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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 Politico, Another Black Conservative, The Impolitic, Atlas Shrugs, The Lonely Conservative and New York Times
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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.

House liberal leader says Obama's stumping not changing many healthcare votes

House Democrats' ‘no’ votes are piling up on healthcare reform — 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 …
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Hot Air
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Immigration provision has Hispanic Caucus threatening ‘no’ health vote — A group of Hispanic lawmakers on Thursday will tell President Barack Obama that they may not vote for healthcare reform unless changes are made to the bill's immigration provisions. — The scheduled meeting comes …

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 …
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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, USA Today, ProPublica, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Commentary, RedState, The Note, PostPartisan, Pundit & Pundette, TPMMuckraker, Another Black Conservative, The Plum Line, Verum Serum, msnbc.com, Sister Toldjah, Confederate Yankee, The Corner on National …, The Page, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Politico
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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, The Foundry, Gawker, National Review and The Corner on National …
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Holder Failed to Disclose Brief on Detainee Policy — WASHINGTON — During his Senate confirmation hearings last year, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. failed to disclose that he had signed a brief urging the Supreme Court not to uphold President Bush's claim that he could imprison …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Main Justice, Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, Keep America Safe and Maggie's Notebook

Re: 'In preparing thousands of pages for submission, it was …
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Confederate Yankee


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!
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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 …
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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 …
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The Page
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Reid to McConnell: Reconcile this. — Harry Reid just sent Mitch McConnell a letter expressing his intention to move forward with reconciliation, and telling the Republicans to, well, read for yourself: … Read the rest here. I wonder if this makes any House Democrats feel more certain about Reid's intentions?


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, Laura Rozen's Blog, ATTACKERMAN, Commentary, Taylor Marsh and Shakesville

Americans' Global Warming Concerns Continue to Drop — Multiple indicators show less concern, more feelings that global warming is exaggerated — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's annual update on Americans' attitudes toward the environment shows a public that over the last two years …


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.
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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


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 …

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 …


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


Obama family health care fracas — A doctor savages his cousin Barack's reform plan — “Primum nil nocere.” First, do no harm. This guiding principle is a bedrock of medical care. Sadly, those politicians who would rewrite our health care laws do not live in the same universe …


Paul Ryan: The Roadmap Warrior — The Wisconsin congressman on tax policy. — Paul Ryan's Roadmap for America's Future would drastically overhaul the American welfare state in a free-market direction. The Congressional Budget Office says it would solve the entitlements crisis through …