Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Chris Dodd to step aside — Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans. — Dodd's retirement comes after months …
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Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand — Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall's Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him.
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Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Senator Dodd Will Not Seek Re-election, Democrats Say — WASHINGTON — Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the embattled Connecticut Democrat who was facing an increasingly tough bid for a sixth term in the Senate, has decided to step aside and not seek re-election, Democrats familiar with his plans said Wednesday.
Nashuatelegraph.com:
Blumenthal to run for Dodd's Senate seat — AP-CT — Dodd Retirement-Blumenthal,0127 — Eds: APNewsNow. — HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says he will seek to succeed fellow Democrat Christopher Dodd in the U.S. Senate.
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The Note:
Democrats are Dropping Like Flies — ABC News' David Chalian Reports: Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, who was in for a tough reelection fight this year, canceled a scheduled fundraiser this evening and has decided not to seek reelection, according to Democratic sources familiar with the governor's plans.
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd won't seek reelection, will retire at end of term — Embattled Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek reelection, sources familiar with his plans said Tuesday night.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, The Hill, Weekly Standard, Online NewsHour, Hot Air, RHRealityCheck.org, Don Surber, Clusterstock and Swampland
The Politico:
Top Democrats head for the exits — The grim outlook for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections just got a little worse. — Four top Democrats—including veteran Sens. Chris Dodd and Byron Dorgan—all prepared to pull the plug on their campaigns in a 24-hour period that began Tuesday …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
‘DROPPING LIKE FLIES’?.... Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is retiring. So is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). And before anyone could catch their breath, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) announced he's not seeking re-election, either. — It led ABC News to report that “Democrats are dropping like flies.”
Justin Kitsch / Byron L. Dorgan:STATEMENT BY U.S. SENATOR BYRON DORGAN
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Jared Allen / The Hill:
Dems agree that House will take up, tweak Senate healthcare bill — House and Senate leaders have formally agreed to bypass a bicameral conference committee to merge two healthcare bills, and have opted to instead “ping-pong” the Senate bill over to the House and back again, according to House leadership aides.
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Chris Frates / The Politico:
‘Forceful’ POTUS message: He wants a final bill that includes a tax on Cadillac insurance plans and an independent Medicare commission — It's Wednesday. “Back in the Pulse again.” — OBAMA STARTS NAMING WANTS - President Obama met with House Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Hoyer …
The Politico:
Pelosi swipes at Obama's promises — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, piqued with White House pressure to accept the Senate health reform bill, threw a rare rhetorical elbow at President Barack Obama Tuesday, questioning his commitment to his 2008 campaign promises. — A leadership aide said it was no accident.
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:Democrats holding final intraparty talks on health-care reform
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Washington Times, The Politico, Jezebel, The Washington Independent, Prescriptions and The Note
Publius / Big Government:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport — Award winning war correspondent Michael Yon was detained and handcuffed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Yesterday by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel.
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, Bookworm Room, Stop The ACLU, Flopping Aces, The Moderate Voice and American Power
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Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Ritter Dropping Out in Colorado — A source tells Political Wire that Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is ending his re-election campaign. A fundraiser scheduled for tonight was canceled and all campaign staff was sent home in the middle of the day. — The decision does not appear …
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Boy, now he's in real trouble; Obama administration revokes U.S. visa of accused Nigerian bomber — Under the category of looks-like-about-12-days-too- late, the State Department has announced it is revoking the U.S. visa for suspected Nigerian underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Clusterstock:
CHART OF THE DAY: How The Government Payroll Replaced Goods-Producing Jobs — In the just-so story of the evolution of our economy, our old manufacturing based economy has been replaced by an innovative knowledge economy. That's not quite true. — In fact, the decline of the jobs …
Discussion:
Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Gateway Pundit, TigerHawk, The Corner on National … and Atlas Shrugs
Jules Crittenden:
It's Pretty Bad ... When the local lefty broadsheet goes on jihad against the Liberal Lion's annointed successor, Martha Coakley, in the midst of said Lion's legacy health-care fight, the day after a leading pollster shows her opposition to be within pistol-shot in the race.
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Investors.com
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Michael Rezendes / Boston Globe:Some saw Coakley as lax on '05 rape case
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Weekly Standard
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Republicans see courts as last line of defense vs. Democrats' agenda — Republicans and allied groups say they will spend millions to oppose healthcare reform and other Democratic initiatives in the courts, which they see as a last line of defense against President Barack Obama's agenda.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Financial Times:
A 10-year plan to close the budget deficit — The most gripping rescue story of 2009 was the tale of how Captain Chesley Sullenberger glided his Airbus A320 safely into the freezing waters of New York's Hudson river. His calmness, which probably saved the 155 people on board …
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
Without a movement, progressives can't aid Obama's agenda — Every Democratic president since Lyndon Johnson — Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — has raised the hope that he would bring with him a new era of progressive reform. The legislative torrents of the New Deal and the Great Society …
Richard A. Epstein / Forbes:
Deregulation Now — A New Year's resolution for failing state governments. — As we enter a new decade, the political mood of the country can be captured in one word: glum. In particular, there is widespread recognition at the state level that conditions have reached near crisis proportions.
Ron Christie / Pundits Blog:
Amateur hour is over — Enough is enough. There was a time when the amateur hour that has characterized the behavior of the staff in the Obama White Hour over the past year could be chalked up to innocent inexperience. Now that behavior is nothing short of dangerous and President Barack Obama …
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