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:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Brilliant at Breakfast, Shot in the Dark, AMERICAblog News, Washington Post, Left Coast Rebel, Balloon Juice, The Confluence, Prairie Weather, Taylor Marsh, Suburban Guerrilla, The Impolitic, The Huffington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Riehl World View and The Hill
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The Huffington Post:
Harkin: If Obama Caves On Taxes, He Better Pray For Palin In 2012 — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — The sense of frustration among Senate Democrats over the White House's handling of the tax cut debate has grown throughout the week, culminating in a series of articles …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Guardian and GOP 12
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.
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Frank: White House ‘gravely mistaken’ in tax cut strategy — The White House is “gravely mistaken” to deal on tax cuts while congressional Democrats seek tax cut legislation that let the breaks expire for the highest earners, a top Democrat said. — Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Note and Weasel Zippers
Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:
CBS Poll Finds Only 46 Percent Of Republicans Support GOP's Stand …
CBS Poll Finds Only 46 Percent Of Republicans Support GOP's Stand …
Discussion:
Boston Globe and The Gavel
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.
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Economy Added Fewer Jobs Than Expected in November
Economy Added Fewer Jobs Than Expected in November
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, Washington Wire, Commentary and American Power
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
AWFUL MONTHLY JOBS REPORT SHOULD WAKE UP WASHINGTON. …
AWFUL MONTHLY JOBS REPORT SHOULD WAKE UP WASHINGTON. …
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Crooks and Liars and New York Times
Ezra Klein:
An ugly jobs report
An ugly jobs report
Discussion:
Free exchange, Guardian, National Review and The Daily Dish
Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
Military chiefs advocate keeping 'Don't ask' for now; McCain threatens block — The top Marine Corps, Army and Air Force officers said Friday Congress should not scrap the “Don't ask, don't tell” policy in the near-term, and a key Senate Republican threatened to block a bill containing repeal language from being debated.
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, FrumForum and New York Times
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Can we please have some nuance? — It's being widely reported right …
Can we please have some nuance? — It's being widely reported right …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Daily Dish
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
Service Chiefs Agree That Certification Process Would Allow …
Service Chiefs Agree That Certification Process Would Allow …
Discussion:
New York Times and Towleroad News #gay
Gordon Lubold / The Politico:
Marines, Air Force don't endorse 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
Marines, Air Force don't endorse 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
Discussion:
AMERICAblog Gay
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Deficit panel's plan goes down to defeat — In an 11-7 vote, President Obama's fiscal commission on Friday failed to adopt a sweeping plan for reining in the federal budget deficit. — The panel had been working since February on a plan that would cut almost $4 trillion in deficit spending …
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Jeanne Sahadi / CNNMoney.com:
Debt plan draws bipartisan support
Debt plan draws bipartisan support
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, Fortune, RedState and AmSpecBlog
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Hillary Clinton: State is ‘last’ public post — Hillary Clinton says, ‘I think I will serve as secretary of state as my last public position.’ — Secretary of state will be Hillary Clinton's “last public position,” she said Friday, yet again tamping down speculation that she's plotting …
Discussion:
CNN
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Glenn Kessler / Checkpoint Washington:
Clinton calls State job her ‘last public position’
Clinton calls State job her ‘last public position’
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Reuters:
Hillary Clinton says she in her last public job
Hillary Clinton says she in her last public job
Discussion:
The Hill, Wonkette and New York Magazine
Chusa / ConservativeHome's Survey blog:
The top ten pundits among Republican activists — 1,152 Republican activists, as identified by YouGov America and polled by ConservativeHome.com, have chosen their favorite pundits. — These pundits, more than any other, will be the talking heads who will influence the choice of the GOP's nominee for 2012.
Discussion:
Lean Left and The Daily Dish
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Ron Paul stands up for Julian Assange — Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is taking a stand as one of Julian Assange's few defenders in Washington, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder should get the same protections as the media. — Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that the Justice Department …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Lawfare
RELATED:
Guardian:
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:
Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Mediaite, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Nation, techPresident, Gothamist and News: News blog, more at Techmeme »
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
The Mystery of John McCain — I have been on the road, got home late tonight (while my wife is traveling elsewhere), and amused myself with.... the C-SPAN rebroadcast of today's Don't Ask Don't Tell Senate hearings. Yes, this is exciting life for a member of The Atlantic's team.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Daniel W. Drezner, The Moderate Voice and Prairie Weather
RELATED:
Isabel Black / iava.org:
IAVA Joins Top Military Leaders in Supporting Repeal of DADT
IAVA Joins Top Military Leaders in Supporting Repeal of DADT
Discussion:
New York Times, Wonk Room, Prop 8 Trial Tracker and Pam's House Blend
Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
McCain Exudes Grumpiness At DADT Hearing
McCain Exudes Grumpiness At DADT Hearing
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, BLACKFIVE, Pam's House Blend, Daily Kos and Open Left
ABCNEWS:
President Obama Makes Surprise Trip to Afghanistan, Sources Tell ABC News — Visit Comes Amid Backdrop of Wikileaks Report Highlighting Afghan Corruption — President Obama is in Afghanistan on a surprise visit, sources told ABC News' Martha Raddatz. — Obama's surprise trip comes …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Makes Unannounced Visit to Afghanistan
Obama Makes Unannounced Visit to Afghanistan
Discussion:
FP Passport, American Power and C-SPAN Recent Video
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:
Big Journalism, Gawker, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications, Wonkette and JammieWearingFool
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Rangel: I don't deal in average American citizens — One might have thought, given all of the handwringing from Capitol Hill last night over the horrors of censuring, that Charlie Rangel would have learned a little humility from the process. For instance, on CNN moments after Nancy Pelosi read aloud …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs and The Daily Caller
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Kerry Picket / Washington Times:
Rangel to TWT: I don't deal in average American citizens (VIDEO)
Rangel to TWT: I don't deal in average American citizens (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Breitbart.tv, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit and Pajamas Media
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Brown offers key support for 'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said Friday he would support doing away with the military's “Don't ask, don't tell” policy. — Brown broke with most Republicans to say he endorsed the findings of a Department of Defense report …
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay
RELATED:
Steve Kornacki / Salon:
Is Scott Brown boxed in on DADT?
Is Scott Brown boxed in on DADT?
Discussion:
scottbrown.senate.gov, The Daily Dish and Pam's House Blend
Andy Kessler / Wall Street Journal:
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 …
RELATED:
Marc Lacey / New York Times:
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:
Washington Monthly, The Incidental Economist, The Reality-Based Community and Gawker
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:
JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org blogs, Right Turn and EconLog
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:
Outside the Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog, Classical Values, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit