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Senate's Returning Democrats Unanimously Favor Filibuster Reform — All except Dodd sign a letter urging Majority Leader Harry Reid to change the rules. — All Democratic senators returning next year have signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging him to consider action …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Firedoglake and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
Why has the lame-duck session been so productive? — So far, the lame-duck session has managed to pass an $850 billion tax-cuts-and-stimulus deal, the repeal of DADT, the Defense Authorization bill, a continuing resolution to keep funding the federal government, the START treaty …
Ezra Klein:
Senate Democrats support filibuster reform — They say elections have consequences. So too, it turns out, does obstruction. In a move that's as overdue as it is unexpected, every returning Senate Democrat has signed a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for filibuster reform.
Discussion:
RedState
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A lame-duck session with unexpected victories — When the lame-duck session of Congress started more than a month ago, President Obama looked defeated and deflated, publicly acknowledging the “shellacking” his party had taken in the November midterm elections.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Pat Dollard
ABCNEWS:
Congress Passes Bill To Care For 9/11 Responders after Gaining Support …
Congress Passes Bill To Care For 9/11 Responders after Gaining Support …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, ThinkProgress, The Note and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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9/11 First Responders Storm Tom Coburn's Office To Protest Block …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Plum Line, The Note, Salon and New York Magazine
Raymond Hernandez / The Caucus:
Senate Passes 9/11 Health Bill
Senate Passes 9/11 Health Bill
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Indecision Forever, Firedoglake, Swampland, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Page, The Reaction and New York Times
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
How Did Republicans End Up Against 9/11 Responders Bill?
How Did Republicans End Up Against 9/11 Responders Bill?
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, The Hill, Wonkette and The Maddow Blog
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Barney Frank Makes a Fool Out of Conservative Reporter Over 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' — A conservative reporter from right-leaning CNS News thought he would play gotcha journalist and ask gay Congressman Barney Frank about gay and straight soldiers showering together. Big mistake. Huge.
Discussion:
CNSNews, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, FishbowlDC and Hullabaloo
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Barney Frank completely pwns hapless CNS reporter attempting ‘gotcha’ DADT question — You can tell that all these reporters for right-wing propaganda organs like the Media Research Center spend waaaay too much time watching Fox News and their army of would-be ambush journalists.
Terry Krepel / Media Matters for America:
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Discussion:
Advocate
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Supreme Court rules against Miller — The Alaska Supreme Court today ruled against Joe Miller on all counts, a decision that leaves his challenge of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's victory on life support. — “There are no remaining issues raised by Miller that prevent this election from being certified …
Discussion:
Election Law, Daily Kos, Conservatives4Palin and TPMDC
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Senate Passes Arms Control Treaty With Russia, 71-26 — WASHINGTON — The Senate gave final approval on Wednesday to a new arms control treaty with Russia, scaling back leftover cold war nuclear arsenals and capping a surprisingly successful lame-duck session for President Obama just weeks after his party's electoral debacle.
Discussion:
Commentary, FrumForum, Gawker and Truthdig
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Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and Colorlines
Rachel Weiner / The Fix:
Steven Spielberg advising Nancy Pelosi on rebranding Democrats … THE FIX NEWSLETTERS … THE LIVE FIX … POLITICS & PINTS
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, American Glob, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, Washington Post, Deadline.com, Doug Ross, Inside Movies and FrumForum
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No Congress Since 1960s Makes Most Laws for Americans as 111th — However history judges the 535 men and women in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate the past two years, one thing is certain: The 111th Congress made more law affecting more Americans since the “Great Society” legislation of the 1960s.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com and ThinkProgress
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
111th Congress comes to a close; new session begins on Jan. 5
111th Congress comes to a close; new session begins on Jan. 5
Discussion:
CNN
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Shock: Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson favors marijuana legalization — Robertson a welcome addition to drug reform circles, former narc tells Raw Story — Count this among the 10 things nobody ever expected to see in their lifetimes: 700 Club founder Pat Robertson …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Dangerous Servant and Hot Air
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Obama signs DADT repeal before big, emotional crowd — President Obama signed the landmark repeal of the military's “don't ask, don't tell” policy Wednesday morning, handing a major victory to advocates of gay rights and fulfilling a campaign promise to do away with a practice that he has called discriminatory.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Sky Dancing, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay, The Atlantic Online, Althouse and The BLT
RELATED:
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
With Obama's Signature, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Is Repealed
With Obama's Signature, 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Is Repealed
Discussion:
White House.gov Blog Feed, New York Magazine, nancynall.com, Colorlines, Wonkette, Indecision Forever, Marbury, Balloon Juice and The Caucus
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Obama on vacation: same old, same old — HONOLULU - For Ronald Reagan it was riding horses on his California ranch. For George W. Bush it was clearing brush and biking around his Crawford, Texas, estate. For Barack Obama, the signature image of his presidential vacationing, so far …
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Oops! Fox & Friends Accidentally Identifies Elie Wiesel As “Holocaust Winner” — Wow. We all make mistakes and typos. There will probably be at least one in this post alone. However, some typos are worse than others. This is one of those typos. Last week, Fox & Friends …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, The Wire, Gawker and PopEater
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The Net Neutrality Coup — The campaign to regulate the Internet was funded by a who's who of left-liberal foundations. — The Federal Communications Commission's new “net neutrality” rules, passed on a partisan 3-2 vote yesterday, represent a huge win for a slick lobbying campaign run by liberal activist groups and foundations.
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Republican House Rules Makes It Harder to Increase Debt Limit, Raise Taxes — The new Republican House rules proposal is out, and people are rightly guffawing about the vow to read the Constitution on the House floor at the beginning of the session. But if silliness like this is the worst …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post and Hullabaloo
RELATED:
Jackie Kucinich / Roll Call:
GOP Wants Constitution Read on House Floor
GOP Wants Constitution Read on House Floor
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, TPMDC and Gawker
ProPublica:
The ‘Subsidy’: How Merrill Lynch Traders Helped Blow Up Their Own Firm — Two years before the financial crisis hit, Merrill Lynch confronted a serious problem. No one, not even the bank's own traders, wanted to buy the supposedly safe portions of the mortgage-backed securities Merrill was creating.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Felix Salmon
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Obama: DOMA Should Be Repealed, Lawyers Looking At ‘Range Of Options’ — President Obama, although he still supports civil unions over same-sex marriage, said yesterday that he believes the Defense of Marriage Act should be repealed. — “Repealing DOMA, getting ENDA [a bill to protect LGBT people …
Discussion:
The Hill, Guardian, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and Booman Tribune
RELATED:
Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
Obama: “Prepared to Implement”
Obama: “Prepared to Implement”
Discussion:
Poliglot, Washington Post, AMERICAblog Gay, AOL News, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Towleroad News #gay, The Hill and The Maddow Blog
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Huck: Palin wrong, FLOTUS right — Potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says Sarah Palin's wrong and Michelle Obama's right, at least when it comes to the first lady's push to combat childhood obesity. — “With all due respect to my colleague and friend Sarah Palin …
Discussion:
Althouse, CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Tennesseans Watching …, theblogprof, JustOneMinute, The Note, Israpundit, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, FrumForum and USA Today
Webstock words:
The Blast Shack — We asked Bruce Sterling (who spoke at Webstock '09) for his take on Wikileaks. — The Wikileaks Cablegate scandal is the most exciting and interesting hacker scandal ever. I rather commonly write about such things, and I'm surrounded by online acquaintances …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
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RNC candidates make social pledges — Some of the top-tier candidates seeking the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee have made their pitches to the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List in hopes of convincing social conservatives of their beliefs.
Discussion:
LifeNews.com