Top Items:
Shawn Boburg / NorthJersey.com:
Emails link top Christie aide to GWB lane-closing controversy — Private messages between Governor's Christie's deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge …
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Little Green Footballs, No More Mister Nice Blog, News Desk, Wonkblog, Firedoglake, crooksandliars.com/user/7228, The Federalist, Hit & Run, PostPartisan, Mashable, The Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, Ricochet Conversations Feed, National Review, Booman Tribune, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's …, susiemadrak.com, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Gothamist, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Riehl World News, Liberaland, Balloon Juice and Prairie Weather
RELATED:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Big Trouble — As I've written several times, this Christie Bridge Scandal is far more potentially damaging for Christie that it might seem on its face because its fits so perfectly with the negative view (as opposed to the positive view) of Chris Christie. That is, that he and his crew are thugs and bullies.
Discussion:
The Impolitic and No More Mister Nice Blog
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Top Christie Staff Sought Lane Closings as Revenge — A series of newly obtained emails and text messages shows that Gov. Chris Christie's office was closely involved with lane closings on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge in September, and that officials closed the lanes …
Wall Street Journal:
CONNECT — A top aide to Gov. Chris Christie told an executive at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey it was “time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” before the authority closed lanes onto the George Washington Bridge in September, triggering a week of massive traffic jams, documents show.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and CNN
Politico:
Emails tie Chris Christie staff to bridge flap
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Power Line, New Jersey Online, National Review, Business Insider, Mediaite and Daily Kos
Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Christie Aide: ‘Time For Some Traffic Problems In Fort Lee’
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, AMERICAblog News and Balloon Juice
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents — Republican identification lowest in at least 25 years — PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.
RELATED:
Politico:
Carolyn McCarthy, Mike McIntyre to retire — North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy will not seek reelection this year, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with their plans - marking a blow to Democratic efforts to win control of the House.
Discussion:
CNN, Business Insider and Daily Kos
RELATED:
ThinkProgress:
West Virginia Lawmaker Wants To Make It A Felony To Enforce Obamacare — Nullificationist Senator John C. Calhoun — CREDIT: (AP Photo/National Portrait Gallery) — At least 82,000 West Virginia residents are signed up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion alone.
Discussion:
Liberaland and Martinsburg Journa
RELATED:
Lisa Demer / Anchorage Daily News:
GOP targets Begich over Affordable Care Act - with ad that airs just once
Discussion:
The Fix and Talking Points Memo
Gabrielle Giffords / New York Times:
The Lessons of Physical Therapy — TODAY, the anniversary of the shooting in Tucson that put a bullet through my head and killed six of my constituents, is when I make my annual resolutions. — Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great …
Discussion:
Political Capital, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Business Insider, CNN and Guardian
RELATED:
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
It's Obamacare all the time for Republicans — “We've promised that in 2014 we'd continue to pound away at Democrats and Obamacare and that's how we're starting the year,” the chairman told reporters on a conference call. “Democrats are eager to change the subject, but Republicans aren't going to let that happen,” he added.
Discussion:
VodkaPundit, Post Politics, Hullabaloo, The Plum Line, The Fix and Balloon Juice
RELATED:
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Why is the GOP launching a new anti-poverty campaign?
Discussion:
The Plum Line, AEIdeas, Washington Post and New York Times
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Utah Governor Says State Will Not Recognize 1300+ Same-Sex Marriages — Utah's governor says the Constitution does not apply to these two men — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert's (R) office announced Wednesday that his state will not recognize the over 1,300 same sex marriages performed between …
Discussion:
Utah Office … and SCOTUSblog
RELATED:
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Utah Marriages Of Same-Sex Couples “On Hold” Pending Appeal, Governor's Office Says
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
In Defense of Obama on the Gates Memoir — The president questioned the generals? Good. That's his job. — Robert Gates (left) and President Barack Obama cover their hearts during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner during Gates' Armed Forces Farewell Tribute on the River Parade Field …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBCNews, American Prospect, PostPartisan and Washington Post
RELATED:
Kristina Wong / The Hill:
White House rejects criticisms in Gates' memoir
Discussion:
American Spectator, Lawfare, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Power Line, Politico and New York Times
Keith Edwards / Portland Press-Herald:
LePage says children should have work option — Not allowing children to work is ‘causing damage to our economy,’ the governor says. — AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage told attendees of the 73rd annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show on Tuesday that 12-year-olds should be allowed to work in Maine.
Discussion:
Shakesville, Talking Points Memo and The Reaction
Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
‘Oh COME ON’: The Guardian's description of pro-abort Wendy Davis is beyond absurd; Update: Guardian issues correction — Here's how the sane see abortion booster Wendy Davis: … And here's The Guardian's description of the Texas Dem, courtesy of National Review fellow Betsy Woodruff:
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, TheBlaze.com and Weasel Zippers
Steven Hayward / Power Line:
Climateers Caught in the Vortex — Coming on the heels of the Ship of Fools stunt in Antarctica last week, these are the worst of times for the climate campaign. And just where is Al Gore these past 10 days? As is well known, wherever Gore goes, a cold snap seems to follow; there's even a Wikipedia entry for the “Gore Effect.”
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Ed Driscoll, Motherboard and Slate
RELATED:
Matt Daily / Politico:
Polar freeze: It's weather, not climate
Discussion:
ncdc.noaa.gov, Guardian, Climate Central and American Spectator
New York Times:
Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief — Roger Ailes was so eager to influence national politics that in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, he told fellow Fox News executives point-blank: “I want to elect the next president.” — In the corporate thicket of News Corporation …
Jamie Stiehm / US News:
The Catholic Supreme Court's War on Women — Et tu, Justice Sonia Sotomayor? Really, we can't trust you on women's health and human rights? The lady from the Bronx just dropped the ball on American women and girls as surely as she did the sparkling ball at midnight on New Year's Eve in Times Square.
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review and Mirror of Justice
Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Drama roils race to replace Rep. Bill Young — The GOP race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) has become a political soap opera that could jeopardize Republicans' hold on the seat. — It has all the makings of a daytime drama: a widow disavowing her son due to opposing primary allegiances …
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