Top Items:
Reuters:
Exclusive: Obama to announce overhaul to controversial NSA program — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce on Friday a major overhaul of a controversial National Security Agency program that collects vast amounts of basic telephone call data on foreigners and Americans, a senior Obama administration official said.
Discussion:
Booman Tribune, Mashable, Hot Air, The Switch, Shakesville and The Verge
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Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:
America's Spies Want Edward Snowden Dead — “I would love to put a bullet in his head,” one Pentagon official told BuzzFeed. The NSA leaker is enemy number one among those inside the intelligence world. — Snowden's Russian refugee document. — Maxim Shemetov / Reuters
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run and Business Insider
Mark Landler / New York Times:
Obama to Call for Overhaul of N.S.A.'s Phone Data Collection Program — WASHINGTON — President Obama will require intelligence agencies to obtain permission from a secret court before tapping into a vast trove of telephone data, but he will leave the data in the hands of the government for now, an administration official said.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Online NewsHour, National Review, Guardian, Politico and The Huffington Post
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
GOP trying to chop down Reid's amendment tree — Senate Republicans have deployed a new parliamentary tactic designed to end — or at least call attention to — the frequent Democratic ban on considering GOP amendments. — Republicans have tried it four times, without success.
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Obama to Dems: Boehner will pass immigration reform in 2014 — President Obama has told Senate Democrats he expects Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to pass immigration reform this year, defying predictions the issue is dead for 2014. — Obama believes Republicans will feel politically vulnerable …
Discussion:
New York Times and Jammie Wearing Fools
David Rogers / Politico:
Senate approves $1.1 trillion spending bill
Senate approves $1.1 trillion spending bill
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Heritage Foundation, CNN, Liberaland and USA Today
Chris Casteel / Daily Oklahoman:
Sen. Tom Coburn to resign at the end of current Congress — WASHINGTON - Sen. Tom Coburn, who has spent a combined 15 years here rooting out government waste and warning about mounting U.S. debt, will resign after the current session of Congress, foregoing the final two years of his term.
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Politico:
Tom Coburn won't serve rest of term — Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn confirmed Thursday night that he will not serve out his full Senate term and intends to step down after 2014 because of deepening health problems. — In a statement, Coburn acknowledged that he is battling a serious recurrence …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Post Politics
CNN:
CNN exclusive: Port Authority job created for Christie ally, source says — Who's who in Christie bridge scandal — (CNN) — Give him a position at the top of the agency; he's a good friend of the governor. — That's how David Wildstein was introduced to the Port Authority of New York …
Discussion:
The Daily Banter, PoliticusUSA, Taylor Marsh, Reuters, Washington Post, Liberaland and Marist Poll
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Christopher Baxter / New Jersey Online:
Chris Christie bridge scandal: 20 subpoenas issued, governor hires attorney — TRENTON — In another day of political drama and legal maneuvering, two new legislative committees were formed Thursday to investigate the George Washington Bridge scandal and within hours, 20 subpoenas were issued …
Shushannah Walshe / ABC News:
‘Unruffled’ and ‘Confident’ Chris Christie Addresses Bridge Scandal at Fundraiser
‘Unruffled’ and ‘Confident’ Chris Christie Addresses Bridge Scandal at Fundraiser
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
New York Times:
The Inequality Problem — Suddenly the whole world is talking about income inequality. But, as this debate goes on, it is beginning to look as though the thing is being misconceived. The income inequality debate is confusing matters more than clarifying them, and it is leading us off in unhelpful directions.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, American Prospect and Paul Krugman
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CEPR:
David Brooks' Primitive Defense of the Rich — David Brooks is sweating hard trying to defend the one percent against the rest of the country and reality. His column today desperately warns readers: — “Some on the left have always tried to introduce a more class-conscious style of politics.
Discussion:
Business Insider
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
The left defends corporations' rights. — People who answer Puffington Host polls tend to be ignorant, reports Emily Swanson, PuffHo poll director. The poll is a quiz on constitutional law: … “But they're wrong,” Swanson declares of the 45% plurality in the former question and the 35% minority in the latter one.
Discussion:
Althouse
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Drew Magary / GQ Magazine Online:
What the Duck? — How in the world did a family of squirrel-eating …
What the Duck? — How in the world did a family of squirrel-eating …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Guardian
Yasiin Mugerwa / Daily Monitor:
Museveni blocks Anti-Homosexuality Bill — Parliament- President Museveni has confronted Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for passing the controversial Anti-gays Bill without quorum and described homosexuals as “abnormal” beings who can be “rescued” through economic empowerment.
Discussion:
BBC, Hinterland Gazette, Guardian, LGBTQ Nation, AMERICAblog News and Towleroad News #gay
Alan Johnson / The Columbus Dispatch:
Killer struggles, gasps repeatedly under new 2-drug combination — Editor's note: Dispatch reporter Alan Johnson witnessed today's execution. — LUCASVILLE, Ohio - Dennis McGuire struggled, repeatedly gasping loudly for air and making snorting and choking sounds, before succumbing to a new two-drug execution method today.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Moderate Voice and NBCNews
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Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:
IRS Targeting and 2014 — Democrats are working hard to make sure conservative groups are silenced in the 2014 midterms. — President Obama and Democrats have been at great pains to insist they knew nothing about IRS targeting of conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofits before the 2012 election.
Discussion:
Jammie Wearing Fools
Dylan Byers / Politico:
‘Journalism has died’ at New York Times: Graham, McCain slam Benghazi report — Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain harshly criticized The New York Times on Thursday over a recent report which concluded that Al Qaeda was not involved in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, United States Senator …, Viking Pundit, Mediaite and Associated Press
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Kyle Drennen / NewsBusters:
Network Coverage of ‘Scathing’ Benghazi Report Doesn't Mention Obama's Name Once
Network Coverage of ‘Scathing’ Benghazi Report Doesn't Mention Obama's Name Once
Discussion:
NewsBusters blogs, No More Mister Nice Blog and Ed Driscoll