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10:55 AM ET, January 2, 2013

Top Items:

The fiscal cliff deal that almost wasn't — House Speaker John Boehner couldn't hold back when he spotted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the White House lobby last Friday. — It was only a few days before the nation would go over the fiscal cliff, no bipartisan agreement was in sight …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Wire, Weekly Standard, Daniel W. Drezner, The Week, Mediaite, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Business Insider, Taegan Goddard's …, No More Mister Nice Blog, The National Memo, CNN, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Maddow Blog and ABCNEWS

David Rogers / Reuters:

House pulls plug on Sandy aid bill — House Republicans abruptly pulled the plug Tuesday night on their promise to take up this week an emergency supplemental disaster aid bill for Northeast states damaged by Hurricane Sandy. — The decision is a stunning reversal since just hours …

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, New York Times, Gawker, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill, The Mahablog and The Hill

Matthew Boyle / BREITBART.COM:

SOURCES: ENOUGH REPUBLICANS WILLING TO UNSEAT SPEAKER BOEHNER — American Majority Action spokesman Ron Meyer told Breitbart News late Tuesday that enough House Republicans have banded together in an effort to unseat House Speaker John Boehner from his position—they just need a leader to take up the mantle.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's …, The Week, Gestetner Updates, Booman Tribune and Joe. My. God.

Los Angeles Times:

House approves ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, rescinding broad tax hike — This post has been updated. See below for details. — WASHINGTON — The House gave final approval Tuesday night to a bill to rescind tax increases for the vast majority of Americans, but only after a day of closed-door …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, CBS News, TechCrunch, The Moderate Voice, The Reaction and Patterico's Pontifications

CBS News:

GOP Rep: “We got whooped” on “fiscal cliff” … PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — (CBS News) Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) said today on “CBS This Morning” that the GOP “got whooped” in the “fiscal cliff” compromise that passed the House last night, but explained that he voted for the deal regardless because …

Discussion: Post Politics and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

House members meet to review Senate-passed cliff deal — Republicans and Democrats were gathering in closed-door meetings in the House on Tuesday to evaluate the bipartisan agreement struck in the Senate to let income taxes rise sharply on the rich and avoid the worst effects of the “fiscal cliff.”

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Sen. Toomey: GOP should risk shutdown to force spending cuts in debt-limit fight — Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Wednesday called for Republicans to be ready to shut down the government to gain spending cuts in exchange for raising the nation's debt-limit. — “We Republicans need to be willing …

Discussion: Politico

Michael O'Brien / NBC Politics:

Fiscal cliff deal: House OKs proposal despite GOP objections — Updated at 6:58 a.m. ET: An agreement to stave off the harshest and most immediate consequences of the fiscal cliff won approval in the House late Tuesday. President Barack Obama said he would sign the law …

Discussion: The Talking Dog, msnbc.com, BBC, Daily Kos, First Read and Gawker

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
GOP Congressmen Suggest Republican Senators Who Voted For ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Compromise Were Drunk

Discussion: The Raw Story, ABCNEWS, Shakesville, Balloon Juice, The Other McCain and The Gateway Pundit

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Boehner, Cantor take different sides

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, Wonkette and The Hill

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

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, CNN, Washington Post, BREITBART.COM, Slate, RedState, The Week, The PJ Tatler, Outside the Beltway, Jared Bernstein, New York Times, John Lott's Website, The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, Business Insider, Truthdig and The Fix

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
House Republicans gauging support for two budget options

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NBC Politics, The Huffington Post, CBS News, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Liberal Values, AMERICAblog, The Hill, Crooks and Liars, The Agonist and Post Politics

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Divided House Passes Tax Deal in End to Latest Fiscal Standoff

Discussion: Wonkblog, Associated Press, msnbc.com, News Desk, The Week, Politico, Wall Street Journal, American Power, Truthdig, Angry Bear, CNN, Taegan Goddard's …, The Huffington Post, The Maddow Blog and Balloon Juice

Niels Lesniewski / Roll Call:
Senate Votes to Kill Its Own Pay Raise

Discussion: Truthdig and The New Republic

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Part 1 of the Fiscal Cliff is Over. Now Gird Yourself for Part 2.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Post Politics and Washington Monthly

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Could A Boehner-Cantor Rift Send The Country Over The Fiscal Cliff?

Discussion: Bloomberg, CBS News, The Impolitic, The Raw Story, Associated Press, The Hill, Washington Post, CANNONFIRE and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Boehner's 100 loyal soldiers might give him political cover on ‘fiscal cliff’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, USA Today, The Hill, Hot Air, Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars

Dskriloff / The Rockland County Times:

The Journal News is Armed and Dangerous — ROCKLAND COUNTY TIMES EXCLUSIVE — Armed guards from RGA Investigations have taken up post at the Journal News' Rockland County headquarters — Journal News' Rockland headquarters in West Nyack, Town of Clarkstown — Guns are good for the goose but NOT for the gander.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Shot in the Dark, Weasel Zippers and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:
‘Journal News’ hires armed security guards

Discussion: Poynter, Balloon Juice, Gestetner Updates and UrbanGrounds

Noreen O'Donnell / Reuters:
New York County denies request for names of gun permit holders

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

6 Things You Won't Believe That Are In The Fiscal Cliff Bill That The Senate Passed At 2 AM While Most Americans Were Drunk — On January 1, just before 2 AM, the Senate overwhelmingly agreed to pass a bill that will avert the Fiscal Cliff. The House approved it late that night.

Discussion: Rational Irrationality, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite and The National Memo

BREITBART.COM:
FISCAL CLIFF DEAL: HOLLYWOOD GETS TAX INCENTIVE EXTENSION

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Politico, Business Insider and Michelle Malkin

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo: House Passes Fiscal Cliff Deal

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

AND THE WINNER IS...SOMEBODY — I kept drifting in and out of football games all afternoon, checking back in every now and then to see if somebody had managed to get the bats in the House Of Representatives to fly in formation. Come the Orange Bowl, and it looked like the Senate bill …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Democratic Congressman Laughs At Fox News' Fiscal Cliff Misinformation — Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) schooled the hosts of Fox & Friends on the details of the deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” during an appearance to explain his opposition to the Senate-passed compromise on Wednesday morning.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Business Insider

Erik Ortiz / NY Daily News:

Attorney for Newtown survivor seeking to sue Connecticut for $100 million backs off — Irving Pinsky said he's received new information about security at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where his 6-year-old client almost died in a Dec. 14 massacre. He initially said he would sue Connecticut in order to improve school safety.

Discussion: Althouse

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Back to Vacation: Obama Takes Midnight Flight to Hawaii — After Congress agreed temporarily to avert the “fiscal cliff” last night, President Barack Obama hailed the deal in brief remarks delivered from the White House, and then headed to Air Force One to take a midnight flight to Hawaii.