Top Items:
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:
New York Times, Associated Press, Axios and The Stranger …
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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
Chris Edwards / Cato Institute:
Final Tax Bill: Biggest Cuts for the Middle
Final Tax Bill: Biggest Cuts for the Middle
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, National Review, The Daily Caller, Power Line, America Rising PAC and Washington Post
Cameron Joseph / Talking Points Memo:
House Passes Tax Bill (Again), Sends To Trump To Sign Into Law
House Passes Tax Bill (Again), Sends To Trump To Sign Into Law
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Little Green Footballs and Washington Post
New York Times:
Republican Tax Bill Passes Senate in 51-48 Vote
Republican Tax Bill Passes Senate in 51-48 Vote
Discussion:
Mother Jones, CNN, bizpacreview.com, Washington Post, Fox News, Bloomberg, NPR, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, Talk Poverty, IJR, Deadline, Fox News Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Philly.com, fox8.com, Mediaite, TheBlaze, Washington Free Beacon, NBC News, New York Magazine, Washington Times, The Daily Signal and Refinery29
Washington Post:
GOP tax bill passes Congress
GOP tax bill passes Congress
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, bizpacreview.com and The Daily Caller
Cristiano Lima / Politico:
Trump boasts of individual mandate repeal in GOP tax bill
Trump boasts of individual mandate repeal in GOP tax bill
Discussion:
Axios
Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:
Republican Tax Bill Has Grown More Unpopular, Poll Shows
Republican Tax Bill Has Grown More Unpopular, Poll Shows
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, US News, The Daily Caller, Politico, Scripting News and The Atlantic
CNN:
Democrats' 2018 advantage expands — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — WASHINGTON (CNN)Democrats' already wide advantage over Republicans in a hypothetical Congressional matchup has grown, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS. At the same time, enthusiasm about voting next year …
Discussion:
Washington Post and Political Wire
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Ryan Struyk / CNN:
Trump's approval rating just entered a league of its own — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump's approval rating sank to a new low in CNN polling on Tuesday, earning the approval of just 35% of Americans less than a year into his first term.
Discussion:
New York Times and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Hillary Clinton popularity hits all-time low, poll shows
Hillary Clinton popularity hits all-time low, poll shows
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Hill, IJR, Scared Monkeys, RedState and Gallup
Carrie Dann / NBC News:
Poll: Just 36% of Americans indicate they would vote for Trump in 2020
Poll: Just 36% of Americans indicate they would vote for Trump in 2020
Discussion:
AOL, No More Mister Nice Blog, Real Clear Politics and Power Line
Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
The GOP's Tax Bill Kicks Puerto Rico When It's Down — The island is getting slapped with new taxes as it drowns in debt and tries to recover from a catastrophic hurricane. — WASHINGTON The hits just keep coming for Puerto Rico. — As the U.S. island struggles to climb …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Washington Post, Associated Press, Splinter and CNN
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Melanie Schmitz / ThinkProgress:
Paul Ryan was asked if Trump's accusers are liars. His response was abysmal. — During an interview with TODAY's Savannah Guthrie on Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan punted when asked about the official White House stance on President Trump's sexual harassment accusers.
Discussion:
Washington Post, HuffPost, bizpacreview.com and Business Insider
Adele M. Stan / American Prospect:
On the Road to Kleptocracy … With the passage of the Republican …
On the Road to Kleptocracy … With the passage of the Republican …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Emily Steel / New York Times:
2 Women Who Settled With O'Reilly Over Sexual Harassment Sue for Defamation — Two women who reached sexual harassment settlements with Bill O'Reilly joined a defamation lawsuit against Mr. O'Reilly and Fox News on Wednesday, asserting that statements that he and the network made depicted them as liars …
Discussion:
thecut and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
U.S. Department of the Treasury:
Treasury Targets Individuals Involved in the Sergei Magnitsky Case and Other Gross Violations of Human Rights in Russia — A total of 49 individuals have been designated under the Magnitsky Act — WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) …
Discussion:
Axios
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Caitlyn Hitt / New York Daily News:
Meryl Streep #SheKnew posters pop up in Los Angeles amid backlash over Harvey Weinstein comments — A street artist is calling Meryl Streep on her bluff. — Posters showing the “The Post” actress standing with disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein have been popping up across Los Angeles, Twitter posts indicate.
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Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Breitbart went all out for Roy Moore. Now its top editor says he was a ‘weak candidate’ — Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow was in his home office last Tuesday night running the front page of the far-right website when he learned that Judge Roy Moore would not be elected as the next senator from Alabama.
Discussion:
Axios, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Splinter and Washington Post
United States Senator Lamar Alexander:
Alexander, Collins Statement on Bills to Lower Health Insurance Premiums — WASHINGTON, December 20, 2017—United States Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) today jointly released the following statement: — “Rather than considering a broad year-end funding agreement …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Politico and Daily Kos
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Robert Pear / New York Times:
With Children's Health Program Running Dry, Parents Beg Congress: ‘Do the Right Thing’
With Children's Health Program Running Dry, Parents Beg Congress: ‘Do the Right Thing’
Discussion:
New Republic, Politico, Washington Post and Raw Story
German Lopez / Vox:
Cornel West's attacks on Ta-Nehisi Coates, explained — Coates is the latest target in West's war against Obama. — A public feud between two of America's top black intellectuals has led one of them to abandon Twitter. — Cornel West, author of the well-known Race Matters …
Discussion:
Salon, The Guardian, The Stranger …, bradford-delong.com and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »
David Corn / Mother Jones:
Donald Trump's Holiday Gift to America: A Fundamental Crisis — 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. The older fish says, “Morning, boys, how's the water?”
Esquire:
On the Front Lines of the GOP's Civil War — In 2016, a group of Republicans broke ranks with their party to try to stop Donald Trump from winning the presidency. Now they're rallying once more to keep him from destroying the country. Sam Tanenhaus reports on the Never Trumpers.
Discussion:
New York Magazine
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 …
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 …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Balloon Juice and thecut
Associated Press:
Author of online hit ‘Cat Person’ has 7-figure book deal — NEW YORK — The author of the online sensation “Cat Person” has a seven-figure book deal. — Scout Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Kristen Roupenian's debut story collection …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Pew Research Center:
Hispanic Identity Fades Across Generations as Immigrant Connections Fall Away — 11% of American adults with Hispanic ancestry do not identify as Hispanic — More than 18% of Americans identify as Hispanic or Latino, the nation's second largest racial or ethnic group.
Brian Flood / Fox News:
Press watchdogs, female employees want answers about NBC News' sexual harassment issues — The influential Media Research Center, an independent press watchdog, is now calling on NBC News to hire an outside investigator to review its culture of sexual misconduct after NBC News Chairman Andy Lack …
Aaron Elstein / Crain's New York Business:
New York golfers avoiding Trump's course — The president opened a big, beautiful course in the Bronx two years ago that players are increasingly shunning — Donald Trump enjoys few things more than golf and has built some well-regarded courses. Yet many New Yorkers clearly prefer …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Mar-a-Lago hikes New Year's Eve party ticket prices — Partying with President Donald Trump on New Year's Eve is getting more expensive. — Ticket prices for the annual Dec. 31 bash at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida are going up to $600 for dues-paying members and $750 for their guests …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Palm Beach Post
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
Washington Post:
‘People here live in fear’: MS-13 menaces a community seven miles from the White House … It took Abigail Bautista less than a month of living in Langley Park to learn that her new neighborhood in Maryland had its own set of laws, written not in statutes but in gang graffiti and blood.
Associated Press:
Last uncounted ballots: Moore can't close 20,000-vote loss — MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Republican Roy Moore hasn't conceded his 20,000-vote loss to Democrat Doug Jones in Alabama's Senate race, and provisional ballots and military votes still being counted show Moore can't close the deficit.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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