Top Items:
Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Obama expected to pick Hagel as opponents prepare for a fight — President Barack Obama is expected to name Chuck Hagel as his choice for defense secretary as early as Monday, as critics of the former Nebraska senator prepare to go to war to fight his expected nomination.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast, Algemeiner.com, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Israpundit and Gestetner Updates
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First Read:
Hagel likely to be nominated for Defense Secretary next week — Multiple sources on Capitol Hill and in key special-interest groups involved in national security issues say they have been told to be prepared for a Chuck Hagel nomination for Defense Secretary, either as early as Monday or perhaps more likely Tuesday of next week.
Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
OBAMA TO PICK HAGEL
OBAMA TO PICK HAGEL
Discussion:
Truthdig, Weekly Standard, Algemeiner.com and Gestetner Updates
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Schumer: Dems Won't Negotiate With GOP On Debt Ceiling — Echoing President Obama's refusal to negotiate on the debt limit, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned Republicans on Friday that Democrats have no intention of giving in to any of their demands in exchange for lifting the nation's borrowing limit to pay its bills.
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ProfessorBainbridge.com, The Plum Line, Wall Street Journal, Hullabaloo, Off the Charts Blog, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune
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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn / Houston Chronicle:
Obama must engage Congress — Texans would have been hit with the biggest tax increase in the history of our country if Congress failed to act on the American Taxpayer Relief Act in the early hours of 2013. The question I faced was, “Would Texans be better off with a massive tax increase?”
United States Senator John Cornyn, Texas:
Cornyn: Partial Government Shutdown May Be Needed to Restore Fiscal Sanity — WASHINGTON - The following article, authored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Finance and Judiciary Committees, was published today in the Houston Chronicle: — Obama Must Engage Congress
Discussion:
American Prospect, Economist, ABCNEWS, Business Insider and Washington Examiner
Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking
Discussion:
The Reaction, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, New York Times and PERRspectives
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn / Houston Chronicle:
Obama must engage Congress
Obama must engage Congress
Discussion:
Politico, Trail Blazers Blog, msnbc.com and Post Politics
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Club for Growth will punish members voting for Sandy flood aid — The conservative Club for Growth said Friday that it will punish House members who voted for a flood insurance measure aimed at helping pay for Hurricane Sandy's damage. — The Club will “key-vote” the measure, using it to compile an annual rating for each lawmaker.
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Wall Street Journal:
The Outrageous Sandy Outrage — House Speaker John Boehner is getting all sorts of grief these days, but there's one decision for which taxpayers should thank him: putting the brakes on a $60 billion relief bill for the victims of Hurricane Sandy that has become cover for Congress to revive earmarks and the pork machine.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Investor's Business Daily, Politicker, Hot Air, Right Turn and Capital New York
Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
Congress Passes $9.7 Billion in Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims
Congress Passes $9.7 Billion in Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Wall Street Journal, Politico, City Room, The Week, The Maddow Blog, The National Memo, Capital New York and The Confluence
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich warns Boehner could have ‘disaster on his hands’
Gingrich warns Boehner could have ‘disaster on his hands’
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Politico, Daily Kos, msnbc.com and Washington Monthly
Rebekah Metzler / US News:
House Set to Vote on Partial Sandy Relief Bill
House Set to Vote on Partial Sandy Relief Bill
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Forbes and Politicker
John Parkinson / ABCNEWS:
Pelosi Not Fazed by Photoshopped Pic of Dem Women — Thursday morning, as the 113th Congress prepared to be sworn into office, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held a photo opportunity on the steps of the House of Representatives with Democratic women from the caucus.
Discussion:
Post Politics
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Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Pelosi's office releases doctored photo of female lawmakers
Pelosi's office releases doctored photo of female lawmakers
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Weasel Zippers, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed and The Caucus
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Have Mixed Reaction to Fiscal Cliff Agreement — Democrats much more positive about agreement than Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have a decidedly mixed reaction to the “fiscal cliff” agreement reached by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama this week …
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, Politico, Post Politics and Christian Science Monitor
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Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Harry Reid Would Back Obama If He Bucks GOP On Debt Ceiling: Source
Harry Reid Would Back Obama If He Bucks GOP On Debt Ceiling: Source
Discussion:
Reuters, The Plum Line, Right Turn, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Politico and National Review
New York Times:
Al Jazeera in America — Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network, has long wanted to gain a bigger American television audience, and it may have finally found a way to do that by buying Current TV. But as the deal was being signed, Time Warner Cable announced it would immediately stop carrying Current …
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Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:
Powerful Tea Party Group's Internal Docs Leak—Read Them Here — FreedomWorks bills itself as a grassroots outfit, but it's bankrolled mostly by big-money donors. — FreedomWorks, the national conservative group that helped launch the tea party movement, sells itself as a genuine grassroots operation …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The National Memo and The Raw Story
Reid Pillifant / Capital New York:
A trillion-dollar-coin idea takes off, and a former head of the U.S. Mint doesn't see why it shouldn't — Rep. Jerry Nadler proposed issuing a trillion-dollar coin to circumvent an impending fight over the federal debt ceiling, and the idea has taken off. — The idea, which Nadler assured me was …
Discussion:
Guardian, Hot Air, Washington Post, Politico, Bloomberg, The Verge, Washington Monthly and The Impolitic
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Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal
No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, The Week, The Plum Line, The Atlantic Wire, msnbc.com, Corrente, No More Mister Nice Blog and Unfogged
E.J. Graff / American Prospect:
Purity Culture Is Rape Culture — Indian women offer prayers for a gang rape victim at Mahatma Gandhi memorial in New Delhi. — Her intestines were removed because the six men used a rusty metal rod during the “rape.” — That fact—the rusty metal rod—is what's haunted …
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Washington Monthly and Slate
Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:
Former NRA President Equates Gun Laws With Racism — Those looking for moderation and sensitivity in the gun control debate probably, by this point, know better than to look to the National Rifle Association. — But even by the standards of what we've heard from the NRA recently …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, FIRST DRAFT, The Raw Story and The Maddow Blog
nbcconnecticut.com:
Lawmaker Proposes Publicizing Gun Owners' Names — Lawmakers across the state are taking on gun control issues in the aftermath of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14. — State Rep. Stephen Dargen, a Democratic legislator from West Haven …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
KGO-TV:
SF buses help teach what ‘jihad’ really means — SFMTA, san francisco news, ama daetz — Ama Daetz — , Ama Daetz biography — More: Bio, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, News Team — SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Buses in San Francisco are carrying messages of jihad, but it's not what you might think.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch
John Zaremba / Boston Herald:
Welfare recipients ‘missing’ — State scrambles as voter mail exposes holes in system — Red-faced state officials admitted last night they are trying to find as many as 19,000 missing welfare recipients — after the controversial taxpayer-funded voter registration pitches the state mailed …
Sam Baker / The Hill:
House rules aim to block controversial healthcare board's Medicare cuts — House Republicans signaled Thursday they will not follow rules in President Obama's healthcare law that were designed to speed Medicare cuts through Congress. — The House is set to vote Thursday afternoon on rules for the 113th Congress.
Discussion:
National Review, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly and The Incidental Economist
The Week:
WATCH: Joe Biden's wackiest one-liners from swearing in the 113th Congress — The vice president clearly loved holding court in the Senate, making hilarious and vaguely inappropriate comments to lawmakers and their families — F — resh off his big win negotiating the country away …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Political Carnival, Slate, Michelle Malkin, Gawker and Yahoo! News
Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:
White House Plans To Overwhelm NRA With Rapid Victory — The White House and gun control supporters are gearing up for a whirlwind month, with plans to pass reform legislation before outrage over the Sandy Hook massacre has a chance to fade. — While the fiscal cliff has dominated Washington's attention …
Discussion:
Boston Herald and Weasel Zippers
Torie Bosch / Slate:
Leading Environmental Activist's Blunt Confession: I Was Completely Wrong To Oppose GMOs — Anti-Monsanto activists in Germany in 2009 — If you fear genetically modified food, you may have Mark Lynas to thank. By his own reckoning, British environmentalist helped spur the anti-GMO movement …
Discussion:
Dot Earth, Mark Lynas, Via Meadia and Hit & Run