Top Items:
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
The White House's Kent Conrad problem — On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the outgoing chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, made a proposal to solve the “fiscal cliff.” The proposal isn't going anywhere, but its specifics explain something important about the White House's negotiating strategy.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Balloon Juice
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Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Obama Returning to Capital to Seek Fiscal Deal — KAILUA, Hawaii — President Obama was planning to cut his Christmas vacation short and return to Washington to make a last-ditch push for a compromise on a tax and spending dispute that remains stubbornly unresolved.
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Americans' Optimism Wanes About Averting “Fiscal Cliff”
Americans' Optimism Wanes About Averting “Fiscal Cliff”
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, Politico, The Hill, BuzzFeed, CNN, Business Insider and Reuters
Josh Margolin / New York Post:
Benghazi penalties are bogus — The four officials supposedly out of jobs because of their blunders in the run-up to the deadly Benghazi terror attack remain on the State Department payroll — and will all be back to work soon, The Post has learned. — The highest-ranking official caught …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Patterico's Pontifications, The PJ Tatler, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air and “The Lid”
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Washington Post:
Police: NBC asked to use high-capacity clip — Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy — During an interview with NRA Chief Wayne LaPierre on “Meet the Press,” David Gregory held up a high-capacity ammunition magazine.
Discussion:
The Hill, JONATHAN TURLEY, Mediaite, Business Insider, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
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William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
D.C. Police — NBC requested and was denied permission to use high capacity magazine in news segment — As noted in an earlier post, an email has surfaced purporting to be from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department stating that NBC requested permission to use a high capacity ammunication magazine and that the request was denied.
Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
FreedomWorks tea party group nearly falls apart in fight between old and new guard — The day after Labor Day, just as campaign season was entering its final frenzy, FreedomWorks, the Washington-based tea party organization, went into free fall. — Richard K. Armey, the group's chairman …
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Give Chuck a Chance — In case you haven't heard, President Obama is considering appointing Chuck Hagel, a former United States senator from Nebraska and a Purple Heart winner, as the next secretary of defense — and this has triggered a minifirefight among Hagel critics and supporters.
Discussion:
The Washington Note, Israel Matzav and Weekly Standard
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Robert Wright / The Atlantic Online:
Chuck Hagel Gets His Second Wind
Chuck Hagel Gets His Second Wind
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mother Jones and The Washington Note
Starbucks Coffee Company:
Let's Come Together, America — Posted by Howard S., Starbucks chairman, president and chief executive officer — There are moments in our lives when we have an opportunity to ignite tremendous positive change—not just in the lives of the customers and communities we serve every day, but in our country.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, Daily Kos, Addicting Info, The Other McCain, Hullabaloo, FixtheDebt, Reuters, Post Politics, ABCNEWS and Mediaite
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Norman J. Ornstein / Washington Post:
Look beyond the Capitol for the next speaker — Norman J. Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and co-author of “It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.”
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
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Rick Manning / Pundits Blog:
Time to be the Speaker — I have a simple plea to John Boehner - be the Speaker.
Time to be the Speaker — I have a simple plea to John Boehner - be the Speaker.
Discussion:
Politico
New York Post:
‘Killing people is what I like best’: Firefighter-slay lunatic's suicide screed — The homicidal maniac who torched his upstate neighborhood and gunned down two responding firefighters in an elaborate ambush left behind a twisted suicide note that revealed his bloodlust, authorities said yesterday.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
RELATED:
George M. Walsh / Associated Press:
Body found in Webster home is believed to be killer's sister
Body found in Webster home is believed to be killer's sister
Discussion:
neo-neocon and The Reaction
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Frank Luntz: NRA not listening to public — Pollster Frank Luntz, who has studied attitudes about gun control, said on Wednesday that he doesn't “think the NRA is listening” to the American public in the wake of the massacre of 20 children at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and The Hinterland Gazette
Kitty Felde / Represent!:
San Diego's new mayor Bob Filner fires some parting shots at Congress — Former U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., during a House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing. Credit: Charles Dharapak — Former Democratic Congressman Bob Filner, a member of the House of Representatives for 10 terms, could have run for an eleventh.
Discussion:
Politico
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Virginia embodies GOP's woes — RICHMOND, Va. — Look no further than Virginia to catch a glimpse of the GOP's national dilemma. — As the Old Dominion becomes a firmly centrist state, more closely resembling the rest of the country demographically and politically, Virginia Republicans are shifting rightward.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway