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Delaying Vote, Debt Panel Splits on Taxes and Spending — WASHINGTON — The chairmen of President Obama's debt-reduction commission have been unable to win support from any of the panel's elected officials for their proposed spending cuts and tax increases, underscoring the reluctance …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, msnbc.com, Commentary, Taegan Goddard's …, National Review and Daily Kos
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Commission's final deficit report preserves controversial spending cuts; panel to vote Friday on whether to endorse plan — The leaders of President Obama's fiscal commission released a final report Wednesday that is full of political dynamite, including sharp cuts in military spending …
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Taylor Marsh

In Tax Cuts, the Options Run Short — Democrats have left themselves in a tough spot on the Bush tax cuts. After delaying the issue until after the election and then being trounced in that election, they find themselves with little leverage. — If they cannot come up with a plan …
Discussion:
The Politico, TalkLeft, The Caucus, Unfogged and Prairie Weather

WikiLeaks: Interpol issues wanted notice for Julian Assange — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange facing growing legal problems around world — • Full coverage of the WikiLeaks cables — The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is tonight facing growing legal problems around the world …
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WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Tells TIME: Hillary Clinton ‘Should Resign’ — Hillary Clinton, Julian Assange said, “should resign.” Speaking over Skype from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, the WikiLeaks founder was replying to a question by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel …
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The Politico, Reuters, The Hill, Guardian, The Nation, The Lede, The Confluence, News: News blog, NewsReal Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Caucus, GOP 12, Associated Press, Weekly Standard, Politics Daily, Hot Air, DealBook, FrumForum, The Page, Gawker and McClatchy Washington Bureau

WikiLeaks Chief Is Put on Interpol List
Discussion:
The Reaction, Time, The Volokh Conspiracy, FrumForum and Gawker

Judge upholds healthcare reform law — A federal judge in Virginia on Tuesday rejected a legal challenge to the healthcare reform law, the second time the law's mandate that people buy insurance has been ruled constitutional. — The lawsuit was brought by Liberty University …
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Another Health Care Court Victory
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Swampland

Is GOP Breaking Silence on Sarah Palin for President? — Among Potential GOP Contenders, Politeness Still Rules — When the television host and former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough published a scathing op-ed piece in Politico against Sarah Palin on Tuesday, he was not only trying to put a dent in her presidential ambitions.
Discussion:
CNN, Ben Smith's Blog and The Politico
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Scarborough Attacks Palin, Agrees To Help Launch Centrist Civility Group — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — TV's Joe Scarborough, who today dismissed Sarah Palin as a symbol of “anti-intellectualism” with a “dopey dream” of being president, will help headline the launch next month …


House May Block Food Safety Bill Over Senate Error — A food safety bill that has burned up precious days of the Senate's lame-duck session appears headed back to the chamber because Democrats violated a constitutional provision requiring that tax provisions originate in the House.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's …, The Volokh Conspiracy and National Review
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Senate GOP letter calls for blocking most bills — WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans intend to block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending in the current postelection session of Congress, officials said Tuesday …
Discussion:
Fox News, ThinkProgress, Bloomberg, AMERICAblog Gay, Political Punch, USA Today and Alan Colmes' Liberaland


Cantor Urges ‘Open Mind’ On VA Legislature Plan To Blow Up The Constitution — Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is part of a class of Republicans who say they want to change the country fundamentally — and to that end, Cantor isn't dismissing a plan by legislators in his home state …
Discussion:
Comments from Left Field, Firedoglake, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and FrumForum

I'm A Gay Guy And A Veteran — I'm a gay guy, meaning I'm pretty carefree and happy, pretty tolerant, and not a homosexual. At the same time, I'm pretty focused and results-oriented, but not to an excess unfair to others. So, how do I react to the Pentagon's study of the effects of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell?
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Power Line, National Review, PostPartisan and Hot Air
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Mullen Endorses Working Group's Report
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, American Forces Press Service, Politics Daily, PostPartisan, msnbc.com, Booman Tribune, New York Times, TPMDC, AMERICAblog Gay, ABCNEWS, The Plum Line, Mother Jones, Danger Room, C-SPAN Recent Video, American Prospect, Federal Eye, The Volokh Conspiracy, White House.gov Blog Feed, Taylor Marsh, TPMMuckraker, Wonk Room, Teddy Partridge's myFDL diary, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Crooks and Liars, Salon, Balloon Juice, The Huffington Post, Advocate, Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Wire, Shakesville, The Daily Dish and Arkansas Blog

30 Most Dynamic Cities in the World — What is the most dynamic city in the post-recession world? — The surprising answer is Istanbul, according to a new report that shows the developing world is leading the way out of the Great Recession. — Grading each metropolis by the growth …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
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Global MetroMonitor: The Path to Economic Recovery — Cities, Global Economics, Global Financial Crisis — Alan Berube, Senior Fellow and Research Director, Metropolitan Policy Program — Philipp Rode, Executive Director, LSE Cities — The Brookings Institution, London School of Economics and Political Science


Fiscal Commission Final Report — Get your fresh catfood! — FDL has obtained a copy of the Catfood Commission final report in advance of its official 9:30 release. — It can be downloaded here: PDF — Their reigning spirit of self-importance comes through on the very first page: “The Moment of Truth.”

Health Care Union Drops Coverage For Children — Perhaps you have to be familiar with New York politics to understand how truly bizarre this story is: 1199 is dropping its health care coverage for children. 1199 is the extraordinarily powerful local health care workers' union which has pushed …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, RedState, Pundit & Pundette and Pajamas Media


State seeks expedited ruling in Miller lawsuit — VOTE SUIT: Alaska risks being deprived of a senator, they say. — The state is asking a judge to decide a case over Alaska's still-disputed U.S. Senate race by next week. — In court papers, attorneys for the state seek a ruling by Dec. 9 due to …
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Hotline On Call

Inaugural scoop: Steelman files for Senate — Former Missouri state treasurer Sarah Steelman is expected to file the official paperwork Wednesday to run for U.S. Senate in 2012, POLITICO has learned. — Before filing as a candidate with the Secretary of the Senate this afternoon …
Discussion:
Ballot Box


Co-host spittin' mad over Spitzer — Tweet — Eliot Spitzer's TV sidekick is so fed up with playing second fiddle to the hooker-loving ex-gov that she's threatening to walk, sources told The Post yesterday. — Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker actually stormed off the set of the …
Discussion:
Gawker and JammieWearingFool


Catholics Fire Back in Christmas Billboard Battle — The latest salvo in the Christmas wars has landed, blocks from the New York entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel. — The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has responded to a a Christmas-debunking billboard sponsored by American Atheists …
Discussion:
Pharyngula, News Hounds and Joe. My. God.


Here I am listening — for the first time — to Rush Limbaugh talking about me. — I've got the podcast of today's show, where he's reading from this blog post of mine: — And let me invite Rush to go on Bloggingheads.tv and diavlog with me about the so-called chickification problems that plague our world today.
Discussion:
RushLimbaugh.com and sisu


Europe's Crisis Widens — Italy, Spain See Bonds Sink, Portugal Faces Rating Cut as Faith in Rescue Ebbs — In Rome, students protesting spending cuts clashed with police — Investors dismissed European leaders' latest attempt to restore market calm, raising doubts about whether governments …
Discussion:
New York Times and The Page

Bolton does not believe two-state solution is working — He also said the revealed Arab support also punctures the Obama administration's contention that progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was needed to help rally the Arab world's help on Iran.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

From WikiChina — While secrets from WikiLeaks were splashed all over the American newspapers, I couldn't help but wonder: What if China had a WikiLeaker and we could see what its embassy in Washington was reporting about America? I suspect the cable would read like this:
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, Guardian, National Review and China Digital Times

F.C.C. Chairman Outlines Broadband Framework — WASHINGTON — Thwarted by the courts, by lawmakers on Capitol Hill and by some of his fellow commissioners, the Federal Communications Commission chairman will try again on Wednesday to devise a new strategy for regulating broadband Internet service providers.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »