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The World's Richest Man Wants to Burn It All Down — Per NBC News, the Republicans who welcomed Elon Musk into their tent as a key decision-maker and thought leader are having an excellent time: … Happy Thursday. — The Kent Brockman Republicans — by William Kristol
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NBC News, Washington Post, nationalinterest.org, Futurism and RedState
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The Chaos Monkeys Have Already Taken Over the Zoo — The peddlers of misinformation are high on their own supply — Well, I was going to post about proposals for bank deregulation, but I think that can wait for a bit. The news of the moment is the looming prospect that the federal government will shut down over the weekend.
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Scripps News, Twitchy, Digby's Hullabaloo and Raw Story


Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling — In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely.” — President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that Congress should get rid …


Behind the Curtain: Musk's America … - A Trump source told us this is the new playbook: Republican lawmakers got “instant and overwhelming feedback. … You should never bet against Trump or Elon.” — Now, the two are a combined force blanketing culture, media and governance.
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New York Times, Boston Herald, The Federalist and The Guardian, more at Techmeme »


Trump says Mike Johnson will ‘easily remain speaker’ if he acts ‘decisively and tough’ on spending bill — Trump told Fox News Digital anyone who supports a bill that doesn't take care of debt ceiling should be ‘primaried and disposed of’ — EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital …


Closures, Social Security checks, furloughs: What a government shutdown might mean — Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays.
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USA Today, Bloomberg, NBC News, Axios, Wall Street Journal, PolitiFact, WNEP-TV, Fox Business, Fox News, The 19th, Business Insider, Raw Story, Liberal Democracy, ABC News, CBS News, HuffPost and The Daily Caller


Where Things Stand — House Republican leaders are offering a new proposal to avert a shutdown, a day after President-elect Donald J. Trump torpedoed a spending deal that House Speaker Mike Johnson had struck with Democrats. The plan would tie an extension of government funding …
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Politico, Ohio Capital Journal, Daily Kos, CNN, The Dispatch, Fox News, The Hill, New York Magazine, ABC News, CBS News, The Guardian and Bloomberg


Spending Deal Debacle Threatens Johnson's Tenuous Hold on His Job — A Republican backlash to the speaker's plan to temporarily fund the government has sparked new talk of ousting him, and highlighted the challenges he will face if he manages to keep his job.
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Associated Press, Axios, Townhall, Raw Story, The Hill and New York Daily News


Trump's demands leave Republicans flailing with no plan on eve of shutdown
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The Hill

Jeffries shuts down raising the debt ceiling
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The Hill, Axios, Al Jazeera, The Texas Tribune, The Independent and The Dispatch

Rand Paul floats Elon Musk for House Speaker
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BizPac Review, Raw Story, WNEP-TV, Fox News, Joe.My.God., Twitchy, Washington Examiner, Mock Paper Scissors, Mediaite and The Hill

Republicans Come Up With New Spending Deal After Musk, Trump Torched Original Plan
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Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, ABC News, Daily Mail, The Hill, Alternet.org, Politico and CNBC

‘President Elon Musk!’ MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell And Dem Dan Goldman Taunt Trump Over Musk Taking Lead
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Raw Story

Republicans Turn Eating Their Own Into A Spectator Sport
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Washington Post, The Hill and USA Today

Transcript: Chris Murphy's Ominous New Warning About Trump Nails It
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The Post Millennial, Off Message and The Independent

Trump team affirms he's leader of GOP amid ‘President Musk’ barbs
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Associated Press


12/19/24 ☀️ AM: … At first, the House Republican Conference was aghast …
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Washington Examiner, Politico, WNEP-TV, Semafor, Blaze Media, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Daily Mail, New York Times, BizPac Review and The Hill

Trump and Musk unleash a new kind of chaos on Washington
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Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner, The Moderate Voice, New Jersey Online, Politico, Raw Story and Daily Kos

GOP senator suggests Trump come to Washington to unite party
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Fox News, Blaze Media, Mediaite, Townhall and RedState


GA appeals court disqualifies DA Fani Willis from Trump election case, lets indictment stand … A Georgia appeals court on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the criminal election interference prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and other defendants.
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Axios, The Guardian, Daily Mail, New York Post, The Daily Caller, OPB, Fox News, New Republic, The Hill, RedState, Al Jazeera, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, IJR, Daily Caller News Foundation, Reuters, The Federalist, Forbes, JONATHAN TURLEY, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, NBC News, Mother Jones, Megyn Kelly, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Washington Times, Law & Crime, Townhall, USA Today, Washington Examiner, UPI, Rolling Stone, The Post Millennial, Blaze Media and American Greatness
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Georgia appeals court disqualifies Fulton County DA Fani Willis from prosecuting Trump — A Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case against President-elect Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators over their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
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Atlanta Journal-Constitution, freebeacon.com, CBS News, Fox News, Raw Story, New York Daily News, The Root, The Daily Signal, Townhall, Mediaite and New Republic

Prosecutor Fani Willis is removed from the Georgia election case against Trump and others
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New York Times, WAGA-TV, CNN, Breitbart, Twin Cities, The Independent, Hollywood Life, Florida Phoenix, HotAir, Forbes, The Hill, Alternet.org, BizPac Review, RedState and Fox News


How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge — Aides kept meetings short and controlled access, top advisers acted as go-betweens and public interactions became more scripted. The administration denied Biden has declined. — During the 2020 presidential primary …
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New York Post, Washington Examiner, New Republic, The Federalist, The Independent, IJR, Megyn Kelly, Breitbart, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Sceptic, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Reason, Mediaite, HotAir, Commentary Magazine, Townhall, BizPac Review, Instapundit, American Thinker and Power Line


How Liberal America Came to Its Senses … A decade ago, cultural norms in elite American institutions took a sharply illiberal turn. Professors would get disciplined, journalists fired, ordinary people harassed by social-media mobs, over some decontextualized phrase or weaponized misunderstanding.


Amazon Delivery Drivers at Seven Hubs Walk Out — The retail giant said it expected its operations to be largely unaffected by the strike of some drivers at contracting firms Amazon uses to deliver packages. — Workers who deliver packages from seven Amazon facilities across the country went …
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Teamsters Launch Largest Strike Against Amazon in American History
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Ars Technica, Fox Business, Marketplace, The City, Balloon Juice, ABC News, The Hill, Blaze Media, Wired, NewsNation, The Information and Axios


Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump met for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, joined by Elon Musk — After feuds during Trump's first term, Trump and Bezos have both noted their recent evolving relationship. — President-elect Donald Trump had dinner Wednesday with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos …
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New Republic, TMZ.com, New York Times, Business Insider, The Information, New York Magazine, Joe.My.God., The Independent and Page Six


GOP strikes a new spending deal — Republicans have struck a deal on a short-term government spending patch and potential debt limit increase, according to two GOP lawmakers meeting in Speaker Mike Johnson's office Thursday afternoon. “There is an agreement,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.).
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Townhall, New York Post, RedState, Raw Story and Joe.My.God.


GOP lawmakers prepare to carry out Gaetz's revenge, expose harassment settlements — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the focus of a House Ethics Committee report that may soon become public, is planning to inflict fresh pain on some of his old colleagues. A number of Republican lawmakers are preparing to help.
Discussion:
Blaze Media


The Supreme Court's new abortion case should be an easy win for Planned Parenthood — Although nothing is ever certain in this Supreme Court. … The question in Kerr is whether a federal law, which requires state Medicaid programs to guarantee that “any individual eligible for medical assistance” …
Discussion:
LifeNews.com


Top aide to Eric Adams indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges — The aide's son and two developers were also charged. — NEW YORK — Prosecutors charged New York City Mayor Eric Adams' closest confidant in a conspiracy, bribery and money laundering case Thursday.
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Associated Press, New York Post, freebeacon.com, The Hill, The Guardian, Manhattan District …, UPI, The City, New York Times, Gothamist and The Gateway Pundit