Top Items:
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 …
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Carrie Budoff Brown / Reuters:
Tax-cut plan clears Senate easily — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to advance President Barack Obama's tax package to the House, where the $858 billion bill is expected to receive a final vote Thursday. — The Senate vote was 81-19, with 13 Democrats, five Republicans and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) voting no.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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:
Connecting.the.Dots, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air and FrumForum
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:
Politics Daily, The Fix, The Plum Line, Top of the Ticket, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Hot Air, YID With LID, Questions and Observations, Fox Nation, Swampland, The Gateway Pundit, Right Turn, Don Surber, theblogprof, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Front Row Washington, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, The Foundry, Online NewsHour, TPMDC, Wake up America, CNN, JammieWearingFool and FrumForum
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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 …
Federal Eye:
Most back repealing 'don't ask, don't tell,' poll says
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Right Wing Watch, The Daily Dish, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and AMERICAblog News
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Poll finds voters not impressed with Republicans' House takeover …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Fox News, Pat Dollard, Michelle Malkin and Washington Post
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 …
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Keach Hagey / The Politico:
Fox editor urged climate skepticism
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs and Media Matters for America
Wall Street Journal:
Harry Reid's Holiday Jam — What the Senate wants to pass while you're not paying attention. — In the famous formulation often attributed to George Washington, the U.S. Senate is the saucer designed to cool the drink before it becomes law. In Majority Leader Harry Reid's rush to beat …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, National Review, Right Turn, Betsy's Page and Wake up America
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David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Reality-Based Community, TPMDC, Washington Monthly and The Impolitic
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP leaders take heat over earmarks
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Christmas Session — Jon Kyl, rather preposterously …
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics
Manu Raju / The Politico:
DeMint threatens to force a reading of omnibus bill
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, USA Today, The Note and The BLT
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 …
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Sewell Chan / New York Times:
G.O.P. Panelists Dissent on Cause of Crisis
Discussion:
naked capitalism, DealBook, The Big Picture and Prairie Weather
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Senate Passes Compromise Tax Plan by Wide Margin — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday approved the $858 billion tax plan negotiated by the White House and Republican leaders — the first concrete product of a new era of divided government and acid compromise.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Hill, protein wisdom, Wake up America and The Plum Line
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate passes tax package 81-19, sending Obama deal to the House
Discussion:
msnbc.com
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
House Democrats consider amendments to estate tax
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Politics Daily, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Ezra Klein, TPMDC, CNNMoney.com, The Huffington Post, FrumForum and msnbc.com
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Right Flank Puts Pressure on G.O.P. on Tax-Cut Bill
Discussion:
RedState, JSOnline, Firedoglake and CNN
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning's detention — (updated below) — 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 …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, the brain police, The Other McCain, LewRockwell.com Blog and The Nation
Melissa Bell / BlogPost:
School board shooting (Video) — A school board meeting went from discussing head lice to members pleading for their life Tuesday in Florida when an ex-convict, Clay Duke, interrupted the Bay District School Board meeting, brandishing a gun and mumbling about how the school board had fired his wife …
Discussion:
CNN, Pushing Rope, Left Coast Rebel, Sister Toldjah and Suburban Guerrilla
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Jonathon M. Seidl / The Blaze:
FL SCHOOL BOARD SHOOTER POSTED SUICIDE NOTE RAILING AGAINST THE RICH …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop
Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:
This is What a School-Board-Meeting-Shooter's Facebook Page Looks Like
Discussion:
AOL News, The Other McCain, theblogprof and Hot Air
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.
MinnPost:
With Steele in, Norm Coleman says he will not run for RNC chairman — Norm Coleman: “I've said if Steele was running, I wouldn't run against him.” — WASHINGTON — Norm Coleman will not run for chairman of the Republican National Committee, the former Republican senator confirmed to MinnPost today …
Discussion:
The Politico and Ballot Box
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National Review:
Anybody but Steele
Discussion:
The Note, The Politico, USA Today, Ben Smith's Blog and blogs.abcnews.com
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Brown could be in trouble — Sherrod Brown hasn't proven to have much appeal to Republicans or independents during his first four years in the Senate and as a result he could be vulnerable for reelection in 2012 if the GOP runs a strong candidate against him.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
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
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:
Outside the Beltway and National Review
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Why Are Bankers So Rich? — Tyler Cowen has a big piece about income inequality in The American Interest that's well worth reading. However, it's not really about the growth of inequality. It's about Wall Street. In particular, it's about this question: why do financial professionals make so damn much money?
Discussion:
Yglesias, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, Rortybomb, Democracy in America and The American Interest
Tara Bahrampour / Washington Post:
Muslims criticize handling of Israelis' stay at D.C. hotel — Muslim employees of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington said they felt discriminated against after being barred over the weekend from floors where an Israeli delegation was staying, a Muslim advocacy group said.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Weasel Zippers
Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Iraq: Plot to bomb US, European countries revealed — BAGHDAD - Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim al-Qaida is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh and Classical Values
Myglesias / Yglesias:
Deficit-Talk — Atrios: “I really can't comprehend that with 9.6% unemployment politicians keep talking about the deficit as if it's the big problem.” — Of course he's right. The deficit is a problem only in the sense that the short-term deficit is currently too small.
Discussion:
TalkLeft and Ezra Klein
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