Check out Mini-memeorandum for simple mobiles or memeorandum Mobile for modern smartphones.
5:40 PM ET, December 31, 2012

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Why Is Obama Caving on Taxes?  —  The discouraging thing about the “fiscal cliff” negotiations is not that they have gone into the eleventh hour, or that they may go into the new year, or even that they won't resolve the long-term budget deficit.  It's that President Obama has retreated on his hard line on taxes.
RELATED:
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Why the White House thinks it's winning the ‘fiscal cliff’  —  Consider the ongoing fiscal cliff negotiations from the White House's perspective.  —  The specifics of the potential McConnell-Biden deal are fluid, but the bottom line, at the moment, seems to be this: It raises taxes …
Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:
The Estate Tax Is a Huge Giveaway in the Fiscal-Cliff Talks  —  It will cost us $375 billion over the next decade if we keep the estate tax from going back to its Clinton-era levels.  That's twice the savings from switching to chained CPI.  —  (Reuters)  —  It's time to talk …
Discussion: Hullabaloo, Wonkblog and Post Politics
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Fiscal Cliff Deal Growing More Likely, Would Raise $715 Billion In Revenue … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Bush Tax Cuts, Video, Boehner Fiscal Cliff, Fiscal Cliff, Fiscal Cliff Deal, Fiscal Cliff Tax Revenues, Fiscal Cliff Taxes, Obama Fiscal Cliff, Obama Fiscal Cliff Deal, Tax Hikes, Politics News
Politico:
Fiscal cliff: Major progress toward deal  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Vice President Joe Biden engaged in furious overnight negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff and made major progress toward a year-end tax deal, giving sudden hope to high-stakes talks …
bigstory.ap.org:
AP SOURCES: ‘FISCAL CLIFF’ DEAL EMERGING  —  You are here  —  Home » United States Congress » AP Sources: ‘Fiscal cliff’ deal emerging  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The contours of a deal to avert the ‘fiscal cliff’ emerged Monday, with Democrats and Republicans agreeing to raise tax rates …
Timothy Noah / The New Republic:
Kill This Deal … Dear House and Senate Democrats,  —  Your president has sold you out.  A deal will likely be announced today canceling the scheduled income-tax increase on all family income below $450,000, instead of the promised $250,000 threshold, which was already too high.
CBS News:
Finally, a “fiscal cliff” breakthrough  —  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says any potential deal will have to include a tax hike on the upper 2 percent of income earners.  But Geithner says the biggest obstacle is Republicans who refuse to budge.  Anna Werner reports on how close the parties are in reaching a deal.
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
McConnell's Latest Gambit Is A Big Tax And Debt Limit Tell
Discussion: Daily Kos
Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Republicans Lash Out At Obama, Even As Fiscal Cliff Deal Close At Hand
Discussion: Politico and The Daily Banter
Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama says fiscal-cliff deal on taxes ‘in sight’ but not done yet
Discussion: CNN
Dana Bash / CNN:
Harkin: Democrats unhappy; “We may object” to suggested deal
Deirdre Walsh / CNN:
TRENDING: House unlikely to vote on any deal until after cliff deadline
Discussion: Politico and Taegan Goddard's …
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
2 Sides in Talks Inch Closer but No Fiscal Deal on Final Day
Katie Glueck / Politico:
Grover Norquist: Tax rates won't increase
First Read:
First Thoughts: Farewell to the 112th Congress
Jamelle Bouie / The Plum Line:
Have Democrats lost their leverage on the fiscal cliff?
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Steny Hoyer cool to compromise
Discussion: Weasel Zippers
The European / The European Union Times:
Clinton Injured, US Navy Seal Killed In Secret US Mission To Iran  —  A new Foreign Military Intelligence (GRU) report circulating in the Kremlin today is saying that United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [photo 2nd right] was injured, and a top US Navy Seal Commander killed …
Discussion: Weekly Standard and KTLA 5
RELATED:
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
NBC reporter raises Hillary Clinton questions
BuzzFeed:
8 People Who Thought Hillary Clinton Was Faking Her Concussion
Louis Michael Seidman / New York Times:
Let's Give Up on the Constitution  —  AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken.  But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.
Don Kaplan / NY Daily News:
Political commentator Sean Hannity was one of the big losers in the 2012 election  —  The right-wing Fox News host lost half his audience in the weeks after Obama's win  —  Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity had predicted President Obama would lose in a landslide.
New York Post:
Greenwich Village couple busted with cache of weapons, bombmaking explosives: sources  —  The privileged daughter of a prominent city doctor, and her boyfriend — a Harvard grad and Occupy Wall Street activist — have been busted for allegedly having a cache of weapons and a bombmaking explosive in their Greenwich Village apartment.
Washington Post:
(APPLAUSE)  —  Thank you.  Please, everybody have a seat.  —  Well, good afternoon, everybody.  Welcome to the White House.  —  (UNKNOWN): Thank you for having us.  —  (LAUGHTER)  —  OBAMA: Now I realize that the last thing you want to hear on New Year's Eve is another speech from me …
RELATED:
Suzy Khimm / Wonkblog:
Obama's wrong: This ‘cliff’ deal still raises taxes on the middle class
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
Long Walks, Short Piers  —  The media's attacks on the Second Amendment—and on the First.  —  America once produced its own bumptious television hosts.  Men like Phil Donahue, Wally George, Morton Downey Jr. and Geraldo Rivera did rough and degrading work, but at least they knew the dignity of having a job.
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Barney Frank Opposes Chuck Hagel For Defense Secretary  —  “I cannot think of any other minority group in the U.S. today where such a negative statement and action made in 1998 would not be an obstacle to a major Presidential appointment,” Barney Frank says.  —  Image by J. Scott Applewhite / AP
 
 
 Archived Page Info: 
This is a snapshot of memeorandum at 5:40 PM ET, December 31, 2012.

View the current page or another snapshot:


Page version:
 
 See Also: 
memeorandum: site main
memeorandum River: reverse chronological memeorandum
memeorandum Mobile: for phones
memeorandum Leaderboard: memeorandum's top sources
 
 Subscribe: 
memeorandum RSS feed
memeorandum on Mastodon
 
 
 More Items: 
Jared Bernstein / On the Economy:
The Cliff Deal in the Offing
Discussion: Angry Bear
Neil Irwin / Washington Post:
Markets aren't sweating the fiscal cliff
BBC:
Firework displays kick off 2013
Dan Munro / Forbes:
2012 - The Year In Healthcare Charts
Raf Sanchez / Telegraph:
Republican party is ‘devoid of a soul’, says Jon Huntsman
Discussion: Ballot Box, Politico and Mediaite
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Gregory under investigation, out of headlines
 Earlier Items: 
John O'Sullivan / Wall Street Journal:
Turmoil Over America's Radio Voice in Russia
Discussion: Power Line
Des Moines Register:
Kaul: Nation needs a new agenda on guns
The Week:
Gun control won't work
Discussion: Business Insider
James Bovard / Wall Street Journal:
How the ‘Dairy Cliff’ Will Cream Consumers
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Citing Citizens United, Federal Appeals Court Blocks Access To Birth Control
Discussion: The Raw Story
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Bloomberg:
The stock market briefly surged Monday after CNBC, Reuters, and others picked up an erroneous X post that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs

New York Times:
A majority of 300+ WaPo tech workers sign union cards and plan to formally request recognition, WaPo's first public union drive since Bezos' 2013 acquisition

Tatiana Siegel / Variety:
Sources: Evan Gershkovich is not cooperating on WSJ's documentary and book about his imprisonment, and plans his own film and book, sparking tensions
 
Sister Sites:

Techmeme
 Top news and commentary for technology's leaders, from all around the web
Mediagazer
 Top news and commentary for media professionals from all around the web
WeSmirch
 The top celebrity news from all around the web on a single page