Top Items:
ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: Senate Strikes Deal on 9/11 First Responders Bill — Oklahoma Senator Will Allow a Vote on Bill to Care for 9/11 First Responders; Bill Cut to $4.2B — Senate Democrats and Republicans have struck a deal to secure passage of a bill to provide health benefits and compensation …
Discussion:
CNN, The Note, Washington Post, Blue Wave News and National Review
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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:
Ezra Klein, Firedoglake and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Raymond Hernandez / The Caucus:
Senate Passes 9/11 Health Bill — Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency — Senator Charles E. Schumer outside the Senate chamber on Wednesday. — 5:42 p.m. | Updated The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to cover the cost of medical care for rescue workers and others …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Indecision Forever, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh, Swampland, The Page and New York Times
The Huffington Post:
9/11 First Responders Storm Tom Coburn's Office To Protest Block On Their Health Care Bill (VIDEO) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … UPDATE: The Senate has reached a deal that is expected to allow for the passage of a scaled-down health care package. — Senator Coburn responded in a statement:
Discussion:
Salon, On The Hill, New York Magazine, National Review, The Reaction and DownWithTyranny!
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:
Wonkette and The Maddow Blog
The Washington / NY Daily News:
Mouth of the Potomac
Mouth of the Potomac
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Crooks and Liars, No More Mister Nice Blog, msnbc.com and Daily Kos
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Coburn: 'We Don't Have' The ‘Extra’ Money Needed For 9/11 First Responders (Updated)
Coburn: 'We Don't Have' The ‘Extra’ Money Needed For 9/11 First Responders (Updated)
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Senate to hold make or break vote on 9/11 first responders health bill
Senate to hold make or break vote on 9/11 first responders health bill
Discussion:
The Note, Ben Smith's Blog, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos
The Politico:
Congress passes 9/11 bill
Congress passes 9/11 bill
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Raw Story
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:
CNSNews, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay and FishbowlDC
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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.
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, Indecision Forever, Marbury, nancynall.com, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice and Colorlines
Terry Krepel / Media Matters for America:
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Gotcha Fail: Rep. Frank Turns Tables on CNS
Discussion:
Advocate
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 …
Discussion:
Hot Air, neo-neocon, A plain blog about politics, TalkLeft, Right Turn and Mother Jones
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans See U.S. as Exceptional; 37% Doubt Obama Does — Majority believe U.S. at risk of losing status as greatest country in the world — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans widely agree that the United States has a unique character because of its history and Constitution that sets it apart …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, CNN, The Foundry, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, Newshoggers.com, Politics Daily and Firedoglake
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
CNN Poll: 56 percent give Obama's lame duck a thumbs up
CNN Poll: 56 percent give Obama's lame duck a thumbs up
Discussion:
The Politico, Slate, Daniel W. Drezner, Hot Air, The Reaction, Pat Dollard, The Moderate Voice and Indecision Forever
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Democrats take victory lap, claiming a ‘do-something Congress’
Democrats take victory lap, claiming a ‘do-something Congress’
Discussion:
The Politico, Reuters and Questions and Observations
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 …
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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:
Daily Kos, Conservatives4Palin and TPMDC
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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:
Commentary, FrumForum, Gawker and Truthdig
RELATED:
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:
Sky Dancing, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay, The Atlantic Online, Althouse and The BLT
RELATED:
Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
Obama: “Prepared to Implement” — ADVOCATE EXCLUSIVE OBAMA INTERVIEW: President Obama tells The Advocate the Pentagon is “prepared to implement” repeal of “don't ask, don't tell” and it will take months not years. He also says he's “wrestling” with the issue of marriage equality.
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Hill, Guardian, Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, AMERICAblog Gay, AOL News, New York Magazine, Towleroad News #gay and The Maddow Blog
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, The Note, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, FrumForum and USA Today
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Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
On fat, Huckabee vs. Palin vs. Palin
On fat, Huckabee vs. Palin vs. Palin
Discussion:
Cubachi, The Right Scoop, theblogprof, NY Daily News, JustOneMinute, The Radio Equalizer and Israpundit
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:
Andrew Martin / New York Times:
In a Sign of Foreclosure Flaws, Suits Claim Break-Ins by Banks — TRUCKEE, Calif. — When Mimi Ash arrived at her mountain chalet here for a weekend ski trip, she discovered that someone had broken into the home and changed the locks. — When she finally got into the house, it was empty.
RELATED:
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Banks Breaking into Occupied Homes, Stealing Items (Really)
Banks Breaking into Occupied Homes, Stealing Items (Really)
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Rortybomb, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo
The Politico:
GOP unveils strict new House rules — The new House Republican majority will force lawmakers to vote when they want to raise the nation's debt ceiling, publish committee attendance records, ban former members from lobbying in the House gym and require new mandatory spending to be offset by cuts to other programs.
Discussion:
USA Today, Outside the Beltway, Wake up America, Sunlight Foundation Blog, CNN and The Hill
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, Ezra Klein, TPMDC and Gawker
Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:
When 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal Meets Religious Liberty … I've recently authored several posts discussing how social conservatives seem to have lost the gay issue but have won on the life issue. There are many reasons for this, but one, I think, has to do with who the perceived “victim” is.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Outside the Beltway
Bloomberg:
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, ThinkProgress and msnbc.com