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Reid Says Deal Resolves the Impasse on the Public Option — WASHINGTON — The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, said Tuesday night that he and a group of 10 Democratic senators had reached “a broad agreement” to resolve a dispute over a proposed government-run health insurance plan …
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Democrats Agree To Tentatively Trade Opt-Out For Trigger, Medicare Buy In, And More — An aide briefed on the negotiations among the gang of 10 offers up the rundown of the most important aspects of the public option compromise being sent to CBO. — If this trade-off carries the day, the opt out public option is gone.

Kristol: Reid Doesn't Have 60 — The much hyped (if utterly incoherent) deal that Harry Reid is touting doesn't look as if it's doing the trick — the trick being to cobble together anything (and I mean anything) that can get 60 votes in the Senate, introduce it as a manager's amendment later this week, and jam it through.


The team of 10 reaches a deal on the public option — But, err, they won't tell anyone what it is. At least not until they hear back from the Congressional Budget Office. The most telling tidbit so far has come from Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who said, “I've got a smile on my face. I don't smile naturally.”

Howard Dean: Senate Health Care Deal Contains “Real Reform” — In a boost for the Senate health care deal reached yesterday, Howard Dean said in an interview with me moments ago that the current compromise contains “real reform,” and said that as it stands now, progressives could support it.

Senate may drop public option
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The Fix, The Washington Independent, American Spectator, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, Yourish.com and Associated Press

Dems agree to drop gov't-run insurance option
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Weekly Standard, The Politico, Townhall.com, The Huffington Post, Reuters, Hot Air, Prescriptions, DownWithTyranny!, Political Byline, MyDD and The Reaction

Copenhagen's political science — With the publication of damaging e-mails from a climate research center in Britain, the radical environmental movement appears to face a tipping point. The revelation of appalling actions by so-called climate change experts allows the American public …
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Ben Smith's Blog, Weekly Standard, Think Progress, Climate Progress, FP Passport, The Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Guardian, msnbc.com, Deltoid, At-Largely, DailyHowler.com, Cato @ Liberty, Swampland, Newshoggers.com, Conservatives4Palin.com, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Achenblog, Commentary, No Left Turns, Green Energy Reporter, Environmental Capital, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, National Review, The Intersection, Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, NewsBusters.org, Indecision Forever, Get Energy Smart!, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Little Green Footballs and AMERICAblog News
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Wash. Post publishes falsehood-laden Palin op-ed that is contradicted by scientists, temperature data, and ... the Post itself — The Washington Post's has published an op-ed by Sarah Palin in which she claims that the apparently stolen Climate Research Unite emails “reveal that leading climate ‘experts’ …

Palin's “Boycott Copenhagen” Op-Ed: Annotated — Once again, the Washington Post has given Sarah Palin the chance to harness herself to the political story of the hour. The former Alaska governor has written an op-ed, published Wednesday, about the “Climate-gate” controversy at East Anglia University.

Bush closes the gap — Public Policy Polling: — Perhaps the greatest measure of Obama's declining support is that just 50% of voters now say they prefer having him as President to George W. Bush, with 44% saying they'd rather have his predecessor. Given the horrendous approval ratings …
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The Lonely Conservative
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Obama's December Standing — For the second month in a row we find Barack Obama's national approval rating at 49%, with 47% of voters disapproving of him. He has the support of 83% of Democrats, 46% of independents, and 11% of Republicans. None of those numbers have really changed from our November poll.

Obama at new low in Quinnipiac survey
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Politics Daily, Christian Science Monitor, Real Clear Politics, Jules Crittenden and Viking Pundit

Poll: Only 38 percent support health care bill
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NOW! Blog


Sotomayor Draws Retort From a Fellow Justice — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court released its first four decisions in argued cases this term on Tuesday. They were all minor, but one was notable for being Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court debut and for prompting a testy concurrence from Justice Clarence Thomas.

Wigley denies: “I did not choke on the deceit” — Sheesh, I try to do Climategate scientist Tom Wigley a favor by suggesting he was principled enough to have choked on the deceit he was witnessing, and this is how he repays me: … In fact, he refuses to accept the accolade of being the kind …
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‘Eight Days of Hanukkah’ — MORE: Watch the “Eight Days of Hanukkah” video. — Ten years ago, I visited Orrin Hatch, the senior senator from Utah and a prominent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on Capitol Hill. I was writing for The New York Times Magazine and Hatch was thinking of running for president.
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A Senator's Gift to the Jews, Nonreturnable
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Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mark Penn's two firms got $6 million from stimulus for PR campaign — Nearly $6 million in stimulus money was paid to two firms run by Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's pollster in 2008. — Federal records show that $5.97 million from the $787 billion stimulus helped preserve three jobs at Burson-Marsteller …
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Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, Big Government, Hit & Run, The Corner on National …, Clayton Cramer's BLOG and Wonkette

Election 2010: Ohio Governor — In 2010 Ohio Governor Match-up, Strickland Trails Kasich — Unemployment in Ohio has jumped to 10.5%, the state is wrestling with an $851 million budget shortfall, and Governor Ted Strickland has proposed delaying a tax cut approved in 2005.

Did Obama Snub the King? — Home - Cheat sheet - Buzz board - Big Fat Story - Blogs & stories - Videos - Galleries - Crossword — Blogs and Stories — Finally some Europeans are angry with Obama—the very ones who are awarding him his peace prize. Katarina Andersson on the president's rebuff …
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5 foreign nationals held in Sargodha: police — SARGODHA: An Anti Organized-crime Cell raided a house situated in Aziz Bhatti Town of Sargodha and arrested five foreign nationals. — DPO Sargodha Dr. Usman Anwar told Geo News that the police raided the house of Khalid Farooqi …
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Exclusive: George gets ‘GMA’ — ABC News will announce George Stephanopoulos as an anchor of “Good Morning America,” to start as soon as Monday, industry sources tell POLITICO. The announcement is planned for Thursday. — Stephanopoulos, 48, joins Robin Roberts at the anchor desk of the lucrative morning show.

Letting insurers ‘win’ — “We WIN,” some insurance industry insider crowed to Ben Smith. “Administered by private insurance companies. No government funding. No government insurance competitor.” Similarly but oppositely, a few anxious e-mailers have written to ask whether Medicare buy …
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WSJ.com
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Alberto Gonzales: What I've Learned — The former attorney general opens up on the value of torture, his Senate hearings, Karl Rove's role in the U.S. attorney firings, and more wrong guesses from the Bush administration — I guess I would use my son's word: cool. It was cool to work in the White House.


Jon Stewart Calls Out Gretchen Carlson For “Dumbing Herself Down” (VIDEO) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Jon Stewart went after “Fox & Friends” host Gretchen Carlson last night. Saying she plays the “troubled mom, just trying to make sense of this modern country,” Stewart explained Carlson seems …


Evan Bayh's political crossroads — Photo by Nikki Kahn of the Washington Post — Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh's vote this week in favor of an amendment to the health care bill that would have strengthened restrictions on how federal funds could be spent for abortions is the latest sign …
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AmSpecBlog