Top Items:
Tim Devaney / The Hill:
GOP finds its secret weapon — Republicans believe they have identified a potent weapon in their fight against President Obama's regulatory agenda. — GOP lawmakers plan to employ the seldom-used Congressional Review Act (CRA), which gives lawmakers the power to formally disapprove of major agency rules …
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Washington Post:
Poll: Rising economy boosts Obama's standing on eve of the State of the Union — President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday enjoying rising approval ratings that have been strengthened by rapidly improving perceptions of the economy and increased optimism …
Discussion:
Gallup, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Strange Bedfellows, The Week, Bloomberg Politics, Liberal Values, Mediaite and Political Wire
Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Obama uses his tax proposal to taunt the GOP — Let's imagine you were a Democratic president who just lost control of Congress to the Republicans, and you wanted to make it really, really clear that you are not serious about governing. What would you do?
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Patterico's Pontifications, Common Dreams, Slate and Politico
ABC News:
An Improving Economy Gives Obama His Game Back — An improving economy is putting Barack Obama back in the game, boosting the president and his party in a striking turnaround from their devastating midterm losses. — Americans approve of the president's job performance by 50-44 percent …
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA and Addicting Info
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
What a Rise in Obama's Approval Rating Means for 2016
What a Rise in Obama's Approval Rating Means for 2016
Discussion:
Bloomberg Politics
Juan Williams / The Hill:
McConnell's cunning Keystone game
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / TIME:
Why I Have Mixed Feelings About MLK Day — Abdul-Jabbar is a six-time NBA champion and league Most Valuable Player. He is also a celebrated author, filmmaker and education ambassador. — His legacy may be most in danger from those who admire him — I have mixed emotions about Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Discussion:
TPNN
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David Edwards / Raw Story:
Ben Carson reminds C-SPAN on MLK Day: Don't forget that Obama is ‘half white’ — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — Potential Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson argued on Monday that President Barack Obama might not have ruined the opportunity to elect future black presidents …
Discussion:
Addicting Info and Liberaland
Scott Kaufman / Raw Story:
‘Cowboy’ conservative claims MLK for the Tea Party until liberals stop bringing up race — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — During his speech at the South Carolina Tea Party Coalition convention yesterday, conservative entertainer and YouTube celebrity “Wild Bill” …
Discussion:
alicublog, Addicting Info, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Hullabaloo
Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
On race, Obama sticks to a game plan of seeking steady progress within the system
On race, Obama sticks to a game plan of seeking steady progress within the system
Discussion:
Power Line
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
University Unearths Long-Lost MLK Speech Recording (AUDIO)
University Unearths Long-Lost MLK Speech Recording (AUDIO)
Discussion:
Addicting Info
Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
MLK was ‘divisive,’ DHS secretary recalls
Steve Pond / The Wrap:
‘American Sniper’ Complaints Grow in Hollywood: Should Clint Eastwood Be Celebrating a ‘Killer’? (Exclusive) — In the wake of Oscar nominations, Academy members begin buzzing over recent criticism of the film's subject, Chris Kyle — Even as “American Sniper” breaks January box-office records …
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Bryan Alexander / USA Today:
‘American Sniper’ smashes records with $90M weekend
‘American Sniper’ smashes records with $90M weekend
Discussion:
Mediaite, TPNN, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Globe and Mail, Washington Free Beacon, National Review and Associated Press
Jordan Schachtel / BREITBART.COM:
German Embed Reporter: ISIS Plans On Killing ‘Hundreds of Millions’ in ‘Religious Cleansing’ — Jurgen Todenhofer, the first Western reporter to embed with Islamic State fighters and not be killed in the process, spoke to Al Jazeera about his time with the terror group.
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Vox Popoli
Eli Lake / Bloomberg View:
Why Obama Can't Say ‘Radical Islam’ — Following the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris this month, White House spokesman Josh Earnest briefly became an Islamic theologian. At issue was why U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, unlike the leadership of France, wouldn't describe the murderers as adherents to “radical Islam.”
Discussion:
National Review and Ed Driscoll
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
Oxfam Study Finds Richest 1% Is Likely to Control Half of Global Wealth by 2016 — The richest 1 percent are likely to control more than half of the globe's total wealth by next year, the charity Oxfam reported in a study released on Monday. The warning about deepening global inequality comes …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, Reuters, The Week and New York Magazine
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Ed Pilkington / Guardian:
Half global wealth held by the 1%
Half global wealth held by the 1%
Discussion:
Quartz, Hullabaloo and Ghosts of Tom Joad
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
The conventional wisdom is wrong on Keystone XL — Poll after poll has shown overwhelming support for building the Keystone XL oil pipeline. So when Congress passes a bill authorizing its construction, people want the White House to sign it immediately, right? — Wrong.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Rachel Zoll / Associated Press:
Pope's climate-change stand deepens conservatives' distrust — 3 photos — NEW YORK (AP) — Conservative distrust of Pope Francis, which has been building in the U.S. throughout his pontificate, is reaching a boiling point over his plan to urge action on climate change …
Discussion:
USA Today and Hullabaloo
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Scalia Lands at Top of Sarcasm Index of Justices. Shocking. — WASHINGTON — Justice Antonin Scalia has a sharp tongue and a cutting writing style. His signature mode is sarcasm. — It was on display last week when a lawyer made the mistake of saying that Justice Scalia was right — but only “in a literal sense.”
Discussion:
Election Law Blog, Mediaite and Crime and Consequences Blog
Liz Kreutz / ABC News:
Ready for Hillary, Emily's List in Talks to Join Social Media Forces … With Hillary Clinton's not-yet-official presidential campaign revving up, the shadow campaigns are winding down. And as part of that, the outside Democratic groups that support her are discussing how to merge their efforts to help Clinton.
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Huge trove of Hillary Clinton White House files set for release
Huge trove of Hillary Clinton White House files set for release
Discussion:
OnPolitics
Larry J. Sabato / Politico:
The Search for a Slogan — What Hillary, Jeb, Rand and the rest …
The Search for a Slogan — What Hillary, Jeb, Rand and the rest …
Discussion:
The Hill and The Glittering Eye
Ryan Ellis / Americans for Tax Reform:
Send to Kindle Follow @@ryanlellis — On Saturday night the White House leaked the major tax hike details of the president's upcoming budget. The common theme is higher taxes on savings and investment, totaling $320 billion over the next ten years. — “Democrats are demanding, yet again, tax increases on America.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com, Hot Air, RedState, Hit & Run, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and TPNN
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Brian Faler / Politico:
5 things about Barack Obama's Robin Hood tax plan
5 things about Barack Obama's Robin Hood tax plan
Discussion:
RedState, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Twitchy, New York Magazine, Power Line and ABC News