Top Items:
Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
Obama administration relaxes rules of health-care law four days before deadline — The Obama administration Thursday night significantly relaxed the rules of the health-care law for millions of consumers whose individual insurance policies have been canceled, saying they could buy bare-bones health plans …
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Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
The individual mandate no longer applies to people whose plans were canceled — Today, the Obama administration announced that people whose insurance plans were canceled this year will “temporarily” be exempted from the law's individual mandate. Here's how they're doing it — and what it means for the law.
Discussion:
Power Line, New York Times, Weekly Standard, Guardian and Weasel Zippers
Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:
White House Will Allow Some To Buy Catastrophic Health Plans — Health-Care Law Tweak Addresses People Whose Polices Were Canceled Under New Rules — The Obama administration said Thursday it would allow some of the millions of Americans whose insurance policies had been canceled …
Avik Roy / Forbes:
Utter Chaos: White House Exempts Millions From Obamacare's Insurance Mandate, ‘Unaffordable’ Exchanges — It's hard to come up with new ways to describe the Obama administration's improvisational approach to the Affordable Care Act's troubled health insurance exchanges.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Betsy's Page, NBCNews and Los Angeles Times
Reuters:
White House broadens Obamacare exemptions — Millions of Americans who had their health plans cancelled will be exempt from the Obamacare individual mandate, the administration said Thursday - a surprise move that comes just before Monday's deadline to sign up for coverage starting Jan. 1.
Discussion:
Politico, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run and Althouse
Clara Ritger / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Administration to Delay Individual Mandate for Some
Discussion:
The Incidental Economist, Washington Free Beacon and The Volokh Conspiracy
Byron Tau / Politico:
For Obamacare boosters, all memes are good memes
Discussion:
CNN, CBS New York and Betsy's Page
Swalker / Duck Commander:
The Robertson Family Offical Statement — We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word.
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ThinkProgress:
Why The Racist And Homophobic ‘Duck Dynasty’ Comments Have Nothing To Do With Free Speech — On Wednesday, Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson made comments in a GQ interview condemning homosexuality as sinful and comparable to bestiality, as well as claiming that African Americans were better off under Jim Crow laws.
Discussion:
Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, CNN, Outside the Beltway, The Jawa Report and The Moderate Voice
TMZ.com:
Phil Robertson Publicly Bashed Gays for Years — A&E Knew All About It
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Mediaite
Dean Obeidallah / The Daily Beast:
The Right's ‘Duck Dynasty’ Hypocrisy
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Politico and New Orleans Times-Picayune
Governor Bobby Jindal:
Gov. Jindal on Phil Robertson Suspension: I Remember When TV Networks Believed in 1st Amendment
LZ Granderson / CNN:
‘Duck Dynasty’ suspension doesn't violate First Amendment
Discussion:
Politico, Nashville Scene, American Thinker, Inside TV, Holy Bullies … and Associated Press
Donna Cassata / Associated Press:
Senate To Vote On Yellen For Fed Chair In January — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate will vote on the nomination of Janet Yellen to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve in January. — Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Thursday night that Republicans and Democrats had worked …
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Meredith Shiner / The World's Greatest …:
Senate Deal Sets Up Friday Christmas Exit, Pushes Yellen Confirmation to 2014 (Updated)
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
MacIver Institute:
BREAKING: Workers Dismantle Over 70 Unions in Wisconsin — [Madison, Wisc...] Workers rejected over 70 of 408 school district unions during annual recertification elections that ended on Thursday, according to a preliminary analysis of the results. — The elections went from November 29th until noon …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Weekly Standard
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Messina rejects holding Baucus's Senate seat — Jim Messina, who served as President Obama's 2012 reelection campaign manager, said Thursday that he is not considering an appointment in the Senate to replace departing Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat. — The comments came on the heels …
Discussion:
Washington Wire
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First Read / NBCNews:
First Thoughts: Baucus' ambassadorship gives Democrats a potential 2014 break
Discussion:
The Fix and Outside the Beltway
Washington Post:
Officials' defenses of NSA phone program may be unraveling — From the moment the government's massive database of citizens' call records was exposed this year, U.S. officials have clung to two main lines of defense: The secret surveillance program was constitutional and critical to keeping the nation safe.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather, The Reaction and Pocket Full Of Liberty
Bloomberg:
Podesta's Push for Executive Power Raises Stakes on Obama Agenda — When the Republican victory in the 2010 midterm election raised the prospect of political gridlock, John Podesta was ready with an answer: The president should bypass Congress and wield the executive powers of his office.
Discussion:
ABC News
James Hohmann / Reuters:
NRSC raised $3.2 million in November — The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $3.2 million in November and ended the month with $6.4 million cash on hand. — The numbers, shared first with POLITICO, come after the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $5.1 million …
Discussion:
CNN
McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Paul Ryan Finds God — How a backstage prayer in Cleveland and a new leader in the Vatican set the budget-slashing congressman on a mission to help the poor. “My bet is that he's on Pope Francis's team.” — On Oct. 24, 2012, Paul Ryan slipped into a high-ceiling backstage room …
Discussion:
JSOnline and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
The White House:
Statement by the President on Clemency — Three years ago, I signed the bipartisan Fair Sentencing Act, which dramatically narrowed the disparity between penalties for crack and powder cocaine offenses. This law began to right a decades-old injustice, but for thousands of inmates, it came too late.
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Connecting.the.Dots, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, TalkLeft and New York Times
link.springer.com:
How dogs scan familiar and inverted faces: an eye movement study — Sanni Somppi, - Heini Törnqvist, - Laura Hänninen, - Christina M. Krause, - Outi Vainio — Abstract — Faces play an important role in communication and identity recognition in social animals.
Discussion:
CBS Philly
Verizon:
Verizon to Publish Transparency Report Disclosing Law Enforcement Requests for Customer Information — NEW YORK - Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) today announced plans to publish an online report that will provide data on the number of law enforcement requests for customer information …
Discussion:
The Hill, Associated Press, BBC, NYT Bits and The Verge
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