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Political Web, page A1 … for 5:00 PM ET, January 18, 2006
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Top Items:

Jeffrey H. Birnbaum / Washington Post:
Loophole in Lobbying Bill Leaves Wiggle Room  —  Lawmakers are about to bombard the American public with proposals that would crack down on lobbyists.  Several prominent plans, including one outlined yesterday by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), would specifically ban meals and privately paid travel for lawmakers.
RELATED ITEMS:
David Sirota / The Huffington Post:   Dems' Deafening Silence on Real Reform
Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:
HHS Works to Fix Drug Plan Woes  —  Widespread Difficulties With New Medicare Benefit Reported  —  President Bush's top health advisers will fan out across the country this week to quell rising discontent with a new Medicare prescription drug benefit that has tens of thousands of elderly …
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Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
PART D, AS IN DEBACLE:  —  So just how badly is President Bush's Medicare prescription drug program, known as "Part D," going?  On Tuesday morning, I landed in Nashville, Tennessee, to find this bold headline atop the Tennessean front page: "PHARMACISTS DECRY MEDICARE CHAOS."
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim  —  WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 - A high-level intelligence assessment by the Bush administration concluded in early 2002 that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of economic, diplomatic and logistical obstacles …
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Captain Ed / Captain's Quarters:
The Dishonesty Of The New York Times
Associated Press:
Supreme Court Steers Clear of First Abortion Case in 5 Years  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that a lower court was wrong to strike down New Hampshire abortion restrictions, steering clear of a major ruling on whether such laws place an undue burden on women.
Discussion: ACSBlog, The Mahablog and Balloon Juice
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Court rules on teen abortion
Discussion: Outside The Beltway and TalkLeft
James Webb / New York Times:
Purple Heartbreakers  —  IT should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative Web site is questioning whether Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved the combat awards he received in Vietnam.
Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
First Lady Assails Sen. Clinton for Remark  —  Laura Bush criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday for suggesting that the Republican-controlled House is run like a plantation where dissenting voices are ignored.  —  "It think it's ridiculous _ it's a ridiculous comment," …
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Washington Post:
U.S. Journalist Shown as Hostage  —  Kidnappers in Iraq Threaten to Kill Her, Demanding Female Prisoners Be Freed  —  BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 — The captors of an American journalist kidnapped in Baghdad 10 days ago threatened to kill her in three days unless authorities freed all female prisoners in Iraq …
RELATED ITEM:
Robert F. Worth / New York Times:
Al Jazeera Shows Kidnapped U.S. Journalist
Discussion: Rantingprofs and The Heretik
Los Angeles Times:
UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty  —  A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies.
Simon Jenkins / Guardian:
The west has picked a fight with Iran that it cannot win  —  Washington's kneejerk belligerence ignores Tehran's influence and the need for subtle engagement  —  Never pick a fight you know you cannot win.  Or so I was told.  Pick an argument if you must, but not a fight.
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New York Times:
Fraught Issue, but Narrow Ruling in Oregon Suicide Case  —  PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 17 - Just 30 terminally ill people exercise a right each year that is unique in America to the state of Oregon, hastening their deaths with a lethal dose of drugs prescribed by doctors.
Associated Press:
Death row elder needed 2 injections  —  Last words: 'Hoka hey, it's a good day to die'  —  SAN QUENTIN, California (AP) — In the end, California's oldest condemned inmate did not seem quite as feeble as his attorneys made him out to be in their efforts to save his life.
Discussion: IMAO
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Strike Killed Al Qaeda Bomb Maker  —  Terror Big Also Trained 'Shoe Bomber,' Moussaoui  —  Jan. 18, 2006 — ABC News has learned that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's U.S. missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
White House Silent on Abramoff Meetings  —  WASHINGTON - The White House is refusing to reveal details of tainted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's visits with President Bush's staff.  —  Abramoff had "a few staff-level meetings" at the Bush White House, presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said Tuesday.
ACLU:
Statement - Christopher Hitchens, NSA Lawsuit Client  —  Although I am named in this suit on my own behalf, I am motivated to join it by concerns well beyond my own.  I have been frankly appalled by the discrepant and contradictory positions taken by the Administration in this matter.
Steven Malanga / City Journal:
Ronald Reagan's Unlikely Heir  —  Ohio's Republican gubernatorial front-runner Ken Blackwell is "Jesse Jackson's worst nightmare."  —  Ken Blackwell has just finished regaling a group of Ohio retailers with his vision of how to turn around the state's struggling economy with a heavy dose of fiscal restraint and tax cuts.
Discussion: Betsy's Page

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More Items:

tcsdaily.com:
The Great Train Razzia
Toronto Star:
Liberals scramble after Hargrove calls Harper separatist
Richard Winton / Los Angeles Times:
Former Teen Idol Garrett Charged With Heroin Possession
Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Should Verizon be allowed to charge Internet content providers?
Gabriel Sherman / New York Observer:
Risen Gave Times A Non-Disclosure On Wiretap Book
The WitList:
Tom DeLay Denies All Charges (As Told by Dr. Suess)
tcsdaily.com:
Wage Against the Machine
Garance Franke-Ruta / TAPPED:
THE LAMENESS OF THE LEFT.  This may seem like one of those small intra …

Earlier Picks:

The Hill:
Larry David 'Curbs' talk of Cantor connection to show
Joe Strupp / Editor and Publisher:
Want to e-Mail a 'New York Times' Columnist?
Max Boot / Los Angeles Times:
The wiretaps shouldn't bug us
Jodi Rave / Billings Gazette:
Tribal leaders question Burns' priorities
Bridget Johnson / Opinion Journal:
Stolen Innocence  —  Death penalty foes make easy marks for vicious murderers.
Discussion: Betsy's Page and Gay Patriot
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Update 15: White House Lobs Accusations at Gore
Thomas Ferraro / Reuters:
Senate Democrat backs Alito for US Supreme Court
Rebecca Traister / Salon:
My lunch with an antifeminist pundit
 
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