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:
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, National Review, Guardian, Politico and The Huffington Post
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:
Reuters, PoliticusUSA, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Banter, 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
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
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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.
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
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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
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
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, AMERICAblog News, LGBTQ Nation and Towleroad News #gay
Alan Duke / CNN:
'Gilligan's' ‘professor’ dies — (CNN) — Actor Russell Johnson, best known as Professor in the 1960s TV sitcom “Gilligan's Island,” died Thursday, his agent said. Johnson was 89. — Johnson played the iconic role of Professor Roy Hinkley, whose scientific schemes to get the castaways rescued …
Discussion:
New York Times, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World News, The Moderate Voice and Gawker
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
How in good conscience? — By early 2011, writes former defense secretary Robert Gates, he had concluded that President Obama “doesn't believe in his own [Afghanistan] strategy, and doesn't consider the war to be his.” — Not his? America is at war and he's America's commander in chief.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page and Right Turn
Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:
Initial Thoughts on the Proposed Amendments to the Voting Rights Act — I have now had a chance to review the text the Voting Rights Amendments Act of 2014 introduced today by Representatives Sensenbrenner and Conyers (with parallel legislation being introduced by Senator Leahy in the Senate).
Discussion:
Guardian
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Emma Dumain / Roll Call:
Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Voting Rights Act Fix (Updated)
Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Voting Rights Act Fix (Updated)
Discussion:
theGrio, Washington Monthly and Colorlines
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
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, NBCNews and CNN
RELATED:
Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:
Iran Top Nuke Negotiator: Deal Reversible In One Day — In an interview with Iranian television, Iran's top nuclear negotiator says Tehran can resume enriching uranium to 20 percent levels within one day if it so desires. — Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi …
Discussion:
Power Line, Right Turn and Washington Free Beacon
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
RELATED:
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