memeorandum: Wide-open race means quiet start for GOP (Thomas Beaumont/Des Moines Register)

9:05 AM ET, December 6, 2010

Top Items:

Bush Tax-Cut Deal With Jobless Aid Said to Be Near — WASHINGTON — White House officials and Congressional Republicans said Sunday they were closing in on a deal to temporarily continue the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels, while bitterly frustrated Democratic Congressional leaders …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Brilliant at Breakfast, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, New York Magazine, AMERICAblog News, FiveThirtyEight and FrumForum

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: Booman Tribune

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online: An Effective Presentation of the Dems' Tax-Cut Case

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Gingrich: Let Rich People Decide How Long Their Tax Cuts Last

Discussion: Firedoglake, Raw Story, PERRspectives, Crooks and Liars and News Hounds

Joseph Berger / New York Times:
G.O.P. Leader Sees Outline of Tax Deal

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, The Politico and Outside the Beltway

Corey Boles / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Signals Openness to a Tax-Cut Deal

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Taylor Marsh and The Atlantic Online

BBC:

List of facilities ‘vital to US security’ leaked — Ningbo port in south-eastern China, one of the facilities on the US list — A long list of key facilities around the world that the US describes as vital to its national security has been released by Wikileaks.

Discussion: RedState, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Guardian, Harry's Place, Biased BBC, FrumForum and The Page

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Same-Sex Initiative Reaches Next Hurdle — SAN FRANCISCO — It has been more than two years since voters outlawed same-sex marriage with a ballot initiative in California, and it may be two more before the legality of that measure — Proposition 8 — is finally decided, most likely by the Supreme Court.

Discussion: South Capitol Street and FrumForum

Los Angeles Times:

The Prop. 8 show — Monday's hearing on the same-sex marriage ban by an appeals court panel will be must-see TV. — Forget the latest episode of “House.” The big TV event on Monday, at least in California, will be the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on Proposition 8, airing on C-SPAN.

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.

Discussion: Hotline On Call and GOP 12

John Bolton / Guardian:

WikiLeaks cables: Barack Obama is a bigger danger — WikiLeaks harms the US. But the president's refusal to acknowledge the threats we face is a bigger danger — WikiLeaks has yet again flooded the internet with thousands of classified American documents, this time state department cables.

Discussion: The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, Little Green Footballs and Right Wing News

Nina Mandell / NY Daily News:

Hugo Chavez blames massive flooding on capitalism as 70,000 remain homeless in Venezuela — Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said he knows what's been causing the floods that have killed 32 people in his country and left 70,000 homeless: “criminal capitalism.”

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Weasel Zippers

Claudia / iOwnTheWorld.com:

Lefties Hate Israel — Leading Leftist Website Urges Liberals Not to Donate to Israel's Fire Relief Fund — Maybe someday the Jews in America will wake up to the absolute hatred and hostility the left has for the State of Israel. — Fire in Israel Not Natural ... Terrorism?

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report and Israel Matzav

Thomas Beaumont / Des Moines Register:

Wide-open race means quiet start for GOP — While Sarah Palin left behind no clues about her plans during her recent trips to Iowa, most of the 2012 Republican presidential field's prospects have made initial contacts with GOP leaders in the leadoff caucus state this year.

Discussion: USA Today and GOP 12

Reason:

How to Balance the Budget Without Raising Taxes — The 19 Percent Solution — A value-added tax, a soda tax, a gas tax, banning earmarks, freezing a portion of federal spending at “pre-stimulus” levels - there's no shortage of ideas being thrown out to fix the country's disastrous balance sheet …

Discussion: The Sundries Shack and Hit & Run

George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:

Exclusive: Gen. Petraeus Not ‘Sure’ Victory in Afghanistan by 2014 — In my exclusive interview with General David Petraeus he was encouraged by the progress made since President Obama's surge of forces into Afghanistan, but is he confident that the Afghan army can take the lead from U.S. forces by NATO's 2014 deadline?

Discussion: Reuters and ABCNEWS

Sarah Kliff / The Politico:

Doc fix new weapon vs. health reform — Congressional Republicans are hoping to put Democrats in a no-win new year's jam: defund a big chunk of their health care overhaul or slash Medicare payments instead. — Despite rampant repeal rhetoric, Republicans have so far struggled to dismantle any part of health reform.

Discussion: Liberal Values