Top Items:


President Delivers a New Offer on the Fiscal Crisis to Boehner — WASHINGTON — President Obama delivered Speaker John A. Boehner a new offer on Monday to resolve the pending fiscal crisis — and what may be close to a final deal, which would raise revenues by $1.2 trillion over the next decade …
RELATED:


John Boehner moving to Plan B on fiscal cliff — House Republicans, discouraged by the pace of negotiations with the White House, will move their own bill that would hike tax rates on income above $1 million, according to several sources familiar with the plan.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, CNN, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo and Connecting.the.Dots


Pelosi Backed Boehner's Tax Cut Proposal — A new tax on millionaires, if talks fail. — Image by Jason Reed / Reuters — WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House John Boehner's “Plan B” to avert the fiscal cliff would cut taxes for incomes under $1 million — a higher threshold than the White House demands …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Washington Examiner and Althouse


Poll: Most want ‘fiscal cliff’ compromise but oppose cuts that may be part of deal — Joshua Roberts/Reuters - House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) walks to his office after meeting with President Obama to talk about the “fiscal cliff” on Dec. 17. According to a poll …
Discussion:
Reuters, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, USA Today, Lynn Sweet, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, First Read and Post Politics



Obama, Boehner move closer to deal, but Boehner also has backup plan
Discussion:
Power Line, Fox News Insider, Wonkblog, Post Politics and Hot Air

Obama makes new offer to narrow gap on cliff
Discussion:
CNN, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Quartz, americanthinker.com, First Read, Guardian, Weasel Zippers and Business Insider

Obama makes new fiscal offer; Boehner says it's not enough
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Cerberus Capital Management Statement Regarding Freedom Group, Inc. — We were shocked and deeply saddened by the events that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012. We cannot comprehend the losses suffered by the families and friends of those killed …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Reuters, Quartz, BuzzFeed, Forbes, The Caucus, Gawker and DealBook
RELATED:


Sporting goods chain suspends sale of certain semi-automatic after shooting — Mourners leave Honan Funeral Home after attending the funeral for Jack Pinto, 6, one of the youngest victims of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, on Monday, December 17, in Newtown, Connecticut.
Discussion:
PoliticusUSA, Quartz, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS and Mediaite


Cerberus: We want out of gun biz
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Politicker and emptywheel

Obama asks Cabinet members for proposals to curb gun violence
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Wonkblog, Right Wing News, The Hill, Balloon Juice, msnbc.com, Post Politics, The Fix and Gawker

Wall Street, Invested in Firearms, Is Unlikely to Push for Reform
Discussion:
Business Insider, Slate and Reuters

Cerberus to Sell Freedom Group, a Gunmaker
Discussion:
New York Post, Gothamist and The Hinterland Gazette

Thoughts on the Chained CPI, Social Security, and the Budget — According to reliable sources, the Obama administration is seriously contemplating a deal under which the annual cost of living adjustment for Social Security benefits would be indexed to the chained consumer price index rather …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Booman Tribune and Brad DeLong
RELATED:

Rumors of a Deal — It sounds as if Ezra Klein is hearing more or less the same things I'm hearing: Republicans willing to give up a lot more on tax rates, although not fully undoing the Bush tax cuts in the 250-400 range; additional tax hikes via deduction limits in a form that hits the wealthy …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, AMERICAblog, CANNONFIRE and Hullabaloo

The Deal Dilemma — First things first: cutting Social Security …
Discussion:
msnbc.com and Mother Jones


Social Security: Will Obama Cave?
Discussion:
New York Times, Talking Points Memo and Eschaton

A ‘fiscal cliff’ deal is near: Here are the details
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Daily Dish, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire, Calculated Risk, The New Republic, Suburban Guerrilla, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Brad DeLong, Hit & Run, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Paul Krugman and CNN


Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos — In its first big policy shift since Facebook bought the photo-sharing site, Instagram claims the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification. Oh, and there's no way to opt out. — Instagram said today …
Discussion:
BBC, Wake up America, NBC4 Washington, Shakesville and CBS Boston, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:


How to Download Your Instagram Photos and Kill Your Account
Discussion:
CBS Dallas and AMERICAblog


Richard Engel and NBC News team freed from captors in Syria — Updated at 8:15 a.m. ET: NBC News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel and members of his network production team were freed from captors in Syria after a firefight at a checkpoint on Monday, five days after they were taken prisoner, NBC News said early Tuesday.
RELATED:


Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown — There were 18 random mass shootings in the 1980s, 54 in the 1990s, and 87 in the 2000s. — Has the rate of random mass shootings in the United States increased? Over the past 30 years, the answer is definitely yes. It is also true that the total U …
Discussion:
The Other McCain, National Review, Cafe Hayek and Betsy's Page
RELATED:


McArdle Wins Worst Newtown Reaction Award
Discussion:
TBogg, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money


Daniel K. Inouye, U.S. senator, dies at 88 — Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, a highly decorated World War II combat veteran who used his status as one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington and the second-longest-serving senator in history to send billions of dollars to his home islands …
RELATED:

Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's Quiet Voice of Conscience in Senate, Dies at 88
Discussion:
Lawfare, Shakesville, CNN, The Week, Firedoglake, 2chambers, Balloon Juice, The Atlantic Online and Associated Press


Clinton And Kerry Get A Free Ride From The Press — Politics: Diplomacy involves considerable travel. What it shouldn't include is free rides from both the media and political establishment. But Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are getting just that as the guard changes at State.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Patterico's Pontifications


Booker Leaning Toward Senate Run — Popular Mayor Is Looking to Take Aim at Lautenberg Seat Instead of Challenging Gov. Chris Christie — Newark Mayor Cory Booker is leaning against jumping into next year's race for New Jersey governor and instead is having serious discussions about running …
Discussion:
Politico, Ballot Box, Post Politics and The Raw Story


South Carolina Lawmakers Propose 5-Year Jail Sentence for ‘Obamacare’ Implementation — Federal officials could face fines and jail terms under proposed legislation — Nullification is yet again picking up steam in Dixie. — Pursuing an archaic legal theory that punctuated pre-Civil War disputes between …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and LewRockwell.com Blog


Swift Boat Veterans Set To Give John Kerry A Pass — The group that helped sink his 2004 campaign grumbles, quietly. “I was hoping that Ms. Rice would get the nomination,” says a Swiftboater. — Image by Joshua Roberts / Reuters — Leading figures in the controversial conservative group …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

IEA's Medium-Term Coal Market Report sees coal demand increasing in nearly every region of the world except US, where shale gas is displacing coal — Coal's share of the global energy mix continues to rise, and by 2017 coal will come close to surpassing oil as the world's top energy source …
Discussion:
BBC, Guardian, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Dot Earth and Business Insider