Top Items:
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Truly Grand Bargain — Sometimes you have to walk through the desert to get to the Promised Land. That's the way it is for Republicans right now. The Republicans are stuck in a miserable position at the end of 2012, but, if they handle things right, they can make 2013 an excellent year …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Firedoglake, Washington Post, msnbc.com, the daily howler, Mother Jones and Opinionator
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Josh Barro / Bloomberg:
What's Wrong With the Republican Fiscal Cliff Counteroffer — Here are three big problems with the letter they sent to the White House: — 1. It's not really a proposal — it's just a set of headline numbers without specific policies. The letter says Republicans want to cut $900 billion …
Discussion:
Paul Krugman, Hullabaloo, Business Insider, The Daily Dish, Jared Bernstein, Hit & Run, Wonkblog, AEIdeas and ABCNEWS
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Palin regrets calling GOP lawmakers ‘wusses’ on deficit talks — One-time Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin apologized for calling some GOP lawmakers “wusses” in their negotiations with Democrats over the “fiscal cliff.” — “Well, I guess I shouldn't call politicians names …
Discussion:
CNN and Political Watch
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Boehner tries to call a mulligan — House Speaker John Boehner is trying to call a mulligan. — In 2011, not long after an election in which Democrats were utterly routed, Erskine Bowles testified before the debt supercommittee. “I tried to think...if it was possible …
Discussion:
First Read, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Prairie Weather and Business Insider
Politico:
Conservative groups rebel against John Boehner — Several prominent conservative organizations lashed out against a pair of decisions by Speaker John Boehner's leadership team as House Republicans saw their tightly held grip on the right loosen a bit on Monday.
Discussion:
Boston Globe, The Hill and CNN
Jessica Yellin / CNN:
White House won't counter Boehner's fiscal proposal
White House won't counter Boehner's fiscal proposal
Discussion:
Politico, The Hill, ABCNEWS, The Week, Wake up America, Bloomberg, The Hill, Campaign for America's …, ABCNEWS, Wonkblog and Weasel Zippers
Bob Woodward / Washington Post:
Fox News chief's failed attempt to enlist Petraeus as presidential candidate — Roger Ailes, the longtime Republican media guru, founder of Fox News and its current chairman, had some advice last year for then-Gen. David H. Petraeus. — So in spring 2011, Ailes asked a Fox News analyst headed …
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The Fix:
Republicans losing blame game on fiscal cliff — A majority of Americans say that if the country goes over the fiscal cliff on Dec. 31, congressional Republicans should bear the brunt of the blame, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll, the latest sign that the GOP faces …
Discussion:
Applesauce, Business Insider and Daily Kos
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Pessimism About Fiscal Cliff Deal, Republicans Still Get More Blame — OVERVIEW — With Washington making little apparent progress in efforts to avoid going over the “fiscal cliff,” public opinion about the situation has changed little over the past three weeks.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, CBS DC and Washington Wire
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Poll finds majority would blame GOP if deficit negotiations fail — A majority of Americans would blame congressional Republicans if Washington fails to reach a deal in deficit talks to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” according to a new poll. — A Washington Post-Pew Research survey released Tuesday finds …
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Prairie Weather and The Fix
Manu Raju / Politico:
Ashley Judd exploring Senate run — Ashley Judd vs. Mitch McConnell? — It might not be as far-fetched as you think. — The Hollywood movie star and eighth-generation Kentuckian is seriously exploring a 2014 run for the Senate to take on the powerful Republican leader, four people familiar with the matter tell POLITICO.
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Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
The Democrats' Strange Zeal for Filibuster Reform
The Democrats' Strange Zeal for Filibuster Reform
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Elizabeth Warren Wins Senate Banking Committee Seat: Sources … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elizabeth Warren, Harry Reid , Video, Senate Banking Committee, Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren Banking Committee, Elizabeth Warren Committees, Elizabeth Warren Senate, Elizabeth Warren Senate Banking …
Discussion:
Politico, Firedoglake, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Daily Kos, The Raw Story, msnbc.com, Weekly Standard and Business Insider
New York Post:
Queens dad pushed to his death by madman in Times Square subway station — Ki Suk Han, 58, of Queens frantically tries to climb to safety yesterday as a train bears down on him in Midtown. He was fatally struck seconds later. — A Queens dad trying to protect fellow straphangers …
Discussion:
Gawker, The Week, The Raw Story, Capital New York, New York Magazine, City Room, Poynter, AMERICAblog and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »
Mother Jones:
Exclusive: Dick Armey Quits Tea Party Group in Split Over Direction — In a move not publicly announced, former Rep. Dick Armey, the folksy conservative leader, has resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks, one of the main political outfits of the conservative movement and an instrumental force within the tea party.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, Politico, New York Magazine, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots, The Raw Story and First Read
momentoftruthproject.org:
BOWLES STATEMENT ON SPEAKER BOEHNER'S LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT — While I'm flattered the Speaker would call something “the Bowles plan,” the approach outlined in the letter Speaker Boehner sent to the President does not represent the Simpson-Bowles plan, nor is it the Bowles plan.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, New York Times, Wonkblog, Hit & Run, Mother Jones, msnbc.com, Washington Examiner and Speaker.gov
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Jonathan Strong / Roll Call:
GOP Steering Committee Shuffles Conservatives — Speaker John A. Boehner initiated today a small purge of rebellious Republicans — mostly conservatives — from prominent committees; it's the latest instance of the Ohio Republican's clamping down on his fractious conference.
Discussion:
The Week, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Politico, Red Alert Politics, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Twitchy, Daily Kos, Hit & Run and Booman Tribune
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Daniel Horowitz / RedState:
The Purge of House Conservatives Continues
The Purge of House Conservatives Continues
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Spectacle Blog
Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:
Obama Said to Consider Vogue Editor Wintour for U.K. Embassy — President Barack Obama is considering nominating Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, to be either his next ambassador to the U.K. or France, as he looks to reward his biggest fundraisers with embassies that never seem out of fashion …
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Bloomberg Asked Clinton to Consider Succeeding Him as Mayor — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has long struggled to imagine a successor with the combination of star power, experience and grit to fill his shoes. — But not long ago, he was struck by an inspiration: Hillary Rodham Clinton, the retiring secretary of state.
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Chambliss vulnerable in a primary... Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss is theoretically very vulnerable to a primary challenger in 2014: it's just a question of whether any of the folks interested in taking him on can run a strong enough campaign to take advantage of that vulnerability.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and The Hill
Politico:
The Rubio, Ryan makeovers — Behind the Curtain: About this weekly feature — Behind the Curtain is a reported column, Web show and online conversation about the behind-the-scenes intrigue that shapes politics and policy. It will unfold every Tuesday (and beyond, when news dictates).
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, CNN and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Charles Kenny / Business Week:
The ‘Red Dawn’ Case for Cutting U.S. Defense Spending — Like the vast majority Americans, you may have missed the release last month of Red Dawn, a remake of the 1984 film of the same name in which a bunch of teenagers led by Patrick Swayze fought off an invading Soviet army in Colorado.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Liberal Hecklers Meet Ohio Republican — Comity after a protest at a conference on the debt. “They just gave my speech,” says Portman. — Source: youtube.com — WASHINGTON — Ohio Sen. Rob Portman faced more than a dozen hecklers Tuesday morning at the “Fix The Debt” conference in Washington …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Mike Levine / Fox News:
Holder chief of staff targeted by Republicans in ‘Furious’ scandal to leave post — In one of the first high-level departures from the Justice Department since President Obama was elected to a second term, Attorney General Eric Holder's chief of staff — a political target …