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, WWL, Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, Matthew Yglesias, Townhall.com, Raw Story, Instapundit, Taylor Marsh, Left Coast Rebel, Wall Street Journal, Another Black Conservative, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, TPM LiveWire, newsfeed.time.com, ProPublica, Guardian, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Gawker, The Oil Drum, The Consumerist, The Political Carnival, Corrente, Weasel Zippers, 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?
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:
The Presidential Planner — This morning, President Obama will meet with the NCAA men's basketball Ccampion Duke Blue Devils at the White House to honor their 2009-2010 championship season in the Rose Garden. — Keeping up the sports theme, the president and the vice president will take a photo …
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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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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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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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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,” …
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:
WisPolitics.com, Washington Post, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, Beltway Confidential, Don Surber, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers and Liberty Pundits Blog
Sydelle Moore / Congress Blog:
The Big Question: Is Obama to blame for Gulf Coast disaster? — Is the criticism of President Barack Obama over the Gulf Coast oil spill response fair? — Background reading here. — Glenn Reynolds, blogger at Instapundit, said: — When you market yourself as the messiah, people are disappointed at a lack of miracles.
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Cost of Jobs Bill Leaves Some Democrats Leery — WASHINGTON — The emergence of the escalating federal debt and government spending as a defining political issue is complicating Democratic efforts this week to push through a major package of tax breaks and unemployment aid over the reluctance …
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GOP NARRATIVES VS. PUBLIC NEEDS.... House Democrats are ready …
GOP NARRATIVES VS. PUBLIC NEEDS.... House Democrats are ready …
Discussion:
Roll Call
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.
Skaus / Stephen Kaus Weblog:
Breaking: Senate Candidate Mickey Kaus Debates Boxer — I will post a full account of my brother Mickey's debate with Barbara Boxer, who failed to appear and was replaced by a cardboard facsimile, after I have finished having dinner with the candidate, or maybe tomorrow.
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.