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 …
Discussion:
The Note, Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Caucus, Washington Wire, Washington Post, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, The Daily Dish, Weasel Zippers, Eunomia, msnbc.com, The Page, Fox News, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's …, Guardian, Wake up America, Raw Story, Federal Eye, Booman Tribune and FrumForum
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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
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
David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Dreaming of a Post-Christmas Congress
Discussion:
The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, The Reality-Based Community and The Impolitic
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Christmas Session — Jon Kyl, rather preposterously …
Discussion:
TPMDC and A plain blog about politics
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, Top of the Ticket, The Plum Line, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, Hot Air, Fox Nation, The Gateway Pundit, Questions and Observations, Swampland, YID With LID, theblogprof, Don Surber, National Review, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, Right Turn, Pajamas Media, The Foundry, Front Row Washington, 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, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, AMERICAblog News and The Daily Dish
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Poll finds voters not impressed with Republicans' House takeover …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Fox News, Wake up America, Pat Dollard and Michelle Malkin
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
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
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
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.
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Time's POTY: Facebook founder?
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, Mashable!, msnbc.com, Right Pundits, The Stir By CafeMom, Moe Lane and AOL News, more at Techmeme »
Richard Stengel / Time:
Person of the Year 2010 — For connecting more than half …
Discussion:
CNN, Hit & Run, Gothamist, ReadWriteWeb, FP Passport, PostPartisan, BlogPost and This Just In, more at Mediagazer »
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, The Blaze, Wake up America, Left Coast Rebel, Pushing Rope, 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:
Michelle Malkin, Left Coast Rebel, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit 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
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
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, Connecting.the.Dots, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air and FrumForum
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Patrick Gavin / The Politico:
WHITE HOUSE APPOINTS JON BON JOVI
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, iOwnTheWorld.com, Scared Monkeys, The White House, Booman Tribune and Shakesville
Jamie Dupree / Jamie Dupree Washington Insider:
Those Pesky GOP Earmarks — While Republicans denounced the 1,924 page Omnibus budget bill that was unveiled by Senate Democrats yesterday, their arguments against earmarks ran into some trouble during a news conference today. — Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) joined Sen. John Thune (R-SD) …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, TPMDC, Weigel and Open Congress
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate GOP leaders take heat over earmarks
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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
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The Note, The Politico, USA Today, Ben Smith's Blog and blogs.abcnews.com
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
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 …
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:
Rortybomb, Yglesias, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, 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
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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