memeorandum: D.C. charter schools expel students at far higher rates than traditional public schools (Emma Brown/Washington Post)

1:25 PM ET, January 7, 2013

Top Items:

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

The Real Reason Republicans Hate Hagel — It has more to do with President Obama than the former senator from Nebraska. — It's good news that President Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as his secretary of defense, despite the frantic campaign against him that's been mounted by certain Republicans.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Week, The Daily Dish, Mondoweiss, Right Turn and Via Meadia

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Why Hagel Matters — According to various reports, Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel for defense secretary. Beinart puts the nomination in context: … To my mind, this is his core qualification. Unlike so many of the lemmings and partisans of Washington DC, Hagel actually called out the catastrophe of the Iraq War as it happened.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, Mondoweiss, Wired and Firedoglake

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Crack Pipe — I'm watching a lot of neoconservative policy activists and a lot of people in the press telling me that it's a very up in the air thing whether Chuck Hagel gets confirmed as Secretary of Defense. These folks should stop smoking crack. Because crack isn't good for you.

Discussion: Politico, Guardian, Balloon Juice and The Hill

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:

Topsy-turvy Hagel politics — President Obama wants to get credit for bipartisanship, so he picks a Republican defense secretary who will garner few if any Republican votes. He walks away from a politically loyal African American woman for secretary of state (whose nomination would open …

Discussion: Politico, Power Line, NationalJournal.com, Hot Air, neo-neocon, Forbes, Washington Free Beacon and CNN

Elliott Abrams / Weekly Standard:
Mr. Hagel and the Jews — During the hearings on Chuck Hagel's …

Discussion: Power Line

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Why Hagel Matters — If the former senator is confirmed …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, AEIdeas, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars and The Daily Caller

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:
Obama Expected to Pick Chuck Hagel for Defense Post

Mickey Kaus / The Daily Caller:
Hagel's Mideast blunder-not on Israel

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and The Week

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
President Obama Picks Chuck Hagel, Fight Over Defense Secretary

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Politico, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Politicker, The Week and Taegan Goddard's …

Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:

The Education of John Boehner — Leverage for the next clash: GOP willingness to let the spending sequester take effect. — What stunned House Speaker John Boehner more than anything else during his prolonged closed-door budget negotiations with Barack Obama was this revelation …

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Democrats look for up to $1 trillion in new tax revenues this year — Democrats say they want to raise as much as $1 trillion in new revenues through tax reform later this year to balance Republican demands to slash mandatory spending. — Democratic leaders have had little time to craft …

Discussion: Political Watch, Hot Air, The New Republic, Weasel Zippers, The Plum Line, New York Times, Vodkapundit, The Gateway Pundit and The Reaction

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
14th Amendment Option: Nancy Pelosi Urges Obama To ‘Just Go Do It’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Week, Weasel Zippers and The Heritage Foundation

Paul Krugman:

Be Ready To Mint That Coin — Should President Obama be willing to print a $1 trillion platinum coin if Republicans try to force America into default? Yes, absolutely. He will, after all, be faced with a choice between two alternatives: one that's silly but benign, the other that's equally silly but both vile and disastrous.

Discussion: MarketWatch, Business Insider, Vodkapundit, The Week, Mother Jones and Capital New York

Elisabeth Arriero / The Charlotte Observer:

Man ID'd as Rand Paul's son arrested at airport — A teenager identified in several media outlets as the son of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and the grandson of former presidential candidate Ron Paul was arrested Saturday morning at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gawker, Politico, ABCNEWS, The Raw Story and The Hinterland Gazette

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:
Rand Paul in Israel: US foreign aid can't be one-way

Discussion: The Hill and The Daily Caller

Josh Haskell / ABCNEWS:
Senator Rand Paul's Son Arrested at Charlotte Airport

Discussion: Post Politics, Business Insider and Joe. My. God.

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

John Brennan tapped to lead CIA — President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he's nominating the White House's point person on counterterrorism, John Brennan, to be the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency, White House officials told POLITICO.

Discussion: CNN, Politics, Power …, Business Insider and Israel Matzav

Scott Shane / New York Times:
Counterterror Adviser to be Named Chief of C.I.A.

Discussion: Guardian, emptywheel, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway and msnbc.com

emptywheel:
The Seduction of John Brennan's “Moral Rectitude”

Discussion: Daily Kos

Paul Krugman:

The Outside Man — Yes, I've heard about the notion that I should be nominated as Treasury Secretary. I'm flattered, but it really is a bad idea. — Part of the reason is that I am indeed the World's Worst Administrator — and that does matter. Someone else can do the paperwork …

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and Economist's View

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The conservative movement is still an elaborate moneymaking venture — The story of FreedomWorks' big Glenn Beck payout encapsulates the right-wing media — The conservative media movement exists primarily as a moneymaking venture. As Rick Perlstein explained in the Baffler …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Immoral Minority

Adam Peck / ThinkProgress:

Delaware Town Takes Down Anti-Hispanic Signs After Public Outrage — The small community of Milford, Delaware took swift action over the weekend after a barrage of criticism over signs posted in several public parks that appeared to be anti-Hispanic. — A Daily Kos blogger documented …

Discussion: Gawker and The Raw Story

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Big Fail — It's that time again: the annual meeting of the American Economic Association and affiliates, a sort of medieval fair that serves as a marketplace for bodies (newly minted Ph.D.'s in search of jobs), books and ideas. And this year, as in past meetings …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CANNONFIRE and Prairie Weather

Emma Brown / Washington Post:

D.C. charter schools expel students at far higher rates than traditional public schools — Video: An analysis of documents by The Washington Post shows the District's charter schools expel dramatically more students than its traditional public schools. But how things should change depends on who you ask.

Discussion: Eduwonk and Joanne Jacobs

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

After Pinpointing Gun Owners, Paper Is a Target — WHITE PLAINS — Local newspapers across the country look for stories that will bring them national attention, but The Journal News, a daily nestled in a wooded office park in a suburb north of New York, may have gotten more than it bargained for.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Right Wing News and Capital New York, more at Mediagazer »

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Booker says he has ‘deep respect and love’ for Lautenberg — (CNN) - Democratic Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, who announced intentions to explore a U.S. Senate bid in 2014, said he hasn't yet spoken with Sen. Frank Lautenberg about whether the longtime Democratic senator plans to run for re-election next year.