Top Items:
Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:
Republican Tax Bill Has Grown More Unpopular, Poll Shows — Overall, 41% of Americans in the survey said the tax plan was a bad idea, up from 35% in October. — The Republican tax-cut bill has grown more unpopular in the two months it has taken to usher it through Congress …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media and Politico
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Will Wilkinson / New York Times:
The Tax Bill Shows the G.O.P.'s Contempt for Democracy — The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is notably generous to corporations, high earners, inheritors of large estates and the owners of private jets. Taken as a whole, the bill will add about $1.4 trillion to the deficit in the next decade …
New York Times:
Republican Tax Bill Passes Senate in 51-48 Vote — WASHINGTON — Republicans took a critical step toward notching their first significant legislative victory since assuming full political control, as the House and Senate voted along party lines on Tuesday and into early Wednesday to pass …
Chris Edwards / Cato Institute:
Final Tax Bill: Biggest Cuts for the Middle — The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) has released its distributional analysis of the final Republican tax bill. The bill provides even larger percentage cuts for middle earners than previous versions of the legislation.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, Power Line, National Review, bizpacreview.com and America Rising PAC
Mark Murray / NBC News:
Poll: Public sours on GOP tax plan as Democrats regain lead on economy — WASHINGTON — The tax plan that Republicans are soon expected to pass has grown more unpopular in the last two months, with nearly two-thirds of Americans believing it's designed mostly to help corporations and the wealthy …
Paul Ryan / Wall Street Journal:
Tax Reform Means Your Paycheck Will Grow
Tax Reform Means Your Paycheck Will Grow
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Townhall.com
Bruce Bartlett / USA Today:
After tax cuts, Republicans may suddenly find Trump is more trouble than he's worth — After months of debate, Congress has released a final tax reform bill. The bill eliminates some personal exemptions while increasing the standard deduction. — The GOP members of Congress had a brilliant plan …
Discussion:
The Root
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Heather Long / Washington Post:
The Republican tax bill was the easy part. The next debate could be much uglier. — The Republican overhaul of the tax code sets the stage for years of politically fraught debate over what the government should provide for its citizens and how much it should demand in taxes.
Discussion:
Axios, Associated Press, Mother Jones and The Stranger …
Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:
Democrat wins Va. House seat in recount by single vote, creating 50-50 tie in legislature — NEWPORT NEWS — A Republican seat flipped Democratic in a wild recount Tuesday - with the Democrat winning by a single vote - creating a rare 50-50 tie between the parties in the House of Delegates …
Discussion:
USA Today, Shareblue Media, FiveThirtyEight, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, Vox, Weekly Standard, Axios, Washington Monthly, IJR and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
In Virginia, a 11,608-to-11,607 Lesson in the Power of a Single Vote — The Democratic wave that rose on Election Day in Virginia last month delivered a final crash on the sand Tuesday when a Democratic challenger defeated a Republican incumbent by a single vote, leaving the Virginia House …
Discussion:
Politicus USA, Daily Kos, Mashable, Business Insider and Raw Story
Mara Siegler / Page Six:
The Mooch rips ‘loser’ Steve Bannon at Hanukkah party — Potty-mouthed flameout White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci spoke to NYC Jews about his inspiring pilgrimage to Israel — but still couldn't resist laying into his nemesis Steve Bannon as a “messianic loser.”
Discussion:
RedState, Business Insider and Raw Story
Noa Landau / Haaretz:
Nikki Haley in Threatening Letter to UN Members: Trump ‘Will Be Watching’ Who Votes Against U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem — U.S. envoy's letter, obtained by Haaretz, sent one day before resolution rejecting U.S. move expected to pass by sweeping majority at the General Assembly
Discussion:
middleeastmonitor.com
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Joseph A. Wulfsohn / Mediaite:
Tucker Carlson Hits Media Over Mueller: Journalists Shouldn't Be ‘Cheerleaders For Prosecutions’ — On Tuesday night, Tucker Carlson chided media critics who have slammed Fox News for their recent coverage of the Robert Mueller investigation. — The Fox News host began by mocking …
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Mary Clare Jalonick / Associated Press:
Senate Russia probe looking into 2016 candidate Jill Stein
Senate Russia probe looking into 2016 candidate Jill Stein
Discussion:
Vox and BostonGlobe.com
Page Six:
Koch heir sues ex-fiancée to get giant ring back — Wyatt Koch — the son of billionaire Bill Koch — is suing his ex-fiancée to get back an 8.24-carat ring after she broke off their engagement, according to court documents. Wyatt's lawyers claim that he purchased …
Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Democrats unlikely to force DACA vote this week, probably averting shutdown — Democrats are backing away from a pledge to force a vote this month over the fate of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children, angering activists but likely averting the threat …
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Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump Jr. suggests top government officials are undermining his father — President Donald Trump's son suggested Tuesday evening that “people at the highest levels of government” are conspiring against the Trump administration, evidence, he said, of the president's campaign claims about a “rigged” system.
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Eli Watkins / CNN:
Trump Jr. suggests conspiracy of people who don't want to let ‘America be America’
Trump Jr. suggests conspiracy of people who don't want to let ‘America be America’
Discussion:
Mediaite
Barnini Chakraborty / Fox News:
FBI's McCabe faces GOP calls for ouster, ahead of closed-door testimony — Top Republicans are stepping up their criticism of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, even suggesting he should be ousted amid allegations conflicts of interest and anti-Trump political prejudice at the agency.
Discussion:
Washington Post, bizpacreview.com, American Thinker and Bloomberg
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
What North Korea told a U.N. envoy trying to prevent war — A senior U.N. envoy who visited Pyongyang this month carrying a pressing appeal for diplomacy was told by his North Korean hosts that it was “too early” for steps that might ease the confrontation over their nuclear program.
Discussion:
Just Security and The Hill
Gus Garcia-Roberts / Los Angeles Times:
The ‘Lost Boys’: Hollywood producer Gary Goddard accused of sexual misconduct by 8 former child actors — Bret Nighman, 56, is among at least eight former Santa Barbara child actors who allege that producer Gary Goddard molested or attempted to molest them. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Discussion:
Deadline
Sen. Graham / Arizona Republic:
Gov. Doug Ducey says John McCain ‘headed back to Washington’ after holidays … CONNECT — Gov. Doug Ducey said Tuesday he talked with Cindy McCain over the weekend about U.S. Sen. John McCain's health, saying during a radio interview that the senator's spirits were up.
Discussion:
Washington Times
Luke Rosiak / The Daily Caller:
Suspected House Hackers Ran Car Dealership With Markings Of A Hezbollah Front — The used car dealership known as CIA never seemed like an ordinary car dealership, with inventory, staff and expenses. — On its Facebook page, CIA's “staff” were fake personalities such as “James Falls O'Brien …
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Cornyn Says Tax Bill Mandate Repeal Makes Obamacare ‘Unworkable’ — The No. 2 Senate Republican said Tuesday that the GOP's tax bill will make Obamacare “unworkable,” which he hopes will force Democrats into negotiations to replace the law. — Asked about the failure of the GOP's efforts …
Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:
'Trump's Benghazi': Frederica Wilson wants the truth about what happened to La David Johnson in Niger — “The American people need to know what happened to Sgt. La David Johnson. And I think that his family needs to know what happened to Sgt. La David Johnson.”
Discussion:
CNN
David Corn / Mother Jones:
Donald Trump's Holiday Gift to America: A Fundamental Crisis — Deck the halls with an assault on the principles, norms, and purpose of democratic governance. … In a commencement speech years ago, author David Foster Wallace told this story: Two young fish are swimming along, and they pass an older fish swimming the other way.
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:
Internal Emails Show Twitter Struggled To Interpret Its Own Verification Rules While Hunting Trolls — Emails suggest that verification was never quite what Twitter said it was and that the company was aware it served as a tacit endorsement long before it admitted so publicly.
Discussion:
Axios, more at Mediagazer »