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, Firedoglake, CNN, Fox News, The Atlantic Online, Online NewsHour, New York Magazine, Economix, Wonkette, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's …, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Confluence, The Politico, Guardian, The Baseline Scenario, The Sundries Shack, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, Hullabaloo and Unfogged
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.
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 …
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
Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
Senior White House Official: ‘We Wanted a Fight,’ too. Congressional Dems 'Wouldn't Throw a Punch' — Vice President Biden heads to Capitol Hill today to lobby Senate Democrats to support the tax cut compromise, as President Obama faces criticism from congressional Democrats …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Paul Krugman:
The Deal — So the tax deal is out. Obama extracted some concessions, with the big surprise being a payroll tax cut. How much better do these concessions make the thing? — Well, for starters we have the two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts. As I pointed out yesterday …
Discussion:
TPMDC, AMERICAblog News, Guardian and Alas, a blog
Peter Baker / New York Times:
In Tax Deal With G.O.P., a Portent for the Next 2 Years
In Tax Deal With G.O.P., a Portent for the Next 2 Years
Discussion:
ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Arkansas Blog
Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
Obama's tax cut extension part of strategy to show bipartisanship
Obama's tax cut extension part of strategy to show bipartisanship
Discussion:
The Hill, Right Wing News and Prairie Weather
Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Obama Agrees To Extend All Bush Tax Cuts And Cut Estate Tax In Deal With Republicans
Obama Agrees To Extend All Bush Tax Cuts And Cut Estate Tax In Deal With Republicans
Wall Street Journal:
White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday
White House Proposes Payroll-Tax Holiday
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Right Turn, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and New York Magazine
Joe Biden / Washington Post:
Obama: On the way to a failed presidency?
CNN:
Biden to defend tax deal on Capitol Hill
Biden to defend tax deal on Capitol Hill
Discussion:
The Fix, The Hill, NY Daily News, Washington Post and National Review
The Hill:
Republican ranks uneasy, await details
Republican ranks uneasy, await details
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post and The Hill
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:
Roll Call, The Caucus, USA Today, Sky Dancing, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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:
The Agonist, Real Clear Politics and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*
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
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
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, The Hill, FP Passport, New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org, Raw Story, The Nation, Wonkette, pandagon.net, CNN, Boing Boing, The Lede and Prairie Weather, more at Mediagazer »
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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 and European Tribune, more at Mediagazer »
Richard Pendlebury / Daily Mail:
The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked a worldwide hunt for Julian Assange — A winter morning in backwoods Scandinavia and the chime of a church bell drifts across the snowbound town of Enkoping. Does it also toll for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange?
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog
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, Right Wing News, New York Times and Telegraph, more at Mediagazer »
Matthew Weaver / Guardian:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in court — • 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”
Some thoughts on “sex by surprise”
Discussion:
Focal Point, Poynter, The Other McCain, AmSpecBlog, Whiskey Fire, Crooks and Liars, Threat Level, Shakesville and Barefoot and Progressive
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, 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:
Guardian, CNET News, The Nation, Crikey, South Capitol Street, Salon, Wall Street Journal, Tom Watson, BBC, Raw Story and Online NewsHour, more at Techmeme »
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, Feministing, TalkLeft, Pam's House Blend and Balloon Juice
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Lbentzterp / CNN:
TRENDING: Elizabeth Edwards stops cancer treatment, releases statement
TRENDING: Elizabeth Edwards stops cancer treatment, releases statement
Discussion:
CBS News, American Power, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Comments from Left Field, Suburban Guerrilla, Scared Monkeys and The Page
Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:
Elizabeth Edwards's Cancer Spreads
Elizabeth Edwards's Cancer Spreads
Discussion:
Politics Daily, USA Today, WRAL-TV, 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:
msnbc.com and Taegan Goddard's …
Condoleezza Rice / Wall Street Journal:
New Start: Ratify, With Caveats — The treaty helpfully reinstates on-site verification of Russian nuclear forces, but senators should make it clear to Moscow that they don't see it as limiting U.S. missile defenses. — When U.S. President Bush and Russian President Putin signed the Moscow Treaty in 2002 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
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