Top Items:
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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?
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast, Suburban Guerrilla, Prairie Weather, The Confluence, Riehl World View and Ezra Klein
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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.
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:
Donklephant, Politics Daily, The Nation, The Hill, CBS News, Balloon Juice and EconomistMom.com
New York Times:
Obama Seeking Aid for Jobless in Any 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:
ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Hill, Scarecrow's myFDL diary, Washington Post, TPMDC, Daily Kos, The Caucus and Washington Monthly
Washington Post:
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:
Washington Monthly, Ezra Klein, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Politico and FrumForum
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:
Right Turn, Political Punch, TPMDC, The Plum Line, The Daily Caller, Connecting.the.Dots, 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, Squawk Box, CNN, New York Magazine and Firedoglake
Ezra Klein:
‘Chicken crap’ by the numbers
‘Chicken crap’ by the numbers
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 …
Where Is Obama Going? — WASHINGTON — As I was passing through …
Discussion:
CNN
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, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette and JammieWearingFool
Washington Post:
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:
Outside the Beltway, Gothamist and Election Law
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Richard Simon / Los Angeles Times:
House censures Rep. Charles Rangel
House censures Rep. Charles Rangel
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
The Politico:
Black Caucus whips for Charlie Rangel reprimand
Black Caucus whips for Charlie Rangel reprimand
Discussion:
Big Government, ABCNEWS, Gawker, DownWithTyranny!, JOSHUAPUNDIT, TPMMuckraker and The Gateway Pundit
David Kocieniewski / New York Times:
Rangel Censured Over Violations of Ethics Rules
Rangel Censured Over Violations of Ethics Rules
Discussion:
City Room
Devlin Barrett / Metropolis:
Rangel Censure Vote Is Rare Ritual
Rangel Censure Vote Is Rare Ritual
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Big Government and Weasel Zippers
Lbentzterp / CNN:
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
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Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
Why Mike Pence Could Steal Sarah Palin's Thunder
Why Mike Pence Could Steal Sarah Palin's Thunder
Discussion:
Detroit News, Hot Air and GOP 12
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
The Republican Party Can't Win Without The Support of Palin Supporters
The Republican Party Can't Win Without The Support of Palin Supporters
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, HillBuzz.org, Liberty Pundits Blog and Cubachi
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
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.
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Washington Monthly, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit and Economix
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Catherine Rampell / New York Times:
Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way
Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way
Discussion:
Parker Spitzer, Right Turn, Economix, Economist's View, The Other McCain and Calculated Risk
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
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, Questions and Observations, ThinkProgress, Pam's House Blend, Daily Kos and C-SPAN
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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.
RELATED:
Gizmodo / Wired Science:
NASA Finds New Life Form
NASA Finds New Life Form
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, NASA, Commentary, TechCrunch, ironlisa.com, Alas, a blog, National Review, Hit & Run and Marginal Revolution, more at Mediagazer »
Dennis Overbye / New York Times:
Microbe Finds Arsenic Tasty; Redefines Life
Microbe Finds Arsenic Tasty; Redefines Life
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air and newsfeed.time.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, Guardian, Boing Boing and TPMMuckraker, more at Techmeme »
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
More Joe Lieberman-caused Internet censorship
More Joe Lieberman-caused Internet censorship
Discussion:
The Nation, TPMMuckraker, Guardian, Hit & Run, Crooks and Liars and The Atlantic Online, more at Techmeme »
David Brooks / New York Times:
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
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:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FrumForum
Terry / CNSNews:
Bachmann: ‘There Needs To Be an Insurrection’ Against GOP Leaders If They Don't Hold Straight Vote to Repeal Obamacare — (CNSNews.com) — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.), founder and chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus, told CNSNews.com that there will need to be an “insurrection” …
Discussion:
The Politico and Weasel Zippers
Dick Durbin / Chicago Tribune:
Why I'm voting ‘yes’ — Sen. Dick Durbin announces that he will vote in favor of the U.S. deficit commission plan — On Friday, when President Barack Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform gathers to consider a plan to bring our national debt under control, I will be voting yes.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and Washington Post
Ryan Singel / Threat Level:
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:
LewRockwell.com Blog, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:
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.
Mark Tapscott / Washington Examiner:
Washington is why the economy is not growing — With unemployment still near 10 percent, and experts saying that won't change much, if at all, in 2011, it seems clear the economy is dead in the water. We need look no further than right here in the nation's capital to understand why.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page