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Freezing Out Hope — After the Democratic “shellacking” in the midterm elections, everyone wondered how President Obama would respond. Would he show what he was made of? Would he stand firm for the values he believes in, even in the face of political adversity?
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Obama, GOP in quiet talks to extend tax cuts — The White House and congressional Republicans have begun working behind the scenes toward a broad deal that would prevent taxes from going up for virtually every U.S. family and authorize billions of dollars in fresh spending to bolster the economy.
Discussion:
Right Turn, The Hill, USA Today, Ezra Klein, Wall Street Journal, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Politico, The Plum Line and FrumForum


Obama Seeking Aid for Jobless in Deal on Tax Cuts — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is holding out for an extension of unemployment assistance and of a variety of expiring tax breaks for low-wage and middle-income workers as part of a deal with Congressional Republicans to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts.
Discussion:
The Note, New York Times, Felix Salmon, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, The Caucus, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

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:
ThinkProgress, The Gavel, The Nation, Politics Daily, Donklephant, CBS News, The Hill and Balloon Juice

Frank: White House ‘gravely mistaken’ in tax cut strategy
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

Senate Democrats to force GOP to vote on tax cuts this Saturday
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Hot Air and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Senate Planning Four Tax Cut Votes Tomorrow
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Associated Press

Bush Tax Cuts: Fears Mount Of White House Cave On Top Priority
Discussion:
Political Punch, Right Turn, TPMDC, DownWithTyranny!, The Daily Caller, Connecting.the.Dots, The Plum Line, AMERICAblog News and Hullabaloo

Over 30 Democrats defect as test vote on tax cuts passes
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Firedoglake


Disappointing Job Growth in U.S. as Jobless Rate Hits 9.8% — In a significant setback to the recovery and market expectations, the United States economy added just 39,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent, according to the Department of Labor.
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Economy Added Fewer Jobs Than Expected in November — WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in November and the unemployment rate rose to its highest level since April, underlining the continued weakness in the labor market 17 months into the recovery.
Discussion:
Washington Wire and Taegan Goddard's …


An ugly jobs report — The November jobs report is ugly. Last month, the jobs report showed the economy added 150,000 jobs, sparking hopes that recovery was underway. And the recent economic data had been good: Black Friday saw a lot of shoppers, and initial unemployment claims had been going down.
Discussion:
Calculated Risk, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online and The Daily Dish


AWFUL MONTHLY JOBS REPORT SHOULD WAKE UP WASHINGTON.... I noticed McClatchy ran a story overnight with a headline that read, “Friday's November jobs report expected to be rosy.” The headline was wrong — the report is genuinely awful. — After seeing an encouraging trend through the fall …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Crooks and Liars and New York Times

Unemployment Rises to 9.8% as U.S. Adds Just 39,000 Jobs
Discussion:
protein wisdom and Zandar Versus The Stupid


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:
Big Journalism, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette and JammieWearingFool


Time to Shut Down the FCC — More transistors exist today than ever and there is plenty of capacity inside fiber-optic cables and out in the air. What's missing is competition for consumers. — It's time to close the Federal Communications Commission. This week, FCC Chairman Julius …
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Julian Assange answers your questions — The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, answers readers' questions about the release of more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables — Fwoggie … Julian Assange: — I am an Australian citizen and I miss my country a great deal.
Discussion:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Gothamist, msnbc.com and News: News blog, more at Techmeme »
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Helen Thomas is At it Again-Says Those Rich Jews Control America — Proving once again that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, former White House Correspondent Helen Thomas told an anti-Arab-Bias workshop in Dearboran Michigan that she absolutely stands by her ugly comments about Jews …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media, Solomonia and Elder of Ziyon

The Mind in Motion — Going through one of Martin Luther King's assessments of Black Power, and I came across this quote: … King doesn't retreat from his ultimate belief that Black Power is a “nihilistic philosophy.” But what I love here is that there's actual movement in King's writing …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein

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, this CNN crew popped …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Des Moines Register and Towleroad News #gay


House censures Rep. Charles Rangel in 333-79 vote — In the final minutes as the votes were tallied on the board above him, Rep. Charles B. Rangel stood alone, his mouth open, watching the count rise. After 21/2 years of pleading his innocence and $2 million in legal fees …
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org, Gothamist, New York Times, Outside the Beltway and Election Law
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A Tax Reform Vision — I have a vision. — Sometime over the next couple of weeks, President Obama issues a statement that reads: “Over the past several months, Republicans and Democrats have been fighting over what to do with the Bush tax cuts. I have my own views …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org blogs, Right Turn and EconLog


Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans' Credit Cards in Real Time — Federal law enforcement agencies have been tracking Americans in real-time using credit cards, loyalty cards and travel reservations without getting a court order, a new document released under a government sunshine request shows.
Discussion:
Classical Values, Outside the Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit

Fiscal Plan Is Expected to Fall Short of Votes — WASHINGTON — The ambitious debt-reduction plan before President Obama's bipartisan commission is likely to get a majority but fall short on Friday of the votes needed to send it to Congress for a vote. — Yet in drawing greater-than-expected support …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Monthly, Robert Reich and Suburban Guerrilla


McCain Exudes Grumpiness At DADT Hearing — Since President Obama announced his intent to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell in this year's State of the Union Address, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — who had previously said that he was open to considering repeal if the military carefully studied …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice, BLACKFIVE, ThinkProgress, Pam's House Blend, Daily Kos, Prop 8 Trial Tracker and C-SPAN

Justice Unbound — Watching the post-retirement emergence of Justice John Paul Stevens is almost enough to make me a fan of term limits for Supreme Court justices. — Not to be misunderstood — I'm not suggesting that Justice Stevens should have ended his 35-year Supreme Court career a moment sooner than he did.
Discussion:
Althouse and Hullabaloo


Arizona Cuts Financing for Transplant Patients — PHOENIX — Even physicians with decades of experience telling patients that their lives are nearing an end are having difficulty discussing a potentially fatal condition that has arisen in Arizona: Death by budget cut.
Discussion:
Gawker

Hardline Pakistan cleric offers reward to kill Christian woman — PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A hardline, pro-Taliban Pakistani Muslim cleric Friday offered a reward for anyone who kills a Christian woman sentenced to death by a court on charges of insulting Islam.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report and Jihad Watch

Monetary Policy: Fed Critic Ron Paul's Power Play — The Fed critic and gold bug could chair the House panel on monetary policy — Retiring New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, one of the Federal Reserve's most stalwart Republican supporters, showed up for a meeting at the central bank …


Wikileaks' Domain Gets ‘Killed’ — After getting dropped by Amazon's web hosting service yesterday, Wikileak was booted today from its Domain Name Service provider. Now Wikileaks is down again, and effectively homeless. — In a statement, EveryDNS says they were forced to terminate …
Discussion:
New York Magazine