Top Items:
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Senate Republicans Threaten Tax Dispute Blockade — WASHINGTON — Not even 24 hours after President Obama met with senior Republican Congressional leaders and expressed hopes for a “new dialogue,” renewed partisan fury engulfed the Senate on Wednesday, as Republicans threatened to block …
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!, The Caucus, TPMCafe, Washington Monthly, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, CNN, Booman Tribune and The Other McCain
RELATED:
EconomistMom.com:
Can We Do the Non-Crazy Thing with the Bush Tax Cuts? — I am no longer going to “let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” I am no longer going to try to talk people into seeing that the “right” thing to do with the Bush tax cuts would be to let them all expire.
Discussion:
Yglesias, Economix, Obsidian Wings, Roll Call, Grasping Reality … and The Caucus
Ezra Klein:
Obama's bad poker — On page 116 of “The Promise,” Jonathan Alter describes President Obama's approach to the stimulus as “bad poker.” “Instead of holding his cards close, and then sweetening the pot for Republicans with tax cuts in the final negotiations, [Obama] offered nearly $300 billion …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice and Washington Monthly
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Boehner Blasts Dems' ‘Chickencrap’ Tax Cut Vote Gambit — 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 that might sink it …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Glen Bolger / Public Opinion Strategies:
GOP Will Retain House Control in 2012 — Guaranteed.
GOP Will Retain House Control in 2012 — Guaranteed.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Ezra Klein:
Why did the Democrats falter on the tax cuts?
Why did the Democrats falter on the tax cuts?
Discussion:
The New Republic, ABCNEWS, The Plum Line and CNN
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Hopes for cooperation dashed
Hopes for cooperation dashed
Discussion:
FT Alphaville, PostPartisan, Taylor Marsh and ABCNEWS
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Parties dare each other as tax debate heats up
Parties dare each other as tax debate heats up
Discussion:
The Politico, ABCNEWS, The Note, Washington Post, New York Times, RedState and Guardian
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.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, TPMDC, Swampland and Florida Independent
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Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Tea Partiers resist GOP healthcare repeal tactic — Tea Party lawmakers are balking at the House Republican leadership's plan to simultaneously repeal and replace President Obama's healthcare law. — The resistance from conservative lawmakers is a clear indication of the challenge Republican leaders face …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly and Zandar Versus The Stupid
Wall Street Journal:
Hedge Funds Tapped Rescue Program — Hedge funds and investors whose bearish trades on housing helped them profit amid the credit crisis were among those that benefited from a U.S. government emergency rescue program to kick-start lending, according to Federal Reserve data released Wednesday.
Discussion:
Yglesias and Seeing the Forest
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Tony Pugh / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Fed wants to strip a key protection for homeowners — WASHINGTON — As Americans continue to lose their homes in record numbers, the Federal Reserve is considering making it much harder for homeowners to stop foreclosures and escape predatory home loans with onerous terms.
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
Thomas M. Hoenig / New York Times:
Too Big to Succeed — THE world has experienced a severe …
Too Big to Succeed — THE world has experienced a severe …
Discussion:
DealBook and Prairie Weather
The Independent:
RTC — Receiving / paying for stolen property IS a crime. Once the official request to not release classified information was issued the release IS a crime. In the US the maximum penalty for that crime is death. — Mark Anthony — Why haven't British police arrested WikiLeaks boss …
Discussion:
Reuters, msnbc.com, New York Times, News: News blog, YID With LID, Raw Story, The Other McCain, Barcepundit, Time, Gawker and HotAirPundit, more at Mediagazer »
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Charlie Savage / New York Times:
U.S. Weighs Prosecution of WikiLeaks Founder, but Legal Scholars Warn …
U.S. Weighs Prosecution of WikiLeaks Founder, but Legal Scholars Warn …
Discussion:
EconoSpeak, Democracy in America, The Daily Dish, The Nation and FP Passport
Fareed Zakaria / Time:
WikiLeaks Shows the Skills of U.S. Diplomats
WikiLeaks Shows the Skills of U.S. Diplomats
Discussion:
New Atlanticist and The Daily Dish
Washington Post:
The Republican case for ratifying New START — Republican presidents have long led the crucial fight to protect the United States against nuclear dangers. That is why Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush negotiated the SALT I, START I and START II agreements.
Discussion:
Congress Blog, The Plum Line, New York Times, RedState, Federal Eye and Daily Kos
RELATED:
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Obama's time-warp focus on the New START treaty
Obama's time-warp focus on the New START treaty
Discussion:
protein wisdom and The Foundry
Richard E. Cohen / The Politico:
GOP to upend spending process — House Republicans seem intent on blowing up the staid appropriations process when they take power in January — potentially upending the old bulls in both parties who have spent decades building their power over the federal budget.
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations, Wake up America and Pirate's Cove
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
It took a guy to do this? House Speaker-elect John Boehner orders a change to benefit just 71 members — For some reason it took a male Speaker of the House to accomplish this: — The nearly six dozen female members of the incoming House of Representatives will have a new restroom …
RELATED:
Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner to create women's restroom adjacent to House floor
Boehner to create women's restroom adjacent to House floor
Discussion:
CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Reuters, American Power and The Moderate Voice
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Joe Lieberman emulates Chinese dictators — (updated below) — The comparison of these two passages is so telling in so many ways: — The Washington Post, today: … The Guardian, yesterday: … Talking Points Memo — in an article headlined: “How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks” …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, LewRockwell.com Blog, Emptywheel, Washington Post, Firedoglake and The Huffington Post
RELATED:
Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks
How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks
Discussion:
Mudville Gazette, Hot Air, VentureBeat, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, Gawker and Talking Points Memo, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Wake up America, Althouse, Instapundit, Wonk Room, Raw Story and Outside the Beltway
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
John McCain has run out of reasons to block the repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” — With the release of the Pentagon's report on “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” will Sen. John McCain and his fellow resisters man up, do the right thing, join the 21st century (as well as every other Western country) …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Guardian
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Jeremy P. Jacobs / Hotline On Call:
DeMint Sets Sights On Four Dems — South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint (R) is turning his attention to 2012 and using the vote this week on an earmark moratorium to pick his Democratic targets. — DeMint sent an email to the supporters of his Senate Conservatives Fund early Wednesday highlighting four Democrats …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC and Riehl World View
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Brown in good position — As Scott Brown's first year in the Senate comes to a close he remains an extremely formidable political presence and leads five hypothetical 2012 reelection opponents by margins ranging anywhere from 7 to 19 points. — Vicki Kennedy (48-41) and Deval Patrick …
Discussion:
Yglesias and Taegan Goddard's …
Lbentzterp / CNN:
Gingrich calls for shake-up at the RNC — Washington (CNN) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is calling for a shake-up at the Republican National Committee, another setback for Chairman Michael Steele as he decides whether to seek a second term atop the party organization.
Discussion:
The Politico and GOP 12
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Fox is quickly becoming the second-chance employer for fiery figures — Don't panic. Fox is hiring. — The leading cable news network and its business news offshoot, Fox Business Network, have made a habit of signing up reporters and media personalities who've found themselves on the wrong side in employee-employer spats.
Kevin O'Rourke / Eurointelligence:
LETTER FROM DUBLIN — It is one thing to know that someone you love is terminally ill; their death still comes as a shock. — I certainly don't want to compare the arrival of the EU-IMF team in Dublin last week to a bereavement. But I was surprised at how upsetting I found it, given that it came as no surprise.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Crooked Timber and The Irish Economy
Elisha Bala-Gbogbo / Bloomberg:
Nigeria to Charge Dick Cheney in Pipeline Bribery Case — Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) — Nigeria will file charges against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and officials from five foreign companies including Halliburton Co. over a $180 million bribery scandal, a prosecutor at the anti-graft agency said.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Emptywheel