Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Cruz center of Senate meltdown — Sen. Ted Cruz, the firebrand conservative freshman from Texas, has blown up the Senate leadership's plans to have a peaceful weekend by forcing round-the-clock votes on President Obama's nominees and the $1.1 trillion omnibus.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and PoliticusUSA
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Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Reid Announces Weekend Votes After Blockade (Updated) — Conservatives late Friday stalled action on the Senate floor as leaders scrambled to wrap up the 113th Congress. — Senators will reconvene at noon Saturday for a series of up to 40 roll call votes after conservatives sought …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
First Dems, Now Senate GOP Object to Spending Bill — First it was objections by House Democrats that stood in the way of passage of a $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill. Now it's the Senate Republicans' turn, specifically Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Worst year: President Obama, for losses at home and crises abroad — In 2014, President Obama's past caught up with him. — His sixth year in office was, inarguably, his worst, when the problems that had been building throughout his second term all came crashing down around him.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Warren makes her mark — Sen. Elizabeth Warren's crusade against the $1.1 trillion spending bill backed by the White House firmly establishes the Massachusetts populist as a powerful player in Washington. — The freshman Democrat took on President Obama and her party's leadership, and appeared to inspire an uprising in the House.
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and PoliticusUSA
Tara Palmeri / New York Post:
Cops tell de Blasio: Stay away from our funerals — Not over their dead bodies. — Cops are warning Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to stay away from their funerals should they be killed in the line of duty. — The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association distributed …
Discussion:
Liberty Unyielding and CBS New York
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Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
G.O.P. Angst Over 2016 Led to Provision on Funding — The secret negotiations that led to one of the most significant expansions of campaign contributions in recent years began with what Republican leaders regarded as an urgent problem: How would they pay for their presidential nominating convention in Cleveland in two years?
Discussion:
Political Wire
Jim Tankersley / Washington Post:
Why America's middle class is lost — The middle class took America to the moon. Then something went horribly wrong. — DOWNEY, CALIF. — One day in 1967, Bob Thompson sprayed foam on a hunk of metal in a cavernous factory south of Los Angeles. And then another day, not too long after …
New York Times:
Another Baseless Attack on Health Law — The opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed another long-shot lawsuit that could undermine health care reform and force many consumers to pay more for health insurance if the suit succeeds. — The Supreme Court has already agreed to hear a separate case …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:
Early federal sentencing recommendation for McDonnell: At least 10 years in prison … The federal agency that will play a pivotal role in guiding the sentence of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has recommended that the onetime Republican rising star spend at least 10 years and a month in prison …
Discussion:
Political Wire
William Jordan / YouGov US Opinion Center News:
Americans find some tortures more acceptable than others — Most Americans think torture can be justified, but hardly anyone thinks “rectal feeding” is acceptable — This week saw the release of a long-awaited Senate report detailing the post-9/11 CIA detention and interrogation program …
Discussion:
BARE NAKED ISLAM, Instapundit, Hot Air and The Daily Caller
Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
Cruel Reality: Obama Paying for Illegal Amnesty With Fees Paid by Legal Immigrants — As the debate rages on Capitol Hill about how to defund President Obama's executive action that gives legal status to 5 million illegal immigrants, it's important to take a look at where the funding for his new amnesty program is coming from.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
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