Top Items:
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New Speaker Vows to Share Power—a Tricky Proposition — When John Boehner takes over one of the most powerful jobs in Washington this week, he says his first order of business is to make himself less powerful. — On Wednesday the new speaker of the House of Representatives plans to offer …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Publius Forum, Hot Air, A plain blog about politics, protein wisdom and Althouse
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner fires back at Dem senators with vow to push forward with repeal — Incoming House Speaker John Boehner's office (R-Ohio) pointedly vowed on Tuesday to push ahead with legislation repealing healthcare reform. — Boehner's office responded to a letter sent by the Senate's top five Democrats …
Discussion:
The Note, Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air and Liberty Pundits Blog
Lbentzterp / CNN:
Boehner to livestream opening day of new Congress on Facebook
Boehner to livestream opening day of new Congress on Facebook
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, sisu, ReadWriteWeb, Gawker, Mediaite and Washington Post, more at Techmeme »
Michael Steel / gopleader.gov:
Boehner Press Office Responds to Senate Democrats re: Repealing …
Boehner Press Office Responds to Senate Democrats re: Repealing …
Discussion:
Cubachi, RedState and Weasel Zippers
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Obama weighs major reshuffling of staff — As President Obama returns from Hawaii, he is weighing a major reshuffling of his staff that could see as many as eight people playing new key roles in the weeks ahead, Democrats familiar with the process said. — Obama has been mulling for months …
Discussion:
The Fix, National Review, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Impolitic and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
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White House shakeup could mean Gibbs' exit — Administration officials — who long denied that President Barack Obama was planning a major housecleaning in the wake of the disastrous 2010 midterms — aren't pushing back anymore. — Senior adviser David Axelrod has already announced his departure …
Discussion:
CNN and Weasel Zippers
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Watchdog fired by Obama loses appeals case
Discussion:
Politics Daily and The Other McCain
Kevin Connor / Eyes on the Ties:
Obama Considering Chamber of Commerce Insider for Top White House Post
Obama Considering Chamber of Commerce Insider for Top White House Post
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, msnbc.com, Ezra Klein, Big Government, Swampland, The Daily Caller, The Caucus and Salon
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
G.O.P. Aims Smaller for Cuts to Budget — WASHINGTON — Many people knowledgeable about the federal budget said House Republicans could not keep their campaign promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending in a single year. Now it appears that Republicans agree.
Discussion:
The Hill, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
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G.O.P. Sets Up Huge Target for Budget Ax — WASHINGTON — The incoming Republican majority in the House is moving to make good on its promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year, a goal eagerly backed by conservatives but one carrying substantial political and economic risks.
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Congress to Return With G.O.P. Vowing to Alter Rules
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
GOP Plans To Implement The ‘Demon Pass’ They Once Decried
GOP Plans To Implement The ‘Demon Pass’ They Once Decried
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly and Arkansas Blog
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Santorum Takes Aim at Romney, Palin — Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., at a Capitol Hill coffee shop, trying to give a jolt to his presidential ambitions. — Rick Santorum the senator didn't shy from controversy. Apparently, neither will Rick Santorum the presidential candidate.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Daily Caller and GOP 12
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Huckabee's the best bet for now — My main thought on the Republican Presidential field as 2011 begins is that the party needs someone outside the current top 4 of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich to come out of the pack and win the nomination.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, TPMDC and GOP 12
Nathan Frandino / CBS New York:
Poll: Christie Ahead Of Obama Among GOP Hopefuls
Poll: Christie Ahead Of Obama Among GOP Hopefuls
Discussion:
Paul Mulshine and Weigel
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Upcoming NewSouth ‘Huck Finn’ Eliminates the ‘N’ Word — Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classic by most any measure—T.S. Eliot called it a masterpiece, and Ernest Hemingway pronounced it the source of “all modern American literature.” Yet, for decades …
Discussion:
EW.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Reaction, Michael Whitney's myFDL diary, Michelle Malkin, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Big Hollywood, culturekitchen, Right Pundits, Jack & Jill Politics, The Sundries Shack, The Moderate Voice, Fausta's Blog, PopEater, Gawker, neo-neocon, AOL News, Joe. My. God. and Oliver Willis
Mitch McConnell / Washington Post:
A power grab that the GOP avoided — When the 112th Congress convenes Wednesday, some of us will be thinking back to a vote that occurred 15 years earlier to the day. Just two months after securing a congressional majority for the first time in 40 years, Republicans strode into the Senate chamber …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Wonk Room, Blogcritics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line, TPMDC and The Hill
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David Weigel / Weigel:
Eric Cantor: Health Care Repeal Will Happen Because “It Was Litigated …
Eric Cantor: Health Care Repeal Will Happen Because “It Was Litigated …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress
Fox Nation:
Speaker Pelosi Leaves With a Whopper — At her final press conference as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, “Deficit reduction has been a high priority for us. It is our mantra, pay-as-you-go.” — The numbers tell a different story. — When the Pelosi Democrats took control …
Discussion:
Doug Ross and Weasel Zippers
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Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Palin re-tweet raises questions — (CNN) - Normally, it's what Sarah Palin tweets that makes news. This time it's what she has re-tweeted. — The former Alaska governor Monday relayed a comment from gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce, who was expressing her criticism …
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With New Heart Pump, Cheney Resumes Old Life — By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, HELENE COOPER and MICHAEL D. SHEAR — WASHINGTON — A few days before Christmas, former Vice President Dick Cheney emerged from several months of a self-imposed political sabbatical to headline a fund-raiser for Maria Cino …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The Political Carnival, Runnin' Scared, Oliver Willis and New York Magazine
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Theater Audience Boos Tea Party Billionaire David Koch — David Koch masks his role as one of the top financiers of the Tea Party movement and pro-polluter front groups by loudly tacking his name to more laudable charities, like the New York city ballet. Koch, who has professed his devotion to …
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
9th Circuit Sends Prop. 8 Case Back To California Supreme Court On Certified Question — I just received an automated e-mail from the 9th Circuit, as follows (emphasis mine): … Here is the certified question centering on whether the proponents of Prop. 8 have standing under California state law:
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Outside the Beltway and Althouse
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Robert Cruickshank / Calitics:
Prop 8: 9th Circuit Appears Ready to Grant Proponents Standing to Appeal
Prop 8: 9th Circuit Appears Ready to Grant Proponents Standing to Appeal
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh and Pam's House Blend
Lbentzterp / CNN:
Freshman Rep. pledges to forgo federal health insurance — Washington (CNN) - As House Republicans prepare to introduce a repeal of the health care reform bill, one new GOP congressman said he is standing by his pledge to forgo federal health insurance despite a potentially expensive personal impact.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Schumer: Health care foes should forgo coverage
Schumer: Health care foes should forgo coverage
Discussion:
NationalJournal.com, The Politico, Don Surber, YID With LID, Scared Monkeys, TPMDC, PERRspectives, National Review, ThinkProgress and Toledo Blade
Gil Ronen / Arutz Sheva:
Vulture in Saudi Custody Suspected as Mossad Agent — Follow Israel news on and . — Saudi Arabian security forces have captured a vulture that was carrying a global positioning satellite (GPS) transmitter and a ring etched with the words “Tel Aviv University.”
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Israel Matzav and Sense of Events
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Is Kathy Griffin Going Too Far Targeting 16-Year Old Willow Palin? — Kathy Griffin was booed by U.S. troops when she made “fat jokes” about Bristol Palin at a Dec. 4, 2010 VH1 event. (Reuters) — Kathy Griffin announced her New Year's resolution to continue a verbal assault on the Palin family.
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, NewsBusters.org blogs and JammieWearingFool
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Why Journalists Aren't Standing Up for WikiLeaks — Three reasons that efforts to prosecute Julian Assange aren't drawing more of an outcry about the First Amendment. — If you think prosecuting journalists is the province solely of the sort of authoritarian governments in the developing world …
Discussion:
Salon, The Nation, American Power, The Confluence, TalkLeft and NewsBusters.org blogs
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Michael Calderone / Yahoo! News:
Judith Miller responds to criticism over Assange slight
Judith Miller responds to criticism over Assange slight
Discussion:
Gawker, Mediaite, TPMMuckraker and DownWithTyranny!, more at Mediagazer »
The Huffington Post:
Holly Petraeus To Be Elizabeth Warren's Pick For Top Post In New Consumer Protection Agency (EXCLUSIVE) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration appointee now establishing a consumer financial protection agency, plans to name the wife of General David Petraeus …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Politico, DealBook, Jay Bookman, Wonk Room, Politics Daily and The Nation
James Meikle / Guardian:
Gerry Rafferty dies aged 63 — Singer-songwriter behind Stuck in the Middle with You and Baker Street endured battles with music industry and alcohol — The singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, whose songs such as Stuck in the Middle with You, Baker Street and Get it Right Next Time soundtracked the 1970s …
Discussion:
People.com, EW.com and AOL News
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Strained States Turning to Laws to Curb Labor Unions — Faced with growing budget deficits and restive taxpayers, elected officials from Maine to Alabama, Ohio to Arizona, are pushing new legislation to limit the power of labor unions, particularly those representing government workers, in collective bargaining and politics.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Federal Eye, Economix, Mish's Global Economic …, Gawker and The Moderate Voice
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Glenn Beck dropped by New York's WOR radio station over poor ratings, replaced by Mike Gallagher — Glenn Beck may be one of the hottest talk show hosts in the country, but he apparently left New York's WOR cold. — WOR (710 AM), one of the city's two biggest talk radio stations …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and AOL News
JTA:
Bibi sends Obama letter requesting Pollard release — WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Neyanyahu wrote President Obama urging clemency for Jonathan Pollard. — “At the time of his arrest, Jonathan Pollard was acting as an agent of the Israeli government,” Netanyahu wrote in his letter, sent Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Washington Note and Ben Smith's Blog
Palestinian Media Watch:
Arab kids sing “May our blood be shed” in school in East Jerusalem — Arab kids in Sur Baher, Jerusalem — taught to sing: — “May our blood be shed” — by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik — A Hamas terrorist arrested last month for planning to shoot a missile at a sports stadium …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, NewsReal Blog, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Rep. Peter King has ‘nothing but contempt’ for New York Times — Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, ripped into The New York Times Tuesday for telling him in a weekend editorial to tone down his rhetoric. — From King's response, there is no indication he will do anything of the sort.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and New York Magazine