Top Items:
Paul Krugman:
Unserious People — OK, let's say goodbye to the deficit commission. If you're sincerely worried about the US fiscal future — and there's good reason to be — you don't propose a plan that involves large cuts in income taxes. Even if those cuts are offset by supposed elimination of tax breaks elsewhere …
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Greg Mankiw's Blog, Swampland, The Politico, AMERICAblog News and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
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Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Tax Increases — WASHINGTON — The chairmen of President Obama's bipartisan commission on reducing the national debt outlined a politically provocative and economically ambitious package of spending cuts and tax increases on Wednesday, igniting a debate that is likely to grip the country for years.
Discussion:
CNN, Swampland, The Hill, Bloomberg, Firedoglake, Washington Post, The Politico, ABCNEWS, Danger Room, Wake up America, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Outside the Beltway, Politics Daily, EconLog, msnbc.com, Marginal Revolution, Wall Street Journal, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Calculated Risk, New York Magazine and Gawker
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Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Simpson And Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations — The White House's fiscal commission's co-chairs, Erskine Bowles and former-Sen. Alan Simpson today released their draft recommendations on how to reduce the country's budget deficit.
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There is no report from the fiscal commission — Here is the most important fact about the proposal released by the co-chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform: It is not the commission's report. And here is the second most important fact to remember …
Discussion:
National Review
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Pelosi, political left rip proposal from debt commission chairmen — The chairmen of President Obama's fiscal commission sparked a political firestorm Wednesday with the early release of a report proposing sweeping changes to Social Security, Medicare and the tax code.
Discussion:
Political Punch, The Nation, msnbc.com and Michelle Malkin
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U.S. Debt Proposal Would Cut Social Security, Medicare — The co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's debt-reduction commission will propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as reductions in income tax rates in exchange for curbing tax breaks, according to a Republican aide who attended the meeting.
Speaker Pelosi / The Gavel:
On the Proposal Released by Co-Chairs of the Fiscal Commission
On the Proposal Released by Co-Chairs of the Fiscal Commission
Discussion:
The Politico, The Plum Line, Opinion L.A., The Hill, NPR Topics, Firedoglake and Flypaper
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Drop Everything: The Simpson-Bowles Breakthrough
Drop Everything: The Simpson-Bowles Breakthrough
Discussion:
msnbc.com
The Huffington Post:
3:28 PM ET Debt Commission Targets Social Security, Medicare
3:28 PM ET Debt Commission Targets Social Security, Medicare
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Brilliant at Breakfast and Firedoglake
Wall Street Journal:
Panel Chairmen Recommend Cutting Federal Spending by $200 Billion
Panel Chairmen Recommend Cutting Federal Spending by $200 Billion
Discussion:
Blogs and Stories, Viking Pundit and Pajamas Media
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Drop Everything: The Simpson-Bowles Reax
Drop Everything: The Simpson-Bowles Reax
Discussion:
National Review, Grasping Reality …, The New Republic and Balloon Juice
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Preliminary Thoughts On The Debt Commission's Plan
Preliminary Thoughts On The Debt Commission's Plan
Discussion:
Felix Salmon, Democratic Strategist and Guardian
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Michele Bachmann drops out of leadership race — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann dropped out of the race for House Republican Conference chair on Wednesday night, ending a quixotic bid for leadership that many saw as the first real test of the tea party against the GOP establishment.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Note, CNN, Gateway Pundit, Taylor Marsh, FrumForum and New York Magazine
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Bachmann drops bid for conference post, backs Hensarling
Bachmann drops bid for conference post, backs Hensarling
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket
MIke Lillis / The Hill:
New GOP chief of staff calls Pelosi ‘garbage’ — A newly named GOP chief of staff called the outgoing Democratic majority — and in particular Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — “garbage.” — Joyce Kaufman, the incoming chief of staff to Rep.-elect Allen West (R-Fla.), said …
Discussion:
Guardian, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Politics Daily and Page2Live.com
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Nancy Pelosi wants DREAM Act vote — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to push for a vote during the lame-duck session on a bill that would legalize young, undocumented immigrants if they attend college or serve in the military, according to Democratic sources familiar with a leadership conference call Wednesday.
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers
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The Reign of Right-Wing Primetime … I'll name a hit TV show, and you guess if it's more popular among Republicans or Democrats. — First, NCIS — investigating military crimes on CBS. Safe bet conservatives love it, right? — How about ABC's Desperate Housewives — a racy soap, female audience.
Discussion:
Big Hollywood, Pirate's Cove, Gawker, The Moderate Voice and Weigel, more at Mediagazer »
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The Onion Strikes Comic Gold With Biden Spoofs — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has never smashed a Whac-A-Mole game in a drunken fit. He has never invoked Freedom of Information laws to find out a female federal employee's work schedule. And to the best of anyone's knowledge …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »
Washington Post:
Sources: Pentagon group finds there is minimal risk to lifting gay ban during war — A Pentagon study group has concluded that the military can lift the ban on gays serving openly in uniform with only minimal and isolated incidents of risk to the current war efforts, according to two people familiar …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Raw Story, Poliglot, Wonk Room, FrumForum and New York Magazine
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Boehner's Image Improves, Reid's Does Not After Midterms — Four in 10 still unfamiliar with House Republican leader — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' opinions of House Republican Leader John Boehner, who is in line to be the speaker of the House in the new Congress, improved after the midterm elections.
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John Boehner to fly commercial as speaker
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Post, Atlas Shrugs, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, Don Surber, CNN and The Note
Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
John Boehner Skipping Military Jets, Will Fly Commercial
John Boehner Skipping Military Jets, Will Fly Commercial
Discussion:
CBS News and HotAirPundit
Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:
Exclusive: Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito Dismisses His Profligate Right-Wing Fundraising As ‘Not Important’ — Last night, the American Spectator — a right-wing magazine known for its role in the “Arkansas Project,” a well-funded effort to invent stories with the goal …
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Impolitic
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Jan Crawford / CBS News:
Bush: “The Wolves of Washington” and the Roberts/Miers/Alito Nominations
Bush: “The Wolves of Washington” and the Roberts/Miers/Alito Nominations
Discussion:
ProfessorBainbridge.com, New York Times, Althouse, Law Blog, Wonk Room and The Volokh Conspiracy
The Huffington Post:
White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.
Discussion:
Economist's View
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Mea Culpa: I Put Keith Olbermann on National TV — This YouTube video reminded me that I was the person who introduced Keith Olbermann to America. — Keith was a sportscaster at the local CBS affiliate in Los Angeles at the same time I was doing a talk show for that network.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and Mediaite
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Bombs Away: Afghan Air War Peaks With 1,000 Strikes in October — The U.S. and its allies have unleashed a massive air campaign in Afghanistan, launching missiles and bombs from the sky at a rate rarely seen since the war's earliest days. In October alone, NATO planes fired their weapons …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Washington Post and The Maddow Blog
Lisa Lambert / Reuters:
Tensions with states grow over high speed rail — (Reuters) - The Transportation Department warned two governors-elect that federal money allocated to building high-speed passenger rail lines in their states cannot be used to pay for other infrastructure projects, as tensions grow over federal transportation spending.
Discussion:
Ohio Political News & Opinion, The Moderate Voice and Althouse
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Write-in counting begins — Counting ballots in Juneau today. — There have been questions from the ballot observers about the criteria Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai is using to rule on the Miller campaign challenges of Murkowski ballots. — Here's what Fenumiai told me:
Discussion:
Weigel, Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Politics Daily, NPR Topics and Associated Press
Sen. Tom Coburn / National Review:
Earmark Myths and Realities — As Senate Republicans prepare to vote on an earmark moratorium, I would encourage my colleagues to consider four myths and four realities of the debate. — Myths of the earmark debate: — 1. Eliminating earmarks does not actually save any money
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Liberty Pundits Blog and Beltway Confidential
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NY Times Editor on the ‘Beauty’ of Readers' Ignorance — Gerald Marzorati, center, with Marc Jacobs (L) and Paul Krugman. Image by Getty Images via @daylife — The New York Times cultivates an image as the preferred read of the intellectual elite, but at least one of the paper's higher-ups seems …
Discussion:
Big Journalism, Pajamas Media and Romenesko, more at Mediagazer »
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How Justice Richard B. Sanders Lost It — Yesterday I called the race for State Supreme Court Position No. 6 in favor of challenger Charlie Wiggins, and said I'd explain this morning what I think happened in this intense, down-to-the-wire contest. Here goes.
Fox News:
U.N. Rejects Iran's Bid for Seat on Women's Rights Panel — The United Nations on Wednesday rejected Iran's bid for a seat to the board of the new U.N. agency to promote equality for women after fierce opposition from the United States and human rights groups to Tehran's treatment of women.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Nice Deb, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and FP Passport
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Rapper Finds Order in Orthodox Judaism in Israel — JERUSALEM — The tall man in the velvet fedora and knee-length black jacket with ritual fringes peeking out takes long, swift strides toward the Western Wall. It's late in the day, and he does not want to miss afternoon prayers at Judaism's holiest site.
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Rick Santorum: No real tea party candidates in 2012 mix — Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum says none of the GOP presidential hopefuls can truly be called tea party candidates — but he and Gary Johnson come close. — “There isn't a single candidate running for president who can claim …
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Dire Consequences of NIH Cuts — I'm pretty sure the new House majority will succeed in enacting pretty severe cuts to means-tested programs that benefit poor people. But any talk of sweeping budget cuts is going to keep running into stories like this one:
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Center for American Progress, The Other McCain, National Review and Dennis the Peasant