Top Items:
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Biden: Obama Considering ‘Executive Order’ to Deal With Guns — Vice President Joe Biden revealed that President Barack Obama might use an executive order to deal with guns. — “The president is going to act,” said Biden, giving some comments to the press before a meeting with victims of gun violence.
Discussion:
Slate, protein wisdom, Sense of Events, Maggie's Notebook, neo-neocon, Connecting.the.Dots, The Gateway Pundit and The Caucus
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Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Biden: Obama prepared to take executive action on gun control — President Obama will likely take executive action in an effort to tamp down the recent rash of gun violence, Vice President Biden said Wednesday. — “The president is going go act,” said Biden, who is conducting meetings all week on the issue of gun control.
Politico:
Why President Obama is picking fights with Congress — Barack Obama is looking for a few good fights. — Obama, the same president who campaigned twice on breaking the cycle of conflict in Washington, sees the utility — even the necessity — of rattling Republican cages as he plunges …
Discussion:
NBC Politics, neo-neocon and The Hill
Josh Levs / CNN:
Biden: Obama exploring executive orders to combat gun violence — On Wednesday night, Piers Morgan goes one-on-one with firearms lobbyist Larry Pratt over guns in America. “Piers Morgan Tonight” airs nightly at 9 ET. — (CNN) — President Barack Obama is exploring executive orders …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, The Hinterland Gazette, The Political Carnival, Weasel Zippers, Piers Morgan and This Just In
Washington Wire:
Wal-Mart Misses a Meeting With Biden on Gun Violence
Wal-Mart Misses a Meeting With Biden on Gun Violence
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Forbes, AMERICAblog, Shakesville, Business Insider, The Raw Story and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Biden, Meeting Gun Control Advocates, Vows Action
Biden, Meeting Gun Control Advocates, Vows Action
Discussion:
Taking Note and msnbc.com
Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:
Obama Said to Name Jack Lew to Replace Geithner at Treasury — Obama Said to Name Lew Tomorrow to Replace Geithner — President Barack Obama plans to name White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew tomorrow as his choice for Treasury secretary, replacing Timothy F. Geithner, a person familiar with the process said.
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Kevin Roose / Bloomberg:
Jack Lew's Terrible Signature May Grace Dollar Bills Now — Obama's America. — Jack Lew, President Obama's reported pick to replace outgoing Treasury secretary Tim Geithner, is known as a no-nonsense backroom negotiator with wonkish tendencies, who is admired on the left and grumbled about on the right.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Politico, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS, Economix, Wonkblog, New York Times, Mediaite and The Atlantic Online
David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:
Who Is Jack Lew, Obama's Nominee for Treasury Secretary?
Who Is Jack Lew, Obama's Nominee for Treasury Secretary?
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Wonkblog, The Fix and Post Politics
Manu Raju / Politico:
Senate vs. President Obama over Cabinet
Senate vs. President Obama over Cabinet
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Business Insider and The National Memo
Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:
Revealed: The Massive New Liberal Plan to Remake American Politics — A month after President Obama won reelection, America's most powerful liberal groups met to plan their next moves. Here's what they talked about. — It was the kind of meeting that conspiratorial conservative bloggers dream about.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Maggie's Notebook and The Agonist
Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
Inaugural Benediction To Be Delivered By Pastor Who Gave Vehemently Anti-Gay Sermon — The Presidential Inauguration Committee announced Tuesday that the President Obama has selected Pastor Louie Giglio of the Georgia-based Passion City Church to deliver the benediction for his second inauguration.
Discussion:
Good As You, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog and Pharyngula
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Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Richard Blanco, 2013 Inaugural Poet
Richard Blanco, 2013 Inaugural Poet
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, ABCNEWS, The Political Carnival, Advocate and Colorlines
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell to take lead in entitlement talks, with Boehner in back seat — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is poised to play a bigger role in negotiations to reform entitlement programs in the wake of the tax deal he helped forge last week. — Lawmakers see the passage of a bill …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Plum Line, Angry Bear, CNN, Patterico's Pontifications and Booman Tribune
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Ginger Gibson / Politico:
McConnell takes a hit from the right
McConnell takes a hit from the right
Discussion:
Campaign for America's Future
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Can Chris Christie rescue the GOP?
Can Chris Christie rescue the GOP?
Discussion:
PostPartisan, No More Mister Nice Blog, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard and Post Politics
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Why Republicans Won't Bargain With Obama Again — James Capretta, writing at National Review, lays out what looks like the emerging Republican strategy on the debt ceiling. Rather than take up President Obama's offer to cut Social Security and Medicare in return for higher revenue through tax reform …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather and p m carpenter's commentary
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
In U.S., Democrats Re-Establish Lead in Party Affiliation — In 2012, 47% identified or leaned Democratic, 42% Republican — PRINCETON, NJ — An average of 47% of Americans identified as Democrats or said they were independents who leaned Democratic in 2012, compared with 42% who identified as or leaned Republican.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Politico, The Political Carnival, Hot Air, Ballot Box, The Daily Caller, Post Politics and National Review
James Hohmann / Politico:
At 100, still little love for Nixon — Richard Nixon would have turned 100 Wednesday, but about the only people marking the occasion are historians, family members and loyalists from the disgraced 37th president's administration. — And even they're slowly dying off.
Discussion:
USA Today, CNN, The Week, Taylor Marsh, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly and Althouse
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Sarah Parnass / ABCNEWS:
Five Key Legacies of Former President Richard Nixon On His 100th Birthday
Five Key Legacies of Former President Richard Nixon On His 100th Birthday
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Politico
Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
California Town Hall Provides Glimpse At The Future Of The Gun Control Debate — Advocates on both sides of the gun control debate are prepared to make a lot of noise about the future of gun regulations in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. shooting. That's the message from the first of House …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, KGO-TV and The Plum Line
Michael Catalini / NationalJournal.com:
Are Republicans Scared of Al Franken? — SNL star-turned-senator isn't drawing much early GOP opposition. — After winning election by the narrowest of margins in 2008, Sen. Al Franken looked like one of the GOP's most inviting Senate targets in 2014. But instead, the party is facing …
Discussion:
The Fix
Aaron Dykes / Infowars:
Piers Morgan and Guests Discuss Shooting Alex Jones — Daily Beast writer Buzz Bissinger says Piers Morgan should “pop” Alex Jones with a semi-automatic weapon. — Infowars.com — CNN and the gun grabbing media are now calling for Alex Jones to be shot the day after his heated appearance with Piers Morgan.
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog and Shot in the Dark
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Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Paul Ryan Cosponsors New Fetal Personhood Bill … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Paul Ryan, Video, Fetal Personhood, Paul Broun, Paul Broun Personhood, Paul Ryan Fetal Personhood, Paul Ryan Personhood, Paul Ryan Personhood Bill, Personhood, Personhood Amendments, Personhood Bill, Sanctity-Of-Human-Life-Act, Politics News
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Amy Odell / BuzzFeed:
DC Sex Workers Prepare for Huge Influx of Inauguration Partiers — If you require the services of a stripper or dominatrix over inauguration weekend, be prepared to pay extra. — Image by Shutterstock — When Steve Baker talks about the inauguration, he gets a little giddy.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
The New / New York Times:
Transcript of Nate Silver's ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit — Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight took questions Tuesday on the popular social news site Reddit's “Ask Me Anything” section. What follows is an edited transcript, with the questions and answers sorted into several subject areas.
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Images of NRA, Congressional Republicans on the decline — PPP's newest national poll finds that the NRA's image has declined over the last three weeks following Wayne LaPierre's controversial press conference the week before Christmas. — The NRA now has a negative favorability rating …
Discussion:
Gawker, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Mediaite, msnbc.com and Taegan Goddard's …
nbcnewyork.com:
Ferry Crashes in Lower Manhattan, Dozens Injured — A rush hour commuter ferry with more than 300 passengers aboard crashed Wednesday as it approached a Wall Street pier, injuring more than 50 people, police said. — Officials had initially said the injuries were minor …
Discussion:
U.S. News, Gawker, PIX 11 and The Hinterland Gazette
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Chuck Hagel Expanded On ‘Aggressively Gay’ Slur In 1998 — Then-Sen. Chuck Hagel's remark to the Omaha World-Herald in 1998 that Clinton ambassadorial nominee James Hormel was “openly aggressively gay” was only a part of what Hagel told the paper about his opposition to Hormel's nomination.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Gawker, PostPartisan, The Daily Dish, The Plum Line, Towleroad News #gay, Washington Examiner and The Reaction
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Hagel pick: Final snub of George W. Bush — The final insult to George W. Bush's foreign policy may have come in the form of a Republican ex-senator from Nebraska. — Chuck Hagel's nomination for secretary of defense has stirred opposition on both the left and the right …
Discussion:
CNN, The Moderate Voice and Taegan Goddard's …
Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
The Biggest Myth About The Platinum Coin Option — The biggest and weirdest myth out there about the $1 trillion platinum coin is the idea that it would require a large quantity of platinum to make one. The National Republican Campaign Committee, for example, is out there warning that …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Wonkblog and Eschaton