The Commentariat -- Dec. 19, 2013

David Sanger & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A panel of presidential advisers who reviewed the National Security Agency's surveillance practices urged President Obama on Wednesday to end the government's systematic collection of logs of all Americans' phone calls, and to keep those in private hands, 'for queries and data mining' only by court order. In a more than 300-page report made public by the White House, the group of five intelligence and legal experts also strongly recommended that any operation to spy on foreign leaders would have to pass a rigorous test that weighs the potential economic or diplomatic costs if the operation becomes public. The decision to monitor those communications, it said, should be made by the president and his advisers, not the intelligence agencies." The report is here. ...

... The Times charts the major changes recommended. ...

... The Guardian's liveblog on the report -- which includes in-house analysis & other reactions -- makes for some interesting reading. ...

... Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare: "This is a really awkward document for the Obama administration. Really awkward. The President, after all, has stood by the necessity of the Section 215 program and objected to legislative proposals to curtail it. Then the White House handpicks a special review group, and it kind of pulls the rug out from under the administration's position. The review group concludes 'that the information contributed to terrorist investigations by the use of section 215 telephony meta-data was not essential to preventing attacks and could readily have been obtained in a timely manner using conventional section 215 orders.'" And more.

... Marcy Wheeler, writing in the Guardian, has some background & scuttlebutt. Also, the Guardian seems to have provided her with an editor, so her piece isn't as convoluted & minutiae-laden as is her usual writing. ...

... Charles Pierce: "These recommendations are just that. The White House can tell the panel to pound sand. And, even if it doesn't, there is no reason on god's earth why anyone should believe that the NSA actually would abide by any agreement going forward." ...

... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... the panel's report raises a pointed question: If collecting huge volumes of metadata on telephone calls from, to and within the United States doesn't bring much benefit, just how much political capital is Obama willing to spend to keep the program going?" ...

... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: Judge Richard "Leon asked the right question, the one that the FISA court, Obama, and key House and Senate Intelligence Committee leaders have failed to ask since 2006: Has the nature and quantity of data that we all relinquish to third parties changed so fundamentally since 1979 that the doctrine set out by Smith[, the 1979 case on which the NSA hangs it metadata collection hat,] is no longer useful as a constitutional roadmap? The Supreme Court may not ever ask, or answer, Leon's question. But Congress, and President Obama, certainly must." ...

... Frank Rich: "... as a practical matter, Leon's action has no effect, and there's no known reason to hope that his ruling will be upheld once it lands in the Roberts court." Thanks to contributor MAG for the link. ...

... The Last Scoundrel of Refuge (from the NSA) Is Not the Perfect Guest (And Hardly the Perfect Litigant on an Important Constitutional Issue). Tal Kopan of Politico: "Conservative legal activist Larry Klayman got into an argument on CNN with host Don Lemon and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin when he was brought on to discuss his victory this week in a lawsuit challenging NSA surveillance, resulting in Lemon cutting him off the screen and Klayman comparing Lemon to disgraced former MSNBC host Martin Bashir." ** Totally entertaining:

     ... Etiquette Note to Toobin: Just because a guest is a "tinfoil-hat lunatic" doesn't mean you should say so on the teevee. There are more polite -- if less amusing -- ways to convey your assessment of his credibility. ...

Ed O'Keefe & Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "Senators voted 64 to 36 to approve the bipartisan budget agreement Wednesday afternoon. Nine Republicans joined with 55 Democrats to approve the legislation, which Obama is expected to sign before departing this weekend for his Christmas vacation in Hawaii. The Republican senators who joined with Democrats were Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Susan Collins (Maine), Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), John Hoeven (N.D.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), Ronald Johnson (Wis.), John McCain (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Rob Portman (Ohio)."

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday that it would reduce its monthly bond-buying campaign to $75 billion in January, beginning a retreat from its stimulus campaign, because it no longer saw the need for the full force of those efforts." ...

... The Times has a handy interactive graphic "decoding" the Fed statement. ...

... Binyamin Appelbaum: "Stock markets in Asia and Europe on Thursday welcomed the news that the Federal Reserve would gradually end its bond-buying program during 2014, a modest first step toward unwinding the American central bank's broader stimulus campaign as its officials gained confidence that the economy was growing steadily." ...

... Dana Milbank: "It is tantalizing to wonder, as Ben Bernanke did Wednesday afternoon, how much better the economy would be today, and how many millions more would have jobs, if Congress hadn't done so much over the past few years to drag down growth.... A dozen times he mentioned fiscal drag, fiscal head winds, tight fiscal policy and the like. In his opening statement, he noted that 'despite significant fiscal head winds, the economy has been expanding at a moderate pace' and will pick up further, helped by 'waning fiscal drag.' The waning fiscal drag was apparently a reference to this month's budget deal.... Bernanke ... can feel good about what he did to fight the twin menaces of his tenure: the Great Recession and the lawmakers whose policies made it worse."

Steve Yaccino of the New York Times: "The director of Minnesota's health insurance exchange, April Todd-Malmlov, abruptly resigned this week, making the exchange the fourth state program to see a leadership change in the midst of mounting criticism over the rollout of President Obama's new health care law.... Ms. Todd-Malmlov's successor was quick to promise fixes to problems still plaguing consumers...."

Maggie Haberman & Manu Raju of Politico: "Sen. Max Baucus, the veteran Montana Democrat who has served in the Senate since 1978, is expected to be nominated by the White House to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to China.... [Baucus], who has been a central figure in battles over trade, taxes and health care for a generation, has already announced he will not run for reelection in 2014. And if he leaves early, Baucus will be opening up a Senate seat in a competitive state where Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock appoints the senator when there is a vacancy."

People Are Stoopid. Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Seventy-two percent of Americans say big government is a greater threat to the U.S. in the future than is big business or big labor, a record high in the nearly 50-year history of this question. The prior high for big government was 65% in 1999 and 2000. Big government has always topped big business and big labor, including in the initial asking in 1965, but just 35% named it at that time." ...

... Steve M.: "The survey results are disheartening, but what's really disheartening is the fact that big business has never taken the #1 slot in this poll. It didn't even happen after Big Finance unleashed a global financial Katrina that drowned much of the world in 2008...." ...

Right Wing World

... Shades of Newt. The poll of Stoopid People above explains why they vote for a guy who says stuff like this. Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) ... is proposing that low-income children do some manual labor in exchange for their subsidized meals. On Saturday, Kingston, who is vying to be his party's nominee in Georgia's Senate race next year, spoke at a meeting of the Jackson County Republican Party about the federal school lunch program." Includes video of Kingston saying,

But one of the things I've talked to the secretary of agriculture about: Why don't you have the kids pay a dime, pay a nickel to instill in them that there is, in fact, no such thing as a free lunch? Or maybe sweep the floor of the cafeteria.... Think what we would gain as a society in getting people -- getting the myth out of their head that there is such a thing as a free lunch.

... Digby: "Why not poor houses and orphanages? It worked for Queen Victoria." ...

... Sins of the Father. Jim Newell in Salon: Yo, Jack! "Every kid gets a 'free lunch.' So it doesn't make sense to put one into janitorial labor and not the other because of parental earning disparities." ...

... Jessica Williams did this segment before Kingman's bright idea hit the national media:

     ... Olivia Kittel of Media Matters: "Forbes columnist John Tamny's declaration on The Daily Show that food stamps are 'cruel' and would be replaced by private charity if people were 'literally starving' with 'distended bellies' is in keeping with his past remarks on the program -- In his regular role as a Fox panelist, Tamny has lamented that food stamp recipients are not publicly shamed and embarrassed for receiving the benefits."

... David Edwards of the Raw Story: Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), "a tea party-back Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri, this week asked that a flag be moved because she did not want to stand near a photo of President Barack Obama during a press conference." ...

... Rudy Keller of the Columbia (Missouri) Daily Tribune: "She has issued numerous official press releases denouncing Obama, the health care plan Republicans have labeled with his name and his proposals on tax and spending policies to control the federal deficit." ...

... CW: Hartzler's press conference took place at the Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital. I wonder if Hartzler knows that the place she chose for her presser is named for a Democratic president. I wonder if she knows that every one of the patients at that hospital is the recipient of socialized medicine -- way more "socialized" than ObamaCare. And she's worried about optics?

Evan McMorris-Santoro of BuzzFeed: "The Republican National Committee publicity effort to tar Democrats with PolitiFact's 'Lie Of The Year' includes sending Democrats trophies emblazoned with the American Flag that are made in China. A Democratic source said the trophies have been sent to the offices of all the top Republican targets for defeat in next year's Senate elections."

Just Who Is Conservative Enough for Wingers?

November 2013 Election

Laura Vozzella & Ben Pershing of the Washington Post: "State Sen. Mark D. Obenshain (R) conceded the race for Virginia attorney general to Democrat Mark R. Herring on Wednesday... Obenshain's announcement put an end to a drawn-out contest that, on election night, was the closest statewide election in history.... Herring had significantly widened his slim lead over Obenshain in a statewide recount that began Monday and was scheduled to finish Wednesday.... Herring and Obenshain are state senators, and Herring's win will prompt a special election. Because Herring's Loudoun County district is seen as highly competitive, his win could cause Democrats to lose power in the evenly divided Senate." ...

... Adam Weinstein of Gawker: "... Virginia Republicans will go from holding every statewide office in Richmond to none when the new governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general are sworn in next year. It will be the first time in four decades that Democrats have held those positions and both of the state's U.S. Senate seats."

Presidential Election 2012

Brett Logiurato of Business Insider: "Netflix is out with a trailer for its new Mitt Romney documentary -- 'MITT' -- which provides a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look into some of the most important moments of his failed campaign for president." The trailer shows "Romney checking his phone, the moment he realized he was going to lose the 2012 election....":

... "New Documentary Threatens to Make You Like Mitt Romney." Paul Waldman: "This two-minute trailer is full of charmingly human moments, particularly since Mitt's greatest unmet challenge was convincing us that he was indeed human.... The passage of time -- and the fact that he will no longer be affecting politics or policy -- allows us to see him as just a human being, and maybe even spare a generous thought for him." CW: I had to read the headline twice. The first time I thought it meant I could become a MittClone.

Local News

** Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors told Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell last week that he and his wife would be charged in connection with a gift scandal, but senior Justice Department officials delayed the decision after the McDonnells' attorneys made a face-to-face appeal in Washington, according to people familiar with the case."

When Gail Collins writes a column that involves Chris Christie, Sheldon Adelson & Donald Trump, you can bet -- so to speak -- it's worth reading. Collins' bottom line, though: "There is no possible way the country could be improved by giving people a greatly expanded freedom to gamble for money in their pajamas."

Jon Hurdle of the New York Times: "Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania has thrown his support behind a state bill that would ban discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, adding unexpected support from a Republican who once said gay marriage was the equivalent of a brother marrying a sister.... Mr. Corbett has been lagging in the polls ahead of his bid for re-election next year and is viewed as perhaps the nation's most vulnerable governor."

News Ledes

New York Times: "With an eye perhaps to the coming Winter Olympics, President Vladimir V. Putin said on Thursday that Russia could soon free its most famous prisoner, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, the former chief executive of Yukos Oil, whose arrest and imprisonment 10 years ago signaled an authoritarian turn in the nation's modern history."

Reuters: "Target Corp. said data from about 40 million credit and debit card accounts might have been stolen during the Thanksgiving weekend, in one of the largest credit card breaches at a U.S. retailer.... Target said the accounts, which might have been compromised between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15, affected customers making credit and debit card purchases at its U.S. stores."

New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday explained his decision to rescue Ukraine with a $15 billion bailout and discounts on natural gas as a gesture of good will given the close historic ties between the two countries."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 18, 2013

** Tom Edsall of the New York Times: "In practice, [economist Mike] Konczal writes, the political left has abandoned its quest for deep structural reform -- full employment and worker empowerment -- and instead has 'doubled-down' on the safety net strategy. The result, in his view, is 'a kind of pity-charity liberal capitalism.' ... Survey data find that during hard times people become less altruistic and more inclined to see the poor as undeserving. They turn to the right, not the left, in periods of economic stress." ...

     ... CW: If you haven't time to read Edsall's column just now, save it for later. Konczal has put his finger on the key reason for the great American decline. The instigators of this decline, of course, are conservatives whose long-running plot to destroy popular empowerment has been a great success. But the other side -- the ostensible good guys -- have acquiesced & accommodated the villains. If you're looking for Neville Chamberlain, you'll find him in Bill Clinton & his Wall Street wolf pack. Barack Obama fell under their spell, where he remained his entire first term. It wasn't until he made his speech on income inequality a couple of weeks ago that we saw any evidence he had escaped the surly bonds of Clintonomics. Maybe he read Konczal. Maybe he read Robert Reich. Or Harold Meyerson. Something changed. What has not changed is his apparent belief that he can turn the destroyers into facilitators, that his red/blue/American states rhetorical fantasy of 2004 can come true. ...

... Sarah Hughes of the DCist: "... the D.C. Council unanimously passed an increase in the minimum wage [Tuesday] to one of the highest levels in the country.... The increase will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 in July 2014, $10.50 the following year, and $11.50 by 2016, with future increases tied to the Consumer Price Index."

Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked the C.I.A. for an internal study done by the agency that lawmakers believe is broadly critical of the C.I.A.'s detention and interrogation program but was withheld from congressional oversight committees. The committee's request comes in the midst of a yearlong battle with the C.I.A. over the release of the panel's own exhaustive report about the program, one of the most controversial policies of the post-Sept. 11 era. The Senate report, totaling more than 6,000 pages, was completed last December but has yet to be declassified."

I mean, I am not kidding myself. It doesn't matter, however I rule. -- District Judge Richard Leon, to the parties during the NSA trial, on the likelihood that the case would go to the Court of Appeals and likely to the Supreme Court

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "... it seems reasonably likely that the [NSA case decided by Judge Richard Leon], or a related one, will for the first time result in a definitive legal ruling [from the Supreme Court] on the constitutionality of one of the post-Sept. 11 government surveillance programs." ...

... Maureen Dowd: "Whatever we think of Snowden -- self-aggrandizing creep or self-sacrificing crusader against creepy government spying or sociopath with stolen documents, as The Wall Street Journal put it, or someone who should 'swing from a tall oak tree,' as John Bolton told Fox News -- it is absolutely clear that the N.S.A. went wild with technology that allowed it to go wild."...

... Cecelia Kang & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "Leaders of the nation's biggest technology firms warned President Obama during a lengthy meeting at the White House on Tuesday that National Security Agency spying programs are damaging their reputations and could harm the broader economy." ...

... Jackie Calmes & Nick Wingfield of the New York Times: "President Obama met with top technology industry executives on Tuesday to discuss two seemingly distinct controversies: a faulty health care website, and the digital surveillance practices of the National Security Agency. The meeting started with an announcement by Mr. Obama that he was reaching into the ranks of Microsoft, the software giant, to select Kurt DelBene as the next person to run HealthCare.gov. But the focus quickly turned from the health care site to the concerns of Apple, Microsoft, Google and other technology companies about the spying efforts, the latest illustration of the strained relationship between an industry and a White House that had long been close." ...

... Obama likes "House of Cards":

... Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration tapped former Microsoft executive Kurt DelBene to take over managing HealthCare.gov on Tuesday.... DelBene, who recently retired from Microsoft and is married to Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), will serve as an unpaid senior adviser. He will succeed Jeffrey Zients, who is scheduled to head the National Economic Council beginning in February."

Kelly Whiteside of USA Today: "The White House delivered a strong message of opposition to Russia's anti-gay laws Tuesday with the announcement of its delegation to the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympics. The White House delegation will include an openly gay athlete: tennis great Billie Jean King.... This marks the first Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Summer Games that a U.S. president, vice president, first lady or former president has not been a member of the delegation for the opening ceremony, which will be Feb. 7 in Sochi." The Politico story, by Jennifer Epstein, is here.

Keegan Hamilton of the Atlantic: "Excluding immigrants [from the ACA] was a key concession offered to moderate Democrats and conservatives, who insisted that no tax dollars go toward the undocumented. But keeping immigrants out of the ACA means that states and cities with large immigrant populations are likely face a huge strain on their budgets in the coming years. It gets worse: The law also trims $22 billion from Medicaid charity-care reimbursements.... In immigrant hubs such as New York..., nearly 70 percent of uninsured patients in the city's public hospitals and clinics are also undocumented."

On the Road with Darrell Issa & His Band of Obama-Bashing Rascals. Sherry Jacobson of the Dallas Morning News: "Four Texas congressmen took aim Monday at the federally paid navigators who are helping Texans access insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Their criticism came during an unusual 'field hearing' by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform." Best bit: Darrell "Issa [RZealot-Calif.] asked [Dr. Randy] Farris, [regional administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] whether he knew that all applicant information ended up on the federal site. Farris said private information was not stored there. 'You need to watch more Fox, I'm afraid,' Issa said." Via TPM. ...

... Molly Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is accusing Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ... of attempting to 'stifle, intimidate and impugn the reputation' of Obamacare navigators, the individuals tasked with helping others sign up for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News, Sebelius said a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the Affordable Care Act set to be held in Texas on Monday was 'designed' to derail the work of the navigators."

Congressional Job Openings

Richard Cowan of Reuters: "Three veteran members of the House of Representatives, two Republicans and one Democrat, announced their retirements just as the 2014 congressional campaign season starts to heat up. Republican Representatives Frank Wolf of Virginia and Tom Latham of Iowa, along with Democratic Representative Jim Matheson of Utah, made their separate announcements on Tuesday as Congress was winding up its legislative activity for the year."

News Lede

Reuters: "Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved an amnesty which lawyers said would free two jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot and enable 30 people arrested in a Greenpeace protest against Arctic oil drilling avoid trial."

The Commentariat -- Dec. 17, 2013

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A Federal District Court judge ruled on Monday that the National Security Agency program that is systematically keeping records of all Americans' phone calls most likely violates the Constitution, and he ordered the government to stop collecting data on two plaintiffs' personal calls and destroy the records of their calling history. In a 68-page ruling, Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia called the program's technology 'almost Orwellian' and suggested that James Madison, the author of the Constitution, would be 'aghast' to learn that the government was encroaching on liberty in such a way." The ruling is here. ...

... It's Not Over Til the Supremes Sing. Frederic Frommer of the AP: “'This is the opening salvo in a very long story, but it's important symbolically in dispelling the invincibility of the metadata program,' said Stephen Vladeck, a national security law expert at the American University law school.... Robert F. Turner, a professor at the University of Virginia's Center for National Security Law, predicted Leon's decision was highly likely to be reversed on appeal. He said the collection of telephone metadata -- the issue in Monday's ruling -- already has been addressed and resolved by the Supreme Court." ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The National Security Agency went into Judge Richard Leon's courtroom with a powerful precedent on its side. In its 1979 decision in Smith v. Maryland, the Supreme Court held that individuals do not have a 'reasonable expectation of privacy' in the numbers they dial on their phone.... The central insight of Judge Leon’s opinion is that technology has so transformed our world that it requires an entirely different constitutional privacy regime. Whatever the wisdom of Smith on the day that it was decided, its conception of what constitutes a 'reasonable expectation of privacy' imagined a world where government surveillance was relatively unusual and impossible to execute on a massive scale. New realities require new assumptions. And if the courts do not know the difference between science fiction and scientific fact, then we will forfeit our liberties as Americans." ...

... Scott Lemieux, in the American Prospect, analyzes Judge Leon's decision. ...

I acted on my belief that the N.S.A.'s mass surveillance programs would not withstand a constitutional challenge, and that the American public deserved a chance to see these issues determined by open courts. Today, a secret program authorized by a secret court was, when exposed to the light of day, found to violate Americans' rights. It is the first of many. -- Edward Snowden, in a statement distributed by Glenn Greenwald

... CW: Steve M., in his commentary on the case, expresses views on Snowden, Greenwald, et al., jibe with mine. It's a good idea to remember that, particularly in ultra-controversial issues, there are not only at least two sides to the story, those on both/all sides might be shmucks. ...

... Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian refutes key points of the "60 Minutes" NSA story (see yesterday's Commentariat). ...

(... Dylan Byers of Politico: "Lara Logan and Max McClellan, the '60 Minutes' journalists who were put on a leave of absence following their now-retracted report on Benghazi, are set to return to the program early next year...." CW: Well, why the hell not?) ...

... AFP: " The White House Monday renewed its demand for Edward Snowden to return home to face trial, after a top spy official floated the idea of an amnesty deal to plug his damaging intelligence leaks." ...

... Paul Owen of the Guardian: "Edward Snowden has offered to help Brazil investigate US spying on its soil in exchange for political asylum, in an open letter from the NSA whistleblower to the Brazilian people published by the Folha de S Paulo newspaper." CW: Apparently Snowden would rather winter in Rio than in Moscow. Perfectly understandable. ...

... Andy Greenberg of Forbes: "... an NSA staffer who contacted me last month and asked not to be identified ... offered me a very different, firsthand portrait of how Snowden was seen by his colleagues in the agency's Hawaii office: A principled and ultra-competent, if somewhat eccentric employee, and one who earned the access used to pull off his leak by impressing superiors with sheer talent.... According to the source, Snowden didn't dupe coworkers into handing over their passwords, as one report has claimed. Nor did Snowden fabricate SSH keys to gain unauthorized access, he or she says. Instead, there's little mystery as to how Snowden gained his access: It was given to him. 'That kid was a genius among geniuses,' says the NSA staffer." ...

... Oliver Knox of Yahoo! News: "Apple, Twitter, Netflix, Google, Facebook, Yahoo … a phalanx of top executives from leading tech companies meets Tuesday with President Barack Obama to discuss the impact that his controversial spying programs have had on online commerce. Obama will host the group in the Roosevelt Room of the White House one day after a federal judge decreed that NSA bulk collection of telephone data likely violates the Constitution." CW: Awwwkward.

Lori Montgomery & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Despite a concerted attack by conservative advocacy groups, a bipartisan deal to roll back sharp spending cuts known as the sequester appeared on track to clear the Senate after a growing number of Republicans declared their support for the measure. On Monday, Sens. Orrin G. Hatch (Utah) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) added their names to a list that included Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Ronald H. Johnson (Wis.)." ...

     ... Washington Post UPDATE: "A bipartisan deal to roll back sharp spending cuts known as the sequester easily cleared a procedural hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as enough Republicans joined Democrats to gain the votes needed to proceed to a final passage. Senators agreed 67 to 33 to end debate and proceed to final vote on the budget agreement. Twelve Republicans joined with the 55 members of the Senate Democratic caucus to proceed to a final vote, which could come as soon as Tuesday evening if Senate Republicans agree to speed things up. Otherwise, the chamber is likely to send the measure to the White House late Wednesday."

Obama 2.0. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The Senate confirmed Jeh C. Johnson on Monday as secretary of homeland security, the fourth person to lead the sprawling domestic safety agency since its inception after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Johnson, 56, the former general counsel for the Pentagon, won confirmation on an overwhelming vote, 78 to 16, as the Senate continued churning through an end-of-session batch of nominees to fill President Obama's Cabinet and the federal judiciary." ...

... MEANWHILE. Peter Schroeder & Bernie Becker of the Hill: "Stinging from Senate Democrats' gutting of the filibuster, Senate Republicans will use their private caucus lunch Tuesday to decide on their strategy for holding back a string of nominees."

Greg Sargent: "As of now, over two dozen states are not opting in to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, thanks largely to hostility to the law among GOP governors who are turning down huge sums of federal money that could otherwise go towards expanding coverage to their own constituents. Result: untold numbers risk falling into a 'Medicaid gap,' making too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid, yet too little to qualify for subsidies on the exchanges. We now have a new look at the consequences of this: Millions will likely remain uninsured, and racial and geographic disparities in access to coverage will worsen. Two new studies released by the Kaiser Family Foundation today illustrate this in new detail."

Josh Barro of Business Insider: "Conservatives have no idea what to do about recessions.... Conservatives favor the same set of economic policies when the economy is weak and when it is strong.... The implication is that conservatives believe there is nothing in particular the government should do about economic cycles....As with health care and bank regulation, economic recessions are a policy question to which conservatives have not the wrong answer, but no answer." ...

... Paul Krugman has a most interesting follow-up/rejoinder to Barro's post.

Daniel Strauss of TPM: "In a new fundraising email, the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF) said House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is targeting conservatives in the same way that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status." CW: One little problem with the SCF analogy: the IRS was not targeting conservatives. But there never was a winger who let the facts get in the way of a good fundraising ploy. ...

... Alex Rogers of Time: “The Tea Party wants to avenge Paul Teller. Teller was fired last week from his post as executive director of the Republican Study Committee, a congressional group that steers the right-wing agenda, after allegedly leaking private conversations over the course of years to outside political groups.... A lawmaker in the RSC leadership ... told Time ... the RSC fired Teller after he leaked details of a December 5 meeting where [Paul] Ryan outlined aspects of the forthcoming budget deal.... The lawmaker stressed that it was not a first time offense. In 2011, during the debt-ceiling showdown, Teller reportedly was caught sending emails to outside groups in an attempt to tank a Boehner proposal. Members chanted 'Fire him, fire him!' when they found out, according to Politico."

Yahoo! News: "The federal government has spent nearly $1 million studying romance in popular culture, according to a new report [by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.)] that targets government waste. The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded $914,000 to help fund the 'The Popular Romance Project' since 2010, an ongoing culture study that explores 'the fascinating, often contradictory origins and influences of popular romance as told in novels, films, comics, advice books, songs, and internet fan fiction.'" CW: So maybe I need a New Rule on Reality Chex commentary: Literary fiction, no; bodice-rippers, yes.

Jim Yardley & Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Pope Francis moved on Monday against a conservative American cardinal [Raymond Burke] who has been an outspoken critic of abortion and same-sex marriage, by replacing him on a powerful Vatican committee with another American who is less identified with the culture wars within the Roman Catholic Church." ...

... Philip Pullella of Reuters: "The oldest gay rights magazine in the United States named Pope Francis its 'Person of the Year' as the pontiff marked his 77th birthday on Tuesday by inviting homeless people to join him for breakfast in the Vatican." The Advocate story -- which explains how the editors made their choice -- is here.

Senate Race

Annie Linskey of Bloomberg News: "Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown plans to move to New Hampshire, the latest sign that he's considering a U.S. Senate bid there, which would complicate Democrats' effort to hold their majority in the chamber." Brown has a buyer for his Wrentham, Massachusetts home, & he owns a vacation home in New Hampshire.

Local News

NEW. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: In "the sudden closure, over four days, of a pair of access lanes from Fort Lee, N.J., onto the George Washington Bridge into New York ... Democrats see a potential scandal that could permanently harm Republican Gov. Chris Christie...." CW: Sounds like a long shot to me. Democrats &/or the press will have to come up with a smoking gun that proves Christie ordered the lane closings, then lied to cover up his involvement. So far, no smoke.

Emma Dumain of Roll Call: "The House Ethics Committee will launch a formal investigation into alleged misconduct by Rep. Trey Radel, the panel's top Republican and Democrat announced Monday.... Radel has been on leave since late last month, when news broke that he had been arrested in the District of Columbia for cocaine possession. He is now checked into a rehab clinic in Florida, where he says he is getting help for his addiction issues that will enable him to get back to work -- despite the many calls in and out of his home state for him to step down." The committee probably won't take any action against Radel.

News Ledes

Boston Globe: "A Harvard student trying to get out of a final exam admitted to the FBI that he sent a bomb threat that forced the university to evacuate multiple buildings and rattled the campus, federal officials said Tuesday. Instead of going home for winter break, 20-year-old Eldo Kim was arrested Tuesday and held overnight on federal bomb hoax charges. He is scheduled to appear in US District Court on Wednesday...."

New York Times: "Tunisia ... has once again broken new ground with a political deal between longtime enemies among the Islamists and the secular old guard. The deal, announced over the weekend, aims to put in place an independent caretaker government until new elections next year, marking the first time Islamists have agreed in the face of rising public anger to step back from power gained at the ballot box."

AFP: "British police on Monday said they had finished examining new information about the 1997 death of Diana, princess of Wales, but had found 'no credible evidence' she was murdered. Scotland Yard police headquarters announced in August it was checking the credibility of recently received information about the deaths of the princess and her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, including an allegation that she was murdered by a British military figure."

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