How the fiscal cliff fight will end (unhappily for Republicans) … The word among some Senate Republicans is that a fiscal cliff deal is likely to be struck by Sunday, or Monday at the latest.  (And Monday, being December 31st, is in fact the latest a deal could be struck to avoid January 1 tax increases.)

French Court Says 75% Tax Rate on Rich Is Unconstitutional  —  President Francois Hollande's 75 percent millionaire-tax is unconstitutional because it fails to guarantee taxpayer equality, France's top court ruled today.  —  The tax, one of Hollande's campaign promises …

Claim seeks $100 million for child survivor of Connecticut school shooting  —  Reuters/Reuters - A U.S. flag hangs over stockings left as a memorial for victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, along a fence surrounding the Sandy Hook Cemetery in Newtown, Connecticut December ...more

When Getting Your Butt Kicked Is the Strategy  —  Buzzfeed has one of many pieces about anonymous Republicans bemoaning their party's strategic incompetence, this time about the debt ceiling deal.  They report: … Here's what Buzzfeed is missing: For Republicans, losing the political fight isn't a downside of the strategy.

Wishful Thinking and Middle-Class Taxes  —  IN the continuing fiscal negotiations between President Obama and House Republicans, both sides have, from the very beginning, agreed on one point: Taxes on the middle class must not rise.  But maybe it's time to reconsider this premise.

There's Only One Way To Fix The Deficit — And Actually It's Totally Painless  —  People who insist that the US has a gigantic “spending problem” are ignorant of what really drives the deficit and the national debt, as Henry Blodget easily demonstrated in a series of charts.

Former President George H.W. Bush no longer in intensive care  —  (CNN) - Former President George H.W. Bush was moved Saturday out of the intensive care unit of the Houston hospital where he has been for more than a month.  —  “President Bush's condition has improved, so he has been moved today …

Nation running out of ammo  —  Reaction to threats by Senator Dianne Feinstein and others to ban certain weapons and serverely restrict ownership of guns generally has caused a run on gun stores, as is widely reported.  —  Less reported is the run on ammunition, leaving ammunition inventories down 93% since election day.

New York newspaper to list more gun permit holders after uproar  —  Reuters/Reuters - A small portion of guns that were turned in by their owners are stacked inside a truck at a gun buyback held by the Los Angeles Police Department in Los Angeles, California, December 26, 2012 ...more

Egypt to pursue relationship with Hezbollah  —  In shift from Mubarak-era policy, Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon says Brotherhood-dominated Egypt will engage terror group.  —  In a dramatic policy shift, Egypt will seek to forge “tight” relations with Hezbollah, Egyptian Ambassador …

California gun sales jump; gun injuries, deaths fall  —  Gun deaths and injuries have dropped sharply in California, even as the number of guns sold in the state has risen, according to new state data.  —  Dealers sold 600,000 guns in California last year, up from 350,000 in 2002 …