Top Items:
The Politico:
Pelosi's brutal reality check — Asked this weekend to grade her performance as speaker, Nancy Pelosi gave herself an “A for effort.” — But Pelosi knows that the real test is still to come. — Pelosi is inarguably one of the strongest speakers in modern history …
RELATED:
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Pelosi Says She'll Get Votes Needed for Health Bill — WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is confident she will be able to get the votes needed to pass sweeping health care legislation in the House, even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party.
Aaron Gould Sheinin / Gold Dome Live:
Breaking: Deal says he'll resign from Congress — By Aaron Gould Sheinin/asheinin@ajc.com and Jim Tharpe/jtharpe@ajc.com — U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) said Monday morning he will resign from Congress to “devote my full energies to the campaign for governor.”
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Star Bulletin, Ben Smith's Blog, Peach Pundit and Taegan Goddard's …
The Politico:
Rangel to keep gavel - for now
Rangel to keep gavel - for now
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Politics Daily, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Guardian, The Hill, New York Times and The Lonely Conservative
Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Democrats will have votes for health bill, Obama aide says
Democrats will have votes for health bill, Obama aide says
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Michelle Malkin, Think Progress, Real Clear Politics, Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Associated Press and The Politico
Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Halter declares against Lincoln — Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter is moving ahead with a primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln, he announced Monday. — “Washington is broken,” Halter said in a video on his campaign website. “Bailing out Wall Street with no strings attached …
RELATED:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Financial Reform Endgame — So here's the situation. We've been through the second-worst financial crisis in the history of the world, and we've barely begun to recover: 29 million Americans either can't find jobs or can't find full-time work. Yet all momentum for serious banking reform has been lost.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Felix Salmon, Dennis the Peasant, Prairie Weather, Economist's View and The Page
New York Times:
Network News at a Crossroads — ABC News is making no secret about what is behind the sweeping staff cuts it now faces: raw survival instinct. — “I just looked out at the next five years and was concerned that we could not sustain doing what we were doing,” said David Westin …
Discussion:
Michael Calderone's Blog, Outside The Beltway, QandO, NewsBusters.org, Mediaite and New York Magazine
RELATED:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
30! Five More Democrats—Including Durbin—Say They Support a Public Option Through Reconciliation — Five leading Democrats—including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin—have publicly announced that they will vote for a public option if it's offered up during the budget reconciliation process …
RELATED:
Adam Green / The Huffington Post:
Public Option Garners Avalanche of Support in Senate
Public Option Garners Avalanche of Support in Senate
Discussion:
The Plum Line
New York Times:
White House Is Rethinking Nuclear Policy — WASHINGTON — As President Obama begins making final decisions on a broad new nuclear strategy for the United States, senior aides say he will permanently reduce America's arsenal by thousands of weapons. But the administration has rejected proposals …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Neptunus Lex, Raw Story, The Washington Independent, Wonk Room, New York Magazine and The Page
Tom-Jan Meeus / NRC Handelsblad:
Tea Party prominent: Palin not presidential — Former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo was the opening speaker at the recent Tea Party conference with Sarah Palin. In an interview with NRC Handelsblad, he spoke his mind about Palin. “I really don't have this feeling about her as being presidential.”
RELATED:
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama steers grants to lagging schools — President Barack Obama today announced a new intervention program for 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools, available to districts where officials take action as drastic as firing principals, clearing out staff or even shuttering some campuses.
Discussion:
CNN
RELATED:
Lynn Sweet / Politics Daily:
Dropouts Targeted by New Obama Plan for Underperforming Schools
Dropouts Targeted by New Obama Plan for Underperforming Schools
Discussion:
Eduwonk
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
IPCC “science” on hurricanes no longer settled, either — In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, anthropogenic global warming (AGW) activists insisted that the stronger storm systems resulted from the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, making hurricanes increasingly more severe.
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
RELATED:
David Corn / Politics Daily:
Are Democratic Presidents Smarter Than Republican Presidents? — Watching President Barack Obama at the White House health care summit last week, it was hard not to have an obvious thought: Could George W. Bush have done this? It is tough to imagine Bush leading a seven-hour gabfest …
Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:
Doctors tell Barack Obama to quit smoking — The american president has been trying to kick the habit for sometime, apart from the smoking he is in excellent health — Barack Obama is still struggling to kick smoking, according to his first medical examination since becoming president.
Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
The Raging Septuagenarian — Taking on the Times, Google, and, in a sense, his own children, Rupert Murdoch is not going gently into the night. — On Saturday, January 9, Rupert Murdoch was on his Boeing 737 returning to New York from a business trip to Los Angeles when he learned …
David Catanese / The Politico:
Tommy Thompson eyes Senate bid — Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who served four terms as Wisconsin governor, is securing financial pledges and ramping up his outreach to longtime political aides in preparation for a possible campaign against Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Steve Tetreault / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
POLL: Obama's visit just bounced off Reid — Poll shows senator gained little ground in re-election battle — WASHINGTON — During his whirlwind visit to Las Vegas two weeks ago, President Barack Obama mentioned U.S. Sen. Harry Reid by name four dozen times, gave him a big hug and talked him up as if he was a long-lost brother.