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9:30 AM ET, December 13, 2010

Top Items:

Media Creates New Palin Scandal! Sarah Accused of Bringing Hairdresser on Haiti Trip — Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin traveled to Haiti this weekend as a guest of the Rev. Franklin Graham and Samaritan's Purse to spotlight the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the earthquake and cholera-stricken Caribbean (half an) island nation.

Discussion: palingates, Mediaite, Time, JammieWearingFool, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, iOwnTheWorld.com, Conservatives4Palin.com and The Right Scoop

Michael Shaw / The Huffington Post:

Reading the Pictures: Palin Does Haiti Cholera: How's My Hair? (and, Did AP Lend a Curl?) — What's Your Reaction: — If I find the fantastically clever Sarah Palin to be one of the shallowest and blatantly self-serving politicians, err, political celebrities I've ever seen …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Verum Serum

Daily Mail:

Ready for her close-up... Sarah Palin lands in Haiti (well, she wants to look just right for those poor cholera-stricken residents) — Clad in a simple grey T-shirt and cargo pants - but with her trademark hairstyle firmly in place - this is Sarah Palin touring a Haitian refugee camp.

Associated Press:
Palin: Haiti needs ‘military airlift’ of supplies

Discussion: The Politico and Politics Daily

Allyn Gaestel / Reuters:
Palin urges Americans “not to forget Haiti”

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin.com, Cubachi and National Review

Bridget Johnson / Ballot Box:
Whitman: Palin quitting governor's job shows ‘attitude’ against constituents

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Outside the Beltway

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

In Tax Benefits to the Middle, Political Lift for Obama — WASHINGTON — With the Senate poised to hold a key vote on Monday on the tax cut deal between President Obama and Republicans, the political jousting has focused on what the agreement does for the wealthy by extending all of the Bush-era tax rates …

Discussion: Time, The Daily Dish, USA Today, Marbury and The Page

Wall Street Journal:

Tax Deal Set to Pass Senate — Supporters Hope Expected Easy Victory Monday Will Build Momentum in House — Democrats are predicting that a much-debated tax agreement will clear a crucial hurdle comfortably in the Senate on Monday, with a margin that they hope will add momentum to the deal in the House.

Discussion: USA Today

Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Lawmakers predict Senate passage for tax package

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Hill

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

John Boehner: Obama disrespectful to me — John Boehner thinks President Barack Obama is “engaging” and “smart” — but the speaker-elect is also still smarting over the president's claim that he took taxpayers hostage to secure a tax break for the rich. — In an interview with Leslie Stahl of …

Discussion: Guardian, Sky Dancing, BizzyBlog and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMDC:

Boehner Cries, Claims He Doesn't Go Tanning In 60 Minutes Interview (VIDEO) — Incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), who cried during an emotional speech on election night, let the tears flow once again in an interview with Leslie Stahl of “60 Minutes” which aired Sunday.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Fox News:

RNC Chairman Steele to Announce He Won't Run for Second Term — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is expected to announce he will drop out of the highly contested race to keep his post, sources told FoxNews.com on Sunday. — Fox News has confirmed Steele sent an e-mail …

Discussion: Right Wing News and Raw Story

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Decision Day for Michael Steele at RNC?

Discussion: Wonkette, The Caucus, Clout St and Washington Post

Gabriel Malor / Ace of Spades HQ:
Next Week in Politics

Discussion: Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Politics Daily, The Politico, RedState and Pajamas Media

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Steele to Reveal Whether He Wants to Keep His G.O.P. Job

Discussion: Riehl World View

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Block Those Metaphors — Like it or not — and I don't — the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal, with its mixture of very bad stuff and sort-of-kind-of good stuff, is likely to pass Congress. Then what? — The deal will, without question, give the economy a short-term boost.

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, The Confluence, National Review, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Cameron Joseph / NationalJournal.com:

The Interview: Transcript of Mike Huckabee's Conversation With NJ — A knee injury is keeping him from running marathons now, but the former GOP presidential candidate says he might have another race in his future. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he hasn't made up his mind about making another run for president.

Discussion: CNN and Taegan Goddard's …

Gawker:

Commenting Accounts Compromised — Change Your Passwords — Our user databases appear to have been compromised. The passwords were encrypted. But simple ones may be vulnerable to a brute-force attack. You should change your Gawker password and on any other sites on which you've used the same passwords.

Discussion: The Next Web, Mediaite, New York Times, Threat Level, Felix Salmon, Guardian, Runnin' Scared and Wonkette, more at Mediagazer »

Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Gawker Media Confirms That Their Commenter Database Was Hacked

Discussion: Gawker, Tea & Tech, Runnin' Scared, The Next Web, Gothamist and PC Magazine, more at Techmeme »

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Rep. Ron Paul, G.O.P. Loner, Comes In From Cold — WASHINGTON — As virtually all of Washington was declaring WikiLeaks's disclosures of secret diplomatic cables an act of treason, Representative Ron Paul was applauding the organization for exposing the United States' “delusional foreign policy.”

Discussion: The Hill, NewsBusters.org blogs, Hair Balls and The Page

Telegraph:

Sweden suicide bomber: Taimur Abdulwahab al-Abdaly was living in Britain — An Islamic suicide bomber who attacked Christmas shoppers in Sweden at the weekend is a British university graduate and was living in this country until two weeks ago. — The suicide bomb in Stockholm is thought …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, POWIP, Atlas Shrugs, TalkLeft, Harry's Place and The Other McCain

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

Transfer ban for Guantanamo detainees tucked into spending bill — The Senate is expected to consider a provision this week that would block the Obama administration from bringing Guantanamo Bay detainees to the United States for trial, including the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Wall Street Journal:

Federal Judge to Rule on Health Law's Constitutionality — A Virginia federal judge is expected to rule Monday on whether the Obama administration's health law violates the Constitution, opening a new stage in the administration's defense of its biggest legislative achievement.

Discussion: The BLT and RedState

Phil Izzo / Wall Street Journal:

Economists Predict Growth in 2011 — Economists have grown more optimistic about the outlook for U.S. growth next year, predicting the expansion will accelerate as 2011 progresses, according to the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey. — The 55 respondents, not all of whom answer …

Discussion: The Note and Clusterstock

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Bush v. Gore, 10 years later — The passions that swirled around Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that ended 10 years ago Sunday, dissipated quickly. And remarkably little damage was done by the institutional collisions that resulted when control of the nation's supreme political office turned …

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Power Line

Michael J. Moore / Bloomberg:

Wall Street Sees Record Revenue in Recovery From Bailout — Wall Street's biggest banks, rebounding after a government bailout, are set to complete their best two years in investment banking and trading, buoyed by 2010 results likely to be the second-highest ever.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …