Pollster:
Other polls show similar shift - The McClatchy-Marist poll is now the fourth, along with CNN/ORC, PPP (D) and Quinnipiac, to show Christie rising nationally in December following his reelection as New Jersey governor and then falling in recent weeks following coverage of the bridge scandal. HuffPollster's poll tracking model finds Clinton's lead over Christie growing from an average of about 2 points in mid-December to nearly 19 points post-Bridgegate. Yes, the 2016 election is still a long way off, and the current results may bear little relationship to the actual contest that plays out two years from now. Nevertheless, Christie's early reversal of fortune is striking.
WaPo:
The end to federal jobless benefits for nearly 2 million people has sparked a bitter debate in Congress about whether Washington is abandoning desperate households or simply protecting strained government coffers.
It is also providing real-time answers to a question economists have long pondered: How do people survive when they suddenly have no money coming in?
More policy and politics below the fold.
Here's a process point from WMUR NH:
What does renaming a Nashua air traffic control center -- something that has already happened -- have to do with raising the nation's debt limit?
Stick with me here dear readers. This is how the real Washington works.
Robert Costa:
This week’s debt-limit drama ended as it began: with House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), standing alone before his colleagues, seeking consensus but receiving only silence and stares in return
Greg Sargent:
The House of Representatives shocked the world and ended up passing a measure effectively raising the debt limit just moments ago. Seriously, it wasn’t hard to predict that this would happen. It has been obvious that the debt limit didn’t give Republicans real leverage since, oh, the last time Republicans caved on it, and the time before that.
It’ll be interesting to see how commentators who claim to hate Washington dysfunction treat the really decisive factor in putting an end to this nonsense – the fact that Dems belately recognized that the only responsible thing to do was to steadfastly refused to negotiate.
* Read Jed Lewison on why this is an important outcome: Dems took a principled stand that wasn’t easy, and Republicans have now openly admitted the debt limit no longer gives them leverage.
Danny Vinik:
Yes, I said it.
John Boehner has done a terrific job leading his caucus and it will culminate with the House passing a clean debt ceiling bill later this evening.
To understand Boehner's skill, you need to think about what he was trying to accomplish in each of these debt ceiling fights.
Big, important study in
BMJ:
Annual mammography in women aged 40-59 does not reduce mortality from breast cancer beyond that of physical examination or usual care when adjuvant therapy for breast cancer is freely available. Overall, 22% (106/484) of screen detected invasive breast cancers were over-diagnosed, representing one over-diagnosed breast cancer for every 424 women who received mammography screening in the trial.
This is a 25 year follow-up study, and note:
What is already known on this topic
Women with non-palpable breast cancer detected by mammography experience long term survival that is superior to that of women with palpable breast cancer
It is not known with accuracy to what extent the survival difference is a consequence of organised screening or of lead time bias and over-diagnosis
What this study adds
Annual mammography screening detected a significant number of small non-palpable breast cancers, but half of these were examples of over-diagnosis
22% of the screen detected invasive cancers in the mammography arm were over-diagnosed, representing one over-diagnosed breast cancer for every 424 women who received mammography screening in the trial
Annual mammography screening had no effect on breast cancer mortality beyond that of breast physical examinations