Top Items:
Washington Post:
Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline — The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm's application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.
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Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
Obama's jobs council report says ‘drill’ — President Obama's jobs council called Tuesday for an “all-in approach” to energy policy that includes expanded oil-and-gas drilling as well as expediting energy projects like pipelines. — “[W]e should allow more access to oil …
Discussion:
CNN, Wake up America, JustOneMinute, Grist, Questions and Observations and Betsy's Page
Darren Goode / Reuters:
Keystone XL pipeline to be rejected by Obama administration — The State Department Wednesday will reject the Keystone XL pipeline, multiple sources following the project tell POLITICO. — The formal announcement is expected at 3 p.m. from Deputy Secretary of State William Burns.
Ben Geman / The Hill:
Obama administration to reject controversial Keystone pipeline — The Obama administration will reject the Keystone XL pipeline Wednesday afternoon, according to a source closely following the issue. — The State Department is expected to make an announcement at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Discussion:
Gawker, The Political Carnival and Campaign 2012
Mamta Badkar / Business Insider:
REPORT: State Department To Reject The Keystone Pipeline — The Obama administration is expected to announce the rejection the controversial $7 billion Keystone Pipeline as early as this afternoon, according to Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post. — The rejection is expected to come …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Big Government and The Lonely Conservative
Jennifer Martinez / The Politico:
SOPA blackout leads co-sponsors to defect — Amid online protests that include major websites like Wikipedia blacking out their sites, a few co-sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act in Congress are defecting. — Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.), originally a co-sponsor of the bill, pulled his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, TechCrunch, Little Green Footballs, Balloon Juice, Techdirt, Guardian, Daily Kos and Reuters, more at Mediagazer »
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David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
SOPA protests shut down Web sites
SOPA protests shut down Web sites
Discussion:
Scientific American, The BLT and US Politics
Megan Ruyle / The Hill:
Unbowed by protests, Lamar Smith to move ahead on piracy bill
Unbowed by protests, Lamar Smith to move ahead on piracy bill
Discussion:
Media Decoder, ThinkProgress, Networking Blog, RedState, Instapundit and The American Independent, more at Mediagazer »
Jenna Wortham / New York Times:
A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry
A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry
Discussion:
nytm.org, Bits, msnbc.com, Gizmodo, The Stranger …, Threat Level, Media Decoder, Gawker, Wonkette, Campaign 2012, Poynter and Electronic Frontier Foundation, more at Techmeme »
msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Newt-mentum returns? — Is Newt-mentum returning?... Even if so, Gingrich faces two challenges: time and math... Romney's wealth and Bain Capital have been THE story in the GOP race for the past 10 days (and counting)... Are the first Obama TV ads going up?
Discussion:
The Caucus, The Political Carnival and Wake up America
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Zeke Miller / Politics:
Romney's Worried About Newt, Renews Assault On “Undisciplined Leader” — Bad internals? — Source: youtube.com — After ignoring former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for three weeks, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is renewing its assault on Newt Gingrich days before the South Carolina primary.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and 2012 Decoded
Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:
The bitter backstory between Newt Gingrich and Romney backer, Susan Molinari
The bitter backstory between Newt Gingrich and Romney backer, Susan Molinari
Discussion:
Gawker and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
David Catanese / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum set South Carolina expectations
Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum set South Carolina expectations
Discussion:
CNN, Ballot Box, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Shakesville and The Reaction
Ross Douthat / Campaign Stops:
Not the Bane of His Existence — Newt Gingrich's closing argument …
Not the Bane of His Existence — Newt Gingrich's closing argument …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mail Online, Hot Air and Washington Wire
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Romney Caricatures Himself — Mitt Romney, in all likelihood, is going to walk away with his party's presidential nomination. Yet from the standpoint of positioning himself for the general election, the primary season has been a disaster for him. Romney's campaign has worked hard …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Guardian, Jared Bernstein, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly and Public Policy Polling
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
When polished meets clumsy — When compared against his Republican rivals, Mitt Romney is extremely slick. After nearly 18 years as a politician, and more than five years as a near-constant presidential candidate, the former governor is clearly smoother and better prepared than his GOP opponents.
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, A plain blog about politics, The Reaction, Washington Post and The Caucus
Esquire:
Bill Clinton: Someone We Can All Agree On — Even his staunchest enemies now regard his presidency as the good old days. He has become the rare consensus figure in a country that has lost all sense of consensus. So we talked to him about where it went, and how we might get it back.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Recess appointments might not hold — Some legal experts, including those who have sided with President Obama on other constitutional issues, think there is a good chance the courts could overturn his recent recess appointments. — Legal experts said courts could invalidate Obama's appointments …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com and Prairie Weather
Reuters:
Obama's not-so-super PAC — Last spring, Sean Sweeney — a co-founder of Priorities USA Action, Barack Obama's not-so-super super PAC — rode an elevator up to a donor's office atop a Chicago skyscraper, hoping to ride down with a big check. — His pitch: Sure, Obama has made a career …
Discussion:
The Politico
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Rolling Stone:
Julian Assange: The Rolling Stone Interview — Under house arrest in England, the WikiLeaks founder opens up about his battle with the ‘Times,’ his stint in solitary and the future of journalism — It's a few days before Christmas, and Julian Assange has just finished moving to a new hide-out deep in the English countryside.
Discussion:
Politics and Weasel Zippers
Tim Mak / The Politico:
Chris Christie: Mitt Romney should release tax returns — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that Mitt Romney should put out his tax returns “sooner rather than later” but added that the former Massachusetts governor has already started speaking about the tax rate he pays.
Discussion:
Washington Post, PERRspectives, Wonkette, Reuters, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, ABCNEWS, Trail Blazers Blog and Washington Wire
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Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Perry: It's ‘important’ for Mitt to release tax returns now
Perry: It's ‘important’ for Mitt to release tax returns now
Discussion:
CNN, Daily Kos and Ballot Box
Jordan Weissmann / The Atlantic Online:
Why Does Buffalo Pay for Its Teachers to Have Plastic Surgery? — How a broken collective bargaining system has kept a ridiculous, multimillion-dollar perk alive. — In Buffalo, New York, the heart of the American rust-belt, the public school system pays for its teachers to get plastic surgery.
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Why They Stood and Cheered — Gingrich confronts the left's insidious theory of racial supremacy. — Bye-Ku for Jon Huntsman — Call me crazy, but — I think insulting voters — Will warm them to me — The live-audience reaction to Republican presidential debates is a matter …
Discussion:
American Prospect, JOSHUAPUNDIT, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story and Wake up America