Top Items:
Tal Kopan / Politico:
Glenn Beck attacks ‘worthless’ John Boehner — Conservative radio host Glenn Beck went off on Republican leadership after the House passed a budget compromise Thursday, calling House Speaker John Boehner “worthless” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “liar.”
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Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Boehner gives immigration backers hope — Both sides in the immigration debate are watching Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) closely after Thursday evening's emphatic House vote in favor of a bipartisan budget deal. — The calculus is clear in the minds of immigration-reform advocates.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Roll Call, NBCNews and CNN
Jeff Zeleny / ABC News:
Paul Ryan Says Presidential Ambitions Not Derailed by Budget Deal
Paul Ryan Says Presidential Ambitions Not Derailed by Budget Deal
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Business Insider
The Hill:
House approves budget deal, handing major victory to Boehner
House approves budget deal, handing major victory to Boehner
Discussion:
Firedoglake, BizPac Review, Hot Air, Connecting.the.Dots, American Spectator, The Daily Caller, The Plum Line, CNN, Instapundit, New York Post and Weasel Zippers
Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Republicans and Tea Party Activists in ‘Full Scale Civil War’
Republicans and Tea Party Activists in ‘Full Scale Civil War’
Discussion:
The Hill, ABC News, The Fix, Hot Air, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Yahoo! News, Business Insider, Guardian, The Heritage Foundation, Liberaland and The Impolitic
Jonathan Merritt / The Atlantic Online:
Insisting Jesus Was White Is Bad History and Bad Theology — Fox News television host Megyn Kelly told viewers on her December 11 broadcast that Jesus and Santa are both white men. — “Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change,” Kelly said. “Jesus was a white man, too.
Discussion:
Althouse
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Steven Morris / Guardian:
Pupils' Christmas ‘ruined’ by vicar's Santa Claus origins story
Pupils' Christmas ‘ruined’ by vicar's Santa Claus origins story
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Booman Tribune and Unfogged
Megan McArdle / Bloomberg:
Obamacare's Never-Ending Fix-a-Thon — The Department of Health and Human Services held a conference call for journalists this afternoon with Kathleen Sebelius and other members of the Obamacare team in which they announced yet another round of fixes. Most of them are aimed at folks who lost …
Discussion:
Wonkblog, The Minority Report Blog, Power Line, Betsy's Page, Politico and Daily Kos
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HHS.gov:
Administration takes steps to ensure Americans signing up through the Marketplace have coverage and access to the care they need on January 1 — Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced additional steps to help ensure consumers …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Covered California Daily News, ProPublica, National Review and Healthy buzz
CNBC:
White House: Could extend Obamacare deadlines again
White House: Could extend Obamacare deadlines again
Discussion:
National Review, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers and Washington Examiner
Robert Pear / New York Times:
Health Plans Urged to Extend Enrollment
Health Plans Urged to Extend Enrollment
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Biggest Losers — The pundit consensus seems to be that Republicans lost in the just-concluded budget deal. Overall spending will be a bit higher than the level mandated by the sequester, the straitjacket imposed back in 2011. Meanwhile, Democrats avoided making any concessions on Social Security or Medicare.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, Business Insider, EconLog, Seeing the Forest and Paul Krugman
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Huckabee, Looking to 2016 Race, Speaks of ‘a Real Opportunity for Me’ — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas has not been among the Republicans frequently named as a potential 2016 presidential candidate, but he would like that to change.
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Adam Goldman / Washington Post:
Ex-FBI agent who disappeared in Iran was on rogue mission for CIA — An American man who disappeared in Iran more than six years ago had been working for the CIA in what U.S. intelligence officials describe as a rogue operation that led to a major shake-up in the spy agency.
Discussion:
Post Politics, First Read, Prairie Weather, NO QUARTER USA NET and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »
Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
Karl Rove: Obamacare rap crosses line — Karl Rove is not happy with a new rap parody of Snoop Dogg's “Drop It like It's Hot” that promotes Obamacare, saying it “crosses the line.” — In the video, which directs viewers to Covered California-led efforts TellAFriendGetCovered.com and promotes #GetCovered …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Angie Drobnic Holan / PolitiFact:
Lie of the Year: ‘If you like your health care plan, you can keep it’ — It was a catchy political pitch and a chance to calm nerves about his dramatic and complicated plan to bring historic change to America's health insurance system. — “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Power Line, Washington Examiner, The Fix, Hit & Run, Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, Allen B. West, Hot Air, LifeNews.com, The Gateway Pundit, NewsHounds blog, The Heritage Foundation, Ed Driscoll, Post Politics, Red Alert Politics, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Viking Pundit and Weekly Standard
Max Fisher / WorldViews:
Even by North Korean standards, this announcement of Jang Song Thaek's execution is intense — North Korean state media are known for hyperbole, but even so, the official announcement of the execution of Jang Song Thaek is a step beyond. The state-run Korean Central News Agency released …
Discussion:
New York Times, crooksandliars.com/user/2, UK Blog on The Huffington Post and National Review
Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:
Americans Won't Be Easily Reassured About the Economy — Some political analysts suggest the encouraging economic numbers released last week are a sign that the economy is improving enough to diminish the anti-incumbent mood that has seemed likely to become a dominant factor in the 2014 midterm elections.
ThinkProgress:
Delaware Is On The Verge Of Raising Its Minimum Wage — CREDIT: Wisconsin Jobs Now flickr account — An increase in Delaware's minimum wage to $8.25 an hour from the current federal floor of $7.25 “appears headed on a fast track for approval,” Delaware Online reports …
Discussion:
delawareonline and Liberaland
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Republicans More Optimistic than Democrats about Midterms — But Less GOP Optimism than in 2010 — Less than a year out from the 2014 midterm elections, Republicans are more optimistic than Democrats about their party's electoral prospects. But the “expectations gap” …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, CBS DC, CNN and Washington Free Beacon