memeorandum: The Creepy, Lovesick Emails of Julian Assange (Adrian Chen/Gawker)

11:00 PM ET, December 16, 2010

Top Items:

David Rogers / The Politico:

Democrats concede budget fight to Republicans — Senate Democrats abruptly abandoned an omnibus budget bill for the coming year, pushing major spending decisions into the next Congress and giving Republicans immense new leverage to confront President Barack Obama priorities.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Fox News, National Review, Right Turn, CNN, The Page, Transterrestrial Musings, Left Coast Rebel, Say Anything, Pat Dollard, Hot Air and Nice Deb

The Note:

Big Boost for Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal: Brown Backs Senate Bill — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: — Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown today voiced his support for a stand-alone repeal of the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, bringing the bill one vote over the 60-vote threshold …

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP will paralyze Senate floor with reading of 1,924-page spending bill — Republicans will paralyze the Senate floor for 50 hours by forcing clerks to read every single paragraph of the 1,924-page, $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. — Senate clerks are expected to read the massive bill …

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Senators might make it home for holidays — Senators might make it home for Christmas after all. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday night that he would scrap a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the entire government, in favor of a short-term resolution whose length has not been determined.

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review, AmSpecBlog and Pajamas Media

The Hill:

Sen. Wyden to have surgery for prostate cancer, will miss votes — Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will undergo surgery next week to treat early-stage prostate cancer, forcing him to miss Friday's Senate session and parts of next week. — Wyden's impending absence threatens to significantly …

Discussion: The Note, CNN, AMERICAblog Gay and FrumForum

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog Gay:

Reid files for cloture on DADT tonight (wonky but important) — Senator Reid has apparently just announced his intent to file for cloture later this evening on DADT and the DREAM Act. Another report, from Advocate reporter Kerry Eleveld, says that Reid has filed for cloture on both.

Discussion: Good As You and Pam's House Blend

Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:

Reid Files Cloture On Don't Ask, Don't Tell And DREAM, Schedules Cloture Votes For Saturday — Moments ago, citing a shortage of votes, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unexpectedly pulled the omnibus bill off the floor and instead filed cloture on the stand-alone Don't Ask …

Discussion: Good As You and Towleroad News #gay

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
DADT Moves In The Senate: Reid To File Cloture Tonight, Vote On Saturday

Discussion: The Page

Vicki Needham / The Hill:
Reid pulls back from yearlong omnibus, aims for short-term funding resolution

Discussion: The Foundry, Right Turn and Doug Ross

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Good news and bad news on DADT

Discussion: The Politico, Firedoglake, AMERICAblog Gay, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and The Daily Dish

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Ron Wyden announces cancer surgery

Discussion: The Hill, Eunomia and FrumForum

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
OBNOXIOUS DELAYS FOR THE SAKE OF OBNOXIOUS DELAYS.... The irony is …

Discussion: The Caucus, The Note, Pat Dollard and Balloon Juice

Wall Street Journal:
The 111th Congress's Final Insult

Discussion: The Hill, GayPatriot, Betsy's Page, Right Turn, National Review, Don Surber and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
How Harry Reid can make time for DADT repeal

Discussion: The Politico, Wonk Room, Talking Points Memo, Advocate, AMERICAblog Gay, TPMDC, DownWithTyranny!, Daily Kos, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Monthly

Russell Berman / The Hill:

House tax vote could be delayed — A final House vote on President Obama's tax proposal could be delayed after Democratic leaders were forced to pull a procedural measure off the House floor Thursday. — The House was set to vote on the rule governing debate on the broad tax bill …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Wire, Swampland, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Firedoglake, Open Congress, The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, Shopfloor, The Page and Daily Kos

The Hill:
Late-night House tax vote back on after Pelosi appeases liberals

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Rep. Weiner compares Senate to the ‘1970s Politburo’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Washington Post:
Senate overwhelmingly approves tax-cut deal

Discussion: Firedoglake, PostPartisan, Big Think, Federal Eye, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, FrumForum, New York Times and The Politico

Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit:

AND YET APOLOGISTS IN AMERICA WERE COMPARING HIM TO THE EARLY CHRISTIANS: Mao's Great Leap To Famine: “The worst catastrophe in China's history, and one of the worst anywhere, was the Great Famine of 1958 to 1962, and to this day the ruling Communist Party has not fully acknowledged the degree …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Questions and Observations, Mudville Gazette, Moe Lane and Cold Fury

Frank Dikötter / New York Times:
Mao's Great Leap to Famine

Discussion: Questions and Observations, The Peking Duck, Fausta's Blog and Althouse

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

Where Freedom Goes to Die: The Center for Science in the Public Interest — I find it deeply disturbing that such a lawsuit was even contemplated in my country, even if it is likely to be thrown out on appeal: … One shudders to consider that when Patrick Henry stood up in St. John's Church and declared …

Discussion: NY Daily News, Modeled Behavior, Cato @ Liberty, Cold Fury, JammieWearingFool, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Caller

Bloomberg:

Visa, MasterCard Plunge as Fed Issues Rules to Cut Debit Fees — Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. plunged more than 10 percent in New York trading after the Federal Reserve Board proposed rules that could slash debit-card interchange fees by 90 percent. — The new rules, posted today by the Fed …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online and Clusterstock

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Durbin: The $1.1 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill Is ‘Exactly The Number’ McConnell Asked For — Senate Republicans have spent the last few days acting shocked and outraged over this year's omnibus spending bill, which would fund the government through next Sept. 30.

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: McCain: Filibuster omnibus, even if it prompts government shutdown

Sally C. Pipes / Forbes:

The Fatal Move From The FDA — Some women will face shorter, more painful lives without Avastin. — On Dec. 17 the Food and Drug Administration is expected to take the radical step of revoking approval for an advanced drug in the treatment of one of the country's most deadly diseases.

Discussion: Big Government, Doug Ross, theblogprof and AOL News

Capitol Confidential / Big Government: Exclusive: Sources Confirm FDA Moving Ahead with Rationing

John Cook / Gawker:

The Daily Beast Has Stopped Editing Meghan McCain — Meghan McCain is the illiterate daughter of a ruined man, which makes her “column” for the Daily Beast something of a challenge for her editors. But by the looks of today's offering, they've given up. — Were you wondering what McCain thinks …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Aljean Harmetz / New York Times:

Blake Edwards, Prolific Comedy Director, Dies at 88 — Blake Edwards, a writer and director who became a Hollywood master of screwball farces and rude comedies like “Victor/Victoria” and the “Pink Panther” movies, died Wednesday night in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 88. — Enlarge This Image

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Gothamist, AOL News, First Draft and Gawker

First Read / msnbc.com:

First Thoughts: As bad as it gets? — New NBC/WSJ poll: If this is as bad as it gets for Obama, he's in good shape for 2012... If not, watch out... What's benefiting the president right now: a strong base and the fact the public finds him likeable... Palin's poor poll position …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The New Republic

Washington Post:

Republican senators say they'll vote against their own earmarks — The port city of Pascagoula on Mississippi's Gulf Coast wants to build a beach promenade, with new benches, lush landscaping and a lighted pathway for joggers, cyclists and dog walkers. — So the municipality of 24,000 hired a pair of Washington lobbyists.

Discussion: Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and USA Today

Daniel Malloy / earlyreturns.sites.post-gazette.com:
Voters Guide … In these times when it is fashionable …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

The Creepy, Lovesick Emails of Julian Assange — Julian Assange, the founder of the world's most notorious secret-sharing operation, has some embarrassing documents in his own past. We've obtained a series of emails detailing his stalkery courtship of a teenager in his pre-Wikileaks days.

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post, Runnin' Scared, Wonkette and pandagon.net

Ross Douthat:

The Strange Case for Mitt Romney — David Frum, puzzling over the inconsistencies in Mitt Romney's recent op-ed attacking the tax deal: … I hear similar things from Romney supporters (or people trying to convince themselves to be Romney supporters) with remarkable frequency.

Discussion: Eunomia, The New Republic and Commentary

Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:

Warning: ‘Greater Exposure’ To Fox News Will Lead To ‘Increased Misinformation’ On Policy Issues — Last week, World Public Opinion (WPO) released a poll exploring political information in a post-Citizens United national election and found that 90 percent of voters “said that in the 2010 election …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Booman Tribune, Liberal Values and AlterNet

Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun Times:

Meeks says minority contracts should only go to blacks — Mayoral challenger James Meeks scrambled Thursday to put out a political fire touched off by his suggestion that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for minorities and women.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Say Anything and JammieWearingFool

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Barbra Streisand glad Hillary not first female president: They'd have ‘blamed her gender’ for economic crisis — On Wednesday's broadcast of “Larry King Live” on CNN, the second-to-final show for host Larry King, singer Barbra Streisand explained why she left the country during November's midterm.

Discussion: Commentary

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone:

Bernie Sanders Puts Barack Obama to Shame — In an era of Democratic waffling and compromise, the Independent from Vermont actually stands up for what he believes in — Not long ago I was sitting at home writing something for publication - I won't say what, except that it was a passage about a certain politician on the Hill.

Discussion: Balloon Juice