Top Items:
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit — WASHINGTON — Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Emptywheel, Big Journalism, Daily Kos, PR Newswire, ACS Blog, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, CNN, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, unbossed.com, New York Times, CANNONFIRE, The Greenroom, Grist, SCOTUSblog, DownWithTyranny!, The Faster Times, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post, Economist's View, ProfessorBainbridge.com and The Politico
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Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Justice Stevens Stumbles: A Step To Retirement? — Justice John Paul Stevens has left some clues he's planning to retire this year, shortly after he turns 90 years old. He's only hired one law clerk for next term, for example, and not the four that sitting justices typically hire every year.
Discussion:
The BLT
Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Watching as the Supreme Court turns a corporation into a real live boy. — You will doubtless hear today that 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens read aloud from his partial dissent in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for almost 20 minutes in a slow, halting voice …
Discussion:
ProfessorBainbridge.com, ACS Blog, James Fallows, Newsweek Blogs, The Huffington Post and Feministe
Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Analysis: A new law to offset Citizens United? — Analysis — President Obama ordered his aides on Thursday “to get to work immediately with Congress” to develop “a forceful response” to the Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case.
Room for Debate:
How Corporate Money Will Reshape Politics
How Corporate Money Will Reshape Politics
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Hullabaloo, Law Blog, Alas, a blog, Hit & Run and The Atlantic Business Channel
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Court Kills Limits On Corporate Politicking
Court Kills Limits On Corporate Politicking
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Cato @ Liberty, YID With LID, Big Journalism, SCOTUSblog, James Fallows, Clive Crook and Washington Wire
The Politico:
Dem health care talks collapsing — Health care reform teetered on the brink of collapse Thursday as House and Senate leaders struggled to coalesce around a strategy to rescue the plan, in the face of growing pessimism among lawmakers that the president's top priority can survive.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, New York Times, The New Republic, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Swampland, Riehl World View, The Page, Verum Serum and The Hill
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
So Is It Really Over? — Let me take a moment and explain where I think we are on the Health Care Reform front. — As I've argued, procedurally, with the senate Dems reduced to 59 votes, there's no way to get a better or revised bill through the senate. (Frankly, it's not clear to me that there are still 59 votes.)
Political Punch:
Senate Dems Not Sure They Can Get Enough Votes to Reconfirm Bernanke — Amidst the voter anger at Wall Street and Washington, D.C., ABC News has learned that the Senate Democratic leadership isn't sure there are enough votes to re-confirm Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, THE CUNNING REALIST, The Page and AMERICAblog News
New York Times:
A New Search for Consensus on Health Care Bill — WASHINGTON — Even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi affirmed her commitment to pass far-reaching health care legislation this year, members of Congress and health policy experts began Thursday to deal with the reality that a smaller bill would have a better chance.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Air America, the Talk Radio Network, Will Go Off the Air — Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network, abruptly shut down on Thursday, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.” — The chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker …
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Michelle Malkin:
Lib talk radio flops again: Air America goes bankrupt — Thanks to David Lunde for the photoshop — The surprise isn't that liberal talk radio network Air America announced it is going bankrupt today. — The surprise is that they lasted so long on fumes. — Here's an excerpt of the statement on its website pulling the plug:
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Liberal talk-radio network Air America to cease operations
Liberal talk-radio network Air America to cease operations
Discussion:
The Greenroom
Reuters:
Geithner has reservations on US bank limits-sources — President Barack Obama's newest Wall Street crackdown was met with hesitation from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is concerned that politics could be sacrificing good economic policy, according to financial industry sources.
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Will the Base Abandon Hope? — Imagine for a moment that you're a liberal. Oh, I know, that won't be a stretch for some of you. Over the years, you've developed a pretty thick skin, since while you've won an election now and then, you haven't had too many policy victories since ... well, since forever.
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Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Voters Split On Congressional Elections
Fox News Poll: Voters Split On Congressional Elections
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Washington Independent, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12
Charles Hawley / Spiegel Online:
The World Bids Farewell to Obama — US President Barack Obama suffered a painful defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday. With mid-term elections looming, it means that Obama will have to fundamentally re-think his political course. German commentators say it is the end of hope.
Discussion:
Neptunus Lex
Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Specter tells Bachmann to “act like a lady” — The deeply odd couple of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) appeared together on a Philly radio station yesterday — and things got ugly in short order. — Audio link. courtesy RCP.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
ADL whacks Limbaugh — The Anti-Defamation League, which recently criticized a range of conservative figures, including Glenn Beck, as “extremists,” has turned its sights on Rush Limbaugh for a “borderline anti-semitic remark” about Jews — The line in question:
Discussion:
Daily Kos
The Huffington Post:
Scott Brown's Wife Music VIDEO: Gail Huff's RACY ‘Girl With The Curious Hand’ (PHOTOS) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — On Tuesday night, Scott Brown's wife pleaded with her husband to stop advertising his “available” daughters, but a video we've dug up reveals that Gail Huff wasn't always so prim and proper.
James Dao / New York Times:
Man Claims Terror Ties in Little Rock Shooting — MEMPHIS — A Tennessee man accused of killing a soldier outside a Little Rock, Ark., military recruiting station last year has asked a judge to change his plea to guilty, claiming for the first time that he is affiliated with a Yemen-based affiliate of Al Qaeda.
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
National Enquirer submitting John Edwards coverage for Pulitzers — The executive editor of the National Enquirer says he plans to enter his paper's work on the John Edwards scandal for a Pulitzer Prize. — Don't laugh. — “It's clear we should be a contender for this,” …
Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:
McConnell: Who Gave the Christmas Day Bomber the Right to Remain Silent? — Obama's top counterterrorism adviser won't say who decided to Mirandize Abdulmutallab. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is pressing the Obama administration on questions about the handling of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab …
Discussion:
Power Line
Washington Post:
U.S. ambassador puts brakes on plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban — The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and senior Afghan officials have resisted moving forward with a bold and potentially risky initiative to support local militias in Afghanistan that are willing to defend …
Daniel Rubin / Philly.com:
It was no joke at security gate — In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile. — The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener - particularly one this stupid.