Tax fight sends GOP into chaos  —  Video: Speaker of the House John Boehner says a tax bill did not advance to a vote in the House because it lacked votes.  But he says Republicans still want to negotiate a deal avoiding a big tax hike in 2013 and wants President Obama to get serious.

Talk radio host Dana Loesch files suit in St. Louis against Breitbart.com  —  • By Robert Patrick rpatrick@post-dispatch.com 314-621-5154  —  ST. LOUIS  • Conservative talk radio host and commentator Dana Loesch sued the owner of the conservative website Breitbart.com Friday …

The Case For Going Over The Cliff Remains Strong  —  WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 20: U.S. President Barack Obama walks to the White House December 20, 2012 in Washington, DC.  —  I wrote earlier today that I think the failure of Plan B makes a deal more likely than it would have been had the bill passed.

While the NRA Was on TV Talking About the Need for More Guns Some Guy Was Walking Up and Down a Road in Pennsylvania Shooting People  —  The National Rifle Association today held its first press conference since last week's deadly shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, and the takeaway was clear: We need more guns.

Obama Waking Up From Dream of Grand Bargain  —  “Call me a hopeless optimist,” said President Obama at his press conference tonight, in which he pleaded for Republicans to join him in averting the “fiscal cliff,” “but I still think we can get this done.”  —  Okay.  You're a hopeless optimist, President Obama.

Iowa Court: Bosses Can Fire ‘Irresistible’ Workers  —  The Iowa Supreme Court says a dentist did not commit gender discrimination when he fired an attractive female assistant he viewed as a threat to his marriage.  —  The court ruled Friday that a boss can fire an employee he considers an …

OBAMA NOMINATES KERRY FOR SECRETARY OF STATE  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, one of Washington's most respected voices on foreign policy, as his next secretary of state.  —  The move is the first in an expected overhaul …

Scramble is on for Kerry's Senate seat  —  President Obama's nomination of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for secretary of State on Friday will set off a mad scramble — particularly among Democrats — to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election to be held next year.

Newtown & My Critics  —  Well, at least no one is calling for my “head on a stick” — but that's probably because Prof. Erik Loomis of the University of Rhode Island is about the only person or entity that hasn't denounced me for pointing out in NRO's Sandy Hook symposium that the school …

Formal Reprimand Issued To Flatulent Federal Worker  —  Man's gas blamed for creating “intolerable” workplace  —  A federal employee was formally reprimanded this month for excessive workplace flatulence, a sanction that was delivered to him in a five-page letter that actually included a log …

How Many People Have Been Killed by Guns Since Newtown?  —  Slate partners with @GunDeaths for an interactive, crowdsourced tally of the toll firearms have taken since Dec. 14.  —  Since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, we at Slate have been wondering …