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A Democrat's view from the House: Senate bill isn't health reform — Editor's note: Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Democrat, represents the 28th Congressional District of New York. Slaughter is the first woman to chair the House Rules Committee and the only microbiologist in Congress.
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Obama plans for health care delay, new jobs bill — The White House privately anticipates health care talks to slip into February — past President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address — and then plans to make a “very hard pivot” to a new jobs bill, according to senior administration officials.

Senior Dem: Kill the Senate health reform bill and start over — The Senate's healthcare bill is fatally flawed, a senior Democrat atop a powerful committee said on Wednesday. — Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Rules Committee and co-chairwoman …
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Weekly Standard

WH putting health-care off until ... February? — Politico's Mike Allen and Alexander Trowbridge have some bad news for Democrats, especially in the Senate, where Harry Reid has kept the chamber locked in battle over ObamaCare for weeks in an attempt to hit the finish line by Christmas.

For Their Next Trick . . . The latest example of violating principles of transparency and accountability in the single-minded pursuit of legislative victory. — Printer — Friendly — Look for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to try to circumvent …
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Senate bill poised for Christmas Eve passage with 60-39 cloture vote — The Senate on Wednesday cleared the last procedural hurdle on landmark healthcare reform legislation and is positioned to pass the bill on Christmas Eve. — Democrats united against Republicans, voting 60-39 to end debate on the underlying bill.
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MyDD

End in Sight: Senate Prepares to Vote on Health Care Bill Christmas Eve
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TalkLeft

Why I Don't Write About Sarah Palin's Facebook Posts — Last week, PolitiFact.com announced its “Lie of the Year”: Sarah Palin's claim that the health care bill might create “death panels” that would kill elderly or disabled Americans. It was a lie, the editors pointed out …
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MEDIA MANIPULATION AT ITS MOST INANE.... You've probably noticed the phenomenon. Former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin will say something ridiculous on Facebook or Twitter, which immediately becomes “news,” regardless of merit. There's a problem with this that goes beyond news outlets' comically poor judgment …


Colbert Dishes On Bush, Glenn Beck, and MSNBC — When Chicago's Second City comedy troupe held a weekend-long 50th anniversary bash, the obvious highlights were Friday and Saturday shows with Martin Short, Steve Carell, Bonnie Hunt, Jim Belushi, George Wendt, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin …


Yes, Obama did campaign on the public option — Oy. I'll defend the argument that the health-care bill that looks likely to pass is structurally similar to the health-care proposal released by the Obama campaign. But it's impossible to defend Obama's statement that “I didn't campaign on the public option.”
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DID OBAMA CAMPAIGN ON PUBLIC OPTION?
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The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, The Huffington Post, TPMDC, MyDD, Think Progress and The Plum Line

Palin: I told you so! — It didn't take long for Jim DeMint's outrage over highly unusual language protecting a care-rationing board to generate a response from Sarah Palin. This came just days after Politifact called her statement about “death panels” the “lie of the year,” …
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Palin's Wasilla book signing feels like a homecoming — AT HOME: Only signs seen for conservative causes or Christmas. — zhollander@adn.com — WASILLA — Sarah Palin was treated like a homecoming queen when she brought her national book tour to Wasilla on Tuesday.
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TPMMuckraker, Gawker, Truthdig, Think Progress, Personal Democracy Forum blogs and The Immoral Minority
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After quiet first months, Franken's sharp tongue emerges in Senate — Al Franken, the Democrat from Minnesota who won election to the Senate after a successful career as a comic and author, has begun to show the sharp-tongued side of his personality by ripping into GOP staffers behind the scenes.


Jane Hamsher, Grover Norquist Call for Rahm Emanuel's Resignation — Today, Grover Norquist and I are calling for an investigation into Rahm Emanuel's activities at Freddie Mac, and the White House's blocking of an Inspector General who would look into it. The letter follows:


Plan to Move Guantánamo Detainees Faces a New Delay — WASHINGTON — Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.
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Report Finds Acorn Broke No Laws — The controversial community organizing group Acorn has not broken any laws in the last five years, according to a Congrssional Research Service report released Tuesday evening. — The report, requested by Representative John Conyers, Democrat of Michigan …
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Congratulations to Captain Picard! — By: Mike Potemra — Palace sources say Patrick Stewart is about to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. It turns out he is an avid supporter of Britain's Labour party; his support must be especially welcome in this, one of Labour's darker hours.
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Meep Meep — My own view is that 2009 has been an extraordinarily successful year for Obama. Since this is currently a minority view and will prompt a chorus of “In The Tank!”, allow me to explain. — The substantive record is clear enough. Torture is ended, if Gitmo remains enormously difficult …
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The New Editor

GOP pursuing more party switchers — Republicans are stepping up their efforts to persuade more House Democrats to switch parties and are zeroing in on a second-term Pennsylvanian who is not ruling out such a move. — Democratic Rep. Chris Carney received a phone call Wednesday from Sen. John McCain …
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Talking Points Memo

Jane Norton, GOP Senate Candidate, Sits Silently As Obama Called A Muslim — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Former Colorado lieutenant governor Jane Norton, one of the five candidates competing in the Republican primary for the state's 2010 Senate race, is distinguishing herself with her full-hearted embrace of the tea party crowd.

Schwarzenegger to seek federal help for California budget — Facing another huge deficit, the governor wants $8 billion or threatens massive cuts in social services. He also plans to renew push for offshore oil drilling. — Reporting from Sacramento - Facing a budget deficit of more than $20 billion …
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Hot Air, Commentary, The Hill, The Lonely Conservative, QandO, Calitics, JammieWearingFool, Another Black Conservative, L.A. NOW and American Power