Top Items:
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
EXCLUSIVE: Dems ‘Almost Certain’ to Bypass Conference — Now that both the House and Senate have passed health care reform bills, all Democrats have to do is work out a compromise between the two versions. And it appears they're not about to let the Republicans gum up the works again.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Michelle Malkin, TalkLeft, AmSpecBlog, Hot Air, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Bloomberg, msnbc.com, Guardian, Washington Monthly, Hotline On Call, TPMDC and The Page
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David Dayen / Firedoglake:
House-Senate Health Care “Conference” Begins; PhRMA Deal Targeted — Rep. Waxman not yet willing to swallow the bitter ones? (photo: nvinacco) — Henry Waxman, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced at a constituent meeting Sunday that he was headed to Washington today …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Inside Obama's War on Terrorism — The evening before he was sworn into office, Barack Obama stepped out of Blair House, the government residence where he was staying across from the White House, and climbed into an armored limousine for the ride to a bipartisan dinner.
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
White House: No matter what, we're sending Gitmo prisoners back to Yemen — As Susan notes below, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging the Obama White House not to go forward with plans to send a number of Yemeni terrorists now being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility back to their home country.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Former Bush Officials Refusing to Endorse Policies They Support Out of Pique — Peter Baker's article on John Brennan and Obama-era counterterrorism is pretty conventional “friendly profile of important government official” stuff. But this is a good break with convention that more reporters should engage in:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
BRIT HUME SAID WHAT?.... As regular readers know, I've made no mention of Tiger Woods on this blog. I don't care about golf; I don't care about golfers' private lives; I don't care about any aspect of this “story” at any level. — But I was taken aback when I saw that Fox News' Brit Hume …
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
That 1937 Feeling — Here's what's coming in economic news: The next employment report could show the economy adding jobs for the first time in two years. The next G.D.P. report is likely to show solid growth in late 2009. There will be lots of bullish commentary …
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Staff walks out on party-switcher Griffith — Rep. Parker Griffith's (Ala.) staff has resigned en masse after his recent decision to switch parties and become a Republican. — In a sternly worded statement, Griffith Chief of Staff Sharon Wheeler announced the exit of herself …
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Adam Fogle / The Palmetto Scoop:
Brown will not seek re-election — CONGRESSMAN TO RETIRE AFTER 5TH TERM IN OFFICE — Republican Congressman Henry Brown, who has served South Carolina in the U.S. House since 2001, will retire at the end of his term, sources tell The Palmetto Scoop. — Brown will announce his intention …
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republican retirements mount in House — The decision by South Carolina Rep. Henry Brown to retire brings Republican retirements to 14, a number that, if it continues to rise in the coming months, could curtail the expected GOP gains in the House in November.
BBC:
‘Missing arms spark Yemen alert’ — The closure of three embassies in Yemen followed local security forces losing track of six trucks full of arms and explosives, say reports from Yemen. — France announced its mission in the capital Sanaa was shut on Monday, a day after the US and UK closed theirs.
Discussion:
Guardian, Washington Times, Newshoggers.com, And So it Goes in Shreveport and PrairiePundit
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Jeffrey Gettleman / New York Times:
U.S. Evangelicals' Role Seen in Uganda Anti-Gay Push — KAMPALA, Uganda — Last March, three American evangelical Christians, whose teachings about “curing” homosexuals have been widely discredited in the United States, arrived here in Uganda's capital to give a series of talks.
Eric Lipton / New York Times:
U.S. Intensifies Screening for Travelers From 14 Nations — WASHINGTON — Citizens of 14 nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed after the Christmas …
Jim Scarantino / New Mexico Watchdog:
Stimulus Funds Went to Nonexistent Zip Code Areas [Updated] — First it was phantom Congressional districts. Now it's phantom zip codes. — Last month, we reported on federal stimulus money credited with creating jobs in nonexistent New Mexico Congressional districts.
BBC:
Effigy of Obama hanged in US town — The US Secret Service says it is investigating after an effigy of Barack Obama was found hanging in the home town of former President Jimmy Carter. — TV footage showed the doll hanging by a noose in front of a red, white and blue sign that reads “Plains, Georgia.
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Wainwright Jeffers / WALB-TV:
Obama's effigy in Pres. Carter's hometown
Obama's effigy in Pres. Carter's hometown
Discussion:
Think Progress, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire and Shot in the Dark
Jeffrey Goldberg:
Israel's Worst Mistake: The Siege of Gaza — Bradley Burston calls the siege of Gaza the worst mistake Israel has made in a decade: … He lists nine more very compelling reasons why the siege is a miserable mistake. For my money, the worst mistake Israel made was the mistake that led …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Micah L. Sifry / techPresident:
The Obama Disconnect: What Could Have Been? — One question that a number of people have raised in response to my post on The Obama Disconnect is essentially, “What's your alternative? What should the Obama team have done to keep the new political movement it had spawned going as a force for change?
Bloomberg:
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished as Banks Seek Profits From Bailout — Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) — To understand the meaning of no good deed goes unpunished, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner can look no further than Wall Street where the banks that received the biggest taxpayer bailouts are seeking …
Discussion:
Wonk Room
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Photo-Smearing Obama — Glenn Reynolds finds a photo in the White House Flickr basket and publishes it to, er, point out how bad the White House's p.r. is, or how blind they are to perceptions of Obama or some such thing. I tried to puzzle this one out and can just about see how an elusive photo …
Discussion:
Gawker, Althouse, Power Line, Wolf Howling, Taylor Marsh, Stinque, Jules Crittenden, DaTechguy's Blog, The Impolitic, American Power, The Reaction, The Lonely Conservative, JammieWearingFool, pandagon.net, Hot Air, Riehl World View, Pajamas Media, Little Green Footballs, alicublog and Nice Deb
Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Ten campaign themes to watch — Important themes are emerging as party leaders move into full “campaign mode” ten months ahead of the 2010 midterms. — The Hill looks at 10 to keep an eye on as we say goodbye to 2009. — 1. How real is the tea party effect?
Daily Mail:
Choudary compares British troops to Nazi stormtroopers as 200,000 sign Facebook bid to stop his Islamic extremist march — The hate preacher organising a march of Islamic extremists through the streets of Wootton Bassett sparked outrage today by comparing British troops fighting in Afghanistan to Nazi stormtroopers.
Wall Street Journal:
Uncertainty and the Slow Recovery — A recession is a terrible time to make major changes in the economic rules of the game. — Printer — Friendly — In terms of U.S. output contractions, the so-called Great Recession was not much more severe than the recessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82.
Fox News:
Man Skirts Newark Airport Security; Flights Delayed — NEWARK, N.J. — A man walked through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of a terminal at one of the nation's busiest airports on Sunday night, and flights were grounded for hours and passengers had to be re-screened while air safety officials searched for him.
Discussion:
New York Times, msnbc.com, CNN, USA Today, Freedom's Lighthouse, Political Punch and Scared Monkeys