memeorandum: Dave Barry's Year in Review 2012 (Dave Barry/Washington Post)

4:05 PM ET, January 1, 2013

Top Items:

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Senate Passes Tax Increases on Wealthy Americans — WASHINGTON - The Senate, in a pre-dawn vote two hours after the deadline passed to avert automatic tax increases, overwhelmingly approved legislation Tuesday that would allow tax rates to rise only on affluent Americans …

Discussion: News Desk, The Daily Banter, Little Green Footballs, The Reaction, The Other McCain, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Progressive Change …, Ross Douthat, Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Conservatives4Palin, The Week, ABCNEWS and Politico

Politico:

Fiscal cliff: Timing uncertain on House vote — House Republicans say they will not decide whether to bring the Senate bill to avert the fiscal cliff up for a vote until they have two closed meetings with their lawmakers. — “The purpose of this meeting is to review what the Senate has passed …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Roll Call, The Daily Beast, The Reality-Based Community, The Hill, The Week, The Maddow Blog, ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Weasel Zippers, The Fix, New York Times and Prairie Weather

David Brooks / New York Times:

Another Fiscal Flop — Over the course of the 20th century, America built its welfare state. It was, by and large, a great achievement, expanding opportunity and security for millions. Unfortunately, as the population aged and health care costs surged, it became unaffordable.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Mother Jones, The American Conservative and Right Wing News

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:

FISCAL CLIFF DEAL: $1 IN SPENDING CUTS FOR EVERY $41 IN TAX INCREASES — According to the Congressional Budget Office, the last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama cuts only $15 billion in spending while increasing tax revenues by $620 billion …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Right Wing News, Politico, Patterico's Pontifications, Chicago Boyz and Twitchy

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

House Takes On Fiscal Cliff — As the new year began on Tuesday, Congressional efforts to head off tax increases on most working Americans shifted to the House, where members began to pore over details of a plan passed by the Senate in the early morning hours as Republican leaders began …

Discussion: The Week and Balloon Juice

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Senate passes massive tax cut which raised taxes over $600 billion in middle of night without reading the bill — There are too many metaphors here applicable to the Senate's 89-8 passage of a “fiscal cliff” bill in the middle of the night (around 2 a.m. this morning).

Discussion: Business Insider, Twitchy and Post Politics

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
CBO: ‘Fiscal cliff’ deal carries $4 trillion price tag over next decade

Discussion: Politico and The Gateway Pundit

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Tentative Deal Is Reached to Raise Taxes on the Wealthy

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The National Memo, Fox News, Twitchy, American Prospect, Althouse, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, UrbanGrounds and Taegan Goddard's …

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Focus now turns to the House

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Impolitic

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
White House Claims Victory In Fiscal Deal

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Caller

Fox News:
Fiscal crisis measure now heads to the House for approval

Discussion: protein wisdom and Fox News Insider

CBS News:
Fiscal cliff deal heads to House after Senate vote

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Prairie Weather, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Calculated Risk

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Fiscal Cliff Deal Reached: White House, Hill Leaders Agree To Delay Sequester By Two Months

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, New York Post, Firedoglake, Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Post Politics and The Plum Line

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Budget Deal Is Sealed

Discussion: PoliPundit.com, Taegan Goddard's …, American Power, Washington Wire and CNN

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Senate to hold New Year's Eve vote on Biden-GOP fiscal cliff deal

Discussion: Politico and Post Politics

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CBS News:
It's official: Deal reached on “fiscal cliff”

Discussion: Firedoglake, Associated Press, his vorpal sword and TalkLeft

Paul Krugman:

Perspective on the Deal — To make sense of what just happened, we need to ask what is really at stake, and how much difference the budget deal makes in the larger picture. — So, what are the two sides really fighting about? Surely the answer is, the future of the welfare state.

Discussion: The Plum Line, The Agonist, Hot Air, Campaign for America's Future, Economist's View, Brad DeLong, ABCNEWS, The New Republic and Booman Tribune

Donovan Slack / Politico:

White House declares victory — The White House issued a “fact sheet” statement Tuesday declaring the fiscal cliff agreement a victory, though the House has yet to vote on the measure. — “At this make or break moment for the middle class, the President achieved a bipartisan solution …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Hinterland Gazette and Weasel Zippers

Suzy Khimm / Wonkblog:

Your fiscal cliff deal cheat sheet — The White House and the Senate have finalized the details of their deal to avert the fiscal cliff. The bill basically follows the framework that came out earlier this afternoon from the McConnell-Biden talks, with key additional details.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, neo-neocon, Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire, Daily Kos, PoliPundit.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:

Joe Biden: The Most Influential Vice President in History? — From the fiscal cliff to gun control to Afghanistan, Scranton's favorite son has transformed himself from affable gaffer to West Wing powerhouse. — Kevin Lamarque/Reuters — Barack Obama just can't get enough out of Joe Biden these days.

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', The Week and Daily Kos

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Wonkbook: Everything you need to know about the fiscal cliff deal

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Mahablog and Angry Bear

Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
Obama Fiscal Cliff Remarks Spark Republican Threats To Blow Up Deal

Discussion: ctj.org, Wonkblog, Chicago Tribune, The Gateway Pundit and Associated Press

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Employers Must Offer Family Care, Affordable or Not — WASHINGTON — In a long-awaited interpretation of the new health care law, the Obama administration said Monday that employers must offer health insurance to employees and their children, but will not be subject to any penalties if family coverage is unaffordable to workers.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Via Meadia and The Raw Story

Peter Baker / New York Times:

View From the Left: Obama ‘Kept Giving Stuff Away’ — President Obama's fiscal deal with Republicans has touched off a fresh wave of grievance among disappointed liberals who complained that he caved in on taxes and sent a signal that he would ultimately surrender on other priorities as he prepared to open his second term.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Paul Krugman