Top Items:
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:
Firedoglake, Felix Salmon, Taylor Marsh, FT Alphaville and The New Republic
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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:
The TrogloPundit, TPMDC, Political Punch, The Hill, Hot Air, Moe Lane, AmSpecBlog, The Fix, The Hill 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, South Capitol Street and The Daily Caller
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
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 …, Sky Dancing, Questions and Observations, Daily Kos 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 …
Discussion:
The Politico, A plain blog about politics, CNN, Rortybomb, Hullabaloo, Talking Points Memo, The Monkey Cage, FT Alphaville, Swampland, Wonk Room, The Plum Line, The Note, Free exchange, AmSpecBlog, The Nation, Daily Kos, Comments from Left Field, No More Mister Nice Blog and Crooks and Liars
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. 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.
Discussion:
Fox News, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, The New Republic, msnbc.com, The Atlantic Online, PERRspectives, Guardian, Left in the West, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Caucus, POWIP, Taylor Marsh, Democracy in America, The Note, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Colorlines, AMERICAblog News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, nancynall.com, ThinkProgress, Prairie Weather, Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, Outside the Beltway, Economix, Brilliant at Breakfast, James Pethokoukis and FiveThirtyEight
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 Impolitic and The Atlantic Online
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
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
The Huffington Post:
Tax Cuts: The Real End Game Is In The House
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, FrumForum and Reuters
New York Times:
Obama and G.O.P. in Deal on Tax Cuts
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, The Baseline Scenario, Guardian and Economix
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, The Atlantic Online, CNN, National Review and AmSpecBlog
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, Gawker and New York Magazine
RELATED:
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
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%.
RELATED:
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
Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’ — WikiLeaks' critics haven't been shy in their characterizations of the online document clearinghouse over the past week. The Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, blasted editor-in-chief Julian Assange on on …
Discussion:
Salon, CNN, The Nation, BBC, Guardian, Crikey, New York Times, Raw Story and South Capitol Street, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
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, Cato @ Liberty and News: News blog
Owen Bowcott / Guardian:
Assange to be questioned by British police
Discussion:
Tom Watson, VentureBeat, Online NewsHour, Hit & Run, RedState and HotAirPundit, more at Mediagazer »
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:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Kay Steiger, New York Magazine, Don Surber, National Review, ACS Blog and ECHIDNE of the snakes
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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., Right Wing Watch and Brilliant at Breakfast
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
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.
RELATED:
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:
Spending cuts? From these guys? Republicans Poised to Make “Prince of Pork” Appropriations Chair — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: — This week House Republicans will choose committee chairman for the incoming Congress, the leaders who, in large measure, will define the new Republican majority.
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, The Hill, Maggie's Farm and Taegan Goddard's …
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Spenders Become Savers in Race for Key House Post
Discussion:
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