Top Items:
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The GOP's payroll tax debacle — Now that Congress has reached agreement on what must be one of the worst pieces of legislation in years — the temporary payroll tax holiday extension — let's survey the damage. — To begin with, what even minimally rational government enacts payroll tax relief for just two months?
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Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves payroll tax bill, sends to Obama for signature — The House on Friday morning approved a bill extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance for two months, and also prevents a planned cut to reimbursements for Medicare physicians.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Hot Air
CNN:
Congress passes payroll tax cut extension — Washington (CNN) — Both chambers of Congress passed an amended version of the two-month payroll tax cut extension Friday, sending the measure to President Barack Obama's desk and handing Democrats a hard-fought victory on an issue — taxes …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Althouse, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, American Prospect, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and ThinkProgress
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A done deal — Congress sure can move quickly when it wants to. — Late yesterday, House Republicans caved to Democratic demands and agreed to accept a slightly-tweaked bipartisan compromise from the Senate. This morning, just to move the process along, the Senate preemptively approved the tweaked version by unanimous consent.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Suicidal House Republicans
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Slate and Wall Street Journal
Jennifer Steinhauer / The Caucus:
For Payroll Tax Cut, Next Step Is Obama's Signature
Discussion:
Daily Kos, New York Times, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots and ABCNEWS
Brian Beutler / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Boehner Takes Strong Hand With House GOP After Payroll Tax Meltdown
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice and The Impolitic
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
News Analysis: For Obama, Payroll Tax Victory Was Aided by Republicans
Discussion:
Washington Post and The Page
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Dems win one as GOP caves
Discussion:
Speaker, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, New York Times and Outside the Beltway
NationalJournal.com:
House Republicans Agree To Payroll Deal
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Washington Post, American Power, Sky Dancing, Speaker, The Talking Dog, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER, Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, CNN, Outside the Beltway, White House Dossier, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, The Moderate Voice, Gawker, Firedoglake, Campaign 2012, American Prospect, National Review, Wake up America, Indecision Forever, The Politico and Hullabaloo
Reuters:
In ad for newsletter, Ron Paul forecast “race war” — (Reuters) - A direct-mail solicitation for Ron Paul's political and investment newsletters two decades ago warned of a “coming race war in our big cities” and of a “federal-homosexual cover-up” to play down the impact of AIDS.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, A Blog For All, The Politico, The Daily Caller, Campaign 2012, Riehl World View, americanthinker.com, iOwnTheWorld.com, Questions and Observations, ABCNEWS, Catholic Bandita, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, CBS News, Little Green Footballs, Doug Ross, The New Republic and msnbc.com
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Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Ron Paul's Iowa Edge: A Rock-Solid Caucus Campaign — Unlike the other candidates who have topped the polls, he's not a flavor of the week — and that's why his candidacy poses such a threat. — ANKENY, IOWA — Just when you thought the tortuous, topsy-turvy 2012 campaign couldn't get any more insane …
Discussion:
Discourse.net, Los Angeles Times, Salon.com and THEROOT.COM
The New Republic:
TNR Exclusive: A Collection of Ron Paul's Most Incendiary Newsletters — For years, Ron Paul published a series of newsletters that dispensed political news and investment advice, but also routinely indulged in bigotry. Here's a selection of some especially inflammatory passages …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12
David Weigel / Slate:
The Newsweek Curse — This isn't the problem that's kept …
Discussion:
Iowa Caucuses, The Right Sphere and dallasmorningviewsblog …
ABCNEWS:
Iowa Conservative Leader Mired in Controversy After Rick Santorum Endorsement — ABC News' Shushannah Walshe and Michael Falcone report: — DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa Christian conservative leader who bestowed his highly sought-after endorsement on presidential candidate Rick Santorum …
Discussion:
The Hill, GOP 12, Catholic Bandita, FiveThirtyEight, Iowa Caucuses and Iowa Caucus 2012
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Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
Bob Vander Plaats' Pay-For-Play Scandal: Charged A Million Bucks For Endorsement, Asked Candidates To Drop Out — Bob Vander Plaats' endorsement of Rick Santorum has produced a backlash among conservatives in Iowa, some of whom are accusing the FAMiLY LEADER president of engaging in …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Indecision Forever and Good As You
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Santorum's pop-up Iowa pitch
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, Indecision Forever, Good As You, The Other McCain and Iowa Caucuses
Joe Biden / Des Moines Register:
Vice President: This is what a real opportunity society looks like — M itt Romney recently laid out his plan for America. Reading about it, I thought of my dad. My dad was a hard worker. He took pride in what he did. And, like millions of Americans, that pride was put to the test …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Pirate's Cove, Fox News and Ballot Box
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Post-Truth Campaign — Suppose that President Obama were to say the following: “Mitt Romney believes that corporations are people, and he believes that only corporations and the wealthy should have any rights. He wants to reduce middle-class Americans to serfs, forced …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Balloon Juice
Sara Sorcher / NationalJournal.com:
QUICK TAKE: Obama: 'Deep Down ... There's a Laziness in Me' — The personality trait President Obama says he most deplores in himself and others is not exactly one you'd expect from, presumably, one of the busiest people in the world: laziness. — “You're lazy?”
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller and The Right Sphere
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Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
Dog days: Bo's whereabouts spark latest White House controversy
Discussion:
Washington Post and cab drollery
Wall Street Journal:
Oh Wow! — Some highlights of 2011. — The great words of the year? “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” — They are the last words of Steve Jobs, reported by his sister, the novelist Mona Simpson, who was at his bedside. In her eulogy, a version of which was published in the New York Times …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Bill Adair / PolitiFact:
Fact-checking in the Echo Chamber Nation — At a Republican campaign rally a few years ago, I asked one of the attendees how he got his news. — “I listen to Rush and read NewsMax,” he said. “And to make sure I'm getting a balanced view, I watch Fox.” — My liberal friends …
CNN:
State media: Suicide bombers strike government buildings in Damascus — (CNN) — Two suicide car bombs shook the seat of Syrian power on Friday, said state-run media, a strike the government blames on terrorists and opposition forces call the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Discussion:
The Heritage Foundation, The Jawa Report and americanthinker.com
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