Top Items:
Jim Tankersley / Los Angeles Times:
‘Top kill’ effort succeeds in blocking oil leak, Coast Guard admiral says — Thad Allen, who is coordinating the government response, says the well still has low pressure, but cement will be used to cap the well permanently as soon as the pressure hits zero.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, WWL, Matthew Yglesias, Townhall.com, Raw Story, Instapundit, Taylor Marsh, Another Black Conservative, ProPublica, Wall Street Journal, newsfeed.time.com, Left Coast Rebel, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire, Guardian, New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Consumerist, Gawker, Washington Monthly, The Oil Drum, Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival, Corrente, Sense of Events, MyFox Philadelphia, Fausta's Blog and Questions and Observations
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USA Today:
Is oil spill becoming Obama's Katrina? — The hurricane that drowned New Orleans and cast George W. Bush as out of touch swept across the Gulf Coast nearly five years ago. Now, as oil laps ashore in the very same region, local officials are asking: Is there another government-Gulf Coast disconnect?
CNN:
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Discussion:
Politics Daily, BuzzFlash.org, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, This Just In, New York Magazine, Shakesville and msnbc.com
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
Birnbaum forced out of MMS — The head of the Minerals and Management Services has resigned the top post at the agency that has come under fire for lax oversight of offshore drilling amid an increasingly devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, sources with knowledge of the move said Thursday morning.
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Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Sarah Palin Gets a New Neighbor — Keith Olbermann talks to the Washington Post's Dave Weigel who apparently isn't too popular with the right wingers for defending journalist Joe McGinniss who has moved in next door to Sarah Palin while working on an unauthorized biography of the ex-half-term-Governor.
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Political Punch:
Justice Scalia Praises Elena Kagan's Lack of Judicial Experience — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has been criticized by some Republican senators for lacking judicial experience. But Justice Antonin Scalia, the High Court's most outspoken conservative …
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Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
O'Connor Warns Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Hearings — O'Connor Cautioned Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Nomination Process — The first woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court has gotten behind Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but warned her of the “dreadful, unpleasant” nomination process.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus — The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.
Fox News:
Counterterror Adviser Defends Jihad as ‘Legitimate Tenet of Islam’ — White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan speaks to reporters in the White House Jan. 7. (AP Photo) — The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a “legitimate tenet of Islam,” …
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Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service:
Mullen: Proposed Legislation Retains Prerogative — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that he's comfortable with proposed legislation that seeks to repeal the law that bans gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military because it includes “very clear language” …
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Ian Urbina / New York Times:
BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast — WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.
Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Rove Finally Admits That Bush Really Blew It During Katrina — Today in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove pens an op-ed titled: “Yes, the Gulf Spill is Obama's Katrina.” He predictably places blame on Obama for a “lethargic,” “slow,” and “unacceptable” response to the BP oil spill.
Discussion:
Liberal Values
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Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Yes, the Gulf Spill Is Obama's Katrina — Where was the White House plan, and why has it been so slow to make decisions? — As President Obama prepares to return to the Gulf Coast Friday, he is receiving increasing criticism for his handling of the oil spill.
David Einhorn / New York Times:
Easy Money, Hard Truths — ARE you worried that we are passing our debt on to future generations? Well, you need not worry. — Before this recession it appeared that absent action, the government's long-term commitments would become a problem in a few decades.
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Wisconsin Senate — Wisconsin Senate: Feingold 46%, Johnson 44% — Businessman Ron Johnson, endorsed at last weekend's state Republican Convention, is now running virtually even against incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin's race for the U.S. Senate.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, Beltway Confidential, Don Surber, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers and Liberty Pundits Blog
FITSNews:
Witnesses, Evidence Mounting Against Haley — For a campaign employee she claims to have barely known, S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley certainly paid plenty of late night visits to our founding editor's town house in early 2007. — In fact, multiple witnesses are coming forward …
Discussion:
www2.wspa.com, Yahoo! News, Charleston City Paper, Washington Wire, Hot Air, TPMMuckraker and The Daily Caller
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GOP NARRATIVES VS. PUBLIC NEEDS.... House Democrats are ready to move forward on a package of economic policies — jobless benefits, temporary health care subsidies, job creation investments — that would bolster the ongoing recovery. But it's struggling, not because of its merits …
Discussion:
Roll Call
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Washington Post:
Obama gives press conference on Deepwater Horizon oil leak, containment efforts, oversight reforms — President Obama on Thursday began a news conference in which he was expected to announce a six-month ban on drilling new deepwater oil wells and cancel plans for exploratory drilling …
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Scott / Power Line:
A thug too far, part 5 — When Nina Easton found a mob of union thugs demonstrating at her neighbor's Chevy Chase house last week, she used her professional skills to ascertain what all the fuss was about. She filed an illuminating report. The mainstream media have avoided the story.
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Lieberman open to backing McMahon — Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Thursday he's open to supporting Republican Linda McMahon over Democrat Richard Blumenthal in the Connecticut Senate race, a move that would once again infuriate Democrats in his home state and in Washington.