memeorandum: Questions on Whether Boehner Could Sell a Deal to G.O.P. (New York Times)

12:20 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: Greg Mankiw's Blog

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 Hill, Booman Tribune, ABCNEWS, The Caucus, The Hill, Politico, msnbc.com, The Plum Line 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: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Booman Tribune, The Reaction, Firedoglake, The Hill, ABCNEWS, The Plum Line, Post Politics and Los Angeles Times

Rebecca Berg / BuzzFeed:

Democratic Budget Chief Accuses Boehner Of Stalling Fiscal Cliff Deal To Protect Speakership — “I'm becoming increasingly worried that that's exactly what's going on,” Van Hollen says. — Image by Harry E. Walker/MCT — WASHINGTON — House Democratic budget chief Chris Van Hollen …

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Hill

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

Obama Expects GOP Tax Cave — As the clock ticks toward a tax hike on all Americans in 20 days, President Obama predicted Republicans would join Democrats to extend current rates for 98 percent of earners before the end of the year. — “I'm pretty confident that Republicans …

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

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

Discussion: American Prospect, The Reality-Based Community, AMERICAblog, Politico and The Plum Line

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

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and Taegan Goddard's …

The Week:

You have the right to not pay union dues — Labor groups should have to convince members that their goods and services are worth the price demanded — and not just take the money and run … The battle between unions and state governments continued this week — just as it has for the last two years …

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

Politico:
Labor's plan to fight back

Discussion: Daily Kos, Washington Post and First Read

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

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
In Michigan, the Republican Will to Power

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Ramona's Voices and Talking Points Memo

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” — I support Clint: … Beyond the Cart: The Story of Clint Tarver: … DONATE HERE — Update: Racist, violent, destructive monsters.

Lorilea Susanne / gofundme.com:

I Support Clint — LANSING, MI Accidents & Personal Crisis — About This Page — *UPDATE* Thank you all for your amazing display of support! Because our goal of $2000 was reached by 10am today, and has now (10:48am) been nearly doubled, I have decided to raise it to $5000.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

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 Hill, Mediaite, Politico, The Week, Dependable Renegade and Business Insider

emptywheel:

Breitbart Folks Appear to Fake Violence in Lansing — When I saw this video-claiming that a “violent mob” destroyed the tent the Koch brothers had paid for in front of the Michigan Capitol-I knew right away it was likely a false flag. After all, Stranahan, James O'Keefe's buddy, first posted it.

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: The Daily Caller, Nice Deb, Patterico's Pontifications, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Ironic Surrealism, Power Line, Instapundit and Blazing Cat Fur

Dana / The Dana Show:
Donors offers $$$ For Info Leading To Arrest Of Union Thug **UPDATED ONE THUG IDENTIFIED

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fox News, No More Mister Nice Blog, nation.foxnews.com, The Jawa Report, American Power, Instapundit, Twitchy, Doug Ross, American Glob, The Daily Caller, The Other McCain and Michelle Malkin

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: The Atlantic Online, WorldViews, BBC, Nature, The Heritage Foundation and Wired

New York Times:
North Koreans Launch Rocket in Defiant Act

Discussion: CNN, The Week, Taylor Marsh and The Agonist

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

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and The Verge

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

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Obama Sunday swearing-in to get press coverage — There will be press coverage when President Obama takes the oath office on Sunday, Jan. 20th, the head of the inauguration planning committee said on Tuesday. — “There will be coverage of the Sunday event.

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:
Top Executives End Opposition to Higher Taxes

Discussion: msnbc.com

Wall Street Journal:
Corporate Taxes on Table in Cliff Talks

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Fix, Business Insider, The Plum Line, Post Politics, Runnin' Scared, MarketBeat, Mother Jones, Metropolis and Political Watch

Reginald Massey / Guardian:

Ravi Shankar obituary — Indian virtuoso who took the sitar to the world — Ravi Shankar, who has died aged 92 in San Diego, was the Indian maestro who put the sitar on the musical map. George Harrison called him “the godfather of world music” and it was Shankar's vision that brought …

Discussion: The Agonist

BBC: India sitar maestro Ravi Shankar dies

Allan Kozinn / New York Times: Ravi Shankar, Sitarist Who Introduced Indian Music to the West, Dies at 92

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 Hill, Taegan Goddard's … and Gallup

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Obama Suggests Raising Medicare Eligibility Age Is On The Table In Fiscal Cliff Talks — President Obama didn't rule out raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67 as part of a comprehensive package to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff,” during an interview with ABC News on Tuesday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Forbes and Prairie Weather

Center for American Progress:
Raising the Medicare Eligibility Age Would Harm Seniors and Increase Health Care Spending

Discussion: Firedoglake, Harvard University Gazette, Wonkblog and The Plum Line

Judicial Watch:

New Army Manual Orders Soldiers Not To Criticize Taliban … Here is a strong indicator that the Obama Administration's crusade to appease Islam has gone too far; a new U.S. military handbook for troops deployed to the Middle East orders soldiers not to make derogatory comments about the Taliban …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and National Review

Dion Nissenbaum / Wall Street Journal:
Draft Army Handbook Wades Into Divisive Afghan Issue

Discussion: Mother Jones

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, Hit & Run and Ricochet Conversations Feed

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 and msnbc.com

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

New marijuana laws cause confusion — Laws legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in Colorado and Washington state have exposed a wide disconnect between Congress, the administration and voters on an increasingly controversial issue. — The newly enacted laws put President Obama in a tricky spot …

Kevin Boyle / NY Daily News:

The fall and rise of Rockaway — We are still recovering from superstorm Sandy — An American flag stands on a sand hill in the middle of the street on Beach 127th St. as Rockaway residents rebuild and clean their homes from the devastation caused by superstorm Sandy.

Discussion: The Agonist