Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
In Sunday-evening surprise, Senate unanimously passes food safety bill — The Senate unexpectedly approved food safety legislation by unanimous consent Sunday evening, rescuing a bill that floated in limbo for weeks because of a clerical error. — The Senate passed the Food Safety and Modernization Act on Nov. 30 by a vote of 73-25.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Firedoglake
RELATED:
Scott Wong / The Politico:
Dems getting closer on START — Senate Democrats appear to have enough votes to overcome a Republican filibuster on the new START arms-control treaty, though it's unclear if they will have the 67 votes needed for ratification. — At least four Republicans have committed to supporting …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, FrumForum, CNN, Reuters and New York Times
Lyndsey Layton / Washington Post:
Food-safety measure passes Senate in Sunday surprise — A bill that would overhaul the nation's food-safety laws for the first time since the Great Depression came roaring back to life Sunday as Senate Democrats struck a deal with Republicans that helped overcome a technical mistake …
Discussion:
Shopfloor
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Democrats Scramble to Save Votes to Ratify Nuclear Pact — WASHINGTON — The top two Senate Republicans declared Sunday that they would vote against President Obama's nuclear treaty with Russia as the bipartisan spirit of last week's tax-cut deal devolved into a sharp battle over national security in the waning days of the session.
Discussion:
Guardian, The Caucus, The Page, ATTACKERMAN and Balkinization
Jimmy So / CBS News:
Graham Announces Opposition to START Treaty
Graham Announces Opposition to START Treaty
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Agence France Presse and Washington Post
Ben Geman / The Hill:
Reid cites Gaga's ‘meat dress,’ Lindsay Lohan's rehab in START treaty push
Reid cites Gaga's ‘meat dress,’ Lindsay Lohan's rehab in START treaty push
Discussion:
PopEater, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Advocate and The Hill
Wall Street Journal:
Senate Nears Deal on Funding Bill
Senate Nears Deal on Funding Bill
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The Politico and The Page
Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
New START rolls on toward final vote as McConnell and Kyl declare opposition
New START rolls on toward final vote as McConnell and Kyl declare opposition
Discussion:
The Note, The Politico, Hot Air and National Review
Tom Cohen / CNN:
McConnell leads anti-START effort
McConnell leads anti-START effort
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Fox News, Parker Spitzer and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
The Huffington Post:
Rove Suspected In Swedish-U.S. Political Prosecution of WikiLeaks — What's Your Reaction: … Karl Rove's help for Sweden as it assists the Obama administration's prosecution against WikiLeaks could be the latest example of the adage, “Politics makes strange bedfellows.”
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Nation, YID With LID, Weasel Zippers, Instapundit and The Other McCain
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David Leppard / TheAustralian:
Lawyers cry foul over leak of Julian Assange sex-case papers — LAWYERS for Julian Assange have expressed anger about an alleged smear campaign against the Australian WikiLeaks founder. — Incriminating police files were published in the British newspaper that has used him as its source for hundreds of leaked US embassy cables.
Ewen MacAskill / Guardian:
Biden: Assange like ‘hi-tech terrorist’
Biden: Assange like ‘hi-tech terrorist’
Discussion:
Truthdig and Suburban Guerrilla, more at Techmeme »
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Proposed Amendment Would Enable States to Repeal Federal Law — The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administration's health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress.
Discussion:
Chicago Boyz
Devan Sipher / New York Times:
Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla — WHAT happens when love comes at the wrong time? — Carol Anne Riddell and John Partilla met in 2006 in a pre-kindergarten classroom. They both had children attending the same Upper West Side school. They also both had spouses.
Discussion:
Gawker, ProfessorBainbridge.com, New York Magazine, Runnin' Scared, Mediaite and National Review
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
One Battle Won, Activists Shift Sights — WASHINGTON — As gay people around the country reveled on Sunday in the historic Senate vote to repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” a liberal media watchdog group said it planned to announce on Monday that it was setting up a “communications war room for gay equality” …
Discussion:
Equality Matters, Pam's House Blend, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog Gay and American Power
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Weighing Costs, Companies Favor Temporary Help — Temporary workers are starting to look, well, not so temporary. — Despite a surge this year in short-term hiring, many American businesses are still skittish about making those jobs permanent, raising concerns among workers and some labor experts …
Discussion:
naked capitalism and Brilliant at Breakfast
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Health-care overhaul's individual mandate makes all the difference — Unless someone can drop into Anthony Kennedy's dreamspace and, “Inception"-style, either figure out what he thinks of the individual mandate or simply tell him what to think of the individual mandate …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish and Swampland
John / Power Line:
A Scientific Theory Is Judged By Its Predictive Power — “Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past.” That is what global warming alarmists in Great Britain were telling us just ten years ago: … The Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia was, as you probably remember …
Discussion:
Barcepundit
Peter King / Newsday:
What's radicalizing Muslim Americans? — Peter King (R-Seaford) represents New York's 3rd Congressional District. — Earlier this month, I was elected by the House Republican Conference to be chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. I've made it clear that I'll focus the committee …
Discussion:
Libertarian Republican and Colorlines
New York Times:
Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews — Google TV has just enacted its first programming cancellation. — The Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas was meant to be the great coming-out party for Google's new software for televisions, which adds Web video and other computer smarts to TV sets.
Discussion:
Post Tech, Guardian and Android Phone Fans, more at Mediagazer »
Molly Ball / Reuters:
Pols hope to push back primaries — As 2012 nears, the political class is united with one holiday wish: Please don't make us spend New Year's Eve in Iowa like we did in 2008. — The leadership in both parties is listening. In the hopes of stopping the madness of ever-earlier presidential primaries …
Matthew Campbell / TheAustralian:
Nicolas Sarkozy to target Muslim prayers — NICOLAS Sarkozy will take another lurch to the Right with a speech on New Year's Eve calling Muslim prayers in the street “unacceptable”. — After his expulsions of gypsies and a crackdown on immigrant crime, the French President will warn …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, Infidels Are Cool and Weasel Zippers
Reuters:
President Obama 2.0: Becoming ‘CEO of America’ — Six weeks of lame-duck legislating should be more than enough to convince President Barack Obama: Two more years of this would be a drag. — Obama scored more legislative victories than at first looked likely following the Democrats' drubbing in the midterm elections.
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Page
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
A Tough Season for Believers — Christmas is hard for everyone. But it's particularly hard for people who actually believe in it. — In a sense, of course, there's no better time to be a Christian than the first 25 days of December. But this is also the season when American Christians can feel most embattled.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Lee Stranahan / Big Government:
Pigford Video Blockbuster: Key ‘Black Farmers’ Lawyer Admits Clients ‘Got Away With Murder’ — The mainstream media has treated accusations of large-scale fraud in the Pigford settlement with overt skepticism and a distinct lack of journalistic curiosity. The press has blindly repeated …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications