Top Items:

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:
Outside the Beltway, The Hill, National Review, Wake up America, Indecision Forever, Washington Post, Swampland, American Power, The Page, CNN and Pajamas Media
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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 and The Incidental Economist


Republicans Are Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It
Discussion:
The Politico, ABCNEWS, ACS Blog and Wonk Room

Elmendorf to GOP: Don't Kill the Messenger!
Discussion:
Mother Jones and The Incidental Economist

CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
Discussion:
Capitol View, Crooks and Liars, GOP 12, 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 …
Discussion:
National Review, The Politico, Commentary, msnbc.com, Gothamist, Cubachi, Hot Air, GOP 12, Outside the Beltway, Indecision Forever, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Wonkette, The Other McCain, JammieWearingFool, TPMDC and Conservatives4Palin
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Romney flexes muscle in first NH Primary poll while Palin and others lag behind
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Conservatives4Palin, Weigel, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and GOP 12

Obama would easily win Nevada again...except against Romney
Discussion:
Primaries For Palin and GOP 12


Obama mouthpiece Robert Gibbs was forced out by new henchman William Daley — I wondered yesterday whether Robert Gibbs jumped or was pushed and noted that President Barack Obama's words indicated that it was “not an entirely voluntary departure”. — It's being reported by John King …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Hill, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers
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A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
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The Huffington Post, The Politico, Ezra Klein, NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather, Marbury, Daily Kos, National Review and Ben Smith's Blog

Mitch McConnell: William Daley pick a ‘hopeful sign’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Ben Smith's Blog

At Obama White House, Back to the Future
Discussion:
Wake up America, The Plum Line and A plain blog about politics


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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Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good
Discussion:
Clusterstock, News Desk, Power Line, Calculated Risk, National Review, JustOneMinute and Moe Lane

No good news for the long-term unemployed
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake and New Deal 2.0

Labor Force Participation Rate Drops To Fresh 25 Year Low …
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin and The Glittering Eye

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:
Eyes on the Ties, Balloon Juice and Emptywheel
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A court case to challenge securitisation standards [updated]
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Bloomberg, Clusterstock, naked capitalism and Foreclosure Fraud


Levi's Vindication: The Self-Exposure Of Sarah Palin — As a long-standing Palin hysteric, I have to confess a mite less concern in 2011 than at any time since she has been farcically commanding the attention of the political class. Not much has changed essentially: Palin's favorable ratings remain roughly where they have been.
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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:
Cubachi, USA Today, Liberty Pundits Blog, TPMDC, The Page and Politics Daily

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:
New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story, Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, TPMDC and The Nation
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Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority Because You Pledged to Cut Spending and You Can't Think of a Single Program to Cut Now, Please Go Home — That Congress botched its first-ever public reading of the Constitution is worrisome, but less so than the fact they've spent …
Discussion:
Clusterstock, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and AMERICAblog News


EXCLUSIVE: Sonny Bono's Widow - Rep. Mary Bono - In Lurid Photo Scandal With Woman Investigated By FBI — Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack has been caught on camera in a lurid scandal where another woman is apparently licking her breast. — RadarOnline.com has exclusively obtained the photo …
Discussion:
Wonkette, Left Coast Rebel, DownWithTyranny!, Oliver Willis and Raw Story

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:
Firedoglake, National Review, The Future of Capitalism, Clusterstock, Prairie Weather and AMERICAblog News


Harvard Economist Estimates Health Repeal Would Destroy Up To 400,000 Jobs Per Year Over Decade — Just as House Republicans gear up to repeal the “job killing” Affordable Care Act, the Department of Labor is reporting that the U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs last month, pushing the jobless rate down to a 19-month low of 9.4 percent.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Bloomberg, The Plum Line and Daily Kos
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‘Job-killing’ regulation? ‘Job-killing’ spending? Let's kill this GOP canard.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Yglesias, Left Coast Rebel, Wonk Room and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

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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Illegal immigration foe passed over for chairman of Judiciary subpanel
Discussion:
The Politico


White Flight — President Obama's path to a second term may rely on states shaped by the same social forces he embodies. — Right turn: Sen. Marco Rubio's supporters in Florida included many whites who voted for Obama in 2008. — By any standard, white voters' rejection of Democrats …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Plum Line, Don Surber, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

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:
The Huffington Post, TPMDC, Oliver Willis, Wonkette, Suburban Guerrilla, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and The Impolitic
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House approves resolution fixing problem with missed swearing-in
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly

Another CPAC Dust-Up Over Gays — Nearly every presumptive 2012 Republican presidential candidate will be there, along with 120 conservative groups and thousands of activists. — But the first big conservative forum of the 2012 election—next month's Conservative Political Action Conference …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Weigel, TPMDC and Politics Daily
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Heritage Foundation and Media Research Center Join CPAC Boycott
Discussion:
WorldNetDaily, Weigel and Indecision Forever


For House Members Looking to Save Money, a Day at the Office Never Ends — WASHINGTON — Hansen Clarke, a newly elected Democrat from Michigan, is coming to Washington with a “warrior's mentality” to help stave off unemployment and foreclosures in metro Detroit.
Discussion:
American Prospect, Yglesias and Outside the Beltway
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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, Little Green Footballs, AOL News, Foreign Policy, The Agonist and New York Magazine