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	<title>The Modern Independent</title>
	<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com</link>
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		<title>&#8220;You&#8217;re So Cool!&#8221;: Jared Polis on Repealing DADT</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Congressman Jared Polis was on Hardball with Chris Matthews last week to discuss the imminent repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy concerning gays in the military.&#160; It appears that their are enough Republicans in the Senate now to successfully bring the measure to a cloture vote. 
Here is Polis on Hardball:
 
Visit [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/youre-so-cool-jared-polis-on-repealing-dadt/</link>
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		<title>FOX News Misinforms? Say It Ain&#8217;t So!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[For everyone who is blind to the obvious, The Huffington Post has an informative piece based on a recent study from the University of Maryland. It notes:
Fox News viewers are much more likely than others to believe false information about American politics, a new study concludes.
The study, conducted by the University of Maryland, judged how [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/fox-news-misinforms-say-it-aint-so/</link>
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		<title>Senator Bernie Sanders&#8217; 9 Hours of Fame</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A rare Mr. Smith-goes-to-Washington moment occurred on Friday afternoon. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialist Senator from Vermont, stood on the Senate floor for 9 hours to filibuster the tax-cut compromise brokered between President Obama and the Congressional GOP.&#160; 
Watch the first twelve minutes of the filibuster below:



Reaction to the day-long spectacle has been mixed.&#160; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/senator-bernie-sanders-9-hours-of-fame/</link>
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		<title>Debunking the Liberal Purists on Health Care Reform and The Bush Tax Cuts</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The liberal backlash against President Obama’s tax deal, which includes a two-year extension of all the Bush tax-cuts, with Republican leadership is at fever-pitch.&#160; At no point since the debate over the public option in health care reform have liberal in Congress and across America been more critical of the President’s performance. 
The common attack [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/debunking-the-liberal-purists-on-health-care-reform-and-the-bush-tax-cuts/</link>
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		<title>Why Passing the Tax-Cut Deal is a Political Must-Do for Democrats</title>
		<description><![CDATA[If Democrats don’t pass the tax-cut deal they will effective abdicate the debate over the economy for at least the next two years and effectively ruin any chance for making electoral gains in 2012.&#160; Here is the reasoning from NBC News’ First Read:
Dems decide to fight and get nothing when the tax cuts expire at [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/why-passing-the-tax-cut-deal-is-a-political-must-do-for-democrats/</link>
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		<title>The Tea Party&#8217;s Billion Dollar Fiscal Hypocrisy</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Nobody hates earmarks more than Tea Partiers.&#160; That is why this report from the National Journal is so hilarious:
Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/the-tea-partys-billion-dollar-fiscal-hypocrisy/</link>
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		<title>Health Care Reform v. South Carolina: The Law&#8217;s State Opt-Out Clause</title>
		<description><![CDATA[South Carolina’s governor-elect, Nikki Haley, met with President Obama today with other newly elected governors, most of which campaigned against the President’s legislative agenda. The President spent a large portion of the time defending his health care reform overhaul.&#160; At one point in the conversation,&#160; Haley implored to allow South Carolina to opt-out of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/health-care-reform-v-south-carolina-the-laws-state-opt-out-clause/</link>
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		<title>Splitting Votes in 2012: Democratic Primaries and Third Parties</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Ed Kilgore makes a strong case for why President Obama will not face a serious primary challenger in 2012. Writing in The New Republic, he argues:
Obama's straight approval ratings among rank-and-file Democrats are very high. According to Gallup’s latest weekly tracking poll, 81 percent of self-identified Democrats give Obama a positive job approval rating. Among [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/splitting-votes-in-2012-democratic-primaries-and-third-parties/</link>
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		<title>The DREAM Act: A Sensible Attempt to Protect Society&#8217;s Most Vulnerable</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the issues that will likely get lost in the lame duck session of the 111th is the DREAM Act, a bill that Democrats have been trying to pass for almost a decade.&#160; In short, the bill would give legal residency to immigrants who arrived in the United States as children (under age 16) [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/the-dream-act-a-sensible-attempt-to-protect-societys-most-vulnerable/</link>
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		<title>Balancing the Federal Budget in a Few Easy Steps</title>
		<description><![CDATA[A couple weeks ago, shortly after the Bowles-Simpson Deficit Commission report was leaked to the press, The New York Times created an awesome interactive feature that would allow its readers to attempt to balance the federal budget deficit by 2030.&#160; For budding policy wonks such as myself, the interactive feature is both fun and educational [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.themodernindependent.com/2010/12/balancing-the-federal-budget-in-a-few-easy-steps/</link>
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