links for 2011-01-03

The 112th Congress doesn't begin until Wednesday, but Senate Democrats are already vowing to block any attempts by the new GOP-led House to repeal the healthcare reform law.

The Senate's top Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), wrote incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday warning the new GOP House against advancing legislation that would undo the sweeping healthcare overhaul.

"The incoming House Republican majority that you lead has made the repeal of the federal health care law one of its chief goals. We urge you to consider the unintended consequences that the law’s repeal would have on a number of popular consumer protections that help middle class Americans," the Democrats said.

Democrats said repeal would threaten the consumer protections included in the healthcare package, including the provision that eliminates the so-called "doughnut hole" in seniors' Medicare drug coverage.

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Yeah Yeah – make them vote on how they will fund it

The time it takes to follow and go through multiple web sites and blogs takes tangible time, and since most sources publish or give coverage to more than one topic, one gets to browse and scan through lots of useless content just for the sake of finding what is relevant to his specific interest. Even in the case of power-users utilizing RSS feed readers, aggregators and filters, the amount of junk we have to sift through daily is nothing but impressive, so much so, that those who have enough time and skills to pick the gems from that ocean of tweets, social media posts and blog posts, enjoy a fast increasing reputation and visibility online.

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Read it all

Every hour thousands of new videos are uploaded online. Blog posts are written and published. Millions of tweets and other short messages are shared.

To say there is a flood of content being created online now seems like a serious understatement.

Until now, the interesting thing is that there are relatively few technologies or tools that have been adopted in a widespread way to manage this deluge. We pretty much just have  algorithmic search, with Google (and other search engines) as the most obvious example.

Social bookmarking and  social news have been around for some time (ie – sites like Digg or delicious), and new models of aggregation like Alltop are springing up to help us navigate all this content as well. The real question is whether solutions like these will be enough.

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CNN has learned that Republicans plan to try to repeal the health care law almost immediately after taking control of the House, setting the stage for an early confrontation with President Obama.
House GOP sources tell CNN that they will unveil repeal legislation Monday night, even before they claim the majority Wednesday. Then, on Friday, Republicans will hold a critical procedural vote – the first step towards passing the repeal. A final House vote will likely take place next Wednesday.

Republicans have said for some time the House would take up repealing health care, a top GOP campaign issue, during the first month of the new Congress, but up to now have not revealed exactly when. Regardless, the repeal has little chance of passing the Senate.

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The overall repeal will fail in the Senate but Dems in the House/Senate will be forced to vote for it placing them at risk when ObamaCare sours with its increased costs.

Next, the GOP will be able to defund it

Former Rep. Heather Wilson is considering running for Senate in New Mexico, giving the GOP a potential top-flight challenger to Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman.

“I am considering running for the Senate, as well as other opportunities,” Wilson told Roll Call on Monday. “A number of factors go into that. Ultimately it’s a decision about what is the best use of my talents and gifts.”

Bingaman has yet to announce whether he will seek a sixth term. First elected in 1982 after a term as state attorney general, Bingaman will be 69 by Election Day in 2012.

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Another Dem Senate seat under contention in 2012. Bingaman deserves a good challenge from Heather Wilson.

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton today endorsed Ken Paxton for Texas House speaker. Bolton, who doesn't have a say in the matter, said Paxton's bid to oust incumbent Joe Straus has national implications because of redistricting and border security.

With Texas gaining four more U.S. House seats, Bolton said, the Texas Legislature needs GOP leaders who will "rectify literally decades of skewed redistricting decisions." Bolton (right, AFP/Getty Images photo) also said that Texas needs to signal grave concern about drug-related violence across the border in Mexico.

Bolton caps an impressive list of non-House members who've endorsed Paxton, R-McKinney. Others included former U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.