Top Items:
Tom Cohen / CNN:
Angry with Obama, GOP threatens political war next year — Washington (CNN) — They are losing the battle over higher taxes on the wealthy, so now Republicans are threatening a political war next year when it comes time to raise the nation's debt ceiling. — With cracks appearing …
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Government Shutdown Watch — I wanted to quickly follow up on that Mother of All Government Shutdowns on deck for February(ish). As noted earlier, the President says he will not allow another round of debt limit hostage taking. It's been ambiguous to me just what the President means by this.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Sam Baker / The Hill:
White House drops support for major Medicaid cut — The Obama administration backed away Monday from roughly $100 billion in Medicaid savings it had proposed during deficit-reduction talks earlier this year. — The move comes as liberals have pressed the White House to take Medicaid off …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Washington Monthly and Taylor Marsh
Dan Pfeiffer / Talking Points Memo:
Boehner To Obama: You Name Spending Cuts First — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said on Tuesday that he was still waiting on the White House to detail what spending cuts President Obama would be willing to make in a potential deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year.
Discussion:
The Plum Line
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Morning Plum: A way out for labor in Michigan? — Today, Governor Rick Snyder is expected to sign “right to work” legislation in Michigan. Obviously, this will constitute a hard blow to organized labor, for a host of reasons, symbolic and practical alike.
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M. Alex Johnson / U.S. News:
Michigan passes anti-union ‘right to work’ measures over protests of thousands — Updated at 3:03 p.m. ET: Michigan lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that would sharply limit labor rights, passing the first of two measures over the objections of thousands of people packing …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, First Read and The Raw Story
Bernie Woodall / Reuters:
New laws will make Michigan 24th “right-to-work” state
New laws will make Michigan 24th “right-to-work” state
Discussion:
AEIdeas and Philly.com
Associated Press:
Michigan Legislature gives final approval to right-to-work limiting unions, sends to governor
Michigan Legislature gives final approval to right-to-work limiting unions, sends to governor
Discussion:
New York Times, Post Politics, Truthdig, The Fix, Business Insider, The Huffington Post and Weasel Zippers
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Justice Scalia defends comparing laws against homosexuality, murder — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia equated homosexuality and murder on Monday as he argued at a Princeton seminar that elected bodies should be allowed to regulate actions they see as immoral.
Discussion:
Pundits Blog and Balloon Juice
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
GOP mute as Supreme Court tackles gay marriage — House Republican leaders had a uniform response to the Supreme Court's decision to take up gay marriage: Silence. — The high court's decision last week to hear two cases relating to same-sex marriage puts that issue at the center of the national debate.
Discussion:
CNN, Daily Kos, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, msnbc.com and Towleroad News #gay
Geoff Mulvihill / Associated Press:
Antonin Scalia Defends Legal Writings Some View As Offensive, Anti-Gay
Antonin Scalia Defends Legal Writings Some View As Offensive, Anti-Gay
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Salon, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Juanita Jean's
Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
THINGS IN POLITICO THAT MAKE ME WANT TO GUZZLE ANTIFREEZE, POINT OF NO RETURN EDITION — One of my primary criticisms of Tiger Beat On The Potomac has been that the entire enterprise has been dedicated totally to gossip, triviality, and Drudge-baiting to the exclusion of what's actually …
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
First on CNN: Haley finalizes short list for DeMint seat — Washington (CNN) - South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has whittled down the list of people she is considering for Jim DeMint's soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat to five people, a Republican close to the governor told CNN on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Politico, The Fix, Washington Monthly, Public Policy Polling, FITSNews, Constitution Daily, Ballot Box, GOP 12 and The Daily Caller
Jim Pettit / National Review:
An Embarrassing Metric Disappears — As the din of America's falling headfirst over the fiscal cliff reverberates across the nation, the Obama administration is quietly killing a key economic metric that tells how, and how many, people are voting with their feet.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
Kerry Picket / BREITBART.COM:
NO SHOTS FIRED: STATE DEPT BENGHAZI SECURITY FORCE UNARMED — A source with personal knowledge of the security situation in Benghazi told Breitbart News that Senators who listened to closed door testimony about the Benghazi attack were shocked to learn State Department security personnel agents were not immediately armed.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Liberty Unyielding and The PJ Tatler
Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:
Only 7% of Detroit Public-School 8th Graders Proficient in Reading — (CNSNews.com) - In the public schools in Detroit, Mich., according to the U.S. Department of Education, only 7 percent of the eighth graders are grade-level proficient or better in reading.
Discussion:
protein wisdom and Twitchy
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Greg Miller / Washington Post:
In ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ she's the hero; in real life, CIA agent's career is more complicated — She was a real-life heroine of the CIA hunt for Osama bin Laden, a headstrong young operative whose work tracking the al-Qaeda leader serves as the dramatic core of a Hollywood film set to premiere next week.
Sharilyn Johnson / Third Beat:
Jon Stewart almost quit Daily Show over “a**hole” coworkers — Late night satire's biggest secrets were revealed live on stage in Montclair, NJ Friday night as Stephen Colbert interviewed Jon Stewart at the Wellmont Theatre, a fundraiser for the Montclair Film Festival.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Week, Mediaite and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Adam Peck / ThinkProgress:
INFOGRAPHIC: We Could End Homelessness With The Money Americans Spend On Christmas Decorations — The latest annual report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that the national homeless population held steady from 2011 to 2012, hardly good news but perhaps better …
Discussion:
The Impolitic, The Other McCain, Prairie Weather and New York Times
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Fox News Says Workers Who Don't Like Michigan's Anti-Union Bill ‘Can Get A Job Elsewhere’ — On Tuesday, Fox News threw its weight behind Michigan's effort to allow union members to opt out of paying union dues, while benefiting from union contracts though so-called “right-to-work” legislation.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Daniel Miller / Daily Mail:
University of Texas professor claims black students are failing because they are raised by poor single women — Law professor Lino Graglia has previously accused black culture of ‘setting children up for failure’ — A professor at the University of Texas has sparked outrage by claiming black …
Discussion:
The Raw Story
DealBook:
Treasury Earns $7.6 Billion From Sale of Last Shares in A.I.G. — The Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it has sold off its remaining stake in the American International Group, reaping about $7.6 billion from the sale. — The government sold the 234.2 million shares at $32.50 each …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', The Week and The Baseline Scenario
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
In Talks, House Majority Weighs Loyalty to Voters — WASHINGTON — As their leaders inch toward agreeing to higher tax rates, dozens of House Republicans find themselves caught between the will of a larger American public that favors higher taxes on the rich and the wishes of constituents …