Top Items:
Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Gibbs to Leave as White House Press Secretary — Updated Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary and close confidante to President Obama, said Wednesday that he will step down and become an outside political adviser to the president and his re-election campaign.
Discussion:
Political Punch, The Hill, USA Today, The Note, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, Hot Air, Mediaite, Sister Toldjah, Swampland, The Impolitic, Pam's House Blend, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, TPMDC, AOL News, Weasel Zippers, Ballot Box, Fox Nation, Wonkette, Daily Kos, Raw Story, RedState, CANNONFIRE, Emptywheel, Left Coast Rebel, ABCNEWS, The Fix, Hotline On Call, The Daily Caller, BLACKFIVE, New York Magazine, Weigel, AmSpecBlog, Atlas Shrugs, Gawker and Towleroad News #gay, more at Mediagazer »
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Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Howard Dean endorses Daley for chief of staff, rips White House — Former DNC chairman and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Wednesday that William Daley would be a “huge plus” for the Obama administration if he is tapped to be the president's new chief of staff.
Discussion:
CNN, The Politico, Weasel Zippers, The Nation and TPMDC
Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
Howard Dean on Tea Party: ‘Last Gasp of the 55-Year-Old Generation’ — Speaking to reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast this morning, former Vermont governor and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Dr. Howard Dean shared his thoughts on the Tea Party.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Fox Nation and Nice Deb
Ezra Klein:
A very smart speech by Speaker Boehner — If you spent the afternoon watching C-SPAN, as I did, you heard applause. A lot of it. Over and over again. And when John Boehner took the podium to be sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it swelled back up, and stayed there.
Discussion:
PostPartisan, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Prairie Weather
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The Politico:
19 Democrats vote against Nancy Pelosi — Nearly 20 Democrats abandoned their party's pick for speaker of the House, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a sign of their concerns about supporting the unpopular former speaker and of the difficulty she will have in marshaling her forces …
Discussion:
CNN, Michelle Malkin, The Note, The Hill, New York Times, GayPatriot, ABCNEWS, Big Government, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers and Balloon Juice
Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
19 Democrats Oppose Pelosi's Bid for Speaker
19 Democrats Oppose Pelosi's Bid for Speaker
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay
The Note:
John Boehner Poised to be Speaker With His Entire Extended Family Watching
John Boehner Poised to be Speaker With His Entire Extended Family Watching
Discussion:
The Politico, American Power, CNN and The Caucus
Megan Carpentier / TPMDC:
Pelosi Faces 19 Defectors In Symbolic Speaker Vote
Pelosi Faces 19 Defectors In Symbolic Speaker Vote
Discussion:
Jeff Mapes on Politics and The Impolitic
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Boehner Takes Gavel in House With Pledge to Bring Change
Boehner Takes Gavel in House With Pledge to Bring Change
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, ABCNEWS and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Robert Pear / New York Times:
U.S. Alters Rule on Paying for End-of-Life Planning — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law, administration officials said Tuesday.
Discussion:
Cubachi, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Don Surber, JustOneMinute, The Plum Line, National Review, Right Turn, Weasel Zippers, Politics Daily, Liberty Pundits Blog, Connecting.the.Dots, Outside the Beltway, Pirate's Cove, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, AMERICAblog News, The Incidental Economist, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Da Techguy's Blog and The BLT
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New York Times:
Pomp, and Little Circumstance — A theatrical production of unusual pomposity will open on Wednesday when Republicans assume control of the House for the 112th Congress. A rule will be passed requiring that every bill cite its basis in the Constitution. A bill will be introduced to repeal the health care law.
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:
Administration reverses on end-of-life counseling
Administration reverses on end-of-life counseling
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog and National Review
John R. Parkinson / ABCNEWS:
EXCLUSIVE: President Michele Bachmann? — Sources: Tea Party Favorite Is Mulling a Presidential Bid in 2012 — Forget the fervent chatter speculating that Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann is considering launching a campaign to challenge Sen. Amy Klobuchar for the Minnesota U.S. Senate seat …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, TPMDC, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, SpyTalk, Right Pundits, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Derek Wallbank, CNN, Conservatives4Palin, Comments from Left Field, Salon, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Plum Line, Towleroad News #gay, Washington Monthly, Wonkette, ThinkProgress, neo-neocon, Indecision Forever, Outside the Beltway, Joe. My. God., National Review and GOP 12
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Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
Michele Bachmann for President?
Michele Bachmann for President?
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Here it is: The filibuster reform package! — Here's a copy of the filibuster reform resolution that Senate Democrats will introduce later today, sent over by an aide to Tom Udall, one of the key Senators driving this campaign. — While the broad outlines of the proposal were already public …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, TPMDC, A plain blog about politics, Daily Kos, RedState, Washington Monthly and The Foundry
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Ben Nelson on filibuster: ‘The last thing we need to do is start changing rules’
Ben Nelson on filibuster: ‘The last thing we need to do is start changing rules’
Discussion:
The Note, Omaha World-Herald, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake and Grist
Sean Higgins / Investor's Business Daily:
Hoyer: Tea Party People Come From Unhappy Families — On the eve of his demotion by voters from House Majority Leader to House Minority Whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Hoyer offered this insight into the psychology of the Tea Party movement: … So, there you have it.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Gates of Vienna, Hot Air, Right Pundits and National Review
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CNN:
Tea Party leaders not swayed by Lugar meeting
Tea Party leaders not swayed by Lugar meeting
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Hotline On Call and National Review
Henri Paget / ninemsn:
KFC employee screams insults at customer — A worker at a KFC restaurant in Sydney has been suspended after he was filmed screaming vicious insults and threatening to attack a customer. — The violent outburst happened at a Halal-friendly KFC in Punchbowl on December 26 …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, American Power, Andrew Bolt and Tim Blair
Political Correction RSS:
GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan: “I Can't Tell You The Answer” To Specific Spending Cuts — 3 hours and 30 minutes ago — Matt Finkelstein — This morning on NBC, incoming House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) discussed the spending cuts that Republicans plan to enact in the new Congress.
Discussion:
The New Republic, New York Times, Daily Kos and Eschaton
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO BREAK KEY PROMISE ON DAY 1. …
HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO BREAK KEY PROMISE ON DAY 1. …
Discussion:
CNN, Hot Air, PERRspectives and ThinkProgress
Ezra Klein:
Repealing health-care reform would cost hundreds of billions of dollars — and Eric Cantor knows it — House Republicans are in a pickle: One of their new rules says that new legislation must be paid for. But the health-care bill reduces the federal deficit by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years.
Philly.com:
Man found in landfill tied to arson attempt — Source: John P. Wheeler 3d planted incendiary devices at a neighbor's home in Del. days before his disappearance. — Police in Delaware have discovered evidence that a former Pentagon aide may have been involved in an attempted arson days before his murder …
Discussion:
delawareonline, The Politico, Raw Story, TPMMuckraker, Mediaite, Gawker and Talking Points Memo
Paul Krugman:
Fiscal Shock — I see that the Washington Post editorial board is shocked, shocked to discover that the incoming Republicans aren't serious about deficit reduction. Who could have suspected? — I was going to be snarky all the way here, but actually let's be serious …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post and Suburban Guerrilla
Warren P. Strobel / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
WikiLeaks: ‘Voluptuous’ nurse cable costs diplomat his job — WASHINGTON — In what appears to be the first diplomatic casualty from the latest WikiLeaks revelations, the U.S. ambassador to Libya has returned to Washington and is likely to leave his post, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Discussion:
AOL News, New York Magazine, Guardian and The Politico
Sarah Kliff / The Politico:
Obama administration reorganizes health bureaucracy — The Obama administration will reorganize and expand its infrastructure for health reform implementation, POLITICO has learned. — The Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, a new division created shortly after the passage …
Aftenposten:
S E C R E T TEL AVIV 002447 — NEA/IPA INR/TNC TREASURY FOR GLASER, D. — E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2018 TAGS: PREL, KPAL, KTFN, EFIN, IS SUBJECT: CASHLESS IN GAZA? — REF: A. 10/22/08 AGOR-BURNETT HOLMSTROM ET. AL. E-MAIL B. TEL AVIV 2144 C. TEL AVIV 2291 D. TEL AVIV 1742 E. TEL …
Discussion:
The Lede, Open Left, msnbc.com, Informed Comment and Obsidian Wings
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Post-Midterm Approval Ratings Don't Predict Re-Election Chances — Barack Obama got some good news to start his new year: his Gallup approval rating ticked up to 50 percent yesterday, against 42 percent disapproval. That's the first time it has been at the 50 percent threshold since early June.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, The Fix and Gallup
Louise Radnofsky / Washington Wire:
O'Donnell's Lawyer Says Campaign Records to Be Amended — Christine O'Donnell's lawyer has told the Federal Election Commission that she is reviewing the campaign's spending records and will file any fixes to them by the end of this month. — Cleta Mitchell, a top Republican elections attorney …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and Wonkette
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Democratic Party ID Drops in 2010, Tying 22-Year Low — Democrats still outnumber Republicans, while independent identification increases — PRINCETON, NJ — In 2010, 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, down five percentage points from just two years ago and tied …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and Right Turn
Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
GOP Rep. Mulvaney, Against Raising Debt Ceiling, Admits He Doesn't ‘Know’ What Will Happen If It Isn't Raised — In recent weeks, a number of high-profile Republicans have stated their intention to vote against any increase to the U.S. debt limit. From Sen. Mike Lee (UT) to Rep. Michelle Bachmann …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and George's Bottom Line
USA Today:
‘Earmarks’ to nowhere: States losing billions — WASHINGTON — Almost 13 years ago, Rep. David McIntosh, R-Ind., directed $375,000 in federal funding “to improve State Road 31” in Columbus, Ind., a city at the edge of his district. — The McIntosh “earmark” seemed routine at the time …
Discussion:
Americans for Prosperity, The Politico, Bankrupting America and msnbc.com
Michael Wines / New York Times:
China Rolls Out Its First Stealth Aircraft — BEIJING — China's first radar-evading stealth fighter staged a runway test at an airbase in central China on Wednesday and could make its first flight as early as Thursday afternoon, the Hong Kong editor of a Canadian military journal said.
William D. Cohan / Vanity Fair:
Huffing and Puffing — Reminiscent of Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Arianna Huffington is being sued by two political consultants, Peter Daou and James Boyce, who claim a critical role in creating her top-ranked Web site, the Huffington Post. So what exactly happened in the fall of 2004 when Huffington …
Discussion:
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