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.

More trouble for Hagel  —  Joining other groups and individuals opposing Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, the generally liberal American Jewish Committee (among the older and better known Jewish organizations) has signaled it opposes the potential nomination.  Executive director David Harris e-mails me the following:

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 …

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.

Obama: Climate change among top three priorities for second term  —  President Obama has identified climate change as one of his top three priorities in his second term after coming under fire from environmentalists for giving the issue short shrift during the campaign.

Spielberg, Day-Lewis at Capitol for screening of ‘Lincoln’ for senators  —  The two stars brought the Senate to a halt when they arrived for a bipartisan viewing of their hit movie.  —  Actor Daniel Day-Lewis and director Steven Spielberg brought the Senate to a halt on Wednesday afternoon …

Tapper to Obama on newfound gun control advocacy: ‘Where have you been?’  —  ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper asked President Barack Obama Wednesday why the president's plea for action on gun issues has come so late in his first term and only after last week's tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

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.

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 …

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.

Barber shop conversation in Wentzville about Connecticut shootings ends with shots fired at customer  —  • By Susan Weich sweich@post-dispatch.com 636-493-9674  —  WENTZVILLE  • A barber shop patron who fired three times at another customer discussing the Connecticut school shooting has been charged with three felonies.