Top Items:
David M. Drucker / Roll Call:
Ruling Kills an Option for Moving Health Bill — The Senate Parliamentarian has ruled that President Barack Obama must sign Congress' original health care reform bill before the Senate can act on a companion reconciliation package, senior GOP sources said Thursday.
RELATED:
The Note:
Dem Rep. Lynn Woolsey: House May Pass Senate Bill Without Recorded Vote — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: As House Democrats press for final passage of a health care bill, a legislative scenario has emerged whereby the House wouldn't have to take a formal roll call vote to endorse the Senate version of the legislation.
Discussion:
Political Punch, The Corner on National …, The New Republic, AmSpecBlog and GOP Leader Blog
Democrats.senate.gov:
Reid, In Letter To McConnell, Outlines The Path Forward On Health Reform — Washington, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explaining the path forward on health insurance reform. In the letter, Senator Reid details the steps …
Bob Cusack / The Hill:
House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up as healthcare reform moves forward — More than two dozen Democrats are expected to vote against the healthcare reform bill that will hit the House floor in the coming weeks. — At least 25 House Democrats will reject the healthcare reform legislation …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
House liberal leader says Obama's stumping not changing many healthcare votes
House liberal leader says Obama's stumping not changing many healthcare votes
The Hill:
House GOP votes to ban all earmarks — House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday, one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks. — The Republicans' moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee's ban …
Discussion:
The Note, The Politico, Another Black Conservative, RedState, Atlas Shrugs, The Impolitic, The Lonely Conservative and New York Times
RELATED:
Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi's office was told of concerns about Eric Massa — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office was notified in October by then-Rep. Eric Massa's top aide of concerns about the New York Democrat's behavior, two congressional sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday night.
Discussion:
The Swamp, ProPublica, USA Today, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Commentary, RedState, PostPartisan, Pundit & Pundette, The Note, The Plum Line, Another Black Conservative, TPMMuckraker, msnbc.com, Verum Serum, Confederate Yankee, Sister Toldjah, The Corner on National …, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Page and The Politico
RELATED:
Laura Rozen / Laura Rozen's Blog:
What Biden told Netanyahu behind closed doors: “This is starting to get dangerous for us” — Publicly, Vice President Joe Biden tried to keep up a positive tone in his good will visit to Israel this week. But privately, the Israeli press reports, he had sharper words for Israeli decisions Biden …
RELATED:
Mike Levine / Liveshots:
Holder Failed To Alert Senate To Old Brief — During his confirmation more than a year ago, Attorney General Eric Holder failed to notify lawmakers he had contributed to a legal brief dealing with the use of federal courts in fighting terrorism, the Justice Department acknowledged on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Weekly Standard, Gawker, The Foundry, National Review and The Corner on National …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Holder Failed to Disclose Brief on Detainee Policy
Holder Failed to Disclose Brief on Detainee Policy
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Main Justice, Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, Keep America Safe and Maggie's Notebook
Andy McCarthy / The Corner on National Review Online:
Re: 'In preparing thousands of pages for submission, it was …
Re: 'In preparing thousands of pages for submission, it was …
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee
Douglas Elmendorf / Director's Blog:
Estimate of the Budgetary Effects of the Senate-Passed Health Bill — CBO has just released an estimate of the budgetary effects of the health bill, H.R. 3590, that passed the Senate on December 24. Today's estimate differs from the estimate for a slightly earlier version of the legislation …
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Sex Scandals Aren't Interesting When They Involve Republicans — Interestingly John Ensign, like David Vitter but unlike Elliot Spitzer or Eric Massa, hasn't yet been driven from public life: … Man, that John Edwards sure is a scumbag!
Discussion:
New York Times, Dennis the Peasant, TPMMuckraker, Washington Monthly, Obsidian Wings and Associated Press
RELATED:
George F. Will / Washington Post:
As a progressive, Obama hews to the Wilsonian tradition — There are legislative miles to go before the government will be emancipated from its health-care myopia, but it is not too soon for a summing-up. Whether all or nothing of the legislation becomes law, Barack Obama has refuted critics who call him a radical.
RELATED:
James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:
Texas Hearing Considers Deeper Conservative Stamp on Textbooks — AUSTIN, Tex. — Even as a panel of educators laid out a vision Wednesday for national standards for public schools, the Texas school board was going in a different direction, holding hearings on changes to its social studies curriculum …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, NewsBusters.org, Democratic Strategist and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Lois Romano / Washington Post:
Hillary Rodham Clinton widens her circle at the State Department — Hillary Rodham Clinton ran a presidential campaign notoriously insular and unhappy, managing a group of egos and backstabbers whose dysfunction may have cost her the White House. Understandably, people wondered what kind …
Discussion:
democracyarsenal.org, ATTACKERMAN, Laura Rozen's Blog, Taylor Marsh, Commentary and Shakesville
Hamilton Nolan / Gawker:
The Scandalous Scott Brown Lawsuit that No One Told You About — Did you know that Scott Brown—the new star Republican Senator—was accused of harassing a female campaign worker in 1998? We have the documents to prove it. Did the Democrats blow an opportunity to keep their 60th Senate seat?
Jazz Shaw / The Moderate Voice:
What I Learned at the Tea Parties — Both the media and many high profile politicos still seem to be flailing around trying to find some way to label, quantify and pigeonhole the myriad tea party groups which are springing up all around the country. Even Karl Rove, during a stop to promote his new book …
Noah Shachtman / Wired:
How Andrew Breitbart Hacks the Media — Andrew Breitbart has been waiting 45 minutes for a filet mignon. He drums his fingers on the table in this plush Italian restaurant off Times Square, a place where the media types he regularly trashes used to flaunt their expense accounts — back when they still had them.
Mark Cannizzaro / New York Post:
Woods hires ex-Bush aide to prep for return in two weeks — MIAMI — Tiger Woods has summoned someone even more significant than swing coach Hank Haney to help facilitate his wildly anticipated comeback. — Two sources in the golf community have told The Post that Ari Fleischer …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Wire, The Political Carnival and TPM LiveWire
Chris Joyner / USA Today:
Miss. prom canceled after lesbian's date request — JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi county school board announced Wednesday it would cancel its upcoming prom after a gay student petitioned to bring a same-sex date to the event. — “Due to the distractions to the educational process caused …
Arun Kristian Das / MyFox New York:
Chefs Call Proposed New York Salt Ban ‘Absurd’ — MYFOXNY.COM - Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking. — “No owner or operator of a restaurant …