memeorandum: Law Will Proceed, Administration Says (New York Times)

11:20 PM ET, December 13, 2010

Top Items:

Judge Voids Key Element of Obama Health Care Law — A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama health care law is unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Amazing — A year ago, no one took seriously the idea that a federal health care mandate was unconstitutional. And the idea that buying health care coverage does not amount to “economic activity” seems preposterous on its face. But the decision that just came down from the federal judgment in Virginia …

Discussion: Althouse, Maggie's Farm, Doug Ross, Don Surber, American Power and RedState

Ezra Klein:

Is the Hudson ruling good news for health reform? — District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, a George W. Bush appointee, has, as expected, ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional. So why are health reformers so unexpectedly pleased? — There are two reasons, but first, let's put this into context.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, The American Independent, Ben Smith's Blog, Sky Dancing, Gothamist and Suburban Guerrilla

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Virginia health-care ruling strikes down key provision of Obama's plan — RICHMOND - A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Obama's signature domestic initiative.

John Cook / Gawker:

Judge Who Ruled Health Care Reform Unconstitutional Owns Piece of GOP Consulting Firm — Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch, Capital Tonight, Crooks and Liars, Mediaite and Salon

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

CHEERING A VICTORY OVER THEIR OWN IDEA.... Many on the right are, not surprisingly, delighted with today's federal district court ruling on the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. That's to be expected — they're hoping to gut the law. The two previous legal defeats notwithstanding …

Discussion: Political Correction RSS, The New Republic and Outside the Beltway

Larry O'Dell / Associated Press:

Federal judge in Va. strikes down health care law — RICHMOND, Va. - A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional. — U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Power Line, The Mahablog, HillBuzz.org, Riehl World View, protein wisdom, theblogprof, The Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Questions and Observations and PoliPundit.com

Stephanie Cutter / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Today's Health Care Court Ruling

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Gavel, ACS Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC and HotAirPundit

The Numbers:
New Low in Support for Health Care Reform

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Marathon Pundit, Don Surber, The Daily Dish, Pajamas Media, Viking Pundit and National Review

New York Times: Law Will Proceed, Administration Says

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMDC:
Federal Judge In Va. Rules Part Of Health Care Law Unconstitutional

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Salon, The Moderate Voice, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Right Wing Nut House

Nick Baumann / Mother Jones:
The Radicalism of Judge Hudson's Health Care Law Decision

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Concurring Opinions

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

Discussion: TalkLeft, Balkinization and Daily Kos

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Virginia Judge Declares Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional

Discussion: CNN, The Volokh Conspiracy, Liberty Pundits Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, Patterico's Pontifications, Pundit & Pundette and Nice Deb

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Richard Holbrooke Has Died — ABC News has learned that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died. — On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Firedoglake, Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers and Taegan Goddard's …

ABCNEWS:

Richard Holbrooke — It was there that Holbrooke had some of his most dramatic moments of diplomacy and statecraft. In the mid-1990s, he served as assistant secretary of state for Europe, where he brokered peace in the Balkans, crafting the Dayton Peace Accords that ended years of brutal fighting in Bosnia.

Discussion: FP Passport, Pat Dollard and AmSpecBlog

Robert D. McFadden / New York Times:

Strong American Voice in Diplomacy and Crisis — Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2009 and a diplomatic troubleshooter who worked for every Democratic president since the late 1960s and oversaw the negotiations that ended …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, Online NewsHour, The Caucus and Foreign Policy

Joe Sterling / CNN:
Holbrooke dies days after aorta tear

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Stir By CafeMom, Mediaite and Parker Spitzer

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:
Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords

Discussion: TalkLeft

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: The Sundries Shack and FrumForum

The Politico:
Tax deal advances in Senate

Discussion: The Note, Democracy in America, Climate Progress and Pat Dollard

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Senate votes for tax cut deal. What's route through House?

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Out of Power Soon, and Out of Sorts Now

Discussion: The Politico, Moe Lane, Time, The Sundries Shack, The Atlantic Online, Betsy's Page and Taylor Marsh

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate expected to advance $858B tax, benefits package

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and SENATUS

Jon Cohen / Washington Post:

Poll finds broad bipartisan support for tax package — About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. — The high bipartisan support for the package masks …

David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Senate Advances Tax Cut Package

Discussion: Wonkette, Balloon Juice and Washington Monthly

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Sky Dancing

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Poll: Broad Backing for Obama-GOP Tax Deal

Discussion: Daily Kos and Wake up America

Doug McKelway / Fox News:

Steele Seeks Second Term As RNC Chair — Controversial Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who last month presided over the GOP's biggest electoral gains since 1938, announced Monday night that he is running for re-election. — Ending weeks of rumors that he would not seek …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Note, Hotline On Call, FrumForum, The Politico, Ballot Box, National Review, Sister Toldjah, DownWithTyranny!, The American Independent, Hot Air, The Fix, msnbc.com, Gawker and Politics Daily

CNN:
TRENDING: Steele admits stumbles, announces re-election bid

Discussion: The Politico, The Note and ABCNEWS

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Designer: No Labels lifted penguins of bipartisanship — Gothamist reports that No Labels wonderful, kooky logo was taken from a New York graphic designer who knew nothing of the group. — The designer, Thomas Porostocky, tells the site: — I'm still a little stunned at the blatant plagiarism. …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
No Labels: No Specifics, No Coherence, No Point.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Politico and Weasel Zippers

John Del Signore / Gothamist:
Did No Labels Rip Off Design From More Party Animals?

Discussion: USA Today, City Room, Ben Smith's Blog and The Agonist

Tim Pawlenty / Wall Street Journal:

Government Unions vs. Taxpayers — The moral case for unions—protecting working families from exploitation—does not apply to public employment. — When Americans think of organized labor, they might think of images like I saw growing up in a blue-collar meatpacking town: hard hats, work boots, tough conditions and gritty jobs.

Discussion: Power Line, PostPartisan, The American Independent, Wonk Room, Commentary, Grasping Reality …, Conservatives4Palin.com, Hot Air, The Note, The Hill, The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, msnbc.com, GOP 12 and The Page

Michael Scherer / Swampland:
Larry Summers' Warning About The Growth Of Government (Transcript)

Discussion: Economist's View

Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:

Brain Oddities: Spelling is Irrelevant to Comprehension — In trying to make sense of the world around us, our brains have evolved to do some very odd things. The more we learn about our cognitive processes, the more it seems we have inherited a very weird wetware set, filled with bizarre and misleading foibles.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Michelle Obama has new warning on obesity — First lady Michelle Obama plans to warn in remarks Monday that the nation is seeing “a groundswell of support” for curbing childhood obesity, and she is unveiling new ammunition from current and retired military leaders.

Discussion: Cubachi, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, theblogprof, Liberty Pundits Blog, Pajamas Media and Riehl World View

Mchapman / CNSNews:
Michelle Obama on Deciding What Kids Eat: 'We Can't Just Leave it Up to The Parents'

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Becky Bohrer / Associated Press:

Miller appeals ruling on write-in vote count — Republican Joe Miller is taking his challenge to Alaska's U.S. Senate race to the state Supreme Court. — Miller filed his appeal Monday, three days after a lower court ruled against his lawsuit challenging how the state counted write-in ballots for his rival, Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Discussion: The Note, USA Today and Ballot Box

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

More Talk of Severe Budget Cuts to Follow Tax Deal — The very long cloture vote is happening right now in the Senate on the motion to proceed to the tax cut bill. Because some Senators have had issues getting to Washington, particularly from the snowed-in Midwest, the vote will be held open a while.

Discussion: TPMDC, The Huffington Post, The Hill, TalkLeft and The Plum Line

The Atlantic Online:

The Unknown Blogger Who Changed WikiLeaks Coverage — When historians look back at WikiLeaks and how the world's pundits tried to make sense of what was happening, they'll see a familiar list of sources: Foreign Policy's Evgeny Morozov, The Guardian's John Noughton, The New York Times' David Carr …