memeorandum: Va. bill aims to protect secret union ballot (Laura Vozzella/Washington Post)

2:10 PM ET, December 12, 2012

Top Items:

A third option changes the negotiation — The conventional wisdom on the fiscal cliff is that there are two options: (1) an Obama-Boehner deal; or (2) no deal, in which case there is no legislation before the end of the year and we “go off the fiscal cliff.”

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Greg Mankiw's Blog and Nice Deb

New York Times:

Questions on Whether Boehner Could Sell a Deal to G.O.P. — WASHINGTON — With negotiations quickening on Tuesday to prevent a year-end fiscal crisis, White House officials once again are confronting a vexing question: Can Speaker John A. Boehner deliver enough Republican votes …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Fix, The Hill, The Plum Line, ABCNEWS, Post Politics, The Caucus, Booman Tribune, The Hill, Politico, msnbc.com and The Reaction

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:

The GOP's dangerous debt-ceiling gamble — The fiscal cliff negotiations have picked up again. Last week, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner were hardly talking, and neither were their staffs. This week, Obama and Boehner are speaking often, and, perhaps more importantly, their staffs are speaking constantly.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Firedoglake, The Hill, ABCNEWS, The Plum Line and Post Politics

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
McConnell: Obama Wins The Tax Fight — Now On To The Debt Limit

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Mother Jones, Politico, AMERICAblog and The Plum Line

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Van Hollen: Boehner May Be Waiting Till After He's Re-Elected Speaker To Cut Budget Deal

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Rebecca Berg / BuzzFeed:
Democratic Budget Chief Accuses Boehner Of Stalling Fiscal Cliff Deal To Protect Speakership

Discussion: Daily Kos

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
Obama Expects GOP Tax Cave

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Washington Post, The Hill, Politico, americanthinker.com, First Read, Campaign for America's …, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Post Politics and The Huffington Post

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

Jimmy Hoffa's Personal and Hypocritical Class War — Yesterday Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa called for a civil war in Michigan over new right-to-work legislation that allows workers to decide whether or not they want to join a labor union. The Teamsters' official Twitter account …

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

The Political Advantages of Not Caring — Near the end of a column on the Michigan “right-to-work” coup, Jonathan Chait offers an important insight on why Republicans are willing and able to pull these sort of stunts: … It's kind of important to understand that this total hostility to the labor movement …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Mother Jones

Politico:
Labor's plan to fight back

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post and First Read

The Week:
You have the right to not pay union dues

Discussion: New York Times, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, National Review, UrbanGrounds and Michigan Capitol Confidential

Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
The Lansing-Beijing connection — China has a problem: rising inequality.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Eclectablog, Ramona's Voices, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, PR Watch, FITSNews, The Agonist and Post Politics

Rev. Al Sharpton / The Huffington Post:
We Have a Right to Fight Back Against Right-to-Work Laws

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com and msnbc.com

Karen Bouffard / detroitnews.com:
Battles over right-to-work laws may have just begun

Discussion: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Kevin Robillard / Reuters:
Jimmy Hoffa: ‘Civil war’ looms in Michigan

Discussion: Hot Air, CNNMoney.com and The Week

Max Read / Gawker:

Do We Really Have to Condemn the Union Protestor Who Punched Fox News Comedian Steven Crowder? — Good, serious progressives are supposed to condemn violence as a political tactic, because it's wrong and in many cases counterproductive. But do we really need to condemn the union protestor …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Vodkapundit, The Raw Story and Post Politics

Ashley Woods / The Huffington Post:
Steven Crowder, Fox News Contributor, Punched During Right-To-Work Protests (VIDEO)

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, nation.foxnews.com, TBogg, Associated Press and Talking Points Memo

emptywheel:
Breitbart Folks Appear to Fake Violence in Lansing

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
UNION THUG Who Sucker Punched Steven Crowder ID'ed - He's a Grand Rapids IBEW Member ...Update: Second Goon Identified

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, The Dana Show, The Right Scoop, Patterico's Pontifications, Nice Deb, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Daily Caller, American Power, Ironic Surrealism, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Twitchy, Instapundit, Power Line, Doug Ross, Blazing Cat Fur and The Other McCain

Angie Drobnic Holan / PolitiFact:

Lie of the Year: the Romney campaign's ad on Jeeps made in China — It was a lie told in the critical state of Ohio in the final days of a close campaign — that Jeep was moving its U.S. production to China. It originated with a conservative blogger, who twisted an accurate news story into a falsehood.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Liberal Values, The Hill, msnbc.com, Mediaite, The Week, Politico, Dependable Renegade and Business Insider

Mike Dorning / Bloomberg:

Obama Wins Almost 50% Republicans on Tax Mandate in Poll — President Barack Obama won the public argument over taxes so decisively that almost half of Republicans now say he has an election mandate to raise rates on the rich. — Majorities of about 2-to-1 also read the election results …

Discussion: CNN, Business Insider, The Daily Dish, The Hill, Gallup and Taegan Goddard's …

Damla Ergun / ABCNEWS:
Obama Tops Boehner on Budget Talks, With Much Broader Core Support

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Taegan Goddard's …

norad.mil:

NORAD acknowledges missile launch — PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - North American Aerospace Defense Command officials acknowledged today that U.S. missile warning systems detected and tracked the launch of a North Korean missile at 7:49 p.m. EST. The missile was tracked on a southerly azimuth.

Discussion: WorldViews, Nature, The Heritage Foundation, BBC and Wired

James Pearson / NK News:
North Korea Launches Rocket, Satellite Successfully ‘in Orbit’

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Weekly Standard, Wired, WorldViews, Guardian and The Heritage Foundation

Reuters:
North Korea's new leader burnishes credentials with rocket

Discussion: Politico, Gawker, Hot Air, New York Times, Outside the Beltway and The Verge

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity and employment have continued to expand at a moderate pace in recent months, apart from weather-related disruptions. Although the unemployment rate …

Discussion: Wonkblog, New York Times, Business Insider, MarketBeat, BBC and National Review

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Republican Leadership Denies Asking For Permanent Extension Of Lower Tax Rates For Rich — “That's deliberately misleading White House spin,” says Buck. — Image by Carolyn Kaster, File / AP — WASHINGTON — A spokesman for Speaker of the House John Boehner is denying a reported White House claim …

Emily Goodin / The Hill:
Obama Sunday swearing-in to get press coverage

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:
Top Executives End Opposition to Higher Taxes

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, msnbc.com and Mother Jones

Velvet Hammer / Ironic Surrealism:

Union Thugs Demolish Clint Tarver's Iconic Lansing,Michigan Hot Dog Cart [Photo-Donation Link] Update: Thugs Yelled “N*gger Uncle Tom” Update 2: Revenge For Americans For Prosperity Catering Gig (?) Update 3: A Romney Supporter, All We Need To Know — I support Clint: … Beyond the Cart: The Story of Clint Tarver:

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Lorilea Susanne / gofundme.com:
I Support Clint — LANSING, MI Accidents & Personal Crisis

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller and Weasel Zippers

Jason Koebler / US News:

Scientists May Have Finally Unlocked Puzzle of Why People Are Gay — Lesbians get it from fathers, gay men from mothers? — Scientists may have finally solved the puzzle of what makes a person gay, and how it is passed from parents to their children. — A group of scientists suggested Tuesday …

Discussion: Mediaite and Hullabaloo

John Tierney / New York Times:

Time and Punishment: Mandatory Sentences Face Growing Skepticism — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Stephanie George and Judge Roger Vinson had quite different opinions about the lockbox seized by the police from her home in Pensacola. She insisted she had no idea that a former boyfriend had hidden it in her attic.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hit & Run and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:

McConnell: Only thing left on the negotiating table ‘is the varnish’ — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said President Obama has taken so much off the table in deficit negotiations that the “only thing left is the varnish.” — “The president and his allies have taken …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:

Eric Holder: Time To Consider National Voting Standards — Attorney General Eric Holder said during a speech on Tuesday night at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that it's time to consider setting national standards for how elections should be handled.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Taking Note, msnbc.com and The Impolitic

New York Times:

Syria Fires Scud Missiles at Insurgents, U.S. Says — WASHINGTON — Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have fired Scud missiles at rebel fighters in recent days, Obama administration officials said on Wednesday. — The move represents a significant escalation in the fighting …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Weekly Standard

The Atlantic Online:

The Cliff Hangs on the Fed: Why Ben Bernanke Controls the Economy's Fate — The liberal nightmare about the fiscal cliff is overwrought, since the Fed has the power to avert disaster. If Bernanke acts properly, Congress could cut spending deeply without risking a recession. — Reuters