memeorandum: ATR Statement on “Plan B” Tax Plan (Ryan Ellis/Americans for Tax Reform RSS)

8:25 PM ET, December 19, 2012

Top Items:

Did Boehner Just Pull The Plug On Fiscal Cliff Negotiations? — In response to President Obama's extensive comments about the fiscal cliff at the White House Wednesday afternoon, House Speaker John Boehner left himself little if any room to continue negotiations.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, The Democratic Daily, The Impolitic, Hullabaloo and The Daily Dish

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

House Republicans Again Show Why We Need to Wait Until January for a Deal — For about half a day, in the wake of President Obama's most recent budget compromise, it appeared that an agreement might be close at hand. Boehner was reported to be taking the temperature of his crazies on Obama's plan.

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, BuzzFeed and Taking Note

Ryan Ellis / Americans for Tax Reform RSS:

ATR Statement on “Plan B” Tax Plan — ATR's statement on the “Plan B” tax bill. — ATR has consistently maintained that individual Members of Congress make a pledge to their constituents to oppose and vote against tax increases. The House this week will vote on a tax bill.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Politico, The Hill, National Review, The New Republic, Speaker.gov, Hot Air, Post Politics, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, Washington Wire, Wonkblog and CTJReports

Politico:
Obama, Boehner duel on fiscal cliff

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, National Review, Quartz, Wonkblog, Business Insider and The New Republic

Manu Raju / Politico:
Quick switch: Hatch backs Boehner Plan B

Discussion: CNN, Michelle Malkin, The Hill, The Fix, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times and Post Politics

Talking Points Memo:
Grover Norquist: Boehner's ‘Plan B’ Not A Tax Pledge Violation

Discussion: Firedoglake and National Review

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Boehner's tax gamble roils fiscal cliff talks

Discussion: The Hill and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:
White House: Obama Would Veto GOP's Fiscal Cliff ‘Plan B’

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress and Firedoglake

Kate Nocera / Politico:
Norquist giving House Republicans a pass on Boehner's ‘Plan B’

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Outside the Beltway and CNN

Michael Scherer / TIME:

2012 Person of the Year: Barack Obama, the President — Twenty-seven years after driving from New York City to Chicago in a $2,000 Honda Civic for a job that probably wouldn't amount to much, Barack Obama, in better shape but with grayer hair, stood in the presidential suite on the top floor …

Richard Stengel / TIME:
The Choice — In 1782 an expatriate French aristocrat named …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, LightBox, Politico, Mediaite, Post Politics, Gawker, Business Insider and msnbc.com

Adolph L. Reed Jr / New York Times:

The Puzzle of Black Republicans — WHEN Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina announced on Monday that she would name Representative Tim Scott to the Senate, it seemed like another milestone for African-Americans. Mr. Scott will complete the term of Senator Jim DeMint, who is leaving to run Heritage Foundation.

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Examiner, The Week, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NewsBusters.org, The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, National Review and The Lonely Conservative

Ashley Killough / CNN:
TRENDING: Tim Scott points to ‘moral decay’ after school shooting

Discussion: Politico

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
CNN Anchor Blasts Florida Governor For Ducking Gun Control, Demands Action Before ‘I Cover Another Tragedy’

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Roger Kimball / Roger's Rules:

Robert H. Bork, 1927-2012 — Judge Robert H. Bork, one of the the greatest jurists this country has ever produced, died early this morning from heart complications in a Virginia hospital near his home. He was 84. — Bork was a national celebrity. Several years ago …

Discussion: The Week, Power Line, PointOfLaw Forum, Hot Air, Freedom's Lighthouse, Spectator, americanthinker.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and National Review

Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:

Postscript: Robert Bork, 1927-2012 — Robert Bork, who died Wednesday, was an unrepentant reactionary who was on the wrong side of every major legal controversy of the twentieth century. The fifty-eight senators who voted against Bork for confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1987 honored themselves, and the Constitution.

Discussion: American Prospect

Fox News:
Robert Bork, former Supreme Court nominee, dies

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, ThinkProgress, AllThingsD, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Michelle Malkin and protein wisdom, more at Mediagazer »

Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
Robert H. Bork, Conservative Jurist, Dies at 85

Discussion: The New Republic, Commentary Magazine, American Prospect, Washington Post, Althouse, BuzzFeed, Gawker, Ross Douthat, Outside the Beltway, American Power and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Kristol-founded group targets Hagel — The William Kristol-founded conservative Emergency Committee for Israel says it's launching cable ads starting Thursday slamming Chuck Hagel, the latest in a spate of criticism over the man who's said to top President Barack Obama's list for Secretary of Defense.

Discussion: Washington Post, Taylor Marsh and Weekly Standard

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
More trouble for Hagel — Joining other groups and individuals …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Weekly Standard and Capital J | JTA

Washington Post:
Chuck Hagel is not the right choice for defense secretary

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Joe Manchin: 'I'm so proud of the NRA' — 'I'm not supporting a ban on anything. I'm supporting a conversation on everything,' Manchin said. AP Photo — Close — West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who suggested earlier in the week that the time had come for some gun control restrictions …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Mediaite

Shauna Johnson / WV MetroNews:
Senator Manchin attempts clarification

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Sensing political shift, Pelosi, Dems call for ban on high-capacity gun clips

Discussion: CNN

NRO Symposium / National Review:

Newtown Answers — Twenty children and six adults are dead. In Nigeria, people put their lives at risk going to church on Sundays. But in New England? The thought that going to school could be a final act is hard for us to comprehend. The seeming senselessness of what happened …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, jessica valenti, Daily Kos, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Truthdig, msnbc.com, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

CNN:

CNN Poll: Bare majority now support major gun restrictions — Washington (CNN) - Americans are reacting to the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut with elevated levels of anger, shock and fear that have led a growing number of people to look for action from the government and society …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Hot Air, Business Insider and The National Memo

Robert Rizzuto / Union-News:

Sen. Scott Brown says he now supports a federal ban on assault weapons — Although he once said banning so-called assault weapons fell under the category of issues best left to the states, Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told The Republican / MassLive.com in an exclusive interview Wednesday that he now supports federal action.

Discussion: The Hill, 2chambers and Post Politics

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
The Assault Weapon Ban Would Have Never Passed If It Wasn't For Ronald Reagan

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Eric Schmitt / New York Times:

3 State Department Resignations After Libya Attack Report — WASHINGTON — Three State Department officials resigned under pressure on Wednesday following a report that detailed “grossly inadequate” security measures at the United States Mission in Benghazi, Libya, on the night assailants besieged …

Discussion: CNN, CBS News, Taylor Marsh, The Atlantic Online, Michelle Malkin, Fox News and The Other McCain

Matt Townsend / Bloomberg:

Guns Out of Stock at Wal-Mart as Magazine Prices Surge on — With President Barack Obama endorsing sweeping gun restrictions in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, prices for handgun magazines are surging on EBay (EBAY) and semi-automatic rifles are sold out at many Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) locations.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Becket Fund:

Federal Appeals Court Hands Victory to Religious Colleges, Commands HHS to Act Quickly to Fix Mandate — Media Contact: Emily Hardman, 202.349.7224 — Washington, D.C. — Today, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. handed Wheaton College and Belmont Abbey College a major victory in their challenges to the HHS mandate.

Discussion: National Review, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air and Washington Free Beacon

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
Court: Obama must rewrite contraception mandate to accommodate religious liberty

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Questions and Observations

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

Va. bill would order schools to arm teachers — Del. Robert G. Marshall is proposing a bill that would require some teachers or other school staff to carry concealed weapons in schools. — Marshall (R-Prince William) requested that the bill be drafted in response to the mass shooting last week at a Connecticut elementary school.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Mediaite

Frank Newport / Gallup:

To Stop Shootings, Americans Focus on Police, Mental Health — Democrats substantially more likely to see assault gun ban as effective — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are most likely to say that an increased police presence at schools, increased government spending on mental health screening and treatment …

Discussion: Politico and Weasel Zippers

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Obama to Give Congress Plan on Gun Control Within Weeks — WASHINGTON — President Obama declared Wednesday that he would make gun control a “central issue” as he opens a second term, submitting broad new gun control proposals to Congress no later than January and committing the power …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Capital New York, The Democratic Daily, Washington Monthly, Shakesville and CNN

Alex Seitz-Wald / Salon:

Assault rifle company issues “man cards” — The maker of the assault weapon that killed 27 people in Connecticut quizzes its customers on their manhood — There are lots of reasons to own guns: Hunting, self-defense, clinging purposes, but also to bolster your deflated sense of masculinity.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Shakesville, alicublog and The Reaction