Top Items:
Dan Friedman / NationalJournal.com:
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:
Firedoglake, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Raw Story
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 …
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
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:
Pat Dollard
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
111th Congress comes to a close; new session begins on Jan. 5 — The House on Wednesday evening passed a motion to adjourn the 111th Congress “Sine Die”, bringing to a close Democrats four-year reign in the lower chamber. — It also ended what has been the most productive lame-duck session in recent memory.
Discussion:
CNN and The Other McCain
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
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
‘We Are Not Doomed to Endless Gridlock’
Discussion:
Colorlines and Taegan Goddard's …
Brian Moylan / Gawker:
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:
New York Times, CNSNews, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, FishbowlDC and Hullabaloo
RELATED:
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
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
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
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:
The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Conservatives4Palin and TPMDC
RELATED:
Rick Hasen / Election Law:
BREAKING NEWS: ALASKA SUPREME COURT REJECTS MILLER APPEAL …
BREAKING NEWS: ALASKA SUPREME COURT REJECTS MILLER APPEAL …
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy
ABCNEWS:
Congress Passes Bill To Care For 9/11 Responders after Gaining Support of Oklahoma Senator — Senators on both side of the aisle came together to unanimously pass a bill to give continuing health benefits and compensation to first responders who got sick after the 9/11 terror attacks.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Caucus, CNN, The Note and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
RELATED:
The Huffington Post:
9/11 First Responders Storm Tom Coburn's Office To Protest Block …
9/11 First Responders Storm Tom Coburn's Office To Protest Block …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Note, The Plum Line, Salon and New York Magazine
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, Hot Air, American Glob, Pat Dollard, Doug Ross, Deadline.com, Washington Post, Inside Movies and FrumForum
Stephen C. Webster / Raw Story:
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:
The Dangerous Servant, Mediaite and Hot Air
Peter Baker / New York Times:
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:
The Politico, Power Line, National Review, Commentary, FrumForum, Gawker and Truthdig
RELATED:
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Obama Nuclear Agenda Only Gets Harder After Treaty
Obama Nuclear Agenda Only Gets Harder After Treaty
Discussion:
The Reaction, Firedoglake, The Foundry, AOL News, Daniel W. Drezner, Indecision Forever, National Review, New York Times and American Prospect
Carol E. Lee / The Politico:
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 …
Jon Bershad / Mediaite:
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
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
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.
RELATED:
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
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:
Washington Post, The Hill 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
Washington Post:
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, Althouse, The Atlantic Online and The BLT
Rachel Slajda / TPMDC:
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:
Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Guardian, Booman Tribune and The Hill
RELATED:
Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
Obama: “Prepared to Implement”
Obama: “Prepared to Implement”
Discussion:
Washington Post, Poliglot, AOL News, AMERICAblog Gay, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC, Towleroad News #gay, The Maddow Blog and The Hill
Robin Bravender / The Politico:
W.H.: Polar bears not ‘endangered’ — The Obama administration is sticking with a George W. Bush-era decision to deny polar bears endangered species status. — In a court filing Wednesday, the Fish and Wildlife Service defended the previous administration's decision to give the polar bear …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit
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:
Grim's Hall and The Atlantic Online
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Nice. Muslim Group Launches “Christmas Is Evil” Poster Campaign — A Muslim group launched a “Christmas Is Evil” poster campaign in Great Britain. — How very leftist of them... A radical Muslim group launched a “Christmas is evil” poster campaign hoping that their efforts would help destroy Christmas.
Discussion:
Doug Ross, POWIP and Daily Mail
National Review:
The Would-be GOP Kings — Who among us can contain their excitement? The GOP presidential-primary season has begun! — By my count, there are 24 people who are beneficiaries of nontrivial presidential buzz: Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Tim Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Power Line
Andy Barr / The Politico:
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
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
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, FrumForum, Outside the Beltway and USA Today