memeorandum: Distance between Boehner, Obama continued at holiday party (CNN)

2:15 PM ET, December 4, 2012

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, Washington Post, driftglass, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, the daily howler, Mother Jones and Opinionator

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: The Plum Line, Paul Krugman, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, Hullabaloo, The Daily Dish, Hit & Run, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wonkblog, Talking Points Memo, ABCNEWS and AEIdeas

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

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: Vox Popoli, Boston Globe, Booman Tribune, CNN, First Read, Business Insider and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

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

CNN:

Distance between Boehner, Obama continued at holiday party — Washington (CNN) - They were in the same building Monday night, but President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner did not see or speak to each other, according to multiple Democratic and Republican sources.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Boehner tries to call a mulligan

Discussion: First Read, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Power Line, ABCNEWS, Prairie Weather and Hot Air

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Sarah Palin: Sorry for calling GOP ‘wusses’

Discussion: CNN and msnbc.com

Jessica Yellin / CNN:
White House won't counter Boehner's fiscal proposal

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Bloomberg, The Week, The Hill, Wake up America, ABCNEWS, Campaign for America's …, ABCNEWS, Wonkblog, Jared Bernstein 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 …

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: The Moderate Voice, Applesauce, The Agonist, Business Insider and Daily Kos

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Poll finds majority would blame GOP if deficit negotiations fail

Discussion: The Plum Line, CNN, Politico, Prairie Weather and The Fix

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, OpenSecrets.org, The National Memo, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, msnbc.com, Daily Kos and Business Insider

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Warren tapped for Senate Banking panel — Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one of the banking sector's harshest critics, is being tapped to serve on the Senate Banking Committee. — The Harvard law professor who built her public image primarily as a fierce critic of Wall Street …

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:
Elizabeth Warren likely to get Senate Banking Committee assignment

Discussion: The Raw Story

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.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Week, LifeNews.com, msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers, Post Politics, Outside the Beltway, In Session, The Gateway Pundit, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Powers That Be and Shakesville

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Better-Looking, Spunkier Senator From Kentucky Now a Possibility — In 1964, George Murphy was elected as the junior senator from California. Murphy, a Republican, had been a song-and-dance man in the thirties and forties, appearing in Hollywood musicals.

Discussion: Politico

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, BBC, The Week, Capital New York, The Raw Story, New York Magazine, City Room, Outside the Beltway, Poynter, AMERICAblog and Daily Mail, more at Mediagazer »

National Review:

Filibluster — Filibuster “reform” — intermittently called, over the last decade or so, the “nuclear option” — is something of a moving target. We have consistently maintained that a majority of the Senate may constitutionally curtail the filibuster or leave it as it is.

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and Booman Tribune

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
The Democrats' Strange Zeal for Filibuster Reform

Discussion: Washington Monthly

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: Firedoglake, BuzzFeed, Associated Press, Trail Blazers Blog, CNN, Ballot Box, Outside the Beltway, Post Politics, New York Magazine, Politico, Prairie Weather, Connecting.the.Dots and The Raw Story

Daniel Horowitz / RedState:

The Purge of House Conservatives Continues — Well, House leadership made sure to elevate like-minded members to leadership; they took care to co-opt the Republican Study Committee; they packed the Steering Committee, which chooses committee assignments, with a bunch of loyalists.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Washington Monthly and The Spectacle Blog

Jonathan Strong / Roll Call:
GOP Steering Committee Shuffles Conservatives

Discussion: The Week, The Plum Line, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Politico, The Daily Caller, Red Alert Politics, Weasel Zippers, Twitchy, Daily Kos, Hit & Run and Booman Tribune

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

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.

Discussion: TMZ.com, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Capital Tonight, Capital New York, Politicker, The Week, CBS New York, Daily Mail, The Hill, Runnin' Scared, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Gothamist, msnbc.com and Post Politics

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

TMZ.com:

Mitt Romney Hits Costco — Buys Toy Car (Manufactured in China) — HITS COSTCO — Buys Toy Car (Manufactured in China) — EXCLUSIVE — Mitt Romney went on MASSIVE (and fiscally responsible) shopping spree at a Costco near his home in La Jolla, CA this week ... stocking up on all sorts of goods …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Rightnewz Videos

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