Top Items:
PolitiFact:
Lie of the Year 2011: ‘Republicans voted to end Medicare’ — Republicans muscled a budget through the House of Representatives in April that they said would take an important step toward reducing the federal deficit. Introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the plan kept Medicare intact …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Washington Post, American Prospect, Big Journalism, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Mediaite, The Daily Pulp, Swampland, The Heritage Foundation, CBS News, The Other McCain, Indecision Forever, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, Don Surber, American Power, The New Republic, The Lonely Conservative, Daily Kos, National Review, Lawyers, Guns & Money, INSTAPUTZ and JSOnline, more at Mediagazer »
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Paul Krugman:
Politifact, R.I.P. — This is really awful. Politifact, which is supposed to police false claims in politics, has announced its Lie of the Year — and it's a statement that happens to be true, the claim that Republicans have voted to end Medicare. — Steve Benen in the link above explains it, but let me just repeat the basics.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
PolitiFact ought to be ashamed of itself — The fact-checking website PolitiFact has announced its “Lie of the Year” for 2011. It made a poor, credibility-killing choice. … This is simply indefensible. Claims that are factually true shouldn't be eligible for a Lie of the Year designation.
Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Politifact's Bizarre “Lie of the Year” … - Lithwick: Newt Gingrich's Insanely Stupid Attack on the Judicial Branch — What I Learned From Coaching a Women's Basketball Team in Qatar — True Fact: Greeks and Italians Work Way Harder Than Germans Do — Can We Please Start Calling Kesha a Rapper?
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
House Republicans Find Smarmiest Way Possible to Reject Payroll Tax Deal — Speaker Boehner weeps over payroll tax cut (Image: DonkeyHotey) — The procedural wizards in the House Republican caucus stayed up late last night to concoct this scheme, a way to dispose of the Senate's payroll tax deal by voting affirmatively.
Discussion:
Open Congress, Hullabaloo and The Hill
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Josh Dorner / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: House Republicans Walk Away From Bipartisan Compromise on Payroll Tax Cut, Jobless Benefits
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Politico and New York Magazine
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House rebuffs Senate payroll tax cut extension, calls for conference
Discussion:
Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Rep. Jackson Lee: Obama should use executive power to extend payroll tax cut
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Weasel Zippers
The Politico:
House rejects Senate payroll tax deal
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway and CNN
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Reid Won't Appoint Negotiators To Hammer Out Payroll Tax Cut Deal
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Naked Politics and Daily Kos
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Is Republican Infighting Helping Obama?
Discussion:
Washington Post, NationalJournal.com, 2012 Decoded, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots and ThinkProgress
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Schumer predicts GOP will fold in payroll fight
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Weasel Zippers and ABCNEWS
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Mr. Speaker, your weakness is showing
Discussion:
Washington Post, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
GOP Sen. Brown slams House for ‘playing politics’ with tax vote
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Jonathan Martinand Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Will Ron Paul kill the caucuses? — SIOUX CITY, IOWA -The alarms are sounding in Iowa. — Conservatives and Republican elites in the state are divided over who to support for the GOP nomination, but they almost uniformly express concern over the prospect that Ron Paul and his army …
Discussion:
CNN, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, The Humble Libertarian, Swampland, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Iowa Caucuses, Indecision Forever, Betsy's Page, Booman Tribune, Campaign 2012, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute, The Daily Dish, Vox Popoli, The Daily Caller and Public Policy Polling
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The Caucus:
Vander Plaats Endorses Santorum — Bob Vander Plaats, speaking in Iowa in March, endorsed Rick Santorum on Tuesday. — 12:51 p.m. | Updated CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Two weeks before the Republican nominating contest opens at the Iowa caucuses, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania …
Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:
Source: Bob Vander Plaats asked Michele Bachmann to quit — DES MOINES - Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats called Michele Bachmann and urged her to drop out of the race and endorse Rick Santorum, a source with knowledge of the conversation told POLITICO Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Hill, Hullabaloo and Trail Blazers Blog
Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Obama is handling [ITEM]? Do you approve/disapprove strongly or somewhat? — NET Strongly Somewhat NET Somewhat Strongly opinion a. The economy 41 17 24 56 13 43 2 b.
A.Killough / CNN:
Perry presses ‘outsider’ message as closing Iowa argument
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and ABCNEWS
Elizabeth Hartfield / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich Campaign Steps Up Efforts to Qualify For Virginia Primary
Discussion:
National Review, Indecision Forever and Trail Blazers Blog
Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Ron Paul's Shaggy Defense — The Times notes that Ron Paul's racism newsletters are, again, becoming an issue. The standard defense has generally been Paul didn't write the newsletters. I think an honest reckoning with that defense would have someone question the faculties of an adult …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs and The Daily Dish
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Rich Lowry / National Review:
Paul, the Fringe Frontrunner — Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is in a bid to make history in Iowa. Can he become the first marginal, conspiracy-minded congressman with an embarrassing catalog of racist material published under his name to win the caucuses?
Discussion:
Washington Post, Eunomia, Campaign 2012, The Daily Dish, Rush Limbaugh and Bloomberg
Max Abelson / Bloomberg:
Bankers Seek to Debunk ‘Imbecile’ Attack on Top 1% — Jamie Dimon, the highest-paid chief executive officer among the heads of the six biggest U.S. banks, turned a question at an investors' conference in New York this month into an occasion to defend wealth.
Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
CNN Poll: President's approval nearing 50% — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's approval rating, a crucial indicator of his reelection chances, is on the rise, according to a new national survey. — A CNN/ORC International Poll out Tuesday also indicates that the partisan battle …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Gallup, American Prospect, The Caucus, The Politico, Guardian, Balloon Juice, The Raw Story, The Daily Dish, Weasel Zippers, Booman Tribune and Slate
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Romney: ‘Get rid of these super PACs’ — Quite a moment from Mitt Romney on “Morning Joe” today: The former Massachusetts governor, who has spoken at super PAC fundraisers and is benefiting from a wave of negative Restore Our Future ads directed at Newt Gingrich, called the very existence …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Political Mojo and CNN
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New York Post:
Ugly inside & out — His face horribly charred from his alleged gasoline attack on a beloved Brooklyn mom, Jerome Isaac was jailed without bail yesterday, as the woman's devastated family pressed the DA to lock him up for life. — “I know this is the defendant's first offense …
Discussion:
Gothamist and CBS New York
Mj Lee / The Politico:
Blogs bash Obama's historic claim — NewsBusters calls Obama's statements made during his ‘60 Minutes’ interview ‘laughable.’ — Newt Gingrich isn't the only one on the campaign trail who sees himself as a towering historical figure. President Barack Obama has just joined the club.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit
Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:
U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Pays Homage to Obama—But Not Jesus — (CNSNews.com) - The 63-foot Sierra White Fir lighted at the U.S. Capitol Grounds on Dec. 6 as the official 2011 Capitol Christmas Tree includes a prominently displayed ornament paying homage to President Barack Obama …
Discussion:
Don Surber, The PJ Tatler, Wonkette, The Gateway Pundit, The Jawa Report, Shakesville, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative
Kitsepile Nyathi / Daily Nation:Breaking News …:
MP arrested for saying Mugabe is homosexual — HARARE, Tuesday — A Zimbabwean MP has been arrested for allegedly calling President Robert Mugabe a homosexual. — Mrs Lillian Kirenyi, a legislator from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Instead Of Extending Tax Cut For 160 Million Americans, House Commissioned Bust Of Winston Churchill — While House Republicans couldn't get their act together to approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits last night, they were able to do something far more frivolousness …
Discussion:
The Hill, Gawker, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Politico
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Secrecy defines Obama's drone war — Since September, at least 60 people have died in 14 reported CIA drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions. The Obama administration has named only one of the dead, hailing the elimination of Janbaz Zadran, a top official in the Haqqani insurgent network, as a counterterrorism victory.
Discussion:
Lawfare, emptywheel, Shakesville, Prairie Weather, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Secrecy News
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