Top Items:
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
House Dems Pass Only Middle Class Tax Cut Bill — Using a wily procedural maneuver to tie Republican hands, House Democrats managed to pass, by a vote of 234-188, legislation that will allow the Bush tax cuts benefiting only the wealthiest Americans to expire. — Democrats were not united on the issue.
Discussion:
Arkansas Blog, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, The Reality-Based Community, Daily Kos, The Impolitic and FrumForum
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Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Boehner Blasts Dems' ‘Chickencrap’ Tax Cut Vote Gambit (VIDEO) — This afternoon, House Democrats will hold an up or down vote on vote on President Obama's plan to extend tax cuts to income below $250,000, and they've figured out a way to prevent the Republicans from pulling procedural tricks …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Ezra Klein, New York Times, Salon, National Review, The Moderate Voice, Fox Nation and Hullabaloo
Ezra Klein:
‘Chicken crap’ by the numbers — Soon-to-be-House Speaker John Boehner is not happy to see the House Democrats pushing a bill that includes only the tax cuts for income under $250,000. “I'm trying to catch my breath so I don't refer to this maneuver going on today as chicken crap, all right?”
Discussion:
The Politico, Crooks and Liars, Comments from Left Field and Daily Kos
Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
CBS News Poll: Most Oppose GOP Tax Plan — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Republicans have argued that the midterm elections have given them a mandate on what they are calling one of the most …
Discussion:
CBS News and Balloon Juice
E.J. Dionne / The Moderate Voice:
Where Is Obama Going? — WASHINGTON — As I was passing through security at Boston's Logan Airport on Tuesday night, a TSA worker discovered a penny in one of the bins that had just gone through the screener. — He picked up the coin, turned to a colleague and said with a grim smile: “This is your Obama bonus.”
Discussion:
Connecting.the.Dots
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes — Thirty-three House Democrats broke with their party Thursday on a key test vote on a bill that would extend only some of the expiring Bush era tax cuts. — The House narrowly passed debate rules on the proposal 213-203.
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post and Firedoglake
Kathleen Hunter / Roll Call:
House Passes Democratic Tax Bill — The House on Thursday passed a permanent extension of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class. Democratic leaders are pointing to the vote as an example of their party's efforts to help working Americans before Republicans take control of the chamber in January.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
The Huffington Post:
Bush Tax Cuts: Fears Mount Of White House Cave On Top Priority — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — Democrats and Republicans tentatively agreed late Thursday to hold four “test votes” on Friday to see who holds the balance of power and what the final details of a tax-cut compromise will be …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Hullabaloo and AMERICAblog News
EconomistMom.com:
Can We Do the Non-Crazy Thing with the Bush Tax Cuts?
Can We Do the Non-Crazy Thing with the Bush Tax Cuts?
Discussion:
Economix, Mother Jones, Obsidian Wings, iOwnTheWorld.com, Yglesias, Grasping Reality …, Roll Call and The Caucus
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Andy Stern will vote No on deficit commission
Andy Stern will vote No on deficit commission
Discussion:
Political Punch, Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Tax deal getting close, Democrats worried Obama may cave
Tax deal getting close, Democrats worried Obama may cave
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Politico, TPMDC and Guardian
Jesus Diaz / Gizmodo:
NASA Finds New Life (Updated) — NASA has discovered a new life form—called GFAJ-1—that doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living in planet Earth. It's capable of using arsenic to build its DNA, RNA, proteins, and cell membranes. This changes everything.
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Gizmodo / Wired Science:
NASA Finds New Life Form — By Jesus Diaz, Gizmodo — Hours before its special news conference today, the cat is out of the bag: NASA has discovered a completely new life form that doesn't share the biological building blocks of anything currently living on planet Earth. This changes everything.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Commentary, National Review, Alas, a blog, TechCrunch, ironlisa.com, Hit & Run and Marginal Revolution, more at Mediagazer »
Dennis Overbye / New York Times:
Subsisting on Arsenic, Microbe May Redefine Life — Scientists said Thursday that they had trained a bacterium to eat and grow on a diet of arsenic, in place of phosphorus — one of six elements considered essential for life — opening up the possibility that organisms could exist elsewhere …
Discussion:
newsfeed.time.com, Hot Air, Watts Up With That? and The Awl
Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
Tea Party Caucus Takes $1 Billion In Earmarks — Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget.
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Tea Partiers resist GOP healthcare repeal tactic
Tea Partiers resist GOP healthcare repeal tactic
Discussion:
The Politico, Big Government, The Sundries Shack, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Washington Monthly and msnbc.com
The Politico:
Black Caucus whips for Charlie Rangel reprimand — The Congressional Black Caucus snapped into action in defense of Charles Rangel Thursday as the House prepared to censure him for 11 ethics violations. — Using whip cards produced by the office of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Gawker, JOSHUAPUNDIT, TPMMuckraker and The Gateway Pundit
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Devlin Barrett / Metropolis:
Rangel Censure Vote Is Rare Ritual
Rangel Censure Vote Is Rare Ritual
Discussion:
Big Government and Weasel Zippers
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
The DADT Hearings In Six Minutes: GOP Talking Points Debunked — This morning, during a hearing about the impact of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Washington Monthly, Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and Open Left
RELATED:
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
McCain Questions Pentagon on Repeal of Gay Ban
McCain Questions Pentagon on Repeal of Gay Ban
Discussion:
Power Line, The Daily Dish, FrumForum, Maggie's Farm, A plain blog about politics and Towleroad News #gay
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The military leadership's challenge to GOP Senators
The military leadership's challenge to GOP Senators
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo and PostPartisan
Elissa Fink / Tableau Software blogs:
Why we removed the WikiLeaks visualizations — Wednesday afternoon, Tableau Software removed data visualizations published by WikiLeaks to Tableau Public. We understand this is a sensitive issue and want to assure the public and our users that this was not an easy decision, nor one that we took lightly.
Discussion:
Guardian, techPresident, TPMMuckraker and Salon, more at Techmeme »
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
More Joe Lieberman-caused Internet censorship
More Joe Lieberman-caused Internet censorship
Discussion:
Hit & Run, TPMMuckraker and The Atlantic Online
Lbentzterp / CNN:
TRENDING: An Unscripted Moment on Palin's book tour — Spirit Lake, Iowa (CNN) - It was an unscripted moment on Sarah Palin's tour to promote her new book, “America by Heart.” As hundreds of Palin's fans filed inside a cordoned off area of a northern Iowa Walmart today …
Kendra Marr / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich wants immigration overhaul — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has a bold goal for the next decade: Overhaul the country's immigration system so that every worker in the United States is legal. — “We are not going to deport 11 million people,” Gingrich said Thursday as he kicked off his first forum on Latino issues.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Politics Daily
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Manu Raju / The Politico:
Jim DeMint assures GOP senators a pass — South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is privately reassuring his Republican colleagues up for reelection that he won't recruit or endorse any primary opponent against them, vowing to raise more than $10 million aimed mainly at taking down Democratic incumbents.
Discussion:
GOP 12
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Jeremy P. Jacobs / Hotline On Call:
DeMint Sets Sights On Four Dems
DeMint Sets Sights On Four Dems
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, TPMDC and Riehl World View
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
JUAN WILLIAMS ON UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — If we want people to work and keep up their work ethic, why are we keeping them on unemployment insurance to not work? — That seems to be Juan Williams take on the current situation. In this clip from Fox News today Juan Williams explains …
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Eric Lach / TPMDC:
Juan Williams: Extended Jobless Benefits Hurt The Unemployed (VIDEO)
Juan Williams: Extended Jobless Benefits Hurt The Unemployed (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid and Hullabaloo
Washington Post:
Presenting plan to cut deficit, commission members offer surprising compromises — Members of President Obama's bipartisan deficit commission expressed a surprising willingness Wednesday to compromise on issues that have long divided Republicans and Democrats, including raising taxes and cutting Social Security.
RELATED:
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Conrad predicts fiscal panel won't pass plan
Sen. Conrad predicts fiscal panel won't pass plan
Discussion:
The Politico and National Review
Sam Roberts / City Room:
A Month After Elections, 200,000 Votes Found — The city's Board of Elections routinely reminds New Yorkers that the election night vote count is unofficial and preliminary. — Still, the difference in the results from Nov. 2 and in the returns formally certified by the board on Wednesday seems striking …
Discussion:
The BRAD BLOG
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Deficit commission: What ObamaCare needs is ... death panels — The good news for Barack Obama: the Associated Press reports today that Obama's deficit commission wants to keep most of ObamaCare in place. The bad news: they pronounce it unsustainable — unless it includes hard caps on c0verage and decisions made to stop care.
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin.com
RELATED:
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
Deficit panel takes tough stance on health costs
Deficit panel takes tough stance on health costs
Discussion:
YID With LID
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
A strange way to honor the founding fathers — Republicans gained control of the House last month on a promise to “restore the Constitution.” So it is no small irony that one of their first orders of business is an attempt to rewrite the Constitution. — On Tuesday, Rep. Rob Bishop …