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:
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, Salon 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, No More Mister Nice Blog, Sister Toldjah and Balloon Juice
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.
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, MyDD, Zandar Versus The Stupid, TPMMuckraker, Talking Points Memo, 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:
Fox News, The Hill, The Politico, Wake up America, The Caucus, Unfogged, Prairie Weather, TalkLeft and The Hill
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 …
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 …
Michelle Malkin:
Document drop: S. 3992, the Dems' latest Illegal Alien DREAM Act bill — I told you this morning that the Dems were cooking up a new version of the DREAM Act to lure squishy Republicans and fence-sitting Democrats. — Here it is in full. Note: There are now four versions of the bill on the legislative calendar.
Jennifer Steinhauer / The Caucus:
Senate Republicans: No Legislation Until After Tax Cut Extension
Senate Republicans: No Legislation Until After Tax Cut Extension
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Colorado Independent, Mediaite, Gawker and Box Turtle Bulletin
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Why The GOP Is Like Bear Bryant
Why The GOP Is Like Bear Bryant
Discussion:
TalkLeft and The Caucus
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, The Plum Line, Politics Daily, Washington Post, TPMDC and CNN
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, Prairie Weather, Hotline On Call and PostPartisan
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Kyl: Tax deal needs to get done by Monday to pass START in lame-duck
Kyl: Tax deal needs to get done by Monday to pass START in lame-duck
Discussion:
TPMDC
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
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:
zunguzungu, The Huffington Post, The Caucus and Swampland
RELATED:
Ross Douthat:
The Ambitions of Julian Assange
The Ambitions of Julian Assange
Discussion:
Marginal Revolution, Time, Samizdata.net, EconLog, Swampland, War in Context and National Review, more at Mediagazer »
Guardian:
Call for WikiLeaks culprit to be executed
Call for WikiLeaks culprit to be executed
Discussion:
Reuters, LOON, TPMMuckraker, The Huffington Post, The Nation, Outside the Beltway, Wake up America, News: News blog and YID With LID
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
Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:
Gibbs: We're Not Scared Of Wikileaks — It's Only One Guy With One Website
Gibbs: We're Not Scared Of Wikileaks — It's Only One Guy With One Website
Discussion:
Hot Air and Breitbart.tv
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:
Politics Daily, New York Times, NewsBusters.org blogs and JammieWearingFool, more at Mediagazer »
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
Regulatory Reform — Usage of Federal Reserve Credit and Liquidity Facilities — This section of the website provides detailed information about the liquidity and credit programs and other monetary policy tools that the Federal Reserve used to respond to the financial crisis that emerged in the summer of 2007.
Discussion:
New York Times, Real Time Economics, Sunlight Foundation, The Daily Caller and FT Alphaville
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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — The Federal Reserve Board …
For immediate release — The Federal Reserve Board …
Discussion:
FT Alphaville and Calculated Risk
Yves Smith / naked capitalism:
Matt Stoller: End This Fed
Matt Stoller: End This Fed
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, New Deal 2.0 and Suburban Guerrilla
Myglesias / Yglesias:
Bowles-Simpson vs Current Law — Surely the strangest thing about the Bowles-Simpson debt reduction plan is that, relative to current law, it . . . increases the public debt load over the next ten years: — Obviously starting around 2020 or so Bowles-Simpson starts doing better than current law …
Discussion:
FT Alphaville, The Daily Dish and Grasping Reality …
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The Huffington Post:
Ted Strickland: Democrats Suffering From ‘Intellectual Elitism’ — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — Fresh off a narrow loss in his gubernatorial re-election campaign, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland on Wednesday offered some somber and sober-minded criticism for his own party and president.
Discussion:
The New Republic and ABCNEWS
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:
Brookings Institute, The New Republic, alicublog and Prairie Weather
Robin Bravender / The Politico:
House climate panel to be axed — House Republicans will scrap the committee set up by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate global warming, the panel's top Republican announced Wednesday. — Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) made official what many had already expected …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Watts Up With That? and Hit & Run
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, Right Wing Watch, ThinkProgress, Gawker, Weasel Zippers 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:
Hot Air and 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
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 Hill, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, The Daily Caller, FrumForum and TPMDC
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 and Booman Tribune
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 …