Top Items:
Washington Post:
Treasury secretary startles Wall Street with unusual pre-Christmas calls to top bank CEOs — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin startled financial analysts, bankers and economists on Sunday by issuing an unusual s declaring that the nation's six largest banks had ample credit to extend to American businesses and households.
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Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Shutdown day 3, and Mnuchin talks with bank CEOs about liquidity — DRIVING THE DAY — BULLETIN ... NETANYAHU CALLS EARLY ELECTIONS ... AP'S ARON HELLER in Jerusalem: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government agreed Wednesday to hold early elections …
Discussion:
New York Times, Financial Times and One America News Network
CNN:
Dow's wild ride continues after Steven Mnuchin fails to calm markets — New York (CNN Business)Markets took a wild ride on Monday, and the Dow briefly fell below 22,000, after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's attempts to calm investors backfired. — The Dow, which crossed 22,000 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, KTLA, The Week, Bloomberg, FOX2now.com and twitchy.com
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Trump Renews Attack on Fed as Mnuchin Tries to Calm Markets — With stocks extending their slide Monday, President Trump took another swipe at the Federal Reserve, writing on Twitter that the “only problem our economy has is the Fed” as he continued to blame the central bank for recent volatility in the financial markets.
Washington Post:
Markets stage one of worst Christmas Eves ever, closing down more than 600 points as Trump blames Fed for stock losses in a tweet — The Dow Jones industrial average followed its worst week in a decade with a 650- point drop Monday, and President Trump once again took to Twitter to interject himself into financial markets.
CNBC:
DOW DIVES 600 POINTS TO BELOW 22,000 IN WORST CHRISTMAS EVE TRADING DAY EVER — Trump resumed his attack on the Fed on Monday, tweeting that the central bank is “the only problem” with the U.S. economy. — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held calls on Sunday with the heads …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Guardian, TheStreet, Contemptor, Raw Story, Mediaite and The Week
Bloomberg:
U.S. Stocks Hit 19-Month Low as D.C. Tumult Weighs: Markets Wrap — Trump team attempts to assure markets over Powell, liquidity — Many exchanges are shut or will close early on Christmas Eve — U.S. stocks tumbled to the lowest since May 2017 as the turmoil in Washington kept investors …
Annie Lowrey / The Atlantic:
What Was Steve Mnuchin Thinking? Three Possibilities
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Hullabaloo, Raw Story and The Guardian
Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:
Stock Market Rout Has Trump Fixated on Fed Chair Powell
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Times, Mediaite, Bloomberg and Mother Jones
Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:
Lebron James Posts ‘Jewish Money’ Selfie With 21 Savage Rap Lyrics, Angering Conservative Critics — Los Angeles Lakers superstar Lebron James landed himself in a second racially-charged controversy this weekend after posting rap lyrics about “Jewish money.”
Discussion:
Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart and The Daily Caller
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Dave McMenamin / ESPN:
LeBron James apologizes for ‘Jewish money’ Instagram post — LOS ANGELES — LeBron James apologized Sunday for lyrics he shared on his Instagram account over the weekend that included the line, “getting that Jewish money.” — “Apologies, for sure, if I offended anyone,” …
Discussion:
The Root, AOL, twitchy.com, The Guardian and Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
How Banks Unwittingly Finance Mass Shootings — The New York Times reviewed hundreds of documents including police reports, bank records and investigator notes from a decade of mass shootings. Many of the killers built their stockpiles of high-powered weapons with the convenience of credit.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Axios and twitchy.com
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Roberts, Leader of Supreme Court's Conservative Majority, Fights Perception That It Is Partisan — “We don't work as Democrats or Republicans,” he has said, a theme he has returned to while trying to strike a delicate balance as the chief justice. — WASHINGTON — In his first 13 years …
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog
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Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
Wake up. America's military isn't invincible. — The most uncovered story in Washington these days is the loss of U.S. military power — a lesson particularly important in light of recent events: the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis; President Trump's rash decision to withdraw U.S. troops …
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David Axe / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Incoming Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan Pushed Military to Buy Weapons It Didn't Want
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Just Security, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite, USNI News, Raw Story, Associated Press and Breitbart
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Patrick Shanahan, Trump's pick for acting defense secretary, steps into spotlight after Mattis's ouster
Discussion:
Task & Purpose and Washington Monthly
Lolita C. Baldor / Associated Press:
After criticism, Trump pushes out Mattis sooner than planned
Discussion:
Splinter
David Brown / Politico:
Meet Trump's acting Pentagon chief
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast and Washington Post
Peter Hamby / Vanity Fair:
“They Are Suspicious of Beto”: Why Are Democrats Trying to Annihilate an O'Rourke Campaign Before It Has Even Started? — The howls about O'Rourke from the Chapo wing of the Internet say as much about Bernie Sanders's diminished stature as they do about the golden boy from Texas.
Discussion:
Politico
John A. Nagl / New York Times:
Jim Mattis and I Fought Together. No One Called Him Mad Dog. — Jim Mattis was a scholar of war, blunt, courageous and loyal to his troops. Our enemies will cheer his departure. — Mr. Nagl is a former Army officer. — I met Jim Mattis in Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2004.
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
What Trump's Syria decision means on the front lines of the fight against the Islamic State — The voice of Gen. Mazloum Abdi, the Kurdish commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces militia, is tight and controlled as he describes President's Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops …
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