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:
Washington Post and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
RELATED:
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.
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:
Campaign 2012, The Politico, Hot Air and Gallup
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, The Hill and Daily Kos
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
Nikki Haley Endorsement: Tea Party Attempts to Replace GOP Establishment
Discussion:
Hot Air and The Politico
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
Kevinliptak / CNN:
S.C. governor rallies crowd for Romney
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:
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, New York Times, Gothamist and Vanity Fair, 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
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, This Just In, Runnin' Scared, 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
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, Balkinization and Hullabaloo
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
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, msnbc.com, Michelle Malkin, Firedoglake, The Glittering Eye, The Future of Capitalism and Suburban Guerrilla
RELATED:
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:
Weasel Zippers
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
US turns over Hezbollah prisoner to Iraqi government — The U.S. handed over a Hezbollah prisoner suspected of being involved in the deaths of five U.S. soldiers to the Iraqi government Friday, as U.S. troops prepare to leave the country, the White House said.
Discussion:
The Politico
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
U.S. Transfers Last Prisoner to Iraqi Custody
U.S. Transfers Last Prisoner to Iraqi Custody
Discussion:
Lawfare, The Heritage Foundation and Atlas Shrugs
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
Yolanda Jones / The Commercial Appeal:
Southaven Mayor Greg Davis' expense receipts prompt frank revelation — Purchase at store for gay men leads to mayor's admission — Southaven Mayor Greg Davis addresses the media last month following a meeting with the state auditor. — Receipts from embattled Southaven Mayor Greg Davis reveal …
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, ThinkProgress, Politifact.com Truth … and TigerHawk
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
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Congress overturns incandescent light bulb ban — Congressional negotiators struck a deal Thursday that overturns the new rules that were to have banned sales of traditional incandescent light bulbs beginning next year. — That agreement is tucked inside the massive 1,200-page spending bill …
Discussion:
Power Line, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, The Enterprise Blog, Don Surber, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Hit & Run
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:
nation.foxnews.com and Weasel Zippers
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