memeorandum: Favre Is Fined $50,000 but Not Suspended (Judy Battista/New York Times)

9:40 AM ET, December 30, 2010

Top Items:

Feds investigate Christine O'Donnell spending — BALTIMORE — A person with knowledge of the investigation says federal authorities have opened a criminal probe of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses.

Discussion: CREW, Politics Daily, TBogg, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain, Outside the Beltway, The Hill, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wonkette, Taylor Marsh and The Atlantic Online

Associated Press:

Feds probe Christine O'Donnell's campaign spending — BALTIMORE - Federal authorities have opened a criminal investigation of Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell to determine if the former Senate candidate broke the law by using campaign money to pay personal expenses, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation.

Discussion: New York Post, Swampland, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Washington Wire, Truthdig and Salon

David Catanese / The Politico:

O'Donnell faces federal investigation — A top Delaware Republican confirms to POLITICO that former Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is under federal investigation for allegedly misusing campaign funds. — The Associated Press first reported Wednesday that O'Donnell …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, USA Today, The Wire and AmSpecBlog

Suzi Parker / Politics Daily:
Christine O'Donnell Denies Misusing Campaign Funds, Cites …

Discussion: NY Daily News and Guardian

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
AP: Feds Investigating Christine O'Donnell

Discussion: Slate, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Keach Hagey / The Politico:

Tucker Carlson: Michael Vick ‘should have been executed’ — Tucker Carlson, filling in for Sean Hannity on Fox News last night, picked up the issue of President Barack Obama's call to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, during which the president thanked Lurie for giving Michael Vick a second chance.

Discussion: American Power, Right Turn, Booman Tribune and PostPartisan

Glenn Davis / Mediaite:
Tucker Carlson: “I Think Personally [Michael Vick] Should Have Been Executed”

Discussion: NewsReal Blog, Hot Air, The Wire, The Reaction, ProFootballTalk, theblogprof, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and SportsGrid

Dylan Stableford / The Wrap:

Fox Utterly Destroys Cable News Ratings Competition in 2010 — The Nielsen numbers are in for 2010, and in the battle for cable news ratings supremacy, Fox News took the title for the ninth year in a row — bludgeoning the competition for another year. — The blowout comes on the heels …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Commentary and Doug Ross

New York Times:

Inaction and Delays by New York as Storm Bore Down — At 3:58 a.m. on Christmas Day, the National Weather Service upgraded its alert about the snow headed to New York City, issuing a winter storm watch. By 3:55 p.m., it had declared a formal blizzard warning, a rare degree of alarm.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Sky Dancing, Paul Krugman and Balloon Juice

Patrick McGeehan / New York Times:
Bloomberg Takes Blame for Response to Snowstorm

Discussion: The Daily Beast, DownWithTyranny!, Outside the Beltway and Gawker

David S. Bernstein / thephoenix.com:

The Road to 2012: The New New Hampshire — Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP field are about to find a whole new set of players standing between them and first-in-the-nation primary victory — For Mitt Romney and other likely presidential contenders, 2011 will be a busy year of campaigning …

Discussion: Hot Air, Talking Politics and Booman Tribune

David Weigel / Weigel:
Palin's Donation Strategy and Romney's: The Tea Party Surge versus the 2012 Surge

Discussion: Right Wing News

The Huffington Post:

The Poorhouse: Aunt Winnie, Glenn Beck, And The Politics Of The New Deal — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … An employee of Associated Charities, a private organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in the District of Columbia, met an old black woman carrying a basket of cinders near the dump …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hullabaloo

T. Rees Shapiro / Washington Post:

Geraldine Doyle, 86, dies; one-time factory worker inspired Rosie the Riveter and ‘We Can Do It!’ poster — Geraldine Doyle, 86, who as a 17-year-old factory worker became the inspiration for a popular World War II recruitment poster that evoked female power and independence under the slogan …

Discussion: This Just In and ECHIDNE of the snakes

The Business Insider:

GARY SHILLING: And Now House Prices Will Now Drop Another 20% — In October, Gary Shilling of A. Gary Shilling & Co., predicted that house prices would fall another 20%. — In the two months since, house prices have resumed their decline. Below, Gary outlines why he thinks the recent drops are just the beginning.

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Atlantic Online, Felix Salmon, Ezra Klein and Los Angeles Times

Alexander Mooney / CNN:

Kucinich worries his district will be eliminated — (CNN) - The state of Ohio will lose two congressional seats thanks to the latest U.S. Census figures, and liberal stalwart Dennis Kucinich is worried his seat is on the chopping block. — In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Doug Ross and TPMDC

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

GOP pals could be 2012 rivals — Should both Haley Barbour and Mitch Daniels seek the White House in 2012, Americans would glimpse a rare sight in the annals of presidential campaigns: actual friends competing against one another for the nomination. — Not “friends” in the political sense …

Discussion: The Page

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:

Megyn Kelly: Calling Aliens ‘Undocumented’ Like Calling Rape ‘Non-Consensual Sex’ (VIDEO) — Plenty of conservatives are pretty upset over a campaign by the Society of Professional Journalists to convince reporters to stop using the terms “illegal aliens” and “illegal immigrants” in favor of “undocumented immigrant.”

Discussion: The Confluence, Left Coast Rebel, Big Journalism and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

Two new rules will give Constitution a starring role in GOP-controlled House — When Republicans take over the House next week, they will do something that apparently has never been done before in the chamber's 221-year history: — They will read the Constitution aloud.

Dave Cohen / Decline of the Empire:

The Afghan War, Terrorism And Media Propaganda — As 2010 winds down, I am reminded that there is no Imperial policy more reprehensible and shameful than the war in Afghanistan. This war is constantly presented to Americans as an integral part of the War On Terrorism, but it is no such thing.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jamila Trindle / Wall Street Journal:

Bank Failures at Highest Level Since 1992 — WASHINGTON—More banks failed in 2010 than any year since the savings-and-loan crisis ended in 1992, but regulators said Wednesday that they believe failures have passed their peak. — So far this year, the 157 banks that failed had total assets …

A. G. Sulzberger / New York Times:

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas — PARSONS, Kan. — An unlikely pilgrimage is under way to Dwayne's Photo, a small family business that has through luck and persistence become the last processor in the world of Kodachrome, the first successful and still the most beloved color film.

Discussion: Power Line and Crooked Timber

Patrick Doyle / Rolling Stone:

Exclusive: Merle Haggard on His Kennedy Center Honor, Meeting Obama and Oprah and More — The singer, who received a lifetime achievement award, takes us behind the scenes of Tuesday's broadcast — Merle Haggard is no stranger to the White House: He was a guest of both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Lean Left and The Political Carnival

Judy Battista / New York Times:

Favre Is Fined $50,000 but Not Suspended — Brett Favre, the Minnesota Vikings quarterback whose 20-year career is likely to end after this weekend, was fined $50,000 by the National Football League Wednesday for failing to cooperate with the league's investigation into graphic photos …

Discussion: Gothamist and Bleacher Report