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End It Today, Ben — There's a really big snowstorm coming to D.C.tonight. It would be unsafe to ask all the staffers and Hill employees who'd be needed at the Capitol if Congress stays open all hours this weekend, as Harry Reid intends, to drive to and from work—especially since …
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Fox News: Ben Nelson Opposes Health Reform Because He ‘Understands The True Meaning Of Christmas’ — Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) is still refusing to support Senate health care reform legislation, with his main objection being that the bill doesn't restrict women's rights enough by severely limiting access to abortions.

Ben Nelson's Medicaid concerns questioned
Discussion:
TPMDC, Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Omaha World-Herald, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room and The Washington Independent

Nelson supports opt-in for ‘reformed health care system’
Discussion:
The Gaggle

The Abortion Holdout — Ben Nelson doesn't come in for as much scorn …
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pandagon.net

Dean's Blind Spot — Maybe one reason former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and so much of the digital Left can so casually dismiss the Senate health care reform bill is that they operate in an environment where so few people need to worry about access to insurance.
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Rahm Emanuel: Don't Worry About the Left — Turn off MSNBC. Tune out Howard Dean and Keith Olbermann. The White House has its liberal wing in hand on health care, says White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. — “There are no liberals left to get” in the Senate, Emanuel said in an interview …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Hill, Ta-Nehisi Coates, DISSENTING JUSTICE, msnbc.com, The Politico, The Note and The Washington Independent

MoveOn opposes Senate bill — Progressive standard bearer MoveOn is opposing the Senate bill and asking its millions of members to sign a petition calling on liberal Sens. Bernie Sanders, Roland Burris, and Russ Feingold to block the bill's passage until it can be strengthened. — From the email:

Journalists Cheerfully Urinating On Senate Bill's “Ideological” Critics — It would really be nice if certain Beltway journalists could get it into their heads that the Senate bill's critics on the left have actual substantive differences with the bill's proponents, and are not motivated solely by …

Pass the Bill — A message to progressives: By all means …
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The Huffington Post, TPMCafe, msnbc.com, the talking dog, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, Daily Kos, BuzzFlash.org, DailyHowler.com, Raw Story, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, Achenblog, Jezebel, AMERICAblog News, Democratic Strategist, The Political Carnival, Washington Post, Wonk Room, The Gaggle, Prairie Weather, Wake up America, QandO and The Moderate Voice

Obama speech fuels frustration at Copenhagen — US president offers no further commitment on reducing emissions or on finance to poor countries — Barack Obama stepped into the chaotic final hours of the Copenhagen summit today saying he was convinced the world could act “boldly and decisively” on climate change.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Political Punch, Richard Black's Earth Watch, It's Getting Hot In Here, Don Surber, The Washington Independent, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Open Left, American Power, The New Republic, Environmental Capital, protein wisdom, JustOneMinute, MyDD, Little Green Footballs, Saberpoint and The Lonely Conservative
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Climate Deal Announced, but Falls Short of Expectations — COPENHAGEN — Leaders here concluded a climate change deal on Friday that the Obama administration called “meaningful” but that falls short of even the modest expectations for the summit meeting here.
Discussion:
Telegraph, BBC, Guardian, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Newsweek Blogs, Climate Progress, Green Inc., Political Punch, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, The BRAD BLOG, INHABITAT, Raw Story, Jules Crittenden, The Caucus, Copenhagen Insider, Don Surber, Agence France Presse, The Page, Truthdig, The Washington Independent, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Monkey Cage and The BLT


Flashback: McCain Refused To Grant 30 Seconds Of Time During Iraq War Debate — Yesterday, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), acting on the orders of the Senate leadership, refused to grant Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) “an additional moment” to continue speaking on the Senate floor after his 10 minutes expired.
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Flashback of the Day — When Sen. Al Franken objected to Sen. Joe Lieberman's request for additional time, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that in his 20-plus years in the Senate he had never heard a senator do that before. — However, a Political Wire reader sends this excerpt from the Congressional Record from October 10, 2002:
Discussion:
The Political Carnival

Reid to unveil final offer on healthcare bill on Saturday morning — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will make his final offer on healthcare legislation on Saturday morning, unveiling a highly-anticipated amendment to the Senate healthcare bill. — Reid will unveil his amendment …
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Real Clear Politics
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Washington in 60 Seconds: Reporter to James Inhofe — 'You're Ridiculous'
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The Lonely Conservative

Inhofe gets cool reception in Denmark
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, The Plum Line, Raw Story and The Political Carnival

Grayson threatens to imprison critic — File this story under the pot calling the kettle black. — Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), prone for throwing his own political bombs at Republicans, has threatened a local critic with five years in jail for creating the website “mycongressmanisnuts.com,”


How to Manufacture a Climate Consensus — The East Anglia emails are just the tip of the iceberg. I should know. — Printer — Friendly — Few people understand the real significance of Climategate, the now-famous hacking of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit (CRU).
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What Lieberman has wrought — Joe Lieberman's reckless decision to blow up last week's compromise has had exactly the impact many of us predicted. Much of the left has flipped into vicious, angry opposition to the bill. Is that because the Medicare buy-in, a good but limited policy, has disappeared from the bill?


Coburn defends the Party of No; Durbin blasts “styptic-hearted Republicans;” Update: Video added — On the Senate floor a few minutes ago, GOP Sen. Tom Coburn gave a rousing defense of the “Party of No.” — “We're accused of being the party of no,” he said. But “no is a wonderful word.


Editor's politics raise Qs at WSJ — Not long ago, a British conservative columnist and Weekly Standard contributor who once wrote a column asking if America was ready for a “dangerous left-winger” like Barack Obama would have been an unlikely second-in-command at The Wall Street Journal.


The Adam Lambert Problem — “Wrong track” poll numbers aren't just about the economy. — Printer — Friendly — The news came in numbers and the numbers were fairly grim, all the grimmer for being unsurprising. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll reported this week that more than half …

Most influential person of the decade — Which of these nominees had the greatest influence in shaping the past decade, either by changing how we live or by making the greatest impact on our culture? Cast your votes now and we'll reveal the winner on Monday, Dec. 21st. Want to nominate someone else?


Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won't Explain — Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Anne Phillips Ogilby, a bond attorney at one of Boston's oldest law firms, on Oct. 31 last year relayed an urgent message from Harvard University, her client and alma mater, to the head of a Massachusetts state agency that sells bonds.

DISGUSTING!!!: Rock the Vote & Hollywood Make Ad Promoting Teens Withholding Sex as Way to Sell Obamacare — Rock the Vote says their mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country.