memeorandum: Obama Made ‘Big Mistake’ on Climate Bill, Turner Says (Kim Chipman/Bloomberg)

9:55 PM ET, December 6, 2010

Top Items:

Obama and GOP reach deal on two-year extension of Bush tax cuts for all incomes — President Obama and congressional Republicans have reached a tentative deal to extend the Bush tax cuts for all income levels and are presenting the proposal to congressional Democrats Monday afternoon, The Daily Caller has learned.

Discussion: Political Punch, The Fix, The Hill, Wake up America, AmSpecBlog, Moe Lane, Hot Air and The Hill

Ezra Klein:

An imperfect, but not-that-bad, deal on the tax cuts — The White House and the Republicans are pretty close to a final deal on the Bush tax cuts. Here are the specifics, though it's worth saying that as near as this is to completion, it's still not done, and so it could change:

Discussion: Felix Salmon, Taylor Marsh, FT Alphaville and The New Republic

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

Obama Agrees To Extend All Bush Tax Cuts And Cut Estate Tax In Deal With Republicans — The White House just announced that it has settled on the details of the deal it's been cooking up with Congressional Republicans over the coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Off the Charts Blog, DISSENTING JUSTICE and South Capitol Street

Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:

Tax-cut deal reached between Obama, Republicans — President Obama and congressional Republicans agreed Monday to a tentative deal that would extend for two years all the Bush-era income tax breaks set to expire on Dec. 31, continue unemployment benefits for an additional 13 months …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, TalkLeft, Suburban Guerrilla, Weasel Zippers, AMERICAblog News, FrumForum and alicublog

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Let's Not Make a Deal — Back in 2001, former President George W. Bush pulled a fast one. He wanted to enact an irresponsible tax cut, largely for the benefit of the wealthiest Americans. But there were Senate rules in place designed to prevent that kind of irresponsibility.

Ezra Klein:

The Bush tax cuts in one chart — It's time, I think, to repost this chart showing how much taxpayers at different income levels would get from the Democratic plan, which was to simply extend the cuts for income under $250,000, and the Republican plan, which was to extend the cuts for everyone:

Discussion: Politics Daily, Top of the Ticket, The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice and Alas, a blog

Ezra Klein:

Can the White House win in 2012 by losing on the Bush tax cuts now? — The compromise the White House is negotiating on the Bush tax cut is looking more and more like the White House's opening gambit in the 2012 campaign. — The White House has stopped negotiating for ideal …

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, Talking Points Memo, Rortybomb, FT Alphaville, Wonk Room, The Monkey Cage, Swampland, The Plum Line, The Politico, The Note, AmSpecBlog, The Nation, Daily Kos, Comments from Left Field, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars, JustOneMinute and Wonkette

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

Tax Cut Deal Includes Monstrous Estate Tax, Dividend Concession — I don't think we should jump on this fully until we see a full solution. But enough of the usual suspects have signaled that a tax cut deal is imminent, with the same broad contours, that we should take a look at the particulars.

Discussion: U.S. Congressman John …, Questions and Observations, Sky Dancing and Balloon Juice

Wall Street Journal:

White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday — WASHINGTON—Aides to President Barack Obama are proposing a one-year reduction in the payroll tax as part of negotiations with Congress on a broader package to stave off income-tax increases due to take effect next year.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and New York Magazine

Ezra Klein:
Who graduates, who votes and who's unemployed — in one graph

Discussion: The New Republic

Ezra Klein:
Why aren't the Democrats using reconciliation to pass the tax cuts?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and The Impolitic

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Bachmann: GOP could scuttle tax deal tied to extending jobless aid

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Outside the Beltway and CNN

The Huffington Post:
Tax Cut Deal: White House, GOP Leaders Close To Agreement

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Retiring Sen. George Voinovich to oppose any extension of Bush-era tax cuts

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, National Review, The Atlantic Online, PostPartisan, Hullabaloo and The Gateway Pundit

The Huffington Post:
Tax Cuts: The Real End Game Is In The House

Discussion: Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, FrumForum and Reuters

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
President Obama's Outline of Possible Yet Not Quite Done Deal …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, National Review and AmSpecBlog

New York Times:
Pact on Bush Tax Cuts Trims Payroll Levy

Discussion: Guardian and Economix

David Weigel / Weigel:
Just How Big of a Dive is Obama Taking on Tax Cuts?

Discussion: Yglesias and AmSpecBlog

The Caucus:
Deal on Bush Tax Cuts Trims Payroll Levy

Discussion: Online NewsHour, Philly.com, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog News

The Caucus: Deal Would Reportedly Drop a Tax Credit

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
They've Got A Deal? White House And GOP Come To Terms On Tax Cuts

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Daily Caller, AMERICAblog News and Talking Points Memo

Ed Henry / CNN:
Obama: We will protect key tax cuts

Discussion: Daily Kos and South Capitol Street

Lbentzterp / CNN:
Obama presents Dem leaders with proposed tax deal

Discussion: The Politico, Obsidian Wings, South Capitol Street and Free exchange

Lbentzterp / CNN:

TRENDING: Elizabeth Edwards stops cancer treatment, releases statement — (CNN) - Elizabeth Edwards is surrounded by family and friends in her North Carolina home after being informed by her doctors that further cancer treatment would be unproductive. — “Elizabeth has been advised …

Discussion: The Page

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:

Elizabeth Edwards's Cancer Spreads — Elizabeth Edwards's cancer fight has taken a turn for the worse, with the disease spreading to her liver and doctors recommending against additional treatment. — “Elizabeth has been advised by her doctors that further treatment of her cancer would be unproductive.

Discussion: Politics Daily, CBS News, USA Today, About.com US Liberal Politics, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, Gawker and New York Magazine

WRAL-TV:
Elizabeth Edwards seriously ill

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politics Daily

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:
Elizabeth Edwards Won't Receive Anymore Cancer Treatment

Discussion: American Power

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Kennedy Still Highest-Rated Modern President, Nixon Lowest — Jimmy Carter's retrospective approval rating and rank drop from 2006 — PRINCETON, NJ — Of the nine U.S. presidents who have served in the past 50 years, John F. Kennedy continues to earn the highest retrospective job approval rating from Americans, now 85%.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, South Capitol Street, msnbc.com, Politics Daily, Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box, American Power, Online NewsHour, The New Republic, HotAirPundit and New York Magazine

James Hohmann / The Politico:

Bush job approval rating higher than Obama's — George W. Bush's job approval rating is 1 point higher than Barack Obama's. — George W. Bush's job approval rating as president has spiked to 47 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. — That's one point higher …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Power Line and FrumForum

Jill / Feministe:

Some thoughts on “sex by surprise” — There's a lot going around in bloglandia and on the interwebs about WikiLeaks honcho Julian Assange's sexual assault charge in Sweden; commentators are saying that Assange didn't really rape anyone, and these are trumped-up charges of “sex by surprise …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Focal Point, Threat Level, Shakesville and Barefoot and Progressive

Owen Bowcott / Guardian:
Assange to be questioned by British police

Discussion: Tom Watson, VentureBeat, Online NewsHour, Hit & Run, RedState and HotAirPundit, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Julian Assange, Information Anarchist

Discussion: New York Times, LewRockwell.com Blog, Cato @ Liberty and News: News blog

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’

Discussion: CNN, The Nation, BBC, Slate, Guardian, Salon and South Capitol Street, more at Mediagazer »

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Rulings set on Wal-Mart, warming (final UPDATE, 11:58 a.m.) — The Supreme Court stepped into two major controversies on Monday, agreeing to sort out when a class-action lawsuit may be filed when employees are seeking back pay for alleged workplace discrimination, and to clarify whether companies claimed …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Althouse

New York Times:
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Wal-Mart Appeal

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Kay Steiger, Don Surber, ACS Blog, ECHIDNE of the snakes and National Review

Robin Bravender / The Politico:
Supreme Court to hear global warming case

Discussion: Hot Air

Felix Salmon:

Chart of the day: U.S. taxes — Stephen Culp has another striking chart today: — This chart should be ingrained in the mind of anybody who cares about fiscal policy. The main things to note: — Federal taxes are the lowest in 60 years, which gives you a pretty good idea …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hullabaloo

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Gov. Gary Johnson: I Smoked Marijuana from 2005 to 2008 — The former New Mexico governor and likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate talks to THE WEEKLY STANDARD. — Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor and a likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CNN, Hit & Run, Raw Story, Indecision Forever and Taegan Goddard's …

The Note:

Sarah Palin Passes On RNC — ABC News' John Berman and Mary Bruce report: — Sarah Palin isn't running...for one job at least. She doesn't appear to be a candidate to Chair the Republican National Committee. — The activist group Tea Party Nation, planned on sending a letter to Palin pleading for her to run.

Discussion: Ballot Box, The Atlantic Online, TPMDC, Guardian, Weigel, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, CNN, conservatives4palin.com, National Review and GOP 12

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Tea party group wants Palin for RNC

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, New Yorker, The Atlantic Online, TPMDC, Left Coast Rebel, The Note, Cubachi, Prairie Weather, Indecision Forever, USA Today and FrumForum

Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:

TX GOP Official Opposes Jewish House Speaker: Christians ‘Are The People That Do The Best Jobs’ — Last month, several Tea Party activists formed a right-wing coalition to oust Rep. Joe Straus (R) as Texas House Speaker. They began circulating emails with anti-Semitic messages against Straus, who is Jewish.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Mediaite, Joe. My. God., Right Wing Watch and Brilliant at Breakfast

MiniTru / Media Matters for America:

CNN's Beck to first-ever Muslim congressman: “[W]hat I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies’ ” — EXPAND ALL EXPAND 1ST LEVEL COLLAPSE ALL

Discussion: ThinkProgress, TPM LiveWire and Bold Faith Type

Jon Bershad / Mediaite: Glenn Beck Guesses 10% Of Muslims Are Terrorists (UPDATE)

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Kathy Griffin Gets Booed By U.S. Troops After Calling Bristol Palin Fat — Comedian and self-proclaimed “D-lister” Kathy Griffin hosted VH1 Divas Salute the Troops which was taped for an audience of servicemen at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California, and aired last night.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Gateway Pundit and theblogprof