Warren’s Wall Street Fight, Obama’s Thanksgiving ‘Pardon,’ and More

Resignation Tendered:

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has been on leave from the House since June as he undergoes treatment for bipolar depression, resigned his congressional seat Wednesday. Federal authorities are investigating the Democratic congressman on suspicion of misusing campaign funds. Jackson won his re-election race earlier this month despite not campaigning. (Read more)

Boehnercare: Despite being upheld by the Supreme Court, President Obama’s Affordable Care Act still faces much opposition in Congress. House Speaker John Boehner, who touted Obamacare as “the law of the land” after the president was re-elected, has once again expressed a desire to repeal it. Writing in an op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Tuesday, Boehner stated, “The tactics of our repeal efforts will have to change.” He also wrote that the health care law should be “on the table” when Democrats and Republicans meet to hammer out a budget and figure out how to solve the nation’s worsening debt crisis. (Read more)

A Christmas Miracle?: Speaking of budget negotiations—a deal to avoid the dreaded fiscal cliff could be reached before Christmas. According to The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, “Washington appears to be preparing to deal with it in a smooth, timely, reasonable way.” A deal could be in place by Dec. 21, just in time to avoid the start of an austerity crisis. (Read more)

Warren vs. Wall Street: File this under the category “you knew this one was coming.” Big banks are already targeting Massachusetts Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren, pressuring lawmakers to deny the major Wall Street enemy a seat on the Senate Banking Committee. Warren, a Democrat, is a fierce consumer advocate who helped launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So it’s probably not that shocking when a top Democratic Senate aide says, “there are many bank lobbyists pushing to keep her off.” (Read more)

Scarborough vs. Silver: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough apologized to New York Times blogger Nate Silver on Wednesday. The “Morning Joe” host had previously mocked the election forecaster, calling him a “joke.” As it turns out, though, Silver’s prediction was spot on. Scarborough wrote in an opinion column on Politico: “I won’t apologize to Mr. Silver for predicting an outcome that I had also been predicting for a year. But I do need to tell Nate I’m sorry for leaning in too hard and lumping him with pollsters whose methodology is as rigorous as the ‘Simpsons’ strip mall physician, Dr. Nick. For those sins (and a multitude of others that I’m sure I don’t even know about), I am sorry.” (Read more)

Video of the Day: The White House has added a new element to an old tradition. For the first time this year, Facebook users got to pick which turkey President Obama would “pardon” this Thanksgiving. Cobbler, the winning turkey, was dubbed the “National Thanksgiving Turkey.” Gobbler, who lost the vote—but also received a “pardon”—will serve as the alternate. Here’s the video of Wednesday’s ceremony.