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 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, TPMDC, The Hill, Marbury, Mother Jones, TigerHawk, Liberal Values, PostPartisan, Zandar Versus The Stupid, msnbc.com, RedState, National Review, Commentary, The New Republic, Betsy's Page, Center for American Progress and Wonk Room
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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.
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
For Obama, Tax Deal Is a Back-Door Stimulus Plan — A year ago, President Obama and the Democrats made the mistake of assuming that an economic recovery was under way. This week's deal to extend the Bush tax cuts shows that the White House's top priority is avoiding the same mistake again …
Discussion:
Center for American Progress, The Big Picture, ThinkProgress, Economix, Yglesias, TPMCafe and Ezra Klein
New York Times:
Obama Defends Tax Deal, but His Party Stays Hostile
Obama Defends Tax Deal, but His Party Stays Hostile
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Plum Line, TPMDC, Associated Press, The Reid Report, The Talking Dog, The Politico, Politics Daily, The Quick and the Ed, Green, Blogcritics, A plain blog about politics, The Page, ECHIDNE of the snakes, The Atlantic Online, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and National Review
Free exchange:
Did Barack Obama lose a political battle but win a war?
Did Barack Obama lose a political battle but win a war?
Discussion:
Economist's View and Grasping Reality …
Associated Press:
Obama Lashes Out At ‘Hostage-Taking’ Republicans, Sanctimonious Democrats
Obama Lashes Out At ‘Hostage-Taking’ Republicans, Sanctimonious Democrats
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com and The Hill
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
Landrieu: ‘Obama-McConnell Plan’
Landrieu: ‘Obama-McConnell Plan’
Discussion:
Washington Times, The Sundries Shack and Cafe Hayek
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, skippy the bush kangaroo, Close Read, Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Eschaton
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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, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Mediaite
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:
South Capitol Street, Ben Smith's Blog, theblogprof and CBS News
David Kocieniewski / New York Times:
Tax Package Will Aid Nearly All, Especially Highest Earners — 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 to the highest earners …
Discussion:
Firedoglake
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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, Felix Salmon and Real Time Economics
Matt Bai / New York Times:
Murmurs of Primary Challenge to Obama — WASHINGTON — President Obama's compromise with Republicans on extending tax cuts for the wealthy, which his self-described progressive critics see as a profound betrayal, is bound to intensify a debate that has been bubbling up on liberal blogs …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Crooks and Liars and American Power
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:
Hot Air, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller, James Pethokoukis, The Politico, The Hill, Breitbart.tv and South Capitol Street
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Cubachi:
Michele Bachmann and DeMint: Not so fast on that agreement …
Michele Bachmann and DeMint: Not so fast on that agreement …
Discussion:
The Right Scoop, Liberty Pundits Blog, The Hill and Minnesota Independent
Simmi Aujla / The Politico:
GOP taps Hal Rogers for House Appropriates Committee Chair
GOP taps Hal Rogers for House Appropriates Committee Chair
Discussion:
South Capitol Street and The Hill
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:
Connecting.the.Dots, Guardian, Threat Level, South Capitol Street, Ben Smith's Blog and Raw Story
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Keith Johnson / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Drops Demand on Israel in Setback to Mideast Talks — WASHINGTON—The Obama administration abandoned its effort to convince Israel to renew a freeze on building settlements in the West Bank, temporarily derailing hopes for a fresh round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
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Laura Rozen / The Politico:
U.S. abandons effort to get new Israel settlement freeze
U.S. abandons effort to get new Israel settlement freeze
Discussion:
War in Context and CNN
Mark Landler / New York Times:
U.S. Drops Bid to Sway Israel on Settlements
U.S. Drops Bid to Sway Israel on Settlements
Discussion:
CNN, Israel Matzav, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog and The Daily Dish
The Politico:
Harry Reid tries to add online poker to tax bill — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to use the tax cut package President Barack Obama brokered with Republicans to legalize online poker, POLITICO has learned — a move that could further complicate the deal Obama announced Monday.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Top of the Ticket and National Review
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Jennifer Bendery / Roll Call:
Tax Deal Opponents Shut Down White House Phones
Tax Deal Opponents Shut Down White House Phones
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Hill, TPMDC, iOwnTheWorld.com, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Viking Pundit and Daily Kos
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
More Dems Sign On To Extended Session Plan To Save DADT Repeal
More Dems Sign On To Extended Session Plan To Save DADT Repeal
Discussion:
South Capitol Street, The Reality-Based Community, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Politico and Wonk Room
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, Gizmodo, Watts Up With That?, Hot Air, Gawker, LewRockwell.com Blog and Pharyngula
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:
South Capitol Street
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
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:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, FiveThirtyEight, The Fix, South Capitol Street and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Bloomberg:
Obama's Deal to Extend High-Earner Tax Cuts Unpopular in Poll — Americans don't approve of keeping the breaks for upper-income taxpayers that are part of the deal President Barack Obama brokered with congressional Republicans, a Bloomberg National Poll shows.
Pejman Yousefzadeh / A Chequer-Board of Nights …:
In Which Thomas Friedman Insults the Chinese By Pretending That He Can Think Like Them — Let's go to the tape: … Where to begin? — First off, fight over “how and where an airport security officer can touch” Americans is one that goes to the very core of privacy concerns that have been part …
John Nova Lomax / Hair Balls:
WikiLeaks: Texas Company Helped Pimp Little Boys To Stoned Afghan Cops — Another international conflict, another horrific taxpayer-funded sex scandal for DynCorp, the private security contractor tasked with training the Afghan police. — While the company is officially based in the DC area …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Boing Boing