Top Items:


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:
RELATED:

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 …


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.


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 …

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.


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


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.


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:
The Incidental Economist, TPMDC and The Politico


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

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.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, National Review, Betsy's Page and PoliPundit.com

Statement by the President on Tax Cuts and Unemployment Benefits Room 430 — Eisenhower Executive Office Building — THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you waiting. — For the past few weeks there's been a lot of talk around Washington about taxes and there's been a lot …
Discussion:
The Hill, Pajamas Media, The Foundry, Open Congress, News Hounds and Economics Policies …

If This Is Working Together, I'll Take Gridlock
Discussion:
Guardian, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Huffington Post

Who graduates, who votes and who's unemployed — in one graph
Discussion:
Mother Jones and The New Republic

Obama's tax cut extension part of strategy to show bipartisanship
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times and Prairie Weather

The Bush tax cuts in one chart
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Politics Daily, Connecting.the.Dots and Alas, a blog

Why aren't the Democrats using reconciliation to pass the tax cuts?
Discussion:
The Impolitic and The Atlantic Online

Bachmann: GOP could scuttle tax deal tied to extending jobless aid
Discussion:
USA Today, Sky Dancing, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and Zandar Versus The Stupid

‘Framework for a bipartisan agreement’ on tax cuts
Discussion:
Oliver Willis and New York Magazine

Retiring Sen. George Voinovich to oppose any extension of Bush-era tax cuts
Discussion:
PostPartisan, Firedoglake, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, The Gateway Pundit and Hullabaloo

Tax Cut Deal: White House, GOP Leaders Close To Agreement
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, DownWithTyranny! and Daily Kos

Obama, GOP strike deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts by two years
Discussion:
The Nation

Obama, Republicans reach deal to extend tax cuts
Discussion:
Firedoglake, AlterNet, Online NewsHour, Balloon Juice, Eunomia, South Capitol Street, CNN, Economix, Wonk Room, Democracy in America and The Note


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:
Guardian, Gawker, Don Surber, European Tribune and Sydney Morning Herald, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:


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:
Hot Air, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Telegraph, Tim Blair, Daniel W. Drezner, New York Times and Right Wing News

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 …

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Media Diary, CNN, Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay, Sky Dancing, Telegraph, Gizmodo and News: News blog

Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Guardian, The Nation, Crikey, CNET News, BBC, Tom Watson, Raw Story, Cato @ Liberty and South Capitol Street, more at Mediagazer »

Britain Arrests WikiLeaks Founder in Sex Inquiry
Discussion:
Guardian, NewsBusters.org, Raw Story, CNN and Prairie Weather, more at Mediagazer »

MasterCard pulls plug on WikiLeaks payments
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Salon, BBC, AlterNet, Guardian, Clay Shirky, The Excavator, Threat Level and Gawker, more at Techmeme »

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, Suburban Guerrilla, South Capitol Street and The Page
RELATED:


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:
WRAL-TV, Politics Daily, USA Today, CBS News, TPMDC, About.com US Liberal Politics, Ben Smith's Blog, Gawker and New York Magazine


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, Mediaite and South Capitol Street

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, YankeePhil, Don Surber and Minnesota Independent

19 Countries to Miss Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony — LONDON — The number of governments which have decided not to represented when the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo this week has more than tripled to 19, the Norwegian prize committee said on Tuesday …