Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill — Senate Democrats have filed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through fiscal year 2011, according to Senate GOP sources. — The 1,924-page bill includes funding to implement the sweeping healthcare reform bill …
RELATED:
Fox News:
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry ‘Total Mess’ — Republicans poring over a 1,924-page overarching spending bill proposed by Democrats to cover the rest of the fiscal year are threatening to grind the legislation to a halt, citing massive earmark spending, which …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Hot Air
Scott Wong / The Politico:
Omnibus includes $8B in earmarks — Three hundred fifty thousand dollars for cool-season legume research in Idaho, North Dakota and Washington. A half million dollars for road roundabouts in Mississippi. And $1 million for arthropod damage in Nevada. — They're just a few …
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, Daily Kos and FrumForum
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year — New spending bill totals $575.13 million per page — Forget about going quietly into the night. — Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a broad agenda for an end-of-session sprint that, in other years, could be a whole year's worth of activity …
Discussion:
Pat Dollard, RedState and Weasel Zippers
David Rogers / The Politico:
Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages
Democrats' budget bill: $1.1 trillion; 1,900 pages
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FrumForum
David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC and Daily Kos
James Richardson / RedState:
RedState Action Alert: Dissect the Omnibus
RedState Action Alert: Dissect the Omnibus
Discussion:
Hot Air, Betsy's Page, gopleader.gov, National Review, Associated Press and Whiskey Fire
Patrick Gavin / The Politico:
WHITE HOUSE APPOINTS JON BON JOVI — Actor. Poet. Musician. Performer. Rocker Jon Bon Jovi can now add one more title to his impressive resume: White House appointee. — On Tuesday, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Council for Community Solutions …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin
RELATED:
The Politico:
Obama plans 2011 staff makeover — President Barack Obama has delayed the most significant staff shuffle of his presidency until after New Year's — but the changes may be more sweeping than anticipated and could include the hiring of high-profile Democrats defeated in the midterms.
Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye:
Obama taps Jon Bon Jovi for new advisory board
Obama taps Jon Bon Jovi for new advisory board
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Weasel Zippers
The Politico:
Tax deal stumbles toward final vote — With the tax-cut deal poised for Senate passage Wednesday at noon, House Republicans trying to tamp down discontent in their ranks from fiscal conservatives are issuing a simple message: This isn't the bill we would've written, but it's good enough.
Discussion:
Hot Air and Flopping Aces
RELATED:
The Hill:
Liberals giving up tax fight
Liberals giving up tax fight
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Online NewsHour, Right Turn, The Daily Caller, Guardian, National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, FrumForum and The Other McCain
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Pence will vote against tax cut deal
Pence will vote against tax cut deal
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Time, Hot Air, The Fix, msnbc.com, FrumForum and The Other McCain
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Air Force Blocks Sites That Posted Secret Cables — WASHINGTON — The Air Force is barring its personnel from using work computers to view the Web sites of The New York Times and more than 25 other news organizations and blogs that have posted secret cables obtained by WikiLeaks, Air Force officials said Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Confluence, ParaPundit, Wonkette and FrumForum
RELATED:
Mark Penn / The Politico:
Poll analysis: Public and D.C. elites agree: Prosecute Assange — One thing that's emerged from these six months of polling is just how far removed our nation's capital typically is from the rest of the country. This month alone, POLITICO's “Power and the People” poll shows D.C. is divided …
RELATED:
Guardian:
Assange spends another night in jail
Assange spends another night in jail
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post and Globe and Mail, more at Techmeme »
Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:
Photos: Here's The Manor Where Julian Assange Will Be Staying
Photos: Here's The Manor Where Julian Assange Will Be Staying
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Little Green Footballs, Guardian, Threat Level and Boing Boing
UPI:
Miller appeals to Alaska's Supreme Court — U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Miller appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court after a lower court ruled against his challenge of write-in candidate Sen. Lisa Murkowski. — Superior Court Judge William Carey last week ruled Miller, a Tea Party-supported Republican …
Discussion:
Joe Miller for Senate and YID With LID
RELATED:
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. to Appeal Health Ruling
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
GOP donors: We'll leave if Steele stays — Some of the Republican Party's most prominent donors reacted Tuesday with shock — and then fury — to Michael Steele's decision to seek re-election, bluntly warning that they would not raise money for the party if the controversial chairman wins another term.
Discussion:
FrumForum and The Gateway Pundit
Electronic Frontier Foundation:
Breaking News on EFF Victory: Appeals Court Holds that Email Privacy Protected by Fourth Amendment — In a landmark decision issued today in the criminal appeal of U.S. v. Warshak, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the government must have a search warrant before it can secretly seize …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Mother Jones, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
David Kravets / Threat Level:
Warrant Needed to Get Your E-Mail, Appeals Court Says
Warrant Needed to Get Your E-Mail, Appeals Court Says
Discussion:
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Raw Story and ReadWriteWeb
Kevin Baron / Stars & Stripes:
Marine commandant concluded DADT repeal may risk lives — ARLINGTON, Va. — The nation's top Marine Corps officer said he could not endorse a change in the “don't ask, don't tell” law that could cause distractions or endanger the lives of Marines in combat.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, American Power and Swampland
RELATED:
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Marine Commandant Suggests Presence Of Gays Would Endanger The Lives …
Marine Commandant Suggests Presence Of Gays Would Endanger The Lives …
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Pam's House Blend, 67.59.172.92 and Dennis the Peasant
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in November confirms that the economic recovery is continuing, though at a rate that has been insufficient to bring down unemployment. Household spending is increasing at a moderate pace …
Discussion:
Grasping Reality …, Economist's View, The Atlantic Online, New York Times, Clusterstock and Calculated Risk
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Congress' Job Approval Rating Worst in Gallup History — Thirteen percent approve of the way Congress is handling its job — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job.
Discussion:
The Hill, Top of the Ticket and CNN
Sewell Chan / New York Times:
G.O.P. Panelists Dissent on Cause of Crisis — WASHINGTON — The Republican members of the commission appointed by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis plan to release on Wednesday a document that assigns government housing policies substantial blame for the origins of the 2008 financial crisis.
Discussion:
naked capitalism and Prairie Weather
David Cay Johnston / Nieman Reports:
It's Scary Out There in Reporting Land — ‘Beats are fundamental to journalism, but our foundation is crumbling.’ — To understand how badly we're doing the most basic work of journalism in covering the law enforcement beat, try sitting in a barbershop. When I was getting my last haircut …
Discussion:
Poynter and Philly.com
Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Amazing: WaPo Fails to Publish Own Poll on ObamaCare's Lowest Popularity Ever — A new ABC-Washington Post poll found ObamaCare sunk to its lowest popularity yet: 52 percent opposed, and only 43 percent in favor. ABC mentioned the poll without fanfare at the end of a Jake Tapper report …
Discussion:
Behind the Numbers and TPMDC
Michael C. Moynihan / Reason:
Assange's Extremist Employees — Why is WikiLeaks employing a well-known Holocaust denier and his disgraced son? — Last week, I wrote that the widely-linked article positing that the CIA was behind a Swedish woman's accusation of rape against Julian Assange was authored by a Russian-born …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Local, Little Green Footballs, Harry's Place and Hit & Run
The Huffington Post:
Holbrooke's Last Words On Afghanistan Clarified As Being Part Of A Humorous Exchange By Obama Administration — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Tuesday that the reported last words of veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke, its point person on Afghanistan …
Discussion:
BBC, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, The Lede, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and FrumForum
Walter Shapiro / Politics Daily:
Will Liberals Challenge Obama Amid the Snows of New Hampshire? … Liberal Democrats are, by nature and history, a perpetually disappointed voting bloc. They are either consigned to wail in the political wilderness (the Bush years and the Reagan years) or else the fruits of victory quickly sour …
Discussion:
American Power
Autumn Sandeen / Pam's House Blend:
Dan Choi Hospitalized; A Discussion About Our Community's Multi-Faceted Sacrifices — NOTE FROM PAM: Today brought news to our inbox that Autumn and I wanted to share with Blend readers in what we feel is an appropriate context. We learned that Dan Choi, who sacrificed his privacy …
Discussion:
Gawker