memeorandum: Kennedy Still Highest-Rated Modern President, Nixon Lowest (Lydia Saad/Gallup)

6:10 PM ET, December 6, 2010

Top Items:

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: The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Sky Dancing, Guardian, The Caucus, The Nation, The Atlantic Online, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Left in the West, AMERICAblog News, nancynall.com, Booman Tribune, James Pethokoukis, FiveThirtyEight and Economix

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: Firedoglake, The Fix, Political Punch, The Hill, The Hill, AmSpecBlog, Moe Lane and National Review

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

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: Talking Points Memo, A plain blog about politics, FT Alphaville, Rortybomb, The Monkey Cage, Swampland, The Note, Crooks and Liars and Yglesias

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

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 Cuts: The Real End Game Is In The House

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

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

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and Yglesias

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

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

New York Times:
Bush Tax-Cut Deal With Jobless Aid Said to Be Near

David Leonhardt / Economix:
Obama's Tax-Cut Retreat, Through Two Lenses

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and The Daily Dish

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Done deal?

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics Daily and Daily Kos

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

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Tea party group wants Palin for RNC — Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips sent a letter to former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin asking her to run for chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. — “In order for the tea party, conservative movement to be successful …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Little Green Footballs, The Note, Cubachi, CNN, Indecision Forever, The Hill, TPMDC and FrumForum

Peter J. Boyer / New Yorker:
HOUSE RULE

Discussion: The Hill, Prairie Weather, Wonkette, USA Today and New York Magazine

Karin Tanabe / The Politico: ON ‘ALASKA,’ PALIN GOES HUNTING

Lbentzterp / CNN:
Palin declines RNC draft effort

Discussion: Hot Air and Washington Times

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

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

Discussion: Power Line, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

WRAL-TV:

Elizabeth Edwards seriously ill — CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Elizabeth Edwards' cancer has spread, and her health has deteriorated, multiple sources told WRAL News Monday. — Edwards, 61, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, was briefly hospitalized recently …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politics Daily

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: Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC and New York Magazine

Lbentzterp / CNN:
TRENDING: Elizabeth Edwards stops cancer treatment, releases statement

Discussion: The Page

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 and Zandar Versus The Stupid

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

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

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
High court ruling on Arizona act could shape immigration law

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, SCOTUSblog, ImmigrationProf Blog and Wonk Room

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

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: Yahoo! News, Salon, Cato @ Liberty and LewRockwell.com Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Telegraph:
WikiLeaks: net closes on Julian Assange as Scotland Yard receive full arrest papers

Discussion: Slate, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers 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 and The Gateway Pundit

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: Right Turn, The Note, Hotline On Call, South Capitol Street, Arkansas Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, Right Wing Watch and GOP 12

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Missouri Republican Numbers

Discussion: Hot Air, conservatives4palin.com and GOP 12

John Distaso / UnionLeader.com:

Granite Status Exclusive: Sununu tells NHGOP he won't seek 2nd term as chairman — MONDAY UPDATE. BRAGDON, O'BRIEN LAUD SUNUNU. The state's two Republican legislative leaders lauded former Gov. John H. Sununu for his help for the party following his announcement Monday that he will not seek a second two-year term as party chairman.

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
Former Gov. Sununu stepping down as N.H. GOP chief

Discussion: The Politico and Ben Smith's Blog

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: New York Times, Wake up America, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, The Angle, Shakesville, Patterico's Pontifications, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Commentary, Harry's Place, Biased BBC, FrumForum and The Page, more at Techmeme »

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

IF TWO WEEKS ISN'T ENOUGH, MAKE IT THREE.... Based on the current schedule, the Senate Democratic leadership intends to wrap the lame-duck session on Dec. 17 — a week from Friday. Given this extremely tight calendar, and Republican delaying tactics, a whole lot of observers on both sides …

Discussion: The Hill, TPMDC, ThinkProgress, The Politico and Eschaton

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Whether DADT repeal passes is largely up to Reid and Obama

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room, msnbc.com and The Daily Dish

Karoli / Crooks and Liars:

Right wing declares war on the poor: Kate O'Beirne calls parents of school lunch recipients child abusers — I'm speechless. This little rant by Kate O'Beirne at a Republican strategy session is so evil, so incredibly cold-hearted, and so predictably right-wing that it makes me want to shove …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com and DownWithTyranny!

David Rose / Daily Mail:

What happened to the ‘warmest year on record’: The truth is global warming has halted — A year ago tomorrow, just before the opening of the UN Copenhagen world climate summit, the British Meteorological Office issued a confident prediction. The mean world temperature for 2010, it announced …