Top Items:
Christine Hauser / New York Times:
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.
RELATED:
The Note:
Bernanke Warns Jobs Recovery Could Take Years, Urges Action on Deficit Problems
Bernanke Warns Jobs Recovery Could Take Years, Urges Action on Deficit Problems
Discussion:
The Politico
Jeffrey Sparshott / Wall Street Journal:
Economy Adds Fewer Jobs Than Expected
Economy Adds Fewer Jobs Than Expected
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and iOwnTheWorld.com
Bob Willis / Bloomberg:
U.S. Adds 103,000 Jobs in December, Unemployment at 9.4%
U.S. Adds 103,000 Jobs in December, Unemployment at 9.4%
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Calculated Risk
Ezra Klein:
103,000 new jobs in December; unemployment down to 9.4 percent
103,000 new jobs in December; unemployment down to 9.4 percent
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, Economix, Washington Monthly and AOL News
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good
Key Numbers In Unemployment Report Not So Good
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters.org blogs, AmSpecBlog and Moe Lane
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
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
RELATED:
New York Times:
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
David Brooks / New York Times:
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
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
CBO says health care repeal would deepen deficit
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, GOP 12, Capitol View, Prairie Weather and The Politico
New York Post:
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 …
RELATED:
Amelia Chasse / New Hampshire Journal:
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
blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
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:
Firedoglake and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Matt Bai / New York Times:
A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
A Shift in Tactics, Not in Ideology
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Prairie Weather, Marbury, Daily Kos, National Review, Ben Smith's Blog and The Atlantic Online
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Sperling Returns, as Obama's Top Economic Adviser
Sperling Returns, as Obama's Top Economic Adviser
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and ThinkProgress
Elizabeth Williamson / Wall Street Journal:
President Revs Up Campaign to Make Peace With Business
President Revs Up Campaign to Make Peace With Business
Discussion:
Associated Press, Shakesville, Political Punch, The Caucus, CNN and The Page
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
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:
Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Washington Post, Politics Daily, New York Times, Raw Story, TPMDC and The Nation
RELATED:
The Note:
Boehner v. Pelosi: House Leaders Spar Over Significance of Jobs Report — ABC News' John R. Parkinson reports: — Speaker of the House John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reacted to the fresh data released this morning on two key economic indicators, disagreeing on the importance …
Discussion:
The Politico
Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run:
Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority …
Memo to Speaker Boehner: If You Won a Congessional Majority …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Other McCain and AMERICAblog News
David Dayen / news.firedoglake.com:
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
RELATED:
Tracy Alloway / FT Alphaville:
A court case to challenge securitisation standards [updated]
A court case to challenge securitisation standards [updated]
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Clusterstock, Bloomberg, naked capitalism and Foreclosure Fraud
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
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,” …
RELATED:
Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Lamar Smith issues first DOJ oversight letter
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
ABCNEWS:
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
RELATED:
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty: Sarah Palin is a ‘force of nature’
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves resolution fixing problem with missed swearing-in — The House has just approved H.Res. 26, which is meant to fix the problems created when two Republican members were not properly sworn in on Jan. 5. — The resolution was approved over Democratic objections in a 257-159 vote.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
RELATED:
Paul Blumenthal / Sunlight Foundation Blog:
Two Members Appear to Break Rules on First Day of New Congress
Two Members Appear to Break Rules on First Day of New Congress
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Oliver Willis, Suburban Guerrilla, Wonkette, Daily Kos and phillyBurbs.com
A. Barton / Richmond Times-Dispatch:
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
New York Times:
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
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
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
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Constitutionalism — For decades, Democrats and Republicans fought over who owns the American flag. Now they're fighting over who owns the Constitution. — The flag debates began during the Vietnam era when leftist radicals made the fatal error of burning it.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Commentary and The Huffington Post