Top Items:
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Republicans Lower Goal 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.
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Report: House GOP backing away from promise to cut $100 billion in spending this year? — Their excuse will be that the fiscal year, which began on October 1, will already be almost half over by the time the budgetary resolution that was passed during the lame duck runs out in March.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Flopping Aces, Fausta's Blog, National Review and Patterico's Pontifications
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
As Boehner Ascends, His Power Comes With Caveats — WASHINGTON — Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio is set to complete a remarkable political revival Wednesday when he becomes the 61st speaker of the House, placing him squarely at the crossroads between the desires of conservative activists …
Discussion:
The Politico, NationalJournal.com, Online NewsHour, American Power, Hotline On Call, The Caucus, New York Magazine and Roll Call
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Happy 112th Congress — Speaker Boehner: 'This is the people's House' — Cincinnati chili, Graeter's ice cream in Cannon Caucus - Pelosi promise to be ‘willing partner’ — Fallon rises — BULLETIN - FROM INCOMING SPEAKER BOEHNER'S PREPARED REMARKS — swearing-in about 2:30 p.m. …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boehner, congressional leaders change Twitter titles in web change-of-power — In twin moves reflecting their new roles in the next Congress, Reps. John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) modified their official handles on Twitter. — Pelosi, the outgoing Speaker of the House …
Discussion:
CNN, Post Tech, The Daily Caller and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »
Kathleen Hennessey / Los Angeles Times:
‘Tea party’ freshmen embrace status quo — After campaigning against D.C.'s ways, new Republican lawmakers quickly turn to lobbyists and fundraisers. — Reporting from Washington — The new class of Republican lawmakers who charged into office promising to shun the ways …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Republicans Set to Wield New Power in Washington — The Capitol building, Jan. 4, 2011. — 7:27 a.m. | Updated Republicans will lay claim to a broad — if partial — governing mandate at exactly noon on Wednesday, ushering into Washington scores of new conservative lawmakers who promise …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and Pirate's Cove
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:
Ezra Klein and Washington Post
New York Times:
Pomp, and Little Circumstance
Discussion:
The Politico, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers and The Reid Report
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
In House, new Republican majority plans to act fast to undo Obama's agenda
Discussion:
Hot Air, The BLT and The Other McCain
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
GOP congressional leaders are acting a lot like their predecessors
Discussion:
American Spectator, Firedoglake, The Politico, PostPartisan and Prairie Weather
The Hill:
Tight calendar for 112th limits GOP's options on spending cuts
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Politico, Prairie Weather and TPMDC
Russell Berman / The Hill:
‘Cut and grow’ is new mantra of incoming House GOP majority
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal and The Politico
Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Congress to Return With G.O.P. Vowing to Alter Rules
Discussion:
The Politico
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:
ThinkProgress, SpyTalk, Comments from Left Field, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12
Brobinson / 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:
Michelle Malkin, TigerHawk, Weasel Zippers and Doug Ross
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The Politico:
White House shakeup could mean Robert 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:
Guardian, Outside the Beltway, CNN and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »
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Washington Post:
Obama weighs major reshuffling of staff
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Fix, Raw Story, Federal Eye, National Review, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, The Impolitic and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye:
Watchdog fired by Obama loses appeals case
Discussion:
Politics Daily and The Other McCain
CNN:
Tea Party leaders not swayed by Lugar meeting — Washington (CNN) - Hoping to head off a primary challenge from the right, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, sat down with Tea Party leaders last month but did little to persuade them of his conservative credentials.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …
David Harsanyi / Denver Post:
The Constitution is dead. Long live the Constitution. — Every patriotic fiber of my body tells me that reading the Constitution aloud at the commencement of congressional sessions is a good idea. Heck, a pop quiz might even be in order. It is vital that members of Congress fully immerse themselves …
Discussion:
Cold Fury
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Rep. King blasts critics, defends hearing on homegrown terror — The incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee lambasted The New York Times on Tuesday while defending his planned hearings on the radicalization of Muslims living in the U.S. — Two days after the Times questioned …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb and JammieWearingFool
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Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Rep. Peter King has ‘nothing but contempt’ for New York Times
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, HotAirPundit and New York Magazine
Reuters:
Chavez floats Stone, Penn, Clinton for U.S. envoy — (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to end a diplomatic stand-off with the United States on Tuesday by suggesting it name Bill Clinton, actor Sean Penn or director Oliver Stone as its envoy to Caracas.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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:
The Politico and Guardian
David Leonhardt / Economix:
Q.&A. With Gov. Mitch Daniels — Following are excerpts of my recent interview with Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana: — Q. ... what is it that government essentially does too much of now? What's the common theme here of things that you can get government to stop doing without adversely affecting people's lives?
Discussion:
New York Times
Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:
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 …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Michael Theodoulou / Daily Mail:
Vulture tagged by Israeli scientists flies into Saudi Arabia ... and is arrested for being a spy — A vulture tagged by scientists at Tel Aviv University has strayed into Saudi Arabian territory, where it was promptly arrested on suspicion of being a Mossad spy, Israeli and Saudi media reported Tuesday.
Discussion:
Don Surber, The Jawa Report, The Atlantic Online, Cubachi, Raw Story, TPMMuckraker and Arutz Sheva
Wall Street Journal:
Facebook Deal Spurs Inquiry — SEC Launches Review of 1960s-Era Disclosure Regulations for Private Firms — The Securities and Exchange Commission has begun examining whether disclosure rules for privately held firms need to be rewritten as a result of recent deals allowing investors …
Discussion:
Paul Kedrosky's …, more at Techmeme »
API Newsroom:
API: Study shows path to job growth and more government revenue — Increased access to domestic oil and natural gas—rather than increased taxes on the U.S. oil and natural gas industry—is the best strategy for increasing government revenue, jobs and energy production, a new study by Wood Mackenzie concludes.
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, CNSNews and Washington Wire
New York Times:
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, Runnin' Scared, Prairie Weather, Oliver Willis and New York Magazine
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