Top Items:
New York Times:
Democrats Wary as Two Senators Decide to Retire — WASHINGTON — The sudden decision by two senior Democratic senators to retire shook the party's leaders on Wednesday and signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda.
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Byron York / Washington Examiner:
White House: We will NOT discuss broken C-Span promise — On Tuesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to answer questions about the president's campaign commitment to hold health-care negotiations on C-Span. Gibbs said he had not seen a letter from C-Span's Brian Lamb …
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Press corps grills Gibbs: Um, didn't Obama totally shamelessly lie about C-SPAN? — Reminds me of the time Tapper coolly yet cruelly pressed Gibbs to defend Biden's sub-moronic advice to New Yorkers about avoiding city subways during swine-flu season. There is, and can be, no defense here, and everyone in the room knows it.
Susan Page / USA Today:
National security adviser: Airline bomber report to ‘shock’ — WASHINGTON — White House national security adviser James Jones says Americans will feel “a certain shock” when they read an account being released Thursday of the missed clues that could have prevented the alleged Christmas Day bomber from ever boarding the plane.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Wall Street Journal, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Cafe Hayek, The Strata-Sphere, NPR Blogs, GINA COBB and Political Punch
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Conservatives Finish 2009 as No. 1 Ideological Group — Uptick owing largely to more independents calling themselves conservative — PRINCETON, NJ — The increased conservatism that Gallup first identified among Americans last June persisted throughout the year, so that the final year-end …
Discussion:
Shot in the Dark
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Alec MacGillis / Washington Post:
Health-care reform bill's proposed tax on high-cost plans raises questions — With Congress on the verge of imposing a new tax on high-cost health insurance plans, skeptics continue to raise questions about who would be hit hardest and whether health-care spending would be limited as much as proponents say.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Political Punch, gooznews.com, Beat the Press, Opinionator, AMERICAblog News and The Note
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David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Obama Urges Excise Tax on High-Cost Insurance
Obama Urges Excise Tax on High-Cost Insurance
Discussion:
The Politico, The New Republic, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Hill and gooznews.com
Patrik Jonsson / Christian Science Monitor:
Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention — Sarah Palin's appearance is a coup for a movement now getting grudging respect from mainstream commentators. But will the feisty Tea Party movement coalesce with the GOP's old guard? — Atlanta
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Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
The First Senator From the Tea Party?
The First Senator From the Tea Party?
Discussion:
The Caucus, msnbc.com, Hotline On Call, GOP 12, Prairie Weather, Weekly Standard, Michael Calderone's Blog and The Buzz
New York Post:
White House budget director ditched pregnant girlfriend for ABC News gal — President Obama's budget guru has a secret love child — with the woman he jilted for his hot new fiance, The Post has learned. — White House budget director Peter Orszag's ex, shipping heiress Claire Milonas …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Pundit & Pundette, Indecision Forever, AmSpecBlog and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Sebastian Rotella / Los Angeles Times:
U.S. learned intelligence on airline attack suspect while he was en route — U.S. border enforcement officials discovered alleged extremist links in a database while the suspect was headed to Detroit on Christmas Day, new disclosures show. — Reporting from Washington …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Don Surber, Guardian, The Corner on National …, Talking Points Memo and PoliBlog
Charles Lane / PostPartisan:
Dick Morris sees two parties. I see four. — I can't remember a more breathtaking 48 hours in politics since Barack Obama's election in November 2008. Byron Dorgan is out; Chris Dodd is out; Bill Ritter is out. Who would have thought that just one year into Obama's promising presidency …
Hugh Son / Bloomberg:
Geithner's New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure — Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer's payments to banks during the depths …
Discussion:
naked capitalism, Wonk Room, DealBook, The Business Insider, Betsy's Page and The Big Picture
Jessica Taylor / The Politico:
Health bill at issue in Mass. special — With the Massachusetts Senate special election less than two weeks away, Scott Brown is framing himself as the GOP's last hope to stop Democratic health care legislation, an approach that could provide both parties with an early glimpse at the political resonance of the issue.
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Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Giuliani: Obama needs ‘major correction’ on terror response — (CNN) - Echoing other high profile conservatives in the wake of the attempted Christmas Day terrorism attack, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told CNN Wednesday President Obama waited far too long to react to the botched bombing …
Michael B. Mukasey / Wall Street Journal:
What Does the Detroit Bomber Know? — The president's job is not detecting bombs at the airport but neutralizing terrorists before they get there. — Printer — Friendly — There was much to celebrate in the providential combination of an incompetent terrorist and surpassingly brave passengers …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Exclusive: Koppel may return to ABC — ABC News is negotiating with “Nightline” founder Ted Koppel, a 42-year veteran of the network, for a potential return to anchor “This Week” three Sundays a month, broadcast industry sources said. — ABC News executives said no offers have been made.
Robert O'Harrow Jr / Washington Post:
Republicans put new hold on TSA nominee Erroll Southers — The nomination of a former FBI agent to lead the Transportation Security Administration hit a new obstacle Wednesday as several Republican senators expressed “serious reservations” about the nominee and pressed the White House …
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
After attempted airline bombing, effectiveness of intelligence reforms questioned — The failure of U.S. authorities to detect a plot to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day has reignited long-simmering concerns that intelligence reforms implemented five years ago remain inadequate to prevent terrorist attacks.
The Huffington Post:
Todd Harris, GOP Strategist, DECIMATED By Chris Matthews (VIDEO) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — What have the Republicans done for America lately? Or in the past couple decades? — That's what Chris Matthews pressed Republican strategist Todd Harris about during Hardball on Wednesday.
Michael Walsh / Big Journalism:
Welcome to the Fight: We Are All Spartacus Now — Andrew Breitbart has already welcomed you all to Big Journalism. Now I'd like to add my voice to his. — As you can see from our logo, Big Journalism will be a throwback in spirit to the freewheeling moxie of the glory days of American newspapers …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Pajamas Media, The Lonely Conservative, Nice Deb and The Corner on National …