memeorandum: Wikileaks: Julian Assange arrest warrant arrives in UK (BBC)

11:35 PM ET, December 6, 2010

Top Items:

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: Firedoglake, Economist's View, Felix Salmon, Taylor Marsh, FT Alphaville and The New Republic

Jon Ward / The Daily Caller:

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: Wall Street Journal, TPMDC, The TrogloPundit, Pirate's Cove, The Hill, Political Punch, Hot Air, Moe Lane, AmSpecBlog, The Hill, The Fix and Wake up America

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, The Daily Caller 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 and FrumForum

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 …, Daily Kos, Questions and Observations 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:

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 …

Andrew Samwick / Capital Gains and Games blogs:

If This Is Working Together, I'll Take Gridlock — A weak economy is not an excuse to spend money we don't have on things we don't need. I am with Stan on this tax cut deal. And Paul Krugman, for that matter. I repeat my view that the Bush era tax cuts should expire on schedule.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Let's Not Make a Deal — Back in 2001, former President George W. Bush pulled a fast one.

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

Discussion: The Impolitic and The Atlantic Online

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

Discussion: The New Republic

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

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

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

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Yglesias and AmSpecBlog

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

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

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

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

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

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

New York Times:
Obama and G.O.P. in Deal on Tax Cuts

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Baseline Scenario, Guardian and Economix

The Caucus: Deal Would Reportedly Drop a Tax Credit

The Caucus:
Deal on Bush Tax Cuts Trims Payroll Levy

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

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama, GOP strike deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts by two years

Discussion: The Hill and The Nation

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

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

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: The Other McCain, Crooks and Liars, Focal Point and Shakesville

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
The WikiLeaks founder is an unscrupulous megalomaniac with a political agenda.

Discussion: Telegraph, Hot Air, newsfeed.time.com, Daniel W. Drezner, Tim Blair, Right Wing News and JOSHUAPUNDIT, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Julian Assange, Information Anarchist

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog and Cato @ Liberty

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The lawless Wild West attacks WikiLeaks

Discussion: Press Association, Concurring Opinions, The Excavator, Threat Level, Clay Shirky, New York Times, Raw Story, Tom Watson, Boing Boing, Hit & Run and Politics Daily, more at Mediagazer »

BBC:
Wikileaks: Julian Assange arrest warrant arrives in UK

Discussion: CNN, TwitLonger, The Nation, New York Times, CNET News, Guardian, Sky Dancing, Threat Level and The Independent, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: CNET News, VentureBeat, Online NewsHour, RedState and HotAirPundit, more at Mediagazer »

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, TPMDC, About.com US Liberal Politics, Ben Smith's Blog and Gawker

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

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: USA Today, Weasel Zippers, South Capitol Street, Politics Daily, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, American Power, Ballot Box, The New Republic, Online NewsHour, 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

New York Times:

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Wal-Mart Appeal — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal in the biggest employment discrimination case in the nation's history, one claiming that Wal-Mart Stores had discriminated against hundreds of thousands of women in pay and promotion.

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

Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Set to Review CO2 Suits

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Rulings set on Wal-Mart, warming (final UPDATE, 11:58 a.m.)

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

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Dish, Mediaite, Joe. My. God. and Right Wing Watch

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, Raw Story, Indecision Forever, Hit & Run 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.