Top Items:
New York Times:
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 …
RELATED:
John Stanton / Roll Call:
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.
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
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.”
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Paul Krugman and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ALL 42 SENATE REPUBLICANS ANNOUNCE HOSTAGE PLAN.... The AP had an item late last night, noting that Senate Republicans were circulating a letter, “quietly collecting signatures” on a plan to “block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending.”
Discussion:
Republican.Senate.Gov and Balloon Juice
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
DADT No More? Republicans Threaten To Block All Dem Initiatives — Just hours after Democrats and Republicans agreed to bargain on tax cuts, and fewer hours still after Defense Secretary Robert Gates implored Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell this year, word leaked that Republicans …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Guardian, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Talking Points Memo, MyDD, TPMMuckraker, Wonkette and Joe. My. God.
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
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, Wake up America, The Caucus, Unfogged, Prairie Weather, TalkLeft and The Hill
David Espo / Associated Press:
Senate GOP letter calls for blocking most bills — WASHINGTON — 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 …
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
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:
The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Daily Kos, FrumForum and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Jennifer Steinhauer / The Caucus:
Senate Republicans: No Legislation Until After Tax Cut Extension
Senate Republicans: No Legislation Until After Tax Cut Extension
Discussion:
Colorado Independent, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, Gawker and Box Turtle Bulletin
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Vast Majority Wants Some Aspect of Bush Tax Cuts Extended
Vast Majority Wants Some Aspect of Bush Tax Cuts Extended
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Politics Daily, TPMDC and CNN
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Why The GOP Is Like Bear Bryant
Why The GOP Is Like Bear Bryant
Discussion:
TalkLeft and The Caucus
Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:
Today's Power Play: Republicans and Democrats Play Chicken With Lame Duck
Today's Power Play: Republicans and Democrats Play Chicken With Lame Duck
Discussion:
AMERICAblog Gay and Pam's House Blend
First Read / msnbc.com:
GOP to block all bills until tax cuts are addressed
GOP to block all bills until tax cuts are addressed
Discussion:
Swampland and Associated Press
Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
All About the Tax Cuts — Nothing will happen in Congress …
All About the Tax Cuts — Nothing will happen in Congress …
Discussion:
Washington Post, RedState and Hotline On Call
Fox News:
Senate Republicans Vow to Block Dem Legislation Until Tax Cuts, Budget Pass
Senate Republicans Vow to Block Dem Legislation Until Tax Cuts, Budget Pass
Discussion:
The Hill, protein wisdom and Sister Toldjah
Alan Silverleib / CNN:
Senate GOPers: Take up tax cuts first
Senate GOPers: Take up tax cuts first
Discussion:
Economist's View, Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers and EconoSpeak
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The moral standards of WikiLeaks critics — (updated below - Update II) — Time's Joe Klein writes this about the WikiLeaks disclosures: … Do you have that principle down? If “a single foreign national is rounded up and put in jail” because of the WikiLeaks disclosure — even a …
Discussion:
Guardian, The Huffington Post, zunguzungu and TalkLeft
RELATED:
Yglesias:
The Strategy of WikiLeaks — Ezra Klein on the likely consequences of WikiLeaking:
The Strategy of WikiLeaks — Ezra Klein on the likely consequences of WikiLeaking:
Discussion:
TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice and The Duck of Minerva
Guardian:
Call for WikiLeaks culprit to be executed
Call for WikiLeaks culprit to be executed
Discussion:
Reuters, LOON, Time, The Nation and Outside the Beltway
Mike Baker / Associated Press:
Bill Clinton expects leak of files to cost lives
Bill Clinton expects leak of files to cost lives
Discussion:
Politics Daily, FrumForum and Washington Post
Tara Palmeri / New York Post:
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:
NewsBusters.org blogs and JammieWearingFool, more at Mediagazer »
Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
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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Kevin Sack / New York Times:
Judge Rejects Health Law Challenge
Judge Rejects Health Law Challenge
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Washington Monthly, Law Blog and Outside the Beltway
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
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:
The New Republic, Brookings Institute, alicublog and Prairie Weather
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
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 …
James P. Rubin / The New Republic:
The Irony of Wikileaks — By threatening U.S. diplomacy, the hard left is undercutting its own worldview. — There's no question that many of the Wikileaks documents are a great read. These diplomatic conversations between American officials and leaders from the Arab world, China …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Booman Tribune and The Atlantic Online
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Cheney to co-host fundraiser for Cino in RNC race — Washington (CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney and a clutch of former George W. Bush advisers have a horse in the Republican National Committee chairman race: Maria Cino. — CNN has learned that Cheney will be among the hosts next Tuesday …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, Ben Smith's Blog, The Daily Caller, FrumForum and TPMDC
Rasmussen Reports:
Partisan Trends — Partisan Trends: Republicans 36.0%, Democrats 34.7%, First GOP Lead Ever — In November, 36.0% of American Adults identified themselves as Republicans; 34.7% considered themselves Democrats, and 29.3% were not affiliated with either major party.
Discussion:
Commentary
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
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:
Hit & Run, Betsy's Page, National Review, Guardian and China Digital Times
Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:
Gibbs: We're Not Scared Of Wikileaks — It's Only One Guy With One Website — What do you do when the Obfuscator in Chief refuses to even say that Julian Assange acted stupidly? Well, you throw White House Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs in front of the camera and have him repeat multiple times that Assange is irrelevant.
Discussion:
Hot Air and Breitbart.tv
Jim Myers / Tulsa World:
Inhofe refuses to participate in ‘holiday’ parade — WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Tuesday that he won't participate in Tulsa's Holiday Parade of Lights until organizers put “Christ” back in the event's title. — “Last year, the forces of political correctness removed the word 'Christmas …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Right Wing Watch, TPMDC and Weasel Zippers
Michael J. Boskin / Wall Street Journal:
Why the Spending Stimulus Failed — New economic research shows why lower tax rates do far more to spur growth. — President Obama and congressional leaders meeting yesterday confronted calls for four key fiscal decisions: short-run fiscal stimulus, medium-term fiscal consolidation, and long-run tax and entitlement reform.
Discussion:
Right Turn, AmSpecBlog, NewsBusters.org and Shot in the Dark