memeorandum: Mitt Romney Rejoins Marriott International Board (PR Newswire)

4:45 PM ET, December 3, 2012

Top Items:

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

Republican Doomsday Plan: Cave on Taxes, Vote ‘Present’ — Republicans are seriously considering a Doomsday Plan if fiscal cliff talks collapse entirely. It's quite simple: House Republicans would allow a vote on extending the Bush middle class tax cuts (the bill passed in August by the Senate) …

Discussion: New York Magazine, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, “The Lid” and Talking Points Memo

Russell Berman / The Hill:

House GOP makes a $2.2 trillion debt counteroffer to Obama on cliff — House Republican leaders have made a counteroffer to President Obama in the fiscal cliff negotiations, proposing to cut $2.2 trillion with a combination of spending cuts, entitlement reforms and $800 billion in new tax revenue.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner and Vodkapundit

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

White House willing to go over fiscal cliff if absolutely necessary — David Corn has a piece up this morning arguing that John Boehner is hampered in the fiscal cliff talks by his right flank — the House Tea Partyers who oppose compromise with the White House at any cost, just as they did during the 2011 showdowns.

Discussion: The Week, Connecting.the.Dots, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Criticized as Weak in Past Talks, Obama Takes Harder Line — WASHINGTON — Amid demands from Republicans that President Obama propose detailed new spending cuts to avert the year-end fiscal crisis, his answer boils down to this: you first. — Mr. Obama, scarred by failed negotiations …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Hill, The Week, AMERICAblog, Daily Kos, Washington Examiner, Taylor Marsh, Wall Street Journal, msnbc.com and ABCNEWS

Andrew Malcolm / Investor's Business Daily:

As Americans face a fiscal cliff, the Obamas make do with 54 Christmas trees — Jewel Samad / AFP / Getty Images (2011) — Amazing how a reelection can reshape an incumbent's thinking about many things. Now safely ensconced in the White House for 49 more months, the Obamas have decorated …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Ed Driscoll, The Daily Caller, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications and Althouse

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Leaders May Be Pondering Surrender On Taxes — Republicans are working to quiet rumblings that, if all else fails, they may give in on the high income Bush tax cuts. But a newly reported “doomsday plan” to do just that may be the GOP's best way out of a bad situation: give a little …

David Corn / Mother Jones:
John Boehner's Hostage Crisis

Discussion: Power Line and Shakesville

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Republican “Doomsday Plan” Allows Tax Increase, Uses Debt Limit For Future Leverage

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Keith Hennessey / Wall Street Journal: Time to Call the President's Budget Bluff

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Do Democrats actually want to go over the fiscal cliff?

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post, Vox Verax, Post Politics and The BLT

John W. Schoen / Economy Watch:
Facing the fiscal cliff: American taxpayers have had it easy for decades

Discussion: msnbc.com and The Agonist

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Why sane bargaining looks strange

Discussion: New York Times, msnbc.com, The Daily Dish, The Week and The Fix

Peter H. Stone / The Huffington Post:

Sheldon Adelson Spent Far More On Campaign Than Previously Known … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, John Boehner, Mitt Romney, Campaign Finance, Elections 2012, Newt Gingrich, Video, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Las Vegas Sands, Sheldon Adelson, Fcpa, Mitt Romney 2012, Sands Casino …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Mother Jones, Post Politics, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

2016 contenders court mega-donors — A week after Election Day, three Republican governors mentioned as 2016 presidential candidates — Bobby Jindal, John Kasich and Bob McDonnell — each stopped by the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino to meet privately with its owner Sheldon Adelson …

Discussion: CNN, msnbc.com, Roland Martin Reports and GOP 12

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama offers congrats to Kate, William — President Obama has congratulated Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge Katherine over the news that they are having a baby. — White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president and first lady Michelle Obama were extending …

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, CNN and msnbc.com

BBC: Prince William and Kate expecting a baby

Mark Duell / Daily Mail:
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ‘delighted’ as they announce they are expecting their first baby

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Big Budget Mumble — In the ongoing battle of the budget, President Obama has done something very cruel. Declaring that this time he won't negotiate with himself, he has refused to lay out a proposal reflecting what he thinks Republicans want. Instead, he has demanded that Republicans themselves say, explicitly, what they want.

Discussion: Washington Post, Paul Krugman, the daily howler, New York Magazine, xpostfactoid, Discourse.net, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and American Spectator

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
Republicans ready to forget Romney and embrace Rep. Ryan on Medicare

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hit & Run and Daily Kos

Allison Samuels / The Daily Beast:

Michelle Obama's Next Move — What's next for our incredibly popular first lady? Samuel L. Jackson and other super-fans weigh in. — Chatting with a group backstage on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in October, Michelle Obama made it clear that she wasn't thinking about what she might do in the future.

Discussion: Associated Press, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and National Review

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Congress Retains Low Honesty Rating — Nurses have highest honesty rating; car salespeople, lowest — PRINCETON, NJ — As Congress remains involved in protracted negotiations over the pending “fiscal cliff” that could disrupt the nation's economy if not addressed by Jan. 1 …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, The Hill, msnbc.com, Poynter and Post Politics

Christine Haughney / Media Decoder:

New York Times Seeks Buyouts From 30 in Newsroom — Aiming to cut costs in an increasingly troubled advertising environment, The New York Times announced on Monday morning that it would offer buyout packages to newsroom employees. While the primary goal of the buyout program is to trim managers …

Discussion: The Week, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Business Insider, driftglass, Capital New York, Poynter, Roger Ailes and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Again, no gay marriage orders (FINAL UPDATE) — The Supreme Court on Monday released additional orders from its Friday Conference, but the list did not show any action on the ten cases dealing with the same-sex marriage issue. UPDATED: The Court later Monday morning posted on its electronic docket …

Discussion: Advocate and Outside the Beltway

Matt Welch / Hit & Run:

Now That the Election's Safely Over, Liberal Journalists Promise to Maybe Ask Obama a Sternly Worded Question or Two — You didn't really want to keep that Egg McMuffin down, did you? Good! Go read this Politico story about media-progressives and their dearly re-elected leader:

Discussion: Mediaite

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:
Progressive media claims they'll be ‘tougher’ on Obama now

Discussion: The Week, The Agonist and Politico

New York Times:

Homeless Man Is Grateful for Officer's Gift of Boots. But He Again Is Barefoot. — After Officer Lawrence DePrimo knelt beside a barefoot man on a bitterly cold November night in Times Square, giving him a pair of boots, a photo of his random act of good will quickly took on a life of its own …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, Gawker and iOwnTheWorld.com

Fox Sports:

In KC, it's no time for a game — KANSAS CITY, MO. — Football is embarrassingly tone deaf. — Jovan Belcher, a starting linebacker for the Chiefs, murdered the mother of his child shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday. He hopped in his car, drove to the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility …

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Santorum launches column for ‘birther’ website — Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has taken a job as a columnist for World Net Daily, a conservative website best known for articles advancing “birther” conspiracy theories about President Obama.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', The Raw Story, Post Politics, The Agonist and Mother Jones

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Petition: Obama should build Death Star — Forget the White House beer recipe — what the American people really want is a Death Star. — Well, 495 of them anyway. — A petition on the White House's “We the People” website calls for the United States to find funding and begin construction on a Star Wars-style Death Star by 2016.

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Politico and The PJ Tatler