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:
Guardian, The Reality-Based Community, Arkansas Blog, Daily Kos, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Impolitic and FrumForum
RELATED:
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:
Politics Daily, Donklephant, CBS News and Balloon Juice
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, National Review, Ezra Klein, Salon, New York Times, The Moderate Voice and Fox Nation
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, Daily Kos, Comments from Left Field and Crooks and Liars
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
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, AMERICAblog News and Hullabaloo
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes
Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN and Firedoglake
Kathleen Hunter / Roll Call:
House Passes Democratic Tax Bill
House Passes Democratic Tax Bill
Discussion:
Associated Press and Washington Monthly
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:
Mother Jones, Economix, iOwnTheWorld.com, Obsidian Wings, Yglesias, Grasping Reality …, The Caucus and Roll Call
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Andy Stern will vote No on deficit commission
Andy Stern will vote No on deficit commission
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Political Punch and Washington Post
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Boehner rips House Democrats tax vote as ‘chicken crap’
Boehner rips House Democrats tax vote as ‘chicken crap’
Discussion:
The Note, Firedoglake, Political Correction RSS, The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Page, American Power and Reuters
Patricia Murphy / Politics Daily:
John Boehner Calls Vote on Middle-Class-Only Tax Cut ‘Chicken Crap’
John Boehner Calls Vote on Middle-Class-Only Tax Cut ‘Chicken Crap’
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and American Power
Ezra Klein:
Why did the Democrats falter on the tax cuts?
Why did the Democrats falter on the tax cuts?
Discussion:
The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Plum Line, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh and ABCNEWS
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
House passes legislation to extend only some tax cuts
House passes legislation to extend only some tax cuts
Discussion:
Babalú Blog and New York Magazine
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:
Microbe Finds Arsenic Tasty; Redefines 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.
RELATED:
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Tea Partiers resist GOP healthcare repeal tactic
Tea Partiers resist GOP healthcare repeal tactic
Discussion:
Big Government, The Politico, The Sundries Shack, Zandar Versus The Stupid, msnbc.com and Washington Monthly
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Why Mike Pence Could Steal Sarah Palin's Thunder … “If Mike Pence keeps talking, the left will soon have to stop talking about Sarah Palin.” — That's according to The Detroit News' Nolan Finley's latest editorial. Finley goes on to note that, “Mike Pence is no Sarah Palin.
Discussion:
Detroit News, Hot Air and GOP 12
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William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The Republican Party Can't Win Without The Support of Palin Supporters — I posted yesterday about Ed Rollins being the latest of the “I knew Reagan” types to use a variation on Lloyd Bentsen's “You're no Jack Kennedy” line against Sarah Palin. — Rollins was Mike Huckabee's campaign manager …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, HillBuzz.org, Cubachi, Liberty Pundits Blog and Conservatives4Palin.com
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:
techPresident, msnbc.com, Boing Boing, TPMMuckraker, Guardian 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:
Crooks and Liars, TPMMuckraker, Hit & Run and The Atlantic Online, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
McCain Questions Pentagon on Repeal of Gay Ban — WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain stuck to his tough position against repealing the “don't ask, don't tell” law, telling the military's leaders that many combat troops foresaw problems if gay men and women are allowed to serve openly.
Discussion:
CNN, The Atlantic Online, Power Line, The Daily Dish, Maggie's Farm, FrumForum, A plain blog about politics and Towleroad News #gay
RELATED:
Bristol Palin / Facebook:
Mr. Olbermann—Sorry We Can't All Be As Perfect As You — Recently, a left wing commentator named Keith Olbermann attacked me for being a spokesperson for abstinence education and for being an Ambassador for the Candies Foundation, which promotes teen pregnancy awareness and prevention education.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Wonkette
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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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.
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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
Bill Gertz / Washington Times:
Inside the Ring: Counterspies hunt Russian mole inside National Security Agency — NSA mole hunt — The National Security Agency (NSA) is conducting a counterintelligence probe at its Fort Meade, Md., headquarters in a top-secret hunt for a Russian agent, according to a former intelligence official close to the agency.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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
RELATED:
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
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