memeorandum: White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday (Wall Street Journal)

8:20 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: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Fix, Hot Air, AmSpecBlog, The Hill and Moe Lane

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:

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 …

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: The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic Online and Alas, a blog

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

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: Los Angeles Times, TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers, FrumForum and alicublog

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 Economix

Ezra Klein:

Who graduates, who votes and who's unemployed — in one graph — It seems a little crazy that tax cuts for the nation's very richest residents are commanding more political energy and consensus than unemployment insurance. Among other things, the tax cuts aren't popular. Unemployment insurance is.

Discussion: The New Republic

The Huffington Post:

Tax Cut Deal: White House, GOP Leaders Close To Agreement — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … The Obama administration and Congressional Republicans were close to finalizing a deal on the expiring Bush tax cuts late Monday afternoon. But a senior administration official cautioned that …

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

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

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, CNN, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, National Review and AmSpecBlog

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

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

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

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

The Caucus:
Deal on Bush Tax Cuts Trims Payroll Levy

Discussion: Philly.com, AMERICAblog News and Daily Kos

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

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

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

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

Discussion: Yglesias and AmSpecBlog

The Caucus: Deal Would Reportedly Drop a Tax Credit

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: CBS News, USA Today, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, 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, msnbc.com, American Power, South Capitol Street, Outside the Beltway, Politics Daily, Ballot Box, Online NewsHour, The New Republic, New York Magazine and HotAirPundit

James Hohmann / The Politico:
Bush job approval rating higher than Obama's

Discussion: Power Line, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

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, The Daily Caller, Weigel, 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, Left Coast Rebel, The Note, Cubachi, Prairie Weather, Indecision Forever, USA Today, The Hill and FrumForum

Wall Street Journal:

Julian Assange, Information Anarchist — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange hopes to hobble the U.S. government. — Whatever else WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has accomplished, he's ended the era of innocent optimism about the Web. As wiki innovator Larry Sanger put it in a message to WikiLeaks …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog and Cato @ Liberty

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

Discussion: Tom Watson, VentureBeat, Online NewsHour, Hit & Run, HotAirPundit and News: News blog, more at Techmeme »

Jill / Feministe:
Some thoughts on “sex by surprise”

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

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

Discussion: BBC, Guardian, Slate, Salon, Raw Story, newsfeed.time.com and South Capitol Street, more at Mediagazer »

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

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

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, The Daily Dish and Hullabaloo

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, theblogprof and The Gateway Pundit

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, 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)

The Politico:

Mike Huckabee wants some respect — Dial down the deafening Sarah Palin buzz for just a moment: The most consequential decision in the 2012 Republican presidential sweepstakes could be whether Mike Huckabee decides to run again - and associates say the former Arkansas governor may well take the plunge.