memeorandum: U.S. diplomat Holbrooke dies after tearing aorta (msnbc.com)

8:50 PM ET, December 13, 2010

Top Items:

Judge Voids Key Element of Obama Health Care Law — A federal district judge in Virginia ruled on Monday that the keystone provision in the Obama health care law is unconstitutional, becoming the first court in the country to invalidate any part of the sprawling act and ensuring that appellate courts …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Amazing — A year ago, no one took seriously the idea that a federal health care mandate was unconstitutional. And the idea that buying health care coverage does not amount to “economic activity” seems preposterous on its face. But the decision that just came down from the federal judgment in Virginia …

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, Althouse, American Power, Don Surber and RedState

Ezra Klein:

Is the Hudson ruling good news for health reform? — District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, a George W. Bush appointee, has, as expected, ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional. So why are health reformers so unexpectedly pleased? — There are two reasons, but first, let's put this into context.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The American Independent, Ben Smith's Blog and Gothamist

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Virginia health-care ruling strikes down key provision of Obama's plan — RICHMOND - A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Obama's signature domestic initiative.

Larry O'Dell / Associated Press:

Federal judge in Va. strikes down health care law — RICHMOND, Va. - A federal judge in Virginia has declared the Obama administration's health care reform law unconstitutional. — U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson is the first judge to rule against the law, which has been upheld by two others in Virginia and Michigan.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Power Line, HillBuzz.org, The Gateway Pundit, theblogprof, Wall Street Journal, Questions and Observations, Riehl World View and PoliPundit.com

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

CHEERING A VICTORY OVER THEIR OWN IDEA.... Many on the right are, not surprisingly, delighted with today's federal district court ruling on the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate. That's to be expected — they're hoping to gut the law. The two previous legal defeats notwithstanding …

Discussion: Political Correction RSS, Outside the Beltway and Taegan Goddard's …

John Cook / Gawker:

Judge Who Ruled Health Care Reform Unconstitutional Owns Piece of GOP Consulting Firm — Henry E. Hudson, the federal judge in Virginia who just ruled health care reform unconstitutional, owns between $15,000 and $50,000 in a GOP political consulting firm that worked against health care reform.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Right Wing Watch, The New Republic, Mediaite, Salon and Capital Tonight

USA Today:

Obama's economic guru predicts low demand for years — Exiting White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers says a lack of consumer demand will bedevil the nation's economy for years to come. — In his final policy speech before returning to Harvard University in January …

Discussion: protein wisdom and iOwnTheWorld.com

The Numbers:

New Low in Support for Health Care Reform — Coinciding with a federal judge's ruling invalidating a key element of the health care reform law, an ABC News/Washington Post poll finds support for the landmark legislation at a new low - but division on what to do about it.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Fox News, The Daily Dish, Don Surber, Pajamas Media and National Review

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMDC:
Federal Judge In Va. Rules Part Of Health Care Law Unconstitutional

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Salon, Balkinization, ECHIDNE of the snakes, The Moderate Voice and Right Wing Nut House

Stephanie Cutter / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Today's Health Care Court Ruling

Discussion: ACS Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMDC and HotAirPundit

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Virginia Judge Declares Health Care Mandate Unconstitutional

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Pundit & Pundette, Liberty Pundits Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, Nice Deb and Patterico's Pontifications

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Significant Error in Judge Hudson's Opinion

Discussion: TalkLeft, Balkinization and Daily Kos

Jon Cohen / Washington Post:

Poll finds broad bipartisan support for tax package — About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. — The high bipartisan support for the package masks …

Discussion: People-Press.org, The Hill, The Plum Line, USA Today, TPMDC, Wake up America, Ben Smith's Blog, The Fix, Wonkette, Hot Air, Gawker, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, Guardian, Swampland, Outside the Beltway and Booman Tribune

The Politico:
Tax deal advances in Senate

Discussion: The Note, Climate Progress, Democracy in America and Pat Dollard

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Out of Power Soon, and Out of Sorts Now

Discussion: The Politico, Moe Lane, The Sundries Shack and Betsy's Page

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Senate votes for tax cut deal. What's route through House?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Conservatives Attack Tax Deal as Vote Nears

Discussion: Washington Post, Ross Douthat, Outside the Beltway, A plain blog about politics, Commentary, Wake up America, Eunomia and The Hill

David M. Herszenhorn / The Caucus:
Senate Advances Tax Cut Package

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Washington Monthly

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
In Tax Benefits to the Middle, Political Lift for Obama

Discussion: Rortybomb, Time, CNN, New Deal 2.0, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Sky Dancing, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, USA Today, Marbury and The Democratic Daily

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:

Richard Holbrooke Has Died — ABC News has learned that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has died. — On Friday, Holbrooke was rushed to the hospital with a torn aorta. He went through more than 20 hours of surgery.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers and Taegan Goddard's …

Joe Sterling / CNN:
Richard Holbrooke, noted diplomat, is dead at 69

Discussion: The Politico, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

ABCNEWS: Richard Holbrooke

msnbc.com:
U.S. diplomat Holbrooke dies after tearing aorta

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Gawker

Tim Pawlenty / Wall Street Journal:

Government Unions vs. Taxpayers — The moral case for unions—protecting working families from exploitation—does not apply to public employment. — When Americans think of organized labor, they might think of images like I saw growing up in a blue-collar meatpacking town: hard hats, work boots, tough conditions and gritty jobs.

Discussion: PostPartisan, Grasping Reality …, Hot Air, The American Independent, Commentary, Conservatives4Palin.com, Wonk Room, The Note, The Politico, The Hill, Ben Smith's Blog, GOP 12 and The Page

Michael Scherer / Swampland:
Larry Summers' Warning About The Growth Of Government (Transcript)

Discussion: Economist's View

Doug McKelway / Fox News:

Steele Seeks Second Term As RNC Chair — Controversial Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who last month presided over the GOP's biggest electoral gains since 1938, announced Monday night that he is running for re-election. — Ending weeks of rumors that he would not seek …

Discussion: The Politico, Hotline On Call, The Note, Ballot Box, FrumForum, National Review, DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, The Fix, The American Independent, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Politics Daily and Gawker

CNN:
BREAKING: RNC Chairman Michael Steele will seek re-election

Discussion: The Note

Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:

Brain Oddities: Spelling is Irrelevant to Comprehension — In trying to make sense of the world around us, our brains have evolved to do some very odd things. The more we learn about our cognitive processes, the more it seems we have inherited a very weird wetware set, filled with bizarre and misleading foibles.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Michelle Obama has new warning on obesity — First lady Michelle Obama plans to warn in remarks Monday that the nation is seeing “a groundswell of support” for curbing childhood obesity, and she is unveiling new ammunition from current and retired military leaders.

Discussion: Cubachi, Scared Monkeys, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, theblogprof, Pajamas Media, Liberty Pundits Blog and Riehl World View

Mchapman / CNSNews:
Michelle Obama on Deciding What Kids Eat: 'We Can't Just Leave it Up to The Parents'

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Designer: No Labels lifted penguins of bipartisanship — Gothamist reports that No Labels wonderful, kooky logo was taken from a New York graphic designer who knew nothing of the group. — The designer, Thomas Porostocky, tells the site: — I'm still a little stunned at the blatant plagiarism. …

Discussion: National Review, Moe Lane and Hot Air

John Del Signore / Gothamist:
Did No Labels Rip Off Design From More Party Animals?

Discussion: City Room and Ben Smith's Blog

Becky Bohrer / Associated Press:

Miller appeals ruling on write-in vote count — Republican Joe Miller is taking his challenge to Alaska's U.S. Senate race to the state Supreme Court. — Miller filed his appeal Monday, three days after a lower court ruled against his lawsuit challenging how the state counted write-in ballots for his rival, Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Discussion: The Note, Ballot Box and USA Today

The Atlantic Online:

The Unknown Blogger Who Changed WikiLeaks Coverage — When historians look back at WikiLeaks and how the world's pundits tried to make sense of what was happening, they'll see a familiar list of sources: Foreign Policy's Evgeny Morozov, The Guardian's John Noughton, The New York Times' David Carr …

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

More Talk of Severe Budget Cuts to Follow Tax Deal — The very long cloture vote is happening right now in the Senate on the motion to proceed to the tax cut bill. Because some Senators have had issues getting to Washington, particularly from the snowed-in Midwest, the vote will be held open a while.

Discussion: TPMDC, TalkLeft, The Huffington Post and The Hill

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Block Those Metaphors — Like it or not — and I don't — the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal, with its mixture of very bad stuff and sort-of-kind-of good stuff, is likely to pass Congress. Then what? — The deal will, without question, give the economy a short-term boost.