Sen. Dodd, D-Conn., slashed aviation security funding for pet constituency

By: Mark Hemingway
Commentary Staff Writer
12/28/09 12:24 PM EST

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 30% of voters nationwide believe the $787-billion economic stimulus plan has helped the economy. However, 38% believe that the stimulus plan has hurt the economy. This is the first time since the legislation passed that a plurality has held a negative view of its impact.

The number who believe that the stimulus plan has hurt the economy rose from 28% in September, to 31% in October, and 34% in November before jumping to 38% this month. The week after the president signed the bill, 34% said it would help the economy, while 32% said it would hurt.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/economic_stimulus_package/december_2009/for_first_time_plurality_believes_stimulus_plan_hurt_the_economy

German and European leaders condemn Iran crackdown

In a strong statement to the press on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the actions of Iran's state security services “unacceptable.”

She called on them to “avoid any further escalation of the violence and to pursue political dialogue to peacefully settle internally disputed matters,” and also to respect their commitment to the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to peaceful protest.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5064447,00.html

Memphis Man Arrested: Accused of Making Bomb Threats & Threatening to Start “Holy War”

MEMPHIS

Why the Filibuster Is More Essential Now Than Ever

By Jay Cost

Ezra Klein had a provocative column in Sunday's Washington Post, arguing that it's time to eliminate or substantially weaken the filibuster in the United States Senate. He writes:

The modern Senate is a radically different institution than the Senate of the 1960s, and the dysfunction exhibited in its debate over health care -- the absence of bipartisanship, the use of the filibuster to obstruct progress rather than protect debate, the ability of any given senator to hold the bill hostage to his or her demands -- has convinced many, both inside and outside the chamber, that it needs to be fixed.

Klein cites a study from Barbara Sinclair showing that the filibuster is used much more frequently now - up from 8% of "major bills" to 70%. This is as sure a sign as any that reform is needed, that the two parties can't be allowed to succeed by using the politics of obstruction anymore.

Yet Klein's reasoning is imprecise. After all, the legislative process has not become "broken." It is largely the same process as it was decades ago. The real change has occurred within the two Senate parties. They are using the filibuster more aggressively in their quest for political success. This raises an important question that Klein leaves unaddressed: if the parties are more unrelentingly partisan now than in ages past, is it prudent to lower the barriers that prevent them from enacting sweeping policy changes?

Via Jonah Goldberg at The Corner blog on National Review Online:

Allegedly?   [Jonah Goldberg]

Here's a small example of the difference between treating terrorism like a crime and like an act of war. In his press conference today:

Here's what we know so far: On Christmas Day, Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was en route from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit. As the plane made its final approach to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device on his body, setting off a fire.

If we know it, how "allegedly" can it be? And we do know it, right? I mean there are lots of witnesses, we have identified the device and the explosive and the guy has reportedly admitted what he was trying to do. And al Qaeda has admitted they were behind the plot (or at least an al Qaeda website says so). But the commander-in-chief still says "allegedly."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzlhZDQ0MzlkNDNiNWY4NzEwYzMwYmZjYjcxMzg0Zjg=

Government employees are much more bullish about the economy than those who work in the private sector. That’s a big change from the beginning of the year when those on the public payroll were a bit more pessimistic than private sector workers.

Data from the Rasmussen Consumer Index from the past seven days shows that a plurality of government workers think the economy is getting better while those who work in the private sector tend to have the opposite view. Those in the government sector are also more upbeat about the current state of the economy and their own personal finances.

Israeli defense chief: Iran can build bomb by 2011

JERUSALEM – Iran will possess the technology to build a nuclear bomb by early 2010 and be able to produce one the following year, Israeli media quoted Israel's defense minister as saying Monday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak delivered his assessment before the Israeli parliament's defense and foreign affairs committee. It broadly matches assessments from other nations including the U.S., which estimates that Tehran could produce a nuclear weapon between 2010 and 2015.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_iran

Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Attempted Bombing of U.S. Plane

Monday, December 28, 2009

Top House Dems OK to Drop Gov't Option

AP

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and one who had appealed to President Obama, said he could vote for a final bill that does not embrace a 'public' plan.

WASHINGTON -- Two House Democrats who favor a government insurance plan, a central element of health care legislation passed in their chamber, acknowledged Sunday it might have to be sacrificed as negotiators work out a final agreement with the Senate.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and one who had appealed to President Barack Obama not to yield on the so-called public plan, set out conditions for yielding himself.

Asked during rounds on the Sunday news shows whether he could vote for a final bill that does not embrace a public plan, Clyburn said: "Yes, sir, I can."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/28/house-dems-ok-drop-govt-option/

Senate Democrats to W.H.: Drop cap-and-trade

Bruised by the health care debate and worried about what 2010 will bring, moderate Senate Democrats are urging the White House to give up now on any effort to pass a cap-and-trade bill next year.

“I am communicating that in every way I know how,” says Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), one of at least half a dozen Democrats who've told the White House or their own leaders that it's time to jettison the centerpiece of their party's plan to curb global warming.

The creation of an economy-wide market for greenhouse gas emissions is as the heart of the climate bill that cleared the House earlier this year. But with the health care fight still raging and the economy still hurting, moderate Democrats have little appetite for another sweeping initiative — especially another one likely to pass with little or no Republican support.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30984.html