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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 …
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Senate Dems unveil $1.1T spending bill
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, The Politico, RedState, The Note, Questions and Observations, Washington Times, Betsy's Page, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Powers That Be, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Scared Monkeys, The Hill, Nice Deb, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, CNN, National Review, Doug Ross, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Weasel Zippers and The Democratic Daily

Revolt: Republicans Angry About Omnibus Spending Bill Decry ‘Total Mess’
Discussion:
RedState, National Review, Right Wing News, Hot Air, Right Turn, Whiskey Fire and The Other McCain

Senators load spending bill with earmarks
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, USA Today and gopleader.gov

Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Discussion:
Yglesias, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's … and Daily Kos

Omnibus includes $8B in earmarks
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, The Note, Daily Kos and FrumForum


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
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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:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Note and FrumForum
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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, The White House, Booman Tribune, Scared Monkeys and Shakesville

The left's frustration with President Obama will hamper his fundraising
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool


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:
Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, Yahoo! News, The Gateway Pundit, The Next Web, TechCrunch, The Page and PopEater, more at Mediagazer »
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Person of the Year 2010 — For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them; for creating a new system of exchanging information; and for changing how we all live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year. — Only Connect
Discussion:
FP Passport, This Just In and BlogPost, more at Mediagazer »

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
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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


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

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
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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

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

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

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
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GOP donors: We'll leave if Steele stays
Discussion:
FrumForum and The Gateway Pundit

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
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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.


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


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


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

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

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


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 …

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

Forget Tea Party rhetoric - pork barrel politics is back — Dear Tea Party voter: You've been had. — When the good people of South Dakota voted last month to send Republican Kristi Noem to Congress, they probably believed that she would give no quarter to the lobbyists and special interest groups …
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Outside the Beltway, Flopping Aces, Madville Times, Prairie Weather, The Hill, Congress.org, Iowa Independent, Booman Tribune and Weigel

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

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


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