Top Items:
Jim Rutenberg / Media Decoder:
Sarah Palin to Contribute to Fox News — Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska has signed on as a contributor to the Fox News Channel. — The network confirmed that Ms. Palin will appear on the network's programming on a regular basis as part of a multi-year deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Discussion:
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
UNEMPLOYED HALF-TERM GOVERNOR HIRED BY FOX NEWS.... Sarah Palin inexplicably walked away from her job last year, quitting as Alaska's governor half-way through her first term. It presented a minor problem for the often-confused right-wing politician — what, exactly, would she do with herself between …
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Palin signs on with Fox News — Sarah Palin, who regularly rips the media, is becoming a television pundit at a place where she's likely to feel at home. — A Fox News executive says the network will shortly announce that the former vice-presidential nominee is signing on as a contributor.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Palin signs “multi-year” deal to become Fox analyst — Sarah Palin's supporters have reason to cheer, and perhaps lament, the media news leaked to the New York Times this morning. The former governor and VP candidate will become a Fox News analyst, signing a multi-year deal for appearances as a political pundit.
Discussion:
JOSHUAPUNDIT
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Coakley lead solid in Democratic poll — Martha Coakley enjoys a solid, double-digit lead in the Massachusetts Senate special election, according to an internal Democratic poll obtained by POLITICO. — The survey, conducted by longtime Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, has Democrat Coakley …
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Scott Rasmussen / Rasmussen Reports:
Looking Closer at the Massachusetts Senate Polls — On the surface, three recent polls on the upcoming Massachusetts special election to fill the Senate seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy seem to tell three different stories. — A Rasmussen Reports poll, released last week …
The Politico:
Dems launch defense to save Reid — Democrats are preparing to throw the race card back in the laps of Republicans as part of a counterattack designed to help save Harry Reid's political career. — First, Reid's allies plan to distribute the NAACP vote ratings of Republican senators who have scolded him.
Discussion:
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Ta-Nehisi Coates:
On Harry Reid — John Cornyn and Michael Steele think that Harry Reid's comments are the same as Trent Lott's … I think you can grant that, in this era, the term “Negro dialect” is racially insensitive and embarrassing. That said, the fair-mind listener understands the argument …
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
In Defense Of Double Standards, Sometimes
In Defense Of Double Standards, Sometimes
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
U.S. Supreme Court blocks video coverage of Prop. 8 trial — The ruling will keep the proceedings off YouTube. The justices, acting on an emergency appeal, say showing video could jeopardize the fairness of the trial. — Reporting from Washington - The U.S. Supreme Court …
Discussion:
Law Blog, Above the Law, Opinion L.A., Andrew Cohen, RHRealityCheck.org, Pam's House Blend, Raw Story, Mashable!, The Moderate Voice, Politics Daily and Gawker
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American Foundation for Equal Rights:
Text of Ted Olson's Opening Statement in Prop. 8 Trial - As Prepared — The federal trial over the unconstitutionality of Proposition 8 began today with an opening statement by attorney Theodore Olson, who with David Boies is leading the legal team assembled by the American Foundation …
Edwin Meese III / New York Times:
Stacking the Deck Against Proposition 8
Stacking the Deck Against Proposition 8
Discussion:
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, The Foundry, Associated Press, Hit & Run, ACS Blog and The Reaction
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Learning From Europe — As health care reform nears the finish line, there is much wailing and rending of garments among conservatives. And I'm not just talking about the tea partiers. Even calmer conservatives have been issuing dire warnings that Obamacare will turn America into a European-style social democracy.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Matthew Yglesias, Free exchange, Marginal Revolution, DailyHowler.com, Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather
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Michael Grabell / ProPublica:
White House Changes Stimulus Jobs Count — When the White House unveiled its nearly $800 billion stimulus package last year, it promised not only to create and save 3.5 million jobs but also to open the books and prove it. But counting jobs turned out to be a lot harder than lining up a work crew and tapping hardhats.
Discussion:
Clusterstock
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CNBC.com:
Health Care Overhaul Bill Is ‘Hanging by a Thread’: Dodd — Health care reform is “hanging on by a thread,” and one or two votes could determine the outcome of the heavily-debated bill, Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd told CNBC Monday. — “Everyone feels, I guess, to some degree who have been for this …
Ronald Brownstein / National Journal Online:
White House Readies Aggressive Midterm Push — Axelrod Says Focus Will Be On Republican Alternatives — The White House strategy for contesting the midterm election is beginning to take shape. — In an interview with National Journal, senior White House political adviser David Axelrod laid …
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Game over: The Clintons stand alone — A new book is out with a highly critical but unsourced portrait of Hillary Clinton. This familiar occurrence — it's happened too many times to count over the years — has usually been greeted with an equally familiar response: A fast and furious counterattack from the Clinton inner circle.
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:
The Bogus Flight 253 ‘One-Way Ticket’ Meme: Anatomy Of A Myth — In a remarkable example of how bad information can travel far and wide, dozens of media outlets around the world have said Umar Abdulmutallab was traveling on a one-way ticket to Detroit when he allegedly tried to blow up Flight 253 …
Associated Press:
STIMULUS WATCH: Unemployment Unchanged by Projects — STIMULUS WATCH: Billions of stimulus dollars for roads, bridges didn't chop unemployment — A federal spending surge of more than $20 billion for roads and bridges in President Barack Obama's first stimulus has had no effect …
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Thomas Geoghegan / New York Times:
Mr. Smith Rewrites the Constitution — ABOUT the Senate, a college professor of mine used to say, “One day, the Supreme Court will declare it unconstitutional.” He was joking, I think. — But the Senate, as it now operates, really has become unconstitutional: as we saw during …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Ezra Klein, Democrats.com and Democratic Strategist
Charles Homans / Washington Monthly:
Culture Shock — What happened when one conservative Web site ventured outside the movement bubble. — Last May, Conor Friedersdorf, a twenty-eight-year-old recent graduate of NYU's Journalism School, decided he was going to save conservative journalism.
John H. Richardson / Esquire:
Lou Dobbs: What I've Learned — The broadcaster on (actually) being pro-immigrant, why he's a bit too enthusiastic about speaking his mind, and much more — I'm one of those fellas who's got lots of regrets, but I don't regret having regrets. — When you've got a 120-pound bale …
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Obama Weighs Fee to Recoup Bank Bailout and Cut Deficit — WASHINGTON — President Obama is likely to propose a fee on financial institutions to help reduce the federal deficit when he releases his budget plans in February, although the details remain unresolved, according to administration officials.
Economics Policies for the 21st Century:
Red-Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can't Fix the New Government Perma-Crisis — State and local governments have faced big budget gaps before. Typically, things get tight for a while, then the economy perks up, tax revenues recover, and deficits are eliminated. Life goes back to normal.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish
Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
The Most Stunning (and Uncommented on) Revelation in Too Big Too Fail — Although I read it two months ago, I haven't made much in the way of comments on Andrew Ross Sorkin's Too Big Too Fail, figuring the ground was well plowed by others. However, the bit that I found the most shocking …
WBBM-TV:
Blagojevich: 'I'm Blacker Than Barack Obama' — Ex-Governor Later Calls Remark ‘A Stupid Thing To Say’ — CHICAGO (CBS) ― Deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich is apologizing for comments in a new interview, in which he claims he is “blacker” than President Barack Obama.
CNN:
CNN Poll: Majority confident Obama can handle terrorism — Washington (CNN) - In the wake of the Christmas day attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner, most Americans remain confident that the Obama administration can protect the country from terrorism, according to a new national poll.
Wall Street Journal:
Devaluation Sparks Chaos in Caracas — CARACAS — President Hugo Chávez's decision to devalue Venezuela's bolivar and impose a complicated new currency regime may paper over some growing cracks in the economy, but it is also setting the stage for bigger problems down the road …