on National …, Neptunus Lex, Althouse, National Review, Commentary, TalkLeft, IntoxiNation and The Page
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Meep Meep — My own view is that 2009 has been an extraordinarily successful year for Obama. Since this is currently a minority view and will prompt a chorus of “In The Tank!”, allow me to explain. — The substantive record is clear enough. Torture is ended, if Gitmo remains enormously difficult …
Discussion:
The New Editor
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, Commentary, Calitics, QandO, The Lonely Conservative, The Hill, Another Black Conservative, JammieWearingFool, L.A. NOW and American Power
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:
The Health Care Blog, Betsy's Page, JammieWearingFool, Real Clear Politics, National Review and RADAMISTO