Top Items:
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.
Discussion:
Capital New York, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABCNEWS
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich warns Boehner could have ‘disaster on his hands’ — Newt Gingrich warned Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that he risks losing control of his conference without a more coherant strategy. — “He can't keep thinking the way he's thought the last few months without having a disaster on his hands …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Monthly and msnbc.com
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:
Politico, City Room, The National Memo, The Maddow Blog, Capital New York and The Confluence
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves $9.7 billion in Sandy relief
House approves $9.7 billion in Sandy relief
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Mediaite
Brett LoGiurato / Business Insider:
Top Conservative Group Urges House To Vote Against Hurricane Sandy Relief
Top Conservative Group Urges House To Vote Against Hurricane Sandy Relief
Discussion:
Campaign for America's Future and Daily Kos
Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner to GOP: Public is behind us on spending, debt limit fight
Boehner to GOP: Public is behind us on spending, debt limit fight
Discussion:
The Hill and Booman Tribune
Kevin Robillard / Reuters:
Barney Frank: I want to be senator — Barney Frank, one day out of Congress, said on Friday that he has asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to send him back as an interim senator when Sen. John Kerry becomes secretary of state. — “A month ago, or a few weeks ago, I said I wasn't interested,” Frank said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.”
RELATED:
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal — For some reason, the possibility of evading the debt ceiling by minting a $1 trillion platinum coin is getting some blogospheric love again. This is based on a 2000 revision to the U.S. statute on money and finance that reads:
Discussion:
The Plum Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice, Unfogged and Capital New York
RELATED:
Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, American Prospect, PERRspectives, The Reaction, Mother Jones, The Plum Line, New York Times and Politico
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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Associated Press:
Nancy Pelosi defends photoshopped picture of congresswomen — WASHINGTON (AP) — House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Friday defended an altered picture of Democratic congresswomen that was posted on her Flickr photo-sharing site. — The photo showed four members who were not in the original picture …
Discussion:
CNN
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.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Right Turn, Outside the Beltway, Gestetner Updates and Washington Free Beacon
RELATED:
Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Obama to Pick Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense
Sources: Obama to Pick Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Algemeiner.com, AEIdeas, Gestetner Updates and The Daily Beast
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 …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch, Media Decoder, The Raw Story, americanthinker.com, PandoDaily and Gestetner Updates, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself
Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself
Discussion:
Politico, Daily Download, Betsy's Page, Mediaite, NO QUARTER USA NET, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Raw Story and Capital New York, more at Mediagazer »
Hollywood Reporter:
Post-Newtown, 70 Percent Say Hollywood Shows Too Much Violence (Poll) — The Hollywood Reporter and pollster Penn Schoen Berland asked consumers of movies and television how their views on depictions of violence were affected by the Dec. 14 shooting in Connecticut.
Discussion:
Reuters, Movieline, Weasel Zippers and The Hill
RELATED:
Stephen L. Carter / Bloomberg:
Angry at the NRA? That Won't Reduce Gun Violence
Angry at the NRA? That Won't Reduce Gun Violence
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Taylor Marsh and The New Republic
Alyssa Rosenberg / ThinkProgress:
How To Change Pop Culture's Reliance On Violence
How To Change Pop Culture's Reliance On Violence
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
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:
The Hinterland Gazette, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, FIRST DRAFT, The Maddow Blog and The Raw Story
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:
Washington Monthly, Hit & Run and The Incidental Economist
Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
Hope and less change: Americans cringe at first paychecks of 2013; Stunned lib asks, ‘What happened?’ — Happy New Year and happy payday! Thank goodness our “lord and savior” Obama signed the fiscal cliff bill into law after proudly proclaiming, “Under this law, more than 98 percent …
Discussion:
National Review
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:
Hit & Run
Hayley Peterson / Daily Mail:
Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal — Middle-class workers will take a bigger hit to their income proportionately than those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 under the new fiscal cliff deal, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Republican Congressman Claims Hammers Could Be Outlawed Under Assault Weapons Ban — A Republican congressman lambasted the push for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, stating on Friday that if lawmakers wanted to ban assault weapons, they would have to outlaw “hammers” and “machetes” as well.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Greg Giroux / Bloomberg:
Final Tally Shows Obama First Since '56 to Win 51% Twice — Eight weeks after the Nov. 6 presidential election, a revised vote count in New York shows that Barack Obama is the first president in more than five decades to win at least 51 percent of the vote twice.
Discussion:
The Reaction, The Maddow Blog, Outside the Beltway and The New Republic
David Weigel / Slate:
Eighty-Six Minutes of Joe Biden Being Incredible — I only spent a little time today watching Vice President Biden conduct ceremonial (read: photo-op) swearings-in for the 34 senators taking office today. My mistake: As the viral video wizards quickly proved, it was a movie-length event …
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, Slate and Guardian