memeorandum: Rangel walks out of ethics hearing (Alexander Mooney/CNN)

11:10 AM ET, November 15, 2010

Top Items:

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:

A weary Rangel mounts defense in ethics trial — Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) plans to defend himself before a jury of his Congressional peers Monday without the assistance of an attorney in a fight for his personal reputation and possibly his career. — Few believe Rangel's job is on the line …

Discussion: USA Today, Taegan Goddard's … and Runnin' Scared

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Charlie Rangel walks out of ethics trial — Complaining bitterly that he was denied the right to have an attorney present, an emotional Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) walked out of his highly publicized public ethics trial Monday morning, an unexpected twist in the ethics inquiry has tarnished Rangel's four-decade congressional career.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light and Runnin' Scared

Alexander Mooney / CNN:

Rangel walks out of ethics hearing — Washington (CNN) - Embattled Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-New York, walked out of his House ethics subcommittee hearing Monday morning, complaining that he has not had sufficient time to hire a new legal team to respond to corruption allegations.

Niall Ferguson / Real Time Economics:

Open Letter to Ben Bernanke — The following is the text of an open letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signed by several economists, along with investors and political strategists, most of them close to Republicans: — We believe the Federal Reserve's large-scale asset purchase plan …

Discussion: Yglesias, Paul Krugman and LewRockwell.com Blog

Liz Capo McCormick / Bloomberg:
Options Showing Quantitative Easing Working Before It Begins

Discussion: Felix Salmon

Economics Policies for the 21st Century:
An Open Letter to Ben Bernanke

Discussion: Weekly Standard and James Pethokoukis

Wall Street Journal:
Fresh Attack on Fed Move

Discussion: New York Magazine and Mother Jones

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The World as He Finds It — On Wednesday David Axelrod, President Obama's top political adviser, appeared to signal that the White House was ready to cave on tax cuts — to give in to Republican demands that tax cuts be extended for the wealthy as well as the middle class.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

A lame and spineless duck? — The lame-duck session of Congress that kicks off this week will test whether Democrats have spines made of Play-Doh and whether President Obama has decided to pretend that capitulation is conciliation. — Congress faces an enormous amount of unfinished business …

Discussion: Mario Piperni dot Com

New York Times:
Obama Returns, Facing Unpredictable Congress in a Lame-Duck Session

Discussion: msnbc.com and Associated Press

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Vicious Infighting at NBC News — MSNBC's president vowed to fire Keith Olbermann after he threatened to take his case to other networks. Howard Kurtz on the civil war that has NBC brass—and his own staff—fuming. — Keith Olbermann was having dinner with his manager at an Upper East Side restaurant …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Mixed Media, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Booman Tribune, Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Roxana Tiron / The Hill:

'Don't ask, don't tell' presents dilemma for Dems in passing defense bill — The need to shepherd the defense authorization bill through the Senate in the lame-duck session has left the Democratic leadership with a precarious dilemma. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) …

Discussion: Wonkette, AMERICAblog Gay, The Note, AMERICAblog News and Prairie Weather

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MCCAIN MOVES THE GOAL POSTS.... A couple of months ago …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Plum Line and The Maddow Blog

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
McCain call for 'don't ask, don't tell' hearings dims repeal chances

Discussion: Wonk Room and Towleroad News #gay

Manny Gamallo / Tulsa World:

Westboro protesters face jeers and slashed tires — Related Story: McAlester soldier mourned — McALESTER - Members of a Kansas church that protests at military funerals may have found themselves in the wrong town Saturday. — Shortly after finishing their protest at the funeral of Army …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Patterico's Pontifications, HotAirPundit, Beltway Confidential and BLACKFIVE

The Politico:

GOP is urged to avoid social issues — A gay conservative group and some Tea Party leaders are campaigning to keep social issues off the Republican agenda. — In a letter to be released Monday, the group GOProud and leaders from groups like the Tea Party Patriots and the New American Patriots …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Right Wing Watch, ABCNEWS, Advocate, Connecting.the.Dots, Towleroad News #gay, FrumForum, CNN and The Hill

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Tea Party irks new members with tactic to promote its event

Discussion: The Politico and The Gateway Pundit

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

The Uncertainty Meme — Why does the economy continue to suck? The LA Times is hosting a symposium on the topic today, and USC business professor Ayse Imrohoroglu says the answer is uncertainty: … OK, let's take these one by one: — Interest rates will remain very low for a very long time.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Washington Monthly, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Winds of Change.NET, The Moderate Voice, Dennis the Peasant and Los Angeles Times

Myglesias / Yglesias:
Uncertainty and Aggregate Demand

Discussion: Dennis the Peasant

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

BUSH: ‘CLINTON AND I ARE BUDDIES’ — Despite their political differences, the Bush family has really taken to Bill Clinton. (Clinton has worked with both the 41st and 43rd presidents on humanitarian efforts.) — And CNN's Candy Crowley, during her Sunday interview with George W. Bush and his brother …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

People.com:
Bill Clinton Joins Cast of The Hangover 2

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, Shakesville, Gawker and PopEater

Peter Orszag / New York Times:

Safer Social Security — Social Security is not the key fiscal problem facing the nation. Payments to its beneficiaries amount to 5 percent of the economy now; by 2050, they're projected to rise to about 6 percent. Over the same period, federal health care costs will increase six times as much.

Discussion: The Politico, The Confluence, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Daily Kos, National Review and The Huffington Post

Becky Bohrer / Associated Press:

Murkowski maintains election write-in lead — COUNTING: About 89 percent of ballots for senator unchallenged. — JUNEAU — Sen. Lisa Murkowski retained 89 percent of the undisputed write-in votes in Alaska's still-undecided Senate race, as the fifth day of the ballot hand count ended.

Discussion: TPMDC, Wonkette, The Maddow Blog, msnbc.com and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

U.S. Plan Envisions Path to Ending Afghan Combat — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has developed a plan to begin transferring security duties in select areas of Afghanistan to that country's forces over the next 18 to 24 months, with an eye toward ending the American combat mission there by 2014, officials said Sunday.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politics Daily, Washington Post, News Desk, Danger Room, FrumForum, New York Magazine and Associated Press

Myglesias / Yglesias:

Medicare After Obama — Playing around with the NYT's deficit calculator I came up with a plan that involves raising the eligibility age for Medicare. — I'm a bleeding heart, at heart, and don't like the idea of any kind of cut on social welfare expenditures.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Balloon Juice and Crooks and Liars

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

TSA Opt-Out Day, Now with a Superfantastic New Twist! — November 24th, as many of you already know, is National Opt-Out Day, when airline passengers should refuse to submit themselves to those privacy-invading, genital-picture-taking, radiation-delivering back-scatter imaging machines now installed at many American airports.

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and The Other McCain