memeorandum: Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

3:20 PM ET, December 14, 2010

Top Items:

Michael Moore / Open Mike:

Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange — Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Matthew Weaver / News: News blog:

Julian Assange granted bail: live updates — • Assange granted bail to cheers from supporters — • He remains in custody as Sweden says it will appeal — • Assange criticises Visa, MasterCard and Paypal from cell — • Police worked case against Madeleine McCann's parents

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:

Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords — Longtime U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, whose relentless prodding and deft maneuvering yielded the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia - a success he hoped to repeat as President Obama's chief envoy …

Ezra Klein:

Why the tax deal might fail — I listed some of the conservative critics of the tax deal in Wonkbook today (Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Patriots, Charles Krauthammer), but Playbook shows their ranks are growing: Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today saying the tax deal gives “President Obama ... reason to celebrate.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The New Republic, The Daily Dish, A plain blog about politics, Hot Air, TPMDC and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Mike In / Michael Moore:

WITNESS STATEMENT OF MICHAEL MOORE — WITNESS STATEMENT — (CJ Act 1967, s.9 MC Act 1980, ss.5A(3)(a) and 5B; — Criminal Procedure Rules 2010, Rule 27) — This statement (consisting of 2 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, newsfeed.time.com, Foreign Policy, AOL News, Weasel Zippers, The American Independent, The Gateway Pundit and FrumForum

New York Times:

Release on Bail of WikiLeaks Founder Is Delayed by Appeal — LONDON — After a week in detention facing possible extradition, Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks antisecrecy group, was ordered released on $310,000 bail by a court on Tuesday as he challenges a Swedish prosecutor's demand …

Discussion: Hot Air, Firedoglake, Washington Post, The Lede, Wonkette, FrumForum and Salon

Mike Allen / The Politico:

STEELE STUNS, RUNS: ‘The job is fun’ — ROMNEY SPLITS WITH HOUSE GOP, BLASTS TAX DEAL — Michael Moore offers servers to WikiLeaks — Remembering Richard Holbrooke — Grace Gallo b'day — Good Tuesday morning. EXCLUSIVE: This morning, Rep. Eric Cantor will announce the senior staff …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:
Strong American Voice in Diplomacy and Crisis

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling — The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack — and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Concurring Opinions, TPMMuckraker, TPM LiveWire, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Right Wing Watch, Balkinization and Blue Virginia

Washington Post:

Health reform will survive its legal fight — In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O'Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, PostPartisan, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, National Review, Left Coast Rebel, Weasel Zippers, The Democratic Daily, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing Watch, Right Turn and The Page

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:

Hudson And Scalia, Ctd. — Like me, Jason Mazzone believes that Justice Antonin Scalia was Judge Henry E. Hudson's intended audience in his ruling striking down the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act: … My personal belief is that Republicans hate the law and want to see it gone …

Discussion: Right Turn, A plain blog about politics, Hullabaloo, Balkinization and Washington Monthly

Jonathan H. Adler / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Further Thoughts on the Virginia Health Care Ruling and the Necessary …

Discussion: Balkinization, The Incidental Economist, The New Republic, New York Times, Law Blog and Liberty Pundits Blog

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Significant Error in Judge Hudson's Opinion

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Balkinization, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and TalkLeft

Kevin Sack / New York Times:
Years of Wrangling Lie Ahead for Health Care Law

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, Oliver Willis, The New Republic, citizenvox.org, The Note, Online NewsHour, Law Blog, Pirate's Cove, Associated Press, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Israel Matzav, PostPartisan and Wonk Room

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package — President Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. — In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.).

Discussion: CNN, Firedoglake, The Politico, New York Times, Hot Air, Wake up America, Indecision Forever, The Reaction, The Other McCain, The Nation, The Sundries Shack, Booman Tribune, Political Punch, Reuters, Shakesville, The Plum Line and The Democratic Daily

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid, Senate Dems plan to move START arms treaty as soon as Wednesday

Discussion: FrumForum

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Senate Looks at After-Christmas Votes

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:
Steny Hoyer: Estate tax a ‘great concern’

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Wall Street Journal:
‘Temporary’ Tax Code Puts Nation in a Lasting Bind

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Atlantic Online, Ezra Klein and The Incidental Economist

The Politico:
New 'don't ask' House vote building

Discussion: CNN and USA Today

Washington Post:
Tax-cut package clears procedural hurdle in Senate

Discussion: Federal Eye, The Fix, Online NewsHour, Sweet Home Potomac, msnbc.com, The Caucus, Blue Virginia and Outside the Beltway

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
House Dems introduce stand-alone measure to repeal 'Don't ask'

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Wonk Room and FrumForum

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
Hoyer expected to file 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal bill Tuesday

Discussion: TPMDC, AMERICAblog Gay, Washington Monthly, Weigel and National Review

Cubachi:

The “radical centrists” of No Labels — Mark McKinnon and Kiki McLean were on PBS Newshour describing their No Labels group as part of a contingent of disaffected democrats and republicans who are against “hyperpartisanship.” McKinnon even labeled members of the group as a bunch of “radical centrists.”

Discussion: The Right Scoop and Liberty Pundits Blog

Matt Bai / New York Times:
As Electoral Ground Shifts, Bloomberg Could Skip the Party

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Salon, The Confluence, A plain blog about politics and The Monkey Cage

Ben Smith / The Politico:
‘No Labels’ short on Republicans

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Wonkette, Erick's blog, The Gateway Pundit, Weigel and Salon

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
‘No Labels’ rally: Bipartisan with Democratic tinge

Discussion: Althouse, Biased BBC and Ben Smith's Blog

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
New nonpartisan “No Labels” group has its own “anthem” by Akon for some reason

Discussion: The Other McCain, National Review, Salon, Nice Deb, Washington Times and Weasel Zippers

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth — FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash. — A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.” Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.

Discussion: Vox Popoli, Joe. My. God., Balloon Juice and American Power

Abdon M. Pallasch / Chicago Sun Times:

Key questions surrounding the Rahm Emanuel residency case — As Rahm Emanuel prepares to testify in the residency case challenging his eligibility to run for mayor of Chicago, here are some questions and answers. — Q. Isn't this just a big joke? — A. No, this is serious business.

Discussion: Reuters, Politics Daily and Taegan Goddard's …

Clout St:
Emanuel takes the stand in residency challenge

Discussion: USA Today and FrumForum

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Scarborough blasts MSNBC's bias: They always will say ‘a George W. Bush-appointee,’ ‘a Reagan appointee’ — “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough doesn't let much slip by him - well not today, at least. — On his December 14 program, Scarborough pointed out the bias at his network, MSNBC, and even offered a particular example.

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Corker assembling bloc to demand reforms ahead of debt ceiling vote — Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday he's hoping to assemble a bloc of senators who will demand tax and spending reforms before agreeing to vote to raise the U.S. debt ceiling next year.

Discussion: Yglesias, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and FrumForum

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

No Labels and Other Ripped Off Designs — Brooklyn-based artist Thomas Porostocky's friends and fans have been tipping off NY media that his art has been used without permission by the bi-partisan political group No Labels. — Porostocky designed star-spangled giraffes …

Discussion: City Room, bjkeefe, TPMDC, Gothamist and The Daily Caller