Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE TALKS THAT MAY SAVE HEALTH CARE REFORM.... Over the last few days, it's become increasingly evident that congressional Democrats aren't sure how, when, or whether to move forward on health care reform. There is an obvious course that would deliver an extraordinary victory …
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Chris Frates / The Politico:
Reid, Pelosi work to save reform — Struggling to salvage health reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have begun considering a list of changes to the Senate bill in hopes of making it acceptable to liberal House members, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Discussion:
Another Black Conservative, Joust The Facts, The Page, Paul Krugman and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Plouffe stepping up role as adviser to White House — David Plouffe, the man who managed President Barack Obama's campaign, will be taking on an expanded role as an outside adviser to the White House, according to sources familiar with the plan, a move that comes just days after a stunning defeat …
Discussion:
The Plum Line
Ben Craw / TPM LiveWire:
Getting It Done: The Year In Obama-Led Health Care Reform (VIDEO)
Getting It Done: The Year In Obama-Led Health Care Reform (VIDEO)
Discussion:
theblogprof, Commentary, TPMDC, Taylor Marsh, The Lonely Conservative, Think Progress, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, Weekly Standard, QandO and AMERICAblog News
Ian Urbina / New York Times:
24 States' Laws Open to Attack After Campaign Finance Ruling — In Wisconsin, conservative and pro-business groups said Friday that they were considering a lawsuit to block a proposed law that would ban corporate spending during political campaigns. — In Kentucky and Colorado …
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Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Public Agrees With Court: Campaign Money Is “Free Speech”
Public Agrees With Court: Campaign Money Is “Free Speech”
Discussion:
Wake up America, Gateway Pundit, Outside The Beltway, The Politico, Top of the Ticket, Politics Daily and Will Wilkinson
Jonathan Dee / New York Times:
Right-Wing Flame War! — Charles Johnson has been writing a blog for almost as long as the word “blog” has existed. A bearish, gentle-voiced, ponytailed man who for three decades enjoyed a successful career as a jazz guitarist accompanying the likes of Al Jarreau and Stanley Clarke …
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Barrett Brown / Vanity Fair:
Ex-Conservative Charles Johnson's Next Crusade — With many among the left having lately been bogged down in a wonkish debate over health care in general and the question of best-versus-possible in particular, it's easy to forget that the somewhat more fundamental conflict among conservatives regarding …
Jim Geraghty / National Review Online:
Obama's Train Wreck of a Town Hall in Ohio — By: Jim Geraghty — Earlier this week, during a radio interview, I had said that Obama's appearance for Martha Coakley on Sunday was the least effective stump appearances I had seen from a president. A lot of factors contributed to that …
Edward Luce / Financial Times:
White House nightmare persists — At the end of Barack Obama's worst week since taking power a year ago, the US president's fortunes look set only to deteriorate over the coming days. Following the shock defeat of the Democratic candidate in Massachusetts on Tuesday, a move that deprived …
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Amanda Lee Myers / Arizona Daily Star:
J.D. Hayworth says he'll run against John McCain — Former Arizona Congressman J.D. Hayworth says he is planning to run against John McCain for his U.S. Senate seat. — Hayworth, a Republican, told The Associated Press late Friday he stepped down as host of his radio program on KFYI-AM, a conservative radio talk show in Phoenix.
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, Left Coast Rebel, The Lonely Conservative, The Page, Michelle Malkin and RedState
Pat G. / Think Progress:
Bayh Claims 'There's A Fighting Chance' Obama Will Call For A Spending Freeze — In an interview yesterday with Bloomberg's Al Hunt, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) — who met with members of the administration's economic team this week — said that he believes there's a “fighting chance” …
Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:
Et Tu, Fox News Channel? — It's a horrible, unspeakable tragedy that gets you right in the core of your humanity. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere is flattened by a huge earthquake. Hundreds of thousands killed, thousands of children orphaned, more than 1.5 million now homeless.
Simon Johnson / The Baseline Scenario:
Paul Krugman For The Fed — The case for Ben Bernanke's reappointment was weak to start with, weakened with his hearings, and is now held together by string and some phone calls from the White House. Bernanke is an airline pilot who pulled off a miraculous landing, but didn't do his preflight checks …
Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
See No Evil — The Pentagon's Fort Hood investigation is a pathetic whitewash. — Last week, the Pentagon released the results of its investigation into the November 5 Fort Hood shooting (Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood). There is a large, publicly available body …