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 …
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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:
And So it Goes in Shreveport and Hot Air
Scott Wong / The Politico:
Omnibus includes $8B in earmarks
Omnibus includes $8B in earmarks
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, The Note, Daily Kos and FrumForum
David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Yglesias, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's … and Daily Kos
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year
Reid threatens to keep Congress into next year
Discussion:
RedState, Pat Dollard 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
James Richardson / RedState:
RedState Action Alert: Dissect the Omnibus
RedState Action Alert: Dissect the Omnibus
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air, Right Wing News, Betsy's Page, gopleader.gov, National Review, Associated Press and Whiskey Fire
Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
The cost of angering the left — President Obama's stark move to the middle will cost him. As in cash, and lots of it. — Democrats in Washington think President Obama is hurting his mighty fundraising prowess by repeatedly ticking off the people who helped Obama shatter fundraising records in 2007 and 2008.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool
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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
Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye:
Obama taps Jon Bon Jovi for new advisory board — Rocker Jon Bon Jovi. (Skip Bolen Photo) — Looks like all those years of performing for Democratic candidates has paid off: President Obama is tapping rocker Jon Bon Jovi to serve on a new presidential advisory council.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Weasel Zippers
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, CNN and JammieWearingFool
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Washington Post:
Post-ABC Poll: Public not yet sold on GOP — Republicans made major gains in the November elections, but they have yet to win the hearts and minds of the American people, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. — The midterm elections - where Republicans gained 63 seats …
Discussion:
The Politico, Outside the Beltway, Federal Eye, Daily Kos, Behind the Numbers, Front Row Washington and Politics Daily
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
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Reuters:
Financial Crisis Panel In Turmoil As Republicans Defect; Plan To Blame Government For Crisis — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … The four Republicans appointed to the commission investigating the root causes of the financial crisis plan to bypass the bipartisan panel and release their own report Wednesday …
Discussion:
Guardian and Emptywheel
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
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The Hill:
Liberals giving up tax fight
Liberals giving up tax fight
Discussion:
The Hill, Ezra Klein, Online NewsHour, Right Turn, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Guardian, National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, FrumForum and The Other McCain
Mike Lillis / The Hill:
House Democrats urge longer extension of unemployment benefits
House Democrats urge longer extension of unemployment benefits
Discussion:
The American Independent, The Politico and The Democratic Daily
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
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Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. to Appeal Health Ruling — Move Advances Constitutional Struggle Likely to Reach Supreme Court by 2012 — The Justice Department said it would appeal a decision invalidating a core provision of the federal health-care overhaul, the next skirmish in a constitutional struggle likely …
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Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:
Palin stresses her electability as a reason to run for president in 2012 — Over the past month, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has quietly altered her case for the presidency in a savvy shift of rhetoric. — The lofty goal? Turning the main reason a Republican might oppose her into the primary reason for voting for her.
RELATED:
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:
Outside the Beltway, 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
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
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
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
Theodore H. Frank / Washington Examiner:
Manhattan Moment: Courts shouldn't ignore due process to create class actions — Wal-Mart v. Dukes, a case claiming job discrimination against at least 1.5 million women, reached the Supreme Court last week after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed, in a 6-5 vote …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
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
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:
TPMDC
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