Top Items:
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:
Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, CNSNews, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Center for American Progress, New York Times, TaxVox, Associated Press, The Big Picture, The Reid Report, ThinkProgress, Economix, Suburban Guerrilla, Yglesias, Ezra Klein, The New Republic, Democracy in America, PERRspectives and Wonk Room
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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:
The New Republic, New York Times, Comments from Left Field, Stop The ACLU, TaxVox, Washington Post, Mother Jones, TPMDC, Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Roll Call, Daily Kos, The Hill, Marbury, Prairie Weather, Greg Mankiw's Blog, The Atlantic Online, TigerHawk, Liberal Values, PostPartisan, Commentary, Althouse, Zandar Versus The Stupid, RedState, National Review, Betsy's Page, msnbc.com, Pajamas Media and Classical Values
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” …
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:
ThinkProgress, The Hill, The Foundry, Scared Monkeys, National Review, The Daily Beast, Clusterstock and Top of the Ticket
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Centrist Dem senator supports repealing 'Don't ask, don't tell' — A key centrist Democratic senator said Wednesday that he now favors repealing the military's ban on openly gay service members. — Sen. Mark Pyor (Ark.) explained that he was convinced by the results of the Pentagon's 10-month study …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
David Kocieniewski / New York Times:
Tax Package Will Aid Nearly All, Especially Highest Earners
Tax Package Will Aid Nearly All, Especially Highest Earners
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Americans Support Two Major Elements of Tax Compromise
Americans Support Two Major Elements of Tax Compromise
Discussion:
The Page, The Daily Caller and National Review
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Jim DeMint: I'll vote to filibuster the tax cuts deal
Jim DeMint: I'll vote to filibuster the tax cuts deal
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Washington Times, The Politico, Washington Wire, The Sundries Shack, The Plum Line and South Capitol Street
New York Times:
Biden and G.O.P. Leader Helped Hammer Out Bipartisan Tax Accord
Biden and G.O.P. Leader Helped Hammer Out Bipartisan Tax Accord
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Note, The Hill, The Politico and Suburban Guerrilla
The Hill:
Democrats to draw line at estate tax after Obama's deal with Republicans
Democrats to draw line at estate tax after Obama's deal with Republicans
Discussion:
George's Bottom Line
cbpp.org:
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, economy.com, TPMCafe and The New Republic
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
O'Donnell calls extending jobless benefits a ‘tragedy’ — Christine O'Donnell on Tuesday compared the “tragedy” of extending unemployment benefits to Pearl Harbor and the death of Elizabeth Edwards. — “Today marks a lot of tragedy,” O'Donnell, the Tea Party-backed GOP Senate candidate from Delaware …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Hit & Run
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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 …
TwinCities.com:
Emmer to concede election to Dayton — Announcement today expected to end tight contest with Dayton — It's over. — Republican Tom Emmer will concede the 2010 Minnesota governor's race this morning to Democrat Mark Dayton, a Republican source with direct knowledge confirmed to the Pioneer Press.
Discussion:
South Capitol Street and Public Policy Polling
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Rachel E. Stassen-Berger / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Emmer to concede governor's race — Emmer will make a “major announcement” about the recount at 10:30 a.m., at his Delano home. A GOP source with knowledge of Emmer's plans said he would concede the election. — Republican Tom Emmer is expected to concede the Minnesota governor's race …
Discussion:
TPMDC and The Caucus
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Dayton poised to win the recount
Dayton poised to win the recount
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Shot in the Dark
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Obama Goes Medieval on the Left — Damn. I skipped Obama's press conference today, but I guess that was a big mistake. If my Twitter feed is anything to go by, progressive heads were exploding all over the intertubes. Here is Philip Klein's summary:
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Booman Tribune, AmSpecBlog, Yglesias and Commentary
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Obama administers a stern scolding to lefty critics
Obama administers a stern scolding to lefty critics
Discussion:
The Fix, Zandar Versus The Stupid, FiveThirtyEight, South Capitol Street, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Raw Story
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:
The Daily Dish, Connecting.the.Dots, Threat Level, Guardian, South Capitol Street, Raw Story, Boing Boing and Mediaite
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Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
President Obama's Sister Souljah week — President Obama's liberal critics are furious, vocal and useful to a White House trying to solve the riddle of reelection. — White House officials who last year viewed the “professional left” as an annoying bunch of ungrateful idealists living …
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
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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:
Commentary, Balloon Juice, American Power and Crooks and Liars
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
At CNN, Talk Show Tensions — In one sweeping move, the 8 p.m. political talk show “Parker Spitzer” could have turned around CNN's flailing prime-time ratings, publicly rehabilitated the fallen New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and turned his co-host Kathleen Parker into a television star.
Discussion:
Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Newsday:
1st C.D.: Altschuler concedes (Update) — Here is the Altschuler campaign's just-released statement: — Randy Altschuler, Republican/Conservative candidate, this morning conceded the hard-fought race for New York's 1st Congressional District seat. With approximately 977 absentee ballots left …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and msnbc.com
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
New McCain, New DREAM. — John McCain has co-sponsored several previous versions of the DREAM Act, including the far more liberal 2003 version that didn't have an age cap. The much narrower legislation under consideration this year, which would offer a path to citizenship for immigrants …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, AILA and The Huffington Post
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 …
Discussion:
Hot Air
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.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times
Reuters:
Deserving of the DREAM — In the spring, when college admission letters arrive, America's local newspapers are filled with articles about students who have persevered against the odds, excelled at school and in their communities and made it into leading colleges and universities.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS
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?, Gawker, Hot Air, LewRockwell.com Blog and Pharyngula