memeorandum: Manhattan Moment: Courts shouldn't ignore due process to create class actions (Theodore H. Frank/Washington Examiner)

10:50 AM ET, December 15, 2010

Top Items:

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: CNN, The Hill, Don Surber, Online NewsHour, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Foundry, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Top of the Ticket and JammieWearingFool

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

DeMint will force readings of START Treaty and omnibus bill — Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will force readings of both a nuclear arms treaty and $1.1 trillion spending bill that could eat up hours of the remaining lame-duck Congress. — DeMint will invoke a senatorial privilege to ask …

Wall Street Journal:
Harry Reid's Holiday Jam

Discussion: Right Turn and Betsy's Page

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill

Fox News:
Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry ‘Total Mess’

Discussion: RedState, Michelle Malkin, National Review, Right Wing News, Hot Air, Right Turn, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Whiskey Fire and The Other McCain

Washington Post:
Senators load spending bill with earmarks

Discussion: Washington Monthly, USA Today and gopleader.gov

David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress, Yglesias, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's … and Daily Kos

Scott Wong / The Politico:
Omnibus includes $8B in earmarks

Discussion: Sky Dancing, The Note, Daily Kos, National Review, FrumForum and Wake up America

Lev Grossman / Time:

Mark Zuckerberg — On the afternoon of Nov. 16, 2010, Mark Zuckerberg was leading a meeting in the Aquarium, one of Facebook's conference rooms, so named because it's in the middle of a huge work space and has glass walls on three sides so everybody can see in.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Yahoo! News, The Gateway Pundit, The Next Web, TechCrunch, The Page and PopEater, more at Mediagazer »

Richard Stengel / Time:
Person of the Year 2010 — For connecting more than half …

Discussion: FP Passport, This Just In and BlogPost, more at Mediagazer »

Laura T. Coffey / msnbc.com:
Mark Zuckerberg is Time's 2010 Person of the Year

Discussion: Politics Daily, Hot Air and Right Pundits

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.

Discussion: The Note, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air and FrumForum

Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
The left's frustration with President Obama will hamper his fundraising

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Ben Dimiero / Media Matters for America:

FOXLEAKS: Fox boss ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science — In the midst of global climate change talks last December, a top Fox News official sent an email questioning the “veracity of climate change data” and ordering the network's journalists to “refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo and TPMMuckraker

Keach Hagey / The Politico: Fox editor urged climate skepticism

Federal Eye:

Most back repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' poll says — Nearly eight in 10 Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. — The results signal continued widespread public support for ending the military's 17-year ban …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and AMERICAblog News

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: Outside the Beltway, Front Row Washington, Behind the Numbers, The Politico, Politics Daily and CNN

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Poll finds voters not impressed with Republicans' House takeover that hasn't happened yet — Premature Emasculation — With Republicans still 20 days away from taking control of one chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, the Washington Post could no longer resist delivering …

Discussion: Fox News, Michelle Malkin and Pat Dollard

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: Rortybomb, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Paul Krugman, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and Emptywheel

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: Suburban Guerrilla, Balloon Juice, Poynter and Philly.com

National Review:

Anybody but Steele — Say what you will about him — Michael Steele plays by nobody else's rules. He shocked the political world on Monday night by announcing he'd run for reelection as chairman of the Republican National Committee. We admire his pluck, but not his judgment.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and USA Today

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
GOP donors: We'll leave if Steele stays

Discussion: FrumForum and The Gateway Pundit

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention — Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog and The Nation

Joshua Zumbrun / Bloomberg:

Fed Signals Stronger Economy Won't Slow $600 Billion Stimulus — Federal Reserve policy makers indicated that signs of economic strength won't deter them from pumping money into the financial system so long as unemployment remains elevated. — The Federal Open Market Committee said yesterday …

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, AMERICAblog News, Wonkette and FrumForum

Wall Street Journal:
Air Force Blocks Sites With Leaked Cables

Discussion: Gawker, Tea & Tech, Mediaite, Danger Room, Guardian, Raw Story, Gizmodo, TPMMuckraker and Foreign Policy, more at Mediagazer »

Brad Phillips / Mr. Media Training:

2012 Election Preview: The Final Rankings — Editor's Note: This morning, we issued a press release on the national wires that ranks the 18 most likely 2012 Republican contenders - and President Obama - on their communications skills. Below, you'll find the full text of that release.

Discussion: National Review and Taegan Goddard's …

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

Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:

In shift, Sarah Palin stresses electability as a reason to run for president — 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.

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

Intelligence Reports Offer Dim Views of Afghan War — WASHINGTON — As President Obama prepares to release a review of American strategy in Afghanistan that will claim progress in the nine-year-old war there, two new classified intelligence reports offer a more negative assessment …

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, FrumForum and The Washington Note

MNN:

Is oil and gas production causing earthquakes in Arkansas? — Guy, Ark., has been hit with hundreds of earthquakes in the last few months, leaving many trying to figure out what is causing all the shaking. — Something is shaking under Guy, Ark., and no one is quite sure what's going on.

Discussion: Right Wing News, CNN and skippy the bush kangaroo

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

House Democrats consider amendments to estate tax — As the Senate prepared Tuesday to push through a sweeping tax package negotiated by the White House and congressional Republicans, House leaders were looking to amend the measure to satisfy the concerns of angry liberals without unraveling the deal altogether.

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, CNNMoney.com, TPMDC, FrumForum, The Page and msnbc.com

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: The Local, Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, Harry's Place and Hit & Run

Kevin Sessums / The Daily Beast:

Kevin Spacey on Casino Jack — In his new film, the Oscar-winner immerses himself in pathos as disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He talks to Kevin Sessums about being cast via Facebook and his silence about his sexuality. — Kevin Spacey was recently in Manhattan for a mad round …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Advocate

Ryan Ellis / Americans for Tax Reform RSS:

ATR Supports Tax Hike Prevention Bill, Encourages Votes in Support — Americans for Tax Reform is supporting the tax hike prevention legislation on the floor of the House and Senate this week. While not ideal legislation, it accomplishes the primary objective: namely, prevent tax hikes on anyone earning income.

Discussion: Right Turn, Weigel, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog and The Page

Martin Indyk / The New Republic:

How We Can Honor Richard Holbrooke's Memory — As Richard Holbrooke's friends and colleagues gathered in the entrance to George Washington Hospital last night to console each other and begin the vigil for his soul, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came down from saying goodbye to her friend and adviser.

Discussion: Shakesville