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Here's what's in Paul Ryan and Patty Murray's mini-budget deal — 1. The total deal is $85 billion. About $45 billion of that replaces sequestration cuts in 2014. About $20 billion replaces sequestration cuts in 2015. About $20 billion is deficit reduction atop sequestration.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Politico, NPR, Campaign for America's Future and Forbes
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Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Capitol Leaders Agree to a Deal on the Budget — WASHINGTON — House and Senate budget negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a budget deal that would raise military and domestic spending over the next two years, shifting the pain of across-the-board cuts to other programs over the coming decade …
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Budget deal is sealed — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced a budget deal Tuesday evening that would call for about $1 trillion in federal spending in 2014 while replacing some sequestration cuts. — The deal replaces $63 billion in sequester cuts over two years …
Discussion:
Politico, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire and CNN
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It's A Deal! Paul Ryan, Patty Murray Announce Budget Agreement
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Jake Sherman / Politico:
Budget agreement reached
Budget agreement reached
Discussion:
Hot Air, CNN, Salon, Daily Kos and Business Insider
Congressman Steve Stockman / stockman2014.com:
I'm running for Senate against liberal John Cornyn — You are in a foxhole fighting to save our constitutional Republic... ...and the last thing you need is a Republican bayonet in your back. — But that's what liberal John Cornyn has been doing to you every day. — And we have less than 90 days to stop him.
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The Daily Banter, Politico, Daily Kos, ABC News, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Religion Dispatches, Taylor Marsh, Capitol Report and ABC News
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Tea party threat again hangs over Republicans' efforts to take Senate
Discussion:
NewsBusters and Capitol Report
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
With Filibuster Threat Gone, Senate Confirms Two Presidential Nominees
With Filibuster Threat Gone, Senate Confirms Two Presidential Nominees
Discussion:
Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Taking Note and Outside the Beltway
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Reid Aide Gives Cornyn Democratic Bear Hug
Reid Aide Gives Cornyn Democratic Bear Hug
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, Texas on the Potomac and The Daily Banter
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Pope Francis, The Choice — With a focus on compassion, the leader of the Catholic Church has become a new voice of conscience. Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs explains why Francis is TIME's choice for Person of the Year 2013 — Once there was a boy so meek and modest, he was awarded a Most Humble badge.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Fox News Insider, Mashable, KDVR.com, National Review and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
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Pope Francis, The People's Pope — He took the name of a humble saint and then called for a church of healing. The first non-European pope in 1,200 years is poised to transform a place that measures change by the century — On the edge of Buenos Aires is a nothing little street called Pasaje C …
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National Review, Mashable, Althouse, Towleroad News #gay and NPR
Arlette Saenz / ABC News:
Cruz Says He Walked Out of Mandela Service When Raul Castro Spoke — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked out of former South African President Nelson Mandela's memorial service Tuesday when Cuban President Raul Castro gave a speech, a spokeswoman for Cruz said. — “Sen. Cruz very much hopes …
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo and CNN
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Cummings: Ted Cruz ‘got an earful’ from Dems on South Africa trip
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller
Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
Liz Cheney's 1988 Op-Ed on Anti-Apartheid Protestors: “Nobody's Listening”
Liz Cheney's 1988 Op-Ed on Anti-Apartheid Protestors: “Nobody's Listening”
Discussion:
Liberaland, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo
Julian Zelizer / CNN:
From one first black president to another
Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:
Poll: Health Law Hurts President Politically — Disapproval Rate Obama's Job Performance Rises to All-Time High of 54%, Even as Americans Upbeat on Economy … The federal health-care law is becoming a heavier political burden for President Barack Obama and his party …
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Washington Wire
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Mark Murray / First Read:
NBC/WSJ poll: Obama ends year on low note — President Barak Obama attends Nelson Mandela's public memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa. — By Mark Murray, Senior Political Editor, NBC News — A year that began with President Barack Obama riding high after his re-election victory …
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Weekly Standard, New York Times, Eclectablog and Washington Free Beacon
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Euphoria of Obamacare becomes nightmare of higher premiums and deductibles — BARACK OBAMA OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE NANCY PELOSI HEALTH CARE EXCHANGES — From a distance of three and a half years, the events of March 23, 2010, the day President Obama signed the Patient Protection …
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Oh, Bam! President's approval rating plummets to 38 per cent overall, just 34 per cent on health care and 40 per cent on Iran — Obama's support among young voters has disappeared, with 49 per cent now saying they disapprove of his job performance — Hispanics' historic preference …
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys
Pacilin / California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris:
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Arrest of Revenge Porn Website Operator — SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrest of the alleged owner and operator of a revenge porn website who facilitated the posting of more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos …
Discussion:
The Switch, Boing Boing, Mashable and Guardian
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NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking — The National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using “cookies” and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance.
Discussion:
emptywheel, Prairie Weather, Techdirt, The Verge, Constitution Daily and Boing Boing
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Cantor's Pediatric Research Bill Has Democrats Fuming — While the House ties up some legislative loose ends this week before adjourning for the year, there is one suspension bill the public — and House Republicans — might be surprised to find many Democrats opposing …
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Another potential boost for Obamacare — Opponents of the Affordable Care Act tend to suggest expanded coverage resulting from the law's Medicaid expansion somehow doesn't really count as success. But the law's goal is to expand coverage, and the Medicaid expansion is one of the tools it utilizes to accomplish that.
Discussion:
Wonkblog, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice
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Alyssa Brown / Gallup:
Costs Still Keep 30% of Americans From Getting Treatment
Costs Still Keep 30% of Americans From Getting Treatment
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Firedoglake and Daily Kos
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Kerry gets his way on Iran — Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration appear to have won a fight with Congress over new Iran sanctions — at least for now. — As Kerry readied to give testimony on Tuesday to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the administration's …
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Israel Matzav, Politico, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, The Plum Line and ThinkProgress
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Tom Cohen / CNN:
Kerry tells Congress to hold off on new Iran sanctions for now
Kerry tells Congress to hold off on new Iran sanctions for now
Discussion:
National Review