memeorandum: And the Rest Is Just Noise — Why the health care bill … (Jonathan Chait/The New Republic)

4:15 PM ET, December 24, 2009

Top Items:

Winning ugly, but winning — On Dec. 24, in an early morning vote, the United States Senate passed health-care reform. It was the first time the body had been in session on Christmas Eve since 1963. That's fitting, as it's arguably the most important piece of legislation the body has passed since 1963.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight, The Health Care Blog, The Impolitic and Taylor Marsh

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Senate Passes Health Care Overhaul Bill — WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation's health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama.

Discussion: NO QUARTER, Washington Monthly, Right Wing Nut House, QandO, Gawker, Washington Post, Liberal Values, PERRspectives, ACS Blog, Progressive Fix, Gothamist, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC and skippy the bush kangaroo

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

And the Rest Is Just Noise — Why the health care bill is the greatest social achievement of our time. — American liberals have a habit of withdrawing into cynicism and ennui at the most inopportune moments. The 2000 presidential election, and subsequent recount, was one such moment.

Discussion: James Fallows, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo and pandagon.net

David S. Broder / Washington Post:

A health-care victory that stinks — The health-care reform bill coming out of the Senate presents a real dilemma for spectators: How do you applaud while holding your nose? — There is so much that is wrong with it — and the way it was made — and, at the same time …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Opinionator, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Politics Daily and MyDD

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Health Care Woo — The health care bill passed! As you know, my view is this: For all its flaws, if signed into law this bill would be the greatest progressive social policy achievement in over forty years. It's fine not to be satisfied with this legislation, but it's perverse not to be happy about it.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress and TalkLeft

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
BREAKING: Senate Passes Reform

Discussion: The Mahablog

Jeffrey Young / The Hill:

Senate passes historic healthcare reform legislation in 60-39 vote — The Senate approved sweeping healthcare reform legislation by the narrowest of partisan margins early Christmas Eve morning, placing President Barack Obama closer than ever to signing a longtime Democratic priority into law.

Discussion: Hot Air, Another Black Conservative, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Nation, The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

Chris Frates / The Politico:
BREAKING — Senate passes health bill

Discussion: The Note, Riehl World View, Weasel Zippers and Raw Story

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
In Senate Health Care Vote, New Partisan Vitriol

Discussion: The Caucus, Mediaite and Prairie Weather

Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Senate approves landmark health-care bill

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Politics Channel, TPMDC, CNN, Washington Monthly, HEALTH REFORM WATCH, Scared Monkeys, Associated Press and Suburban Guerrilla

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:
In Party Line Vote, Historic Health Care Bill Passes Senate

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Riehl World View, The Note and Another Black Conservative

Peter Wehner / Commentary:
The Culture of Corruption — When it comes to the public outrage …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Power Line, Sense of Events and Hot Air

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
Senate passes healthcare overhaul

Discussion: Prescriptions, The Swamp and Truthdig

Reuters:

Yemen says Fort Hood-linked imam may be dead — SANAA (Reuters) - The leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and a Muslim preacher linked by U.S. intelligence to deaths at a U.S. army base are believed to have died in a Yemen air strike, a security official said on Thursday.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Jawa Report, The Lede, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, Political Byline, Outside The Beltway, Michelle Malkin and Jihad Watch

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Yemeni air strike kills 30, targets home of cleric linked to Ft. Hood attack — SANAA, Yemen — Yemeni forces killed at least 30 suspected militants in an airstrike early Thursday on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in southeastern Yemen, the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Long War Journal, BBC, Politics Daily, Truthdig and The Majlis

Political Punch:
Sources: Air Strike in Yemen May Have Killed Imam Who Inspired …

Discussion: Hot Air, ChattahBox News Blog, Raw Story and American Power

Alan J. Kuperman / New York Times:

There's Only One Way to Stop Iran — PRESIDENT OBAMA should not lament but sigh in relief that Iran has rejected his nuclear deal, which was ill conceived from the start. Under the deal, which was formally offered through the United Nations, Iran was to surrender some 2,600 pounds …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Daniel W. Drezner, MyDD, Outside The Beltway, Power Line, Enduring America, Media Blog on National … and Swampland

M. Duss / Wonk Room:
Another Bad Argument For Iran Strike: ‘The Worst Might Not Happen!’

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

U.S. Census Bureau News:

Census Bureau: Texas Gains the Most in Population — Texas gained more people than any other state between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009 (478,000), followed by California (381,000), North Carolina (134,000), Georgia (131,000) and Florida (114,000), according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates

Discussion: Bloomberg, Politics Daily, Swing State Project, The Other McCain and Weasel Zippers

Damien Cave / New York Times:
Recession Slows Population Rise Across Sun Belt

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside The Beltway and MyDD

New York Times:

Banks Bundled Bad Debt, Bet Against It and Won — In late October 2007, as the financial markets were starting to come unglued, a Goldman Sachs trader, Jonathan M. Egol, received very good news. At 37, he was named a managing director at the firm. — Mr. Egol, a Princeton graduate …

Discussion: naked capitalism, Felix Salmon, EconLog, Prairie Weather, Beat the Press and Economix

Jay Solomon / Wall Street Journal:

Kerry Floats Plan to Visit Tehran — White House Wouldn't Oppose Trip, First by Top U.S. Official in 30 Years, to Chagrin of Iran's Opposition — WASHINGTON — Sen. John Kerry has suggested becoming the first high-level U.S. emissary to make a public visit to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Washington Note, Commentary, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air and RedState

Los Angeles Times:
Iran protests spread in heartland

Discussion: Enduring America, Informed Comment, The Jawa Report, The Daily Dish and Washington Post

Mark Schmitt / American Prospect:

Victory at What Cost? — The Senate's passage of health reform is a great step forward, but reveals how difficult future legislative victories, and governing, will be for Obama. — “The most troublesome task of a reform president,” Henry Adams wrote in his autobiography, is “to bring the Senate back to decency.”

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly and Raw Story

Jon Walker / Firedoglake:
Senate Health Bill Passes; US Senate Fails

Discussion: Emptywheel, skippy the bush kangaroo and The Huffington Post

William M. Daley / Washington Post:

Keep the Big Tent big — The announcement by Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith that he is switching to the Republican Party is just the latest warning sign that the Democratic Party — my lifelong political home — has a critical decision to make: Either we plot a more moderate …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Commentary, Big Government, Shot in the Dark, Riehl World View and Lynn Sweet

Charlotte Triggs / People.com:

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins Split — One of Hollywood's most enduring relationships has ended - Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins have broken up after more than two decades together, PEOPLE has learned exclusively. — “Actress Susan Sarandon and her partner of 23 years …

Discussion: Gawker, Althouse and Reliable Source

Associated Press:

Obama vents frustration at Senate delays — WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama on Wednesday expressed frustration with the way the Senate does business, saying the use of delaying tactics there harms the nation's ability to “deal with big problems in a very competitive world.”

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Townhall.com, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit and RealClearPolitics Video Log

Online NewsHour:

Newsmaker: Obama on Health Reform Politics, Copenhagen Climate Outcome — JIM LEHRER: Mr. President, welcome. — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Thank you so much for having me. — JIM LEHRER: So you are completely satisfied with the health-reform bill that the Senate's about to pass?

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Raw Story