memeorandum: Gov. Lincoln Chafee: It's Not ‘Tradition’ to Call It a Christmas Tree (Jon Street/CNSNews)

5:40 PM ET, December 6, 2012

Top Items:

Sen. Jim DeMint to Head Heritage Foundation — South Carolina U.S. Senator Jim DeMint will replace Ed Feulner as president of the Heritage Foundation. Mr. DeMint will leave his post as South Carolina's junior senator in early January to take control of the Washington think tank, which has an annual budget of about $80 million.

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

11 Reasons You're Glad Jim DeMint Is Leaving The Senate — In an unexpected move, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), an arch-conservative and leader of the Tea Party movement, is resigning his seat in order to head up the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington DC.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Esquire, The Hill, BuzzFeed, The Plum Line, The National Memo, The Impolitic and Talking Points Memo

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:

Good riddance, Mr. DeMint — Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is leaving the Senate to take over the Heritage Foundation. He will replace Ed Feulner as the conservative think tank's president. He expressed no qualms about leaving the Senate before his term is up, nor did he reflect on his legislative achievements, of which none come to mind.

Discussion: Wonkette, Politico, Weasel Zippers and Riehl World News

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Sources: DeMint wants Rep. Tim Scott to take his place in Senate — Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has made it known in South Carolina that he wants Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to replace him in the Senate, two state Republican sources tell The Hill. — The sources, requesting anonymity to speak candidly …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Washington Monthly, theGrio, Weasel Zippers, Ricochet Conversations Feed and The PJ Tatler

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Pelosi jabs DeMint on his way out — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday linked outgoing Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to one of the “saddest” Senate votes in years and suggested DeMint's values won't be missed on Capitol Hill. — Pelosi criticized the resigning South Carolina lawmaker …

Discussion: Mediaite

United States Senator Jim DeMint:
DeMint to Leave Senate to Lead the Heritage Foundation

Discussion: FreedomWorks blogs, The Daily Dish, Business Insider and Sister Toldjah

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Two Roads Diverged: Jim DeMint Leaves U.S. Senate for Heritage Foundation Presidency

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The State, Commentary Magazine, Roll Call, BuzzFeed, The Week, Political Capital, msnbc.com, Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal, American Prospect, Guardian and The Daily Caller

Tarini Parti / Politico:
Think tank jobs a lucrative landing spot

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Manu Raju / Politico:
Jim DeMint to resign to head Heritage Foundation

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post, Associated Press, The Right Scoop, ABCNEWS, Red Alert Politics and Connecting.the.Dots

Aaron Blake / The Fix:
Gov. Nikki Haley to fill DeMint's seat by appointment

Discussion: Post Politics

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
South Carolina's GOP chairman: DeMint resignation ‘a shocker’

Discussion: The Fix and Post Politics

Michael McAuliff / The Huffington Post:

Debt Ceiling Bluff Called By Harry Reid, Leaving Mitch McConnell To Filibuster Himself … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Debt Ceiling, Harry Reid , Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senate, Video, Barack Obama Debt Ceiling, Fiscal Cliff, Mitch Mcconnell Filibuster, Politics News

Discussion: The Plum Line, Booman Tribune and The Raw Story

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

McConnell Filibusters His Own Bill To Lift Debt Ceiling — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wanted to prove on Thursday that Democrats don't have the votes to weaken Congress' authority on the debt limit. Instead they called his bluff, and he ended up filibustering his own bill.

Discussion: The Impolitic, Mediaite and Wonkette

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
How Democrats' Main Filibuster Reform Would Work

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Daily Kos and ACS Blog

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Reid blocks Senate vote on Obama's deficit-reduction plan

Discussion: Roll Call, NewsBusters.org, Scared Monkeys, Michelle Malkin, Politico, Wake up America and Weekly Standard

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

Boehner Gains Strong Backing of House G.O.P. — WASHINGTON — With a daunting fiscal crisis looming and conservatives outside the House torching him at every turn, Speaker John A. Boehner might be assumed to have a shaky hold on his gavel. Instead, it appears he is enjoying the broadest support …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The New Republic, CNN, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Caucus, The Fix, Wake up America, The Democratic Daily, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and ABCNEWS

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Republicans wave the white flag — Speaker John Boehner emerged from his weekly huddle with House Republicans on Wednesday morning to take his place behind a mahogany lectern in front of a brown backdrop. The dark tones provided ideal camouflage for the deeply tanned speaker — as though he were trying to vanish into the background.

Discussion: The Week, The Plum Line, The Moderate Voice, The New Republic and Washington Monthly

Ned Ryun / RedState:
Fire Boehner: We Only Need 16 Votes to Depose Boehner

Discussion: msnbc.com, iOwnTheWorld.com, AMERICAblog, Doug Ross, Business Insider, Wonkette and The Hill

Josh Tyrangiel / Business Week:

Tim Cook's Freshman Year: The Apple CEO Speaks — Prior to his death on Oct. 5, 2011, Steve Jobs made sure that the elevation of Tim Cook—his longtime head of operations and trusted deputy—to Apple chief executive officer would be drama-free. “He goes, ‘I never want you to ask what I would have done,’” recalls Cook.

Discussion: New York Times, Fortune, Daily Mail, Guardian, VentureBeat, AllThingsD, TechCrunch, The Verge, New York Magazine, The Week, The Tell, The Consumerist, GigaOM, Engadget and Mashable!

Ronnie Polidoro / Rock Center with Brian Williams:

Apple CEO Tim Cook announces plans to manufacture Mac computers in USA — In an exclusive interview with Brian Williams airing tonight at 10pm/9c on NBC's “Rock Center,” Apple CEO Tim Cook announced one of the existing Mac lines will be manufactured exclusively in the United States next year.

Discussion: Politico, The Atlantic Online, Guardian, The Verge, GigaOM, Daily Download, VentureBeat, Engadget, emptywheel, Via Meadia, The Daily Caller and BBC, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Looking ahead to 2016 — PPP's newest national poll finds Marco Rubio as the early choice of Republicans for 2016. 18% would like him to be their nominee to 14% for Chris Christie, 12% for Jeb Bush and Paul Ryan, 11% for Mike Huckabee, 8% for Condoleezza Rice, 7% each for Sarah Palin and Rand Paul, and 4% for Rick Santorum.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Business Insider and The Hill

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Bill Clinton: 'Don't get too disgusted' by ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations

Discussion: CNN

Harry J Enten / Guardian:
Clinton 2016: what makes Hillary a Democratic primary winner

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Rick Ungar / Forbes:

Papa John's, Applebee's And Others Pay Huge Price For Anti-Obamacare Politicking — (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) — It turns out that being a good corporate citizen is as important to selling pizzas as the thinness of the crust or the quality of the cheese.

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Hot Air

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Olive Garden Suffering From Bad PR After Anti-Obamacare Comments

Discussion: Business Insider

ABCNEWS:

Police Arrest, Spray Protesters at Mich. Capitol — Michigan State Police say they have used chemical spray on right-to-work protesters who to tried rush into the Senate chamber at the state Capitol, and minority Democrats in the Legislature accuse Republican leaders of taking a “shameful step” to undermine free speech.

Detroit Free Press:
LANSING — There was chaos and high emotion at the Capitol today after Gov. Rick Snyder …

Discussion: Firedoglake, WILX-TV, Lansing State Journal and Balloon Juice

David Bauder / Associated Press:

FOX'S CORRESPONDENT ON FRONT LINES WITH OBAMA — NEW YORK (AP) — Ed Henry's assignment covering the White House would be a challenge for any journalist, no matter his employer. — Yet Henry works at Fox News Channel, home base for viewers who longed for President Barack Obama's defeat.

Discussion: Mediaite and Politico

Mariecar Mendoza / L.A. Daily News:

Seniors decry ban on Christmas tree in their complex in Newhall — Residents in a Newhall senior apartment complex are protesting an order from management to remove their beloved Christmas tree from the community room because, they were told, it's a religious symbol.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Wake up America and The PJ Tatler

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

Lawmaker chews out staffer for riding on members-only elevator — Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) chewed out a House staffer after catching her riding on a “members only” elevator, according to an ITK tipster who was on the scene. — But Foxx's office is calling our lookout's description of events in the elevator an “exaggeration.”

Discussion: The Impolitic, Daily Kos and Gawker

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Bewitched by Obama — Even Jonathan Swift, who said that promises and pie crusts are made to be broken, might have marveled at the limited shelf life of Barack Obama's promise of a “balanced” deficit-reduction plan — substantial spending cuts to accompany revenue increases.

Discussion: Vodkapundit, Hot Air, Stinque and Betsy's Page

Alex Hern / New Statesman:

FT loses its motherloving mind with ill-advised rap-themed front page opinion piece — “Stay Middling And Retire Disappointed” — The FT has an incredible front-page opinion piece today. The print version has the headline “G-Dawg splashes out tax cuts like P Diddy with Dom Pérignon in his blingiest giveaway”.

Discussion: Mediaite and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »