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In U.S., 46% Favor, 40% Oppose Repealing Healthcare Law — Three-quarters of Republicans favor repeal; 64% of Democrats oppose it — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans do not strongly endorse the new Republican House majority's efforts to repeal the landmark healthcare legislation passed last year.
Discussion:
The Hill, American Power, The Page, CNN, Wake up America, National Review and Pajamas Media
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Republicans Are Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It — WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan budget scorekeepers in Congress said on Thursday that the Republican plan to repeal President Obama's health care law would add $230 billion to federal budget deficits over the next decade …
Discussion:
The Politico, ACS Blog, Wonk Room and The New Republic

Buckle Up for Round 2 — The health care reform law was signed 10 months ago, and what's striking now is how vulnerable it looks. Several threats have emerged — some of them scarcely discussed before passage — that together or alone could seriously endanger the new system. These include:
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Right Turn, Hit & Run, Commentary, The Incidental Economist and PostPartisan

CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, GOP 12, Capitol View, Prairie Weather and The Politico


Rudy gearing up for DC run — Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources tell Page Six. — Sources say the tough-talking former mayor “thinks the Republican race will be populated …
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Romney flexes muscle in first NH Primary poll while Palin and others lag behind — Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire in the early stages of the race for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, according to a new survey commissioned by NH Journal and conducted by Magellan Strategies.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and GOP 12


Private Sector Improves Jobs Picture Only Moderately — The United States economy ended the year by adding 103,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department said Friday, a number that missed expectations. In addition, the unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent last month from 9.8 percent.
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Sperling Returns, as Obama's Top Economic Adviser
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and ThinkProgress


103,000 new jobs in December; unemployment down to 9.4 percent
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, Economix, Washington Monthly and AOL News

Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters.org blogs, AmSpecBlog and Moe Lane


Did Daley Force Gibbs Out? — Toby Harnden at the Telegraph says John King says that Gibbs got the boot because Daley didn't want him around: … I think I was one of the first to report on the pending White House shake-up back on December 9 on MSNBC, and again on FDL on December 20:
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Obama mouthpiece Robert Gibbs was forced out by new henchman William Daley
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

The Note: Will Obama Sink Or Swim In 2012?: Jobs Report Holds Clues
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN and New York Times

A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather, Marbury, Daily Kos, National Review, Ben Smith's Blog and The Atlantic Online

President Revs Up Campaign to Make Peace With Business
Discussion:
Associated Press, Shakesville, Political Punch, The Caucus, CNN and The Page

Parts of the Constitution inadvertently skipped in ‘historic reading’ on floor — The U.S. Constitution has still never been read in its entirety and in order on the House floor. — During Thursday morning's “historic reading,” one member apparently skipped Article 4 Section 4 and part …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Politics Daily, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Raw Story, The Nation and TPMDC
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Boehner v. Pelosi: House Leaders Spar Over Significance of Jobs Report
Discussion:
The Politico

Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and AMERICAblog News

MA Supreme Court Deals Banks a Major Blow on Foreclosure Fraud, in the Ibanez Case — In a major ruling in the Massachusetts Supreme Court today, US Bank and Wells Fargo lost the “Ibanez case,” meaning that they don't have standing to foreclose due to improper mortgage assignment.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and Emptywheel
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A court case to challenge securitisation standards [updated]
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Clusterstock, Bloomberg, naked capitalism and Foreclosure Fraud

The Texas Omen — These are tough times for state governments. Huge deficits loom almost everywhere, from California to New York, from New Jersey to Texas. — Wait — Texas? Wasn't Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn't its governor declare …
Discussion:
Clusterstock, The Future of Capitalism, AMERICAblog News and Prairie Weather


Bernanke Warns Jobs Recovery Could Take Years, Urges Action on Deficit Problems — ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: — Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke today told Congress that if the pace of job creation continues at December's levels - when 103,000 jobs were added to payrolls …
Discussion:
The Politico
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U.S. Adds 103,000 Jobs in December, Unemployment at 9.4%
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Calculated Risk

Economy Adds Fewer Jobs Than Expected
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and iOwnTheWorld.com

To House GOP, illegal immigration is a jobs issue — With Republicans now in control of the House Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Eric Holder and other Justice Department officials are going to be answering a lot of questions in the next two years. “We're going to start fast,” …
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EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Lamar Smith issues first DOJ oversight letter
Discussion:
NewsReal Blog, The Plum Line, The Foundry, Sister Toldjah, Questions and Observations and Weasel Zippers

Two Members Appear to Break Rules on First Day of New Congress — Two House Republican members, Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick and Pete Sessions, missed their swearing in on Wednesday as they attended a fundraiser in Fitzpatrick's honor at the U.S. Capitol. These two not-quite-yet Congressmen …
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Huffington Post, Booman Tribune, Oliver Willis, Suburban Guerrilla, Wonkette, Daily Kos and The Impolitic
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House approves resolution fixing problem with missed swearing-in
Discussion:
Washington Monthly

Pawlenty: Sarah Palin Is a ‘Force of Nature’ — Although former Gov. Tim Pawlenty no longer holds the executive seat in Minnesota, that doesn't mean he is hanging up his political hat for good.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Cubachi, USA Today, Liberty Pundits Blog, TPMDC, The Page and Politics Daily
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Hinkle: Debates of 2010 Raised More Questions — Time's passage winnows the chaff from the country's big debates. So look back at two of the chief disputes from 2010. You will find something curious in the kernels. — The first debate concerned health-care reform.
Discussion:
protein wisdom

U.S. Sends Warning to People Named in Cable Leaks — WASHINGTON — The State Department is warning hundreds of human rights activists, foreign government officials and businesspeople identified in leaked diplomatic cables of potential threats to their safety and has moved a handful …
Discussion:
Guardian, Foreign Policy, Little Green Footballs, New York Magazine and The Agonist

Junior Senate Dems want chairmen to face election by secret ballot — Senate Democrats elected in 2006 and 2008 are challenging the internal caucus procedures that have allowed veteran lawmakers to lock up committee chairmanships for years on end. — A group of junior Democratic senators …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Prairie Weather