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:
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New York Times:
Tax Deal Suggests New Path for Obama — WASHINGTON — President Obama announced a tentative deal with Congressional Republicans on Monday to extend the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for two years as part of a package that would also keep benefits flowing to the long-term unemployed …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Economix, The Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, Guardian, The Confluence, Capital Gains and Games blogs, FiveThirtyEight, The Sundries Shack, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, AMERICAblog News, New York Times, Hullabaloo and Unfogged
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 …
Ezra Klein:
Wonkbook: Everything you need to know about the Bush tax cut deal — I'll admit it: I didn't think they had it in them. A temporary extension of the Bush tax cuts? Sure, they could manage that. Fear is a powerful motivator in Washington, and nothing scares politicians like the threat of a tax hike on their constituents.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Suburban Guerrilla, TPMDC, The Incidental Economist, The Politico, Economist's View and Eschaton
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Obama sells out the left: a Republican win on taxes — There really is no other way to say it: the Republicans won, the liberal Democrats lost, and the president sided with the Republicans. The subject, of course, is an agreement to extend all the Bust tax cuts.
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 has been cooking up with Congressional Republicans over the coming expiration of the Bush tax cuts.
Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Obama's tax cut extension part of strategy to show bipartisanship — Although his liberal supporters are furious about the decision, President Obama's willingness to extend all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is part of what White House officials say is a deliberate strategy …
Discussion:
The Fix, The Hill, Right Wing News and Prairie Weather
The Politico:
Liberal Dems to Obama: Fight harder — Resentments between President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats that began simmering even before their mid-term disaster are nearing a boil on Capitol Hill, as liberals make clear that Obama's efforts to strike a lame-duck deal with Republicans …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Hot Air and The Other McCain
Jon Ward / The Daily Caller:
Obama and GOP reach deal on two-year extension of Bush tax cuts for all incomes
Obama and GOP reach deal on two-year extension of Bush tax cuts for all incomes
Discussion:
TPMDC, CNN, National Review, BAGnewsNotes, AmSpecBlog, Political Punch, The TrogloPundit, Pirate's Cove, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, RedState, The Hill, Hot Air, Wake up America, The Fix and New York Times
Wall Street Journal:
White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday
White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and New York Magazine
The White House:
Statement by the President on Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits Room 430
Statement by the President on Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits Room 430
Discussion:
Right Turn, The Hill, Pajamas Media, Open Congress, News Hounds, Economics Policies … and The Foundry
Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
Senior White House Official: ‘We Wanted a Fight,’ …
Senior White House Official: ‘We Wanted a Fight,’ …
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill and National Review
Joe Biden / Washington Post:
Obama: On the way to a failed presidency?
Andrew Samwick / Capital Gains and Games blogs:
If This Is Working Together, I'll Take Gridlock
If This Is Working Together, I'll Take Gridlock
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Guardian
Peter Baker / New York Times:
A Bridge to Republicans Alienates Liberal Base
A Bridge to Republicans Alienates Liberal Base
Discussion:
ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Bachmann: GOP could scuttle tax deal tied to extending jobless aid
Bachmann: GOP could scuttle tax deal tied to extending jobless aid
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today, Sky Dancing, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and Zandar Versus The Stupid
Ezra Klein:
Why aren't the Democrats using reconciliation to pass the tax cuts?
Why aren't the Democrats using reconciliation to pass the tax cuts?
Discussion:
The Impolitic and The Atlantic Online
msnbc.com:
‘Framework for a bipartisan agreement’ on tax cuts
‘Framework for a bipartisan agreement’ on tax cuts
Discussion:
Oliver Willis and New York Magazine
BBC:
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange arrested in London — Julian Assange denies sexually assaulting the two women — The founder of the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by police in London. — The 39-year-old Australian, who was the subject of a European arrest warrant …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Guardian, Gawker, Don Surber, European Tribune and Sydney Morning Herald, more at Mediagazer »
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New York Times:
Britain Arrests WikiLeaks Founder in Sex Inquiry — LONDON — Police in Britain arrested Julian Assange on Tuesday on a warrant issued in Sweden in connection with alleged sex offenses, British police officials said, the latest twist in the drama swirling around the anti-secrecy group and its beleaguered founder.
Discussion:
Guardian, New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org, Raw Story, pandagon.net, The Nation, Wonkette, CNN, Boing Boing, The Lede and Prairie Weather, more at Mediagazer »
Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
The WikiLeaks founder is an unscrupulous megalomaniac with a political agenda. — In my most recent book, I reprint some words from a British Embassy cable, sent from Baghdad to the Foreign Office in 1976. The subject is Iraq's new leader. His quiet coup d'etat is reassuringly described as …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Hot Air, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Tim Blair, Daniel W. Drezner, Telegraph, Right Wing News and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
Matthew Weaver / Guardian:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested — • Julian Assange arrested and taken to magistrates court — • US attorney general Eric Holder pledges to stem leaks — • Latest cables reveal US plans to defend Baltic states — • Full coverage of the WikiLeaks cables
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:
Focal Point, The Other McCain, Poynter, AmSpecBlog, Whiskey Fire, Crooks and Liars, Threat Level, Shakesville and Barefoot and Progressive
Richard Pendlebury / Daily Mail:
The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked …
The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked …
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog
CNN:
Assange arrested in London on Swedish warrant
Assange arrested in London on Swedish warrant
Discussion:
Parker Spitzer, Threat Level, Outside the Beltway and Gawker
Robert Booth / Guardian:
WikiLeaks to keep releasing cables despite Assange arrest
WikiLeaks to keep releasing cables despite Assange arrest
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, New York Times, Sky Dancing and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’
Discussion:
CNET News, Guardian, Salon, Wall Street Journal, Crikey, The Moderate Voice, Tom Watson, BBC, Raw Story, Cato @ Liberty, Online NewsHour and South Capitol Street, more at Techmeme »
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:
American Power, ABCNEWS, South Capitol Street, Suburban Guerrilla and The Page
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Associated Press:
Elizabeth Edwards gravely ill with cancer — WASHINGTON (AP) — Elizabeth Edwards over the past six years has seen her husband's presidential ambitions thwarted, retreated from public life as their marriage disintegrated over his affair, then emerged to advocate for changes …
Discussion:
WTVD-TV, TalkLeft and Balloon Juice
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
Elizabeth Edwards's Cancer Spreads
Elizabeth Edwards's Cancer Spreads
Discussion:
WRAL-TV, Politics Daily, USA Today, CBS News, TPMDC, About.com US Liberal Politics, Gawker, Ben Smith's Blog and New York Magazine
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Unloads Citi Stake for a $12 Billion Profit — The U.S. Treasury sold the last of its Citigroup Inc. common shares in a $10.5 billion offering that capped the government's biggest bank bailout of the financial-market meltdown. — The stock sale, which was finalized Monday evening …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com
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:
Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Dish and The New Republic
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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:
The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Firedoglake, Mediaite and South Capitol Street
Spencer Ackerman / Danger Room:
Afghans Fume as Petraeus Ramps Up Air War — The air war over Afghanistan has reached a post-invasion high. Unfortunately for the U.S., Afghan anger over air strikes is soaring as well. — No group of people is going to be enthusiastic about a foreign power dropping bombs on their countrymen, as the Pakistanis can attest.
Discussion:
Politics Daily
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Drudge Report:
BIG SIS INVADES WAL-MART: ‘IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING’ — WASHINGTON — Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department's national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to hundreds of Walmart stores across the country …
Discussion:
Big Government, Raw Story, Minnesota Independent, Shot in the Dark, YankeePhil and Don Surber