Top Items:
Ezra Klein:
How the White House cut its deal and lost its base — If you look at the numbers alone, the tax cut deal looks to have robbed Republicans blind. The GOP got around $95 billion in tax cuts for wealthy Americans and $30 billion in estate tax cuts. Democrats got $120 billion in payroll-tax cuts …
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The Huffington Post:
Mary Landrieu: ‘Obama-McConnell’ Plan Is ‘Almost Morally Corrupt’ — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — Sen. Mary Landrieu, a conservative Democratic from Louisiana, lashed out Tuesday at President Obama's deal with congressional Republicans that allows tax cuts for the wealthy to be extended for two years.
New York Times:
Democrats Skeptical of Obama on New Tax Plan — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday strongly defended his tax cut deal with Congressional Republicans against intense criticism from his own party, insisting it was “a good deal for the American people.” — Enlarge This Image
The Hill:
Pelosi escalates criticism of tax-cut deal — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) escalated the Democratic criticism of the tax cut deal President Obama struck with Republicans and singled out the GOP-favored estate tax proposal as “a bridge too far.” — Pelosi, speaking to reporters …
Discussion:
TigerHawk, National Review and FrumForum
Jennifer Bendery / Roll Call:
Tax Deal Opponents Shut Down White House Phones — Liberal activists angry about President Barack Obama's concession on tax cuts for upper-income Americans crashed two phone lines at the White House and are gearing up for another onslaught of calls to Senate Democratic leaders in an eleventh-hour push to kill the deal.
Discussion:
Raw Story, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Poll: Obama supporters strongly opposed to deal extending Bush tax cuts
Poll: Obama supporters strongly opposed to deal extending Bush tax cuts
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com, Slate, AmSpecBlog, TPMDC, New York Post, Power Line, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, South Capitol Street and Eunomia
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Durbin: Dems could ‘walk out’ on tax cut deal
Sen. Durbin: Dems could ‘walk out’ on tax cut deal
Discussion:
The Politico, Political Punch, Yglesias, Washington Post, Roll Call, South Capitol Street, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Wonkette, Ben Smith's Blog, Pajamas Media, Viking Pundit, Fox Nation, James Pethokoukis, Washington Monthly and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi attacks Obama-GOP tax plan as House Dems signal fight
Pelosi attacks Obama-GOP tax plan as House Dems signal fight
Discussion:
The Hill, The Atlantic Online, CBS News, Pundits Blog, Commentary, The Page, Democracy in America, PERRspectives, Daily Kos and Grasping Reality …
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
Landrieu: ‘Obama-McConnell Plan’
Landrieu: ‘Obama-McConnell Plan’
Discussion:
The Sundries Shack and Cafe Hayek
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
President Obama takes on deal's Democratic critics
President Obama takes on deal's Democratic critics
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Daily Caller, RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Note and CNN
Raleigh News & Observer:
Cancer claims Elizabeth Edwards — Elizabeth Edwards, author of ‘Saving Graces’ , greets and autographs copies of her book for the community in 2006. — Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband John's political career, died today.
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
A Political Life Filled With Cruel Reversals — Elizabeth Edwards, who as the wife of former Senator John Edwards gave America an intimate look at a candidate's marriage by sharing his quest for the 2008 presidential nomination as she struggled with incurable cancer and, secretly …
Discussion:
American Power, NO QUARTER, Raw Story, Close Read, skippy the bush kangaroo and Towleroad News #gay
The Politico:
Elizabeth Edwards dies of cancer — Elizabeth Edwards died at her Chapel Hill, N.C. home Tuesday. She was 61. Courtesy — Elizabeth Edwards, who remade the role of the political spouse for a new media age, died Tuesday after a six-year struggle with cancer at her home in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, CNN, theblogprof, Ben Smith's Blog and CBS News
Elizabeth Edwards / WTVD-TV:
Elizabeth Edwards dead of cancer at 61
Elizabeth Edwards dead of cancer at 61
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Patterico's Pontifications, TalkLeft, Donklephant and New York Magazine
Patricia Sullivan / Washington Post:
Elizabeth Edwards dies; political spouse, author succumbs to cancer at 61
Elizabeth Edwards dies; political spouse, author succumbs to cancer at 61
Discussion:
Reliable Source and Achenblog
Hugh Hewitt / Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog:
DeMint To Oppose “the Deal” — Senator JimDeMint just announced on my program that he will oppose the deal as well as a vote for cloture on the deal. He is reluctant to criticize GOP Senate leadership, but believes the deal at a minimum has to be paid for, and that we need “a permanent economy” …
Discussion:
Breitbart.tv, The Hill, Hot Air, James Pethokoukis and South Capitol Street
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Cubachi:
Michele Bachmann and DeMint: Not so fast on that agreement with Obama on Bush tax cuts — Conservatives, tea partiers, and republicans have worked diligently and effectively to give the republican party its larget house win in years. We now get an extension of the Bush tax cuts for two years …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop, The Huffington Post, The Hill and Liberty Pundits Blog
Jack Shafer / Slate:
Julian Assange's Great Luck — Why his arrest and jailing in the United Kingdom is good news for him. — A U.K. magistrates' court denied Julian Assange bail and jailed him this morning over charges filed in Sweden that he had violated sex laws in that country last summer.
Discussion:
Guardian, Threat Level, Techdirt and Ben Smith's Blog
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David Kocieniewski / New York Times:
Tax Package Will Aid Nearly All, With the Highest Earners Benefiting Most — The deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years includes a bevy of additional credits and deductions that will reduce the burden on nearly all households. — But the tax benefits will flow most heavily …
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Greg Mankiw / Greg Mankiw's Blog:
The Tax Deal — I am generally pleased with the compromise …
The Tax Deal — I am generally pleased with the compromise …
Discussion:
Free exchange, Paul Krugman, Felix Salmon, Ezra Klein and Real Time Economics
Nancy Altman / Nancy Altman's myFDL diary:
The End of Social Security
The End of Social Security
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, TPMCafe, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, naked capitalism and AMERICAblog News
Katrina vanden Heuvel / Washington Post:
Obama: On the way to a failed presidency? — Ronald Reagan famously quipped that the Democratic Party left him before he left the party. Like many progressive supporters of Barack Obama, I'm beginning to have the same feeling about this president. — Consider what we've seen since …
Discussion:
The Fix, Top of the Ticket, Balloon Juice, JustOneMinute, JOSHUAPUNDIT, National Review, New Deal 2.0, The Daily Dish, Outside the Beltway, Salon, Left Coast Rebel, alicublog, Althouse, New York Times, Swampland, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The New Republic, Connecting.the.Dots, Right Wing News, CNN and Fausta's Blog
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David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Seminal Moment — Let's be honest with each other here: Presidential press conferences are usually news voids into which a lot of ink and chatter are dumped. — But Obama's press conference this afternoon will be seen as a turning point if not in his Presidency then in how we understand and perceive him and his approach to politics.
Discussion:
Da Techguy's Blog and South Capitol Street
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama administers a stern scolding to lefty critics — I noted this morning that Obama's strategy going forward will be to position himself as Washington's lone resident adult in a town full of squabbling children on right and left, and at his presser just now, Obama offered a surprisingly stern …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Fix, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Ben Smith's Blog
Carl Zimmer / Slate:
Scientists see fatal flaws in the NASA study of arsenic-based life. — On Thursday, Dec. 2, Rosie Redfield sat down to read a new paper called, “A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus.” Despite its innocuous title, the paper had great ambitions.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Watts Up With That?, Gawker, Wired Science, Hot Air, LewRockwell.com Blog and Pharyngula
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
More Dems Sign On To Extended Session Plan To Save DADT Repeal — Add Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) to the list of Democrats who say the Senate should stay open long enough to give Republicans the time they require to bring the military's ban on openly gay servicemembers to an end.
Discussion:
South Capitol Street, Wonk Room, The Reality-Based Community, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and The Politico
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Blogger Bob / The TSA Blog:
TSA Response to “TSA Breast Milk Screening” Video — Nearly a year ago, a passenger going through airport screening on two separate occasions requested that her breast milk be visually inspected and not screened by the X-ray machine. She filed a complaint with TSA regarding her screening experience.
Discussion:
South Capitol Street
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Klobuchar Formidable — Amy Klobuchar is overwhelmingly popular and would cruise to reelection at this point pretty much no matter who her Republican opponent was. — Klobuchar's approval rating is 59% with only 29% of voters disapproving of her. She is universally well liked by the Democratic base …
Discussion:
Minnesota Independent and Taegan Goddard's …
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama solid in Michigan
Obama solid in Michigan
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, GOP 12 and Liberal Values
Michael C. Moynihan / Reason:
Olbermann, Assange, and the Holocaust Denier — When you want to believe, you'll believe anything. — It now seems that the smears in the Julian Assange rape case are bidirectional, from the exceptionally flimsy charges accusing the WikiLeaks boss of being a sexual predator to the increasingly loud …
Discussion:
Salon, Hot Air, Hit & Run and The Other McCain
The Smoking Gun:
Palin Success Triggered FCC Complaints — Voting, hug angered “Dancing with the Stars” viewers … In the days after Bristol Palin was voted into the finals of “Dancing with the Stars,” viewers from across the country wrote to the Federal Communications Commission accusing the ABC show …
Discussion:
Cubachi, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, Liberty Pundits Blog and Riehl World View
David Gardner / Daily Mail:
Baywatch star claims she was singled out for a TSA full body scan because of her looks — Former Baywatch beauty Donna D'Errico claimed she was singled out for a full body scan because of her looks. — The actress and former Playboy Playmate says she was humiliated by a smirking airport security guard …
Discussion:
The Powers That Be