memeorandum: Rep. Lewis's Pitch to Head Appropriations Committee (Patrick O'Connor/Washington Wire)

9:15 AM ET, December 7, 2010

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:

Discussion: National Review, Rortybomb, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Baseline Scenario, NPR, Felix Salmon, Firedoglake, Economist's View, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh and The New Republic

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 …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Politico, Donklephant, The Reaction, CANNONFIRE, Crooks and Liars, Weasel Zippers, Suburban Guerrilla, TalkLeft, AMERICAblog News, FrumForum, Outside the Beltway and alicublog

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, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Paul Krugman, The Hill, Economix, Guardian, The Confluence, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Taegan Goddard's …, FiveThirtyEight, The Sundries Shack, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, New York Times, Hullabaloo and Unfogged

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.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Off the Charts Blog, Ezra Klein, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The New Republic, South Capitol Street, Rortybomb, Swampland and The Plum Line

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, TPMDC, The Incidental Economist, The Politico and Economist's View

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: The Daily Beast, TPMDC, CNN, National Review, AmSpecBlog, BAGnewsNotes, 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 — 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: Washington Wire, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and New York Magazine

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

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.

Discussion: U.S. Congressman John …, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Sky Dancing, Questions and Observations, Political Punch, Balloon Juice, National Review, Left in the West and AmSpecBlog

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Obama sells out the left: a Republican win on taxes

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

Felix Salmon:
Chart of the day: U.S. taxes

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hullabaloo

Andrew Samwick / Capital Gains and Games blogs:
If This Is Working Together, I'll Take Gridlock

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Guardian and The Huffington Post

The Politico:
Liberal Dems to Obama: Fight harder

Discussion: The Other McCain

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Obama's tax cut extension part of strategy to show bipartisanship

Discussion: The Fix, The Hill, CNN, New York Times and Prairie Weather

Ezra Klein:
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

Discussion: Oliver Willis and New York Magazine

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
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

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

Discussion: NY Daily News, PostPartisan, Firedoglake, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, The Gateway Pundit and Hullabaloo

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

Discussion: Hot Air, Right Turn, Commentary, Mother Jones, The Gateway Pundit, The New Republic, South Capitol Street, Politics Daily, msnbc.com, American Power, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Ballot Box, HotAirPundit and FrumForum

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama, GOP strike deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts by two years

Discussion: The Nation

The Huffington Post:
Tax Cut Deal: White House, GOP Leaders Close To Agreement

Discussion: The Caucus, DownWithTyranny!, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Kos

The Caucus:
Deal on Bush Tax Cuts Trims Payroll Levy

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones, National Review, Philly.com, AMERICAblog News and Daily Kos

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Obama, Republicans reach deal to extend tax cuts

Discussion: Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, Online NewsHour, Eunomia, South Capitol Street, AlterNet, CNN, Economix, Wonk Room, Democracy in America, The Note and Colorlines

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 »

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, pandagon.net, CNN, Raw Story 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: Hot Air, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Tim Blair, Daniel W. Drezner, Telegraph, Right Wing News and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

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

Sky News:

WikiLeaks Boss Assange Arrested In UK — Alison Chung and Andy Winter, Sky News Online — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested by British police over sexual assault claims in Sweden. … The 39-year-old Australian was detained by Scotland Yard officers at around 9.30am …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

Matthew Weaver / Guardian:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrested

Discussion: Politics Daily, Raw Story, Media Diary, CNN, Kirk James Murphy …, Sky Dancing, Towleroad News #gay, Telegraph, TwitLonger, The Nation, Gizmodo and News: News blog, more at Techmeme »

Richard Pendlebury / Daily Mail:
The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

CNN:
Assange arrested in London on Swedish warrant

Discussion: Parker Spitzer, Outside the Beltway and Gawker

Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Some news outlets stop calling WikiLeaks a ‘whistle-blower’

Discussion: Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Crikey, CNET News, Tom Watson, BBC, Raw Story, Cato @ Liberty, Online NewsHour and South Capitol Street, more at Mediagazer »

Declan McCullagh / CNET News:
MasterCard pulls plug on WikiLeaks payments

Discussion: Threat Level, Clay Shirky, BBC, Salon, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, AlterNet, The Excavator and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

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

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
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

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: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Firedoglake, Mediaite and South Capitol Street

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 Daily Dish, Mother Jones and The New Republic

Ezra Klein:
The Bush tax cuts in one chart

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Politics Daily, Connecting.the.Dots and Alas, a blog

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

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