Top Items:
Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:
GOP Threaten to Harm the Economy If Obama Won't Embrace Tar Sands Pipeline — GOP Threaten to Kill Tax Relief and Unemployment Extension Over Keystone XL Pipeline, Which Won't Improve Energy Independence or Create Many Permanent Jobs … By Kate Gordon and Daniel J. Weiss in a CAP repost
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Post and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
RELATED:
Guy Benson / Townhall.com:
Victory II: Democrats Cave on Keystone in Payroll Tax Cut Deal — Round one of this fight went to Obama. Round two, to the GOP. Round three? A TKO decision for Republicans. A senior GOP source tells me that Democrats have agreed to a two-month extension of the temporary payroll tax cuts …
Discussion:
The Politico, Campaign 2012, Hot Air and Gallup
Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Greens call out Keystone XL deal — Senate Democrats accepted a provision Friday forcing a decision in two months on the Keystone XL oil pipeline as part of the must-pass payroll tax cut package, leaving the White House on the brink of a meltdown with environmental groups.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Dem Keystone support creates tougher fight for Reid, Obama — Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting given support within his caucus for the project.
Discussion:
Hot Air, RedState and The Gateway Pundit
Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — McConnell Demands Keystone XL In Any Payroll Tax Agreement
TPMDC — McConnell Demands Keystone XL In Any Payroll Tax Agreement
The Politico:
Senate punts: Two-month deal on payroll
Senate punts: Two-month deal on payroll
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and The Hill
Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Nikki Haley's Mitt Romney endorsement catches flak — GREENVILLE, S.C. - Nikki Haley's attempt to boost Mitt Romney is threatening her own support here at home. — Romney's campaign is using the South Carolina governor's endorsement to build his acceptance among the tea party base that's never …
Discussion:
Reuters
RELATED:
Rush Limbaugh:
Nikki Haley Endorsement: Tea Party Attempts to Replace GOP Establishment — RUSH: I can't tell you the number of e-mails I got from people just as disappointed as they can be that Nikki Haley has endorsed Romney. Now, the reason people are disappointed is because she's a Tea Party governor.
Discussion:
The Politico and Hot Air
Kevinliptak / CNN:
S.C. governor rallies crowd for Romney
A.Killough / CNN:
Haley explains her decision to back Romney, not Gingrich
Haley explains her decision to back Romney, not Gingrich
Discussion:
The Other McCain, Hot Air, Telegraph, The Reaction, American Power and The Politico
David Frum / FrumForum:
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — A friend of theirs once took Christopher Hitchens and his wife Carol Blue to dinner at Palm Beach's Everglades Club, notorious for its exclusion of Jews. — “You will behave, won't you?” Carol anxiously asked Christopher on the way into the club. No dice.
RELATED:
June Thomas / Slate:
“Herewith, Hope It Serves. As Always, Christopher.”
“Herewith, Hope It Serves. As Always, Christopher.”
Discussion:
Guardian, Telegraph, Mediaite, Democracy in America, News Desk, The Daily Dish, Political Mojo, entertainment.time.com, MLive.com, The Week, BBC and Deadspin
Benjamin Schwarz / The Atlantic Online:
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — I met Christopher (never Chris) in 1997.
Christopher Hitchens, 1949-2011 — I met Christopher (never Chris) in 1997.
Discussion:
Chicago Boyz, News Desk, Gothamist, Vanity Fair and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
Peter Hitchens / Daily Mail:
In Memoriam, my courageous brother Christopher, 1949-2011 — How odd it is to hear of your own brother's death on an early morning radio bulletin. How odd it is for a private loss to be a public event. — I wouldn't normally dream of writing about such a thing here, and I doubt if many people would expect me to.
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversations Feed, Verum Serum and UrbanGrounds
Richard W. Stevenson / The Caucus:
Group Clears Path for a Third-Party Ticket — To those who bemoan the lack of better choices in presidential elections, third-party fantasies come easily at this stage in a campaign. End hyper-partisanship and Washington dysfunction: Vote Bloomberg-Petraeus in 2012!
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Wonkette, Balkinization and Hullabaloo
New York Post:
Long Island high-school students suspended for ‘Tebowing’ — The Tebow mania sweeping the nation sacked a group of Long Island high-school students who were suspended for mimicking the quarterback's famous prayer pose. — Twin brothers Tyler and Connor Carroll of Riverhead HS …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Daily What, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, This Just In, Joe. My. God. and Simply Left BehindThe …
RELATED:
Christopher Hunt / ESPN:
High schoolers banned for Tebowing
High schoolers banned for Tebowing
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Lonely Conservative, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Jammie Wearing Fools
Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
It is finally being recognized that the eurozone made a major policy breakthrough … Here is the story, and you will recall my earlier post here. Karl Smith asks how this fits in with the treatment of collateral, and here is also a more skeptical take on the arbitrage.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Modeled Behavior, TheMoneyIllusion, Eschaton and Political Mojo
Nathan Koppel / Washington Wire:
Rick Perry, Pensioner — He may not act like a retiree, but GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry has collected monthly retirement benefits for much of the year. The governor elected in January to start receiving a state employee retirement annuity of $7,698 a month …
Discussion:
Hot Air and MyFox Philadelphia
Ahmed Rehab / The Huffington Post:
Let's Face it: It's the Radical Right, not Islam, that is the Greatest Threat to the American Way — Imagine if a major American advertiser were to pull its ads off of Jersey Shore because they received objections that the show while portraying a group of Italian-Americans, made the glaring error of excluding Mafiosi.
Discussion:
New York Times and Weasel Zippers
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission:
SEC CHARGES FORMER FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC EXECUTIVES WITH SECURITIES FRAUD — Companies Agree to Cooperate in SEC Actions — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — 2011-267 — Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2011 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged six former top executives …
Discussion:
The Hill, Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, Firedoglake, The Glittering Eye, The Future of Capitalism and Suburban Guerrilla
RELATED:
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama looks safe in New Mexico — Barack Obama is considerably less popular in New Mexico now than he was in 2008. He won 57% of the vote there, but now has an approval rating under 50% in the state at 49/46. Those represent the poorest numbers we've found for him in New Mexico all year …
Discussion:
Capitol Report and No More Mister Nice Blog
Soni Sangha / New York Times:
Underground Pre-K Groups, Often Illegal, Abound in New York — IT WAS 6 P.M. on a Friday in early June, and my children's dinnertime coincided with the moment the New York City Department of Education posted acceptance letters online for 4-year-olds seeking prekindergarten spots in public school.
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Runnin' Scared
Nicholas Ballasy / The Daily Caller:
Dem congressman: We 'didn't know what the hell was going on' when we passed Obama stimulus [VIDEO] — California Democratic Congressman Mike Honda, a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committees, told The Daily Caller that Democrats in Congress passed the $825 billion Recovery Act because they …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and nation.foxnews.com
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Newt And The Health Care Mandate — As of this writing Newt Gingrich is opposed to the ObamaCare individual health insurance mandate. However, the Times tells us that this is a recent conversion: — More broadly, he has indicated his agreement with the most controversial aspect …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Politifact.com Truth …, ThinkProgress and TigerHawk
CBS News:
Cantor promises swift action on STOCK Act — Obama: My support for Israel “unshakable” — Who had strongest showing in Iowa debate?
Discussion:
The Politico
Andrew C. Revkin / Dot Earth:
Canada's Approach to Inconvenient Art — Franke James is a Canadian artist with deep concerns about her country's outsize contribution to resource waste and the building accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Check her scrolling artwork titled “Fat Cat Canada's Giant Litter Box” for an example.
Discussion:
DeSmogBlog
Maxim Lott / Fox News:
Climategate Bombshell: Did U.S. Gov't Help Hide Climate Data? — Are your tax dollars helping hide global warming data from the public? Internal emails leaked as part of “Climategate 2.0” indicate the answer may be “Yes.” — The original Climategate emails — correspondence stolen …
Discussion:
Biased BBC
Josh Lederman / The Hill:
Obama makes impassioned plea for support from Jewish audience — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — President Obama made an impassioned plea for continued support from American Jews on Friday, listing off his accomplishments on social issues and touting his record in support of Israel's security.
Discussion:
The Politico