memeorandum: GOP senators backing away from Social Security demand (Erik Wasson/The Hill)

7:15 PM ET, December 30, 2012

Top Items:

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Lindsay Graham: I Will Destroy America's Solvency Unless The Social Security Retirement Age Is Raised — Although official Washington is currently fixated on the so-called “Fiscal Cliff,” the biggest threat to American prosperity is the debt ceiling, which must be raised in February to prevent economic catastrophe.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Paul Krugman, The Impolitic, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes' and CANNONFIRE

Politico:

No cliff deal as final hour approaches — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell still haven't struck a deal to prevent taxes from rising on wage earners in the new year, sources say, as eleventh-hour negotiations to avert historic tax hikes approach a make-or-break moment Sunday.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and Reuters

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

GOP senators backing away from Social Security demand — GOP senators on Sunday backed away from demanding that cuts to Social Security benefits be included in any “fiscal cliff” deal. — The call to include a measure of inflation known as the chained consumer price index, or “chained CPI …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

New York Times:

Fiscal Talks Resume With Deadline in Mind — WASHINGTON — Negotiations over a last-ditch agreement to head off large tax increases and sweeping spending cuts in the new year appeared to resume on Sunday afternoon after Republican senators withdrew a demand that any deal must include …

Discussion: The New Republic, BBC, The Gateway Pundit, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and First Read

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama: ‘Pressure’ on Congress, blames GOP as deadline nears

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and CNN

Washington Post:
Senators trade proposals into night to avoid ‘fiscal cliff’

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Fix, Taylor Marsh and Post Politics

msnbc.com:

December 30: President Barack Obama, Tom Brokaw, Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Brooks, and Chuck Todd — December 30: President Obama, Brokaw, Meacham, Kearns Goodwin, Brooks, Todd — Below: — updated 2012-12-30T14:17:37 — DAVID GREGORY: — Mr. President, welcome back to Meet the Press.

Discussion: Althouse, Wizbang, The Moderate Voice, First Read and Twitchy

Howard Kurtz / Daily Download:

Meet the President: David Gregory's Low-Intensity Interview — Well, this time David Gregory didn't brandish any weapons or show much firepower. — He pressed Barack Obama on a few points in the president's appearance this morning, designed to seize control of the media narrative one day before the fiscal cliff deadline.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Mediaite

CNN:
Boehner says Obama should ‘lead, not cast blame’

Discussion: Mediaite

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Newtown Task Force Returns Biden to Gun Control Arena — WASHINGTON — Never much known for restraint, Joseph R. Biden Jr. did not hold back during a presidential primary debate in 2007 when a voter asking about gun rights in a recorded video displayed a fearsome-looking semiautomatic rifle and declared, “This is my baby.”

Discussion: Politico, Right Wing News and JustOneMinute

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Obama hopes to enact new gun-control measures in 2013 — President Obama on Sunday said he would make gun control a priority in his new term, pledging to put his “full weight” behind passing new restrictions on firearms in 2013. — “I'm going to be putting forward a package …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative and Moonbattery

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Sen. Feinstein: US has to ‘bite the bullet’ and enact new gun-control restrictions

Discussion: Politico and Infowars

Pat Buchanan / Townhall.com:

Why the War Party Fears Hagel — In the fortnight since Chuck Hagel's name was floated for secretary of defense, we have witnessed Washington at its worst. — Who is Chuck Hagel? — Born in North Platte, Neb., he was a squad leader in Vietnam, twice wounded, who came home to work …

Discussion: Power Line

Ron Radosh / PJ Media:
The Meaning of Pat Buchanan's Surpising Endorsement of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Power Line, National Review and The Daily Dish

Michael Yon / Online Magazine:

Some Thoughts About The Kingdom of Thailand — With Former Prime Minister Abhisit. — On Christmas Eve, ThaiPBS television interviewed me in Bangkok. The interview is scheduled to air on 31 December at 9:40PM Thailand time. Our interview will be online here.

Lori Ziganto / Twitchy:

Benghazi? Whatever! There was just some ‘sloppiness’ there, says Obama [Video] — That's right. The President of the United States said that the murders of four Americans in Benghazi were due to “sloppiness.” … From “bumps in the road” to sloppy bumps in the road.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Power Line

Washington Post:

Worst year in Washington: The tea party — The Gadsden flag, which flew proudly over the 2010 midterm elections, now lies in tatters — rent by internal disagreements, losses among its most visible standard-bearers and a growing sense that the tea party movement, which once looked …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Prairie Weather