memeorandum: Fact Sheet: The Tax Agreement: A Victory for Middle-Class Families and the Economy (The White House)

12:10 PM 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 …

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

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 Week, The Moderate Voice, The Reaction and Patterico's Pontifications

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

John Boehner / CNN:
TRENDING: Boehner's White House F-bomb

Discussion: The Hill, Politico and The Maddow Blog

Washington Post:
House members meet to review Senate-passed cliff deal

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
The House Comes Around on the Cliff. Why Am I Not Reassured?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Wonkblog, American Prospect, Paul Krugman, BuzzFeed, RedState and Washington Examiner

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Back to Vacation: Obama Takes Midnight Flight to Hawaii

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette

Colleen McCain Nelson / Wall Street Journal: Lack of Grand Bargain Complicates Obama's Priorities

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Peter King: Halt donations to House GOP — New York Republican Rep. Peter King went to war with his Republican colleagues on Wednesday after leaders spiked a Hurricane Sandy relief bill, calling on New Yorkers to stop all donations to GOP House members. — “These Republicans have no problem finding …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slate, The Fix, New Jersey Online, emptywheel, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, The Week, Politicker and CNN

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 …

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Boehner committed to move Hurricane Sandy relief bill in January — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), under fire from Northeast lawmakers in his own party, is promising to pass an emergency spending bill to help pay for damage from Hurricane Sandy in the next Congress, which starts Thursday.

Discussion: Firedoglake and National Review

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

NBC Politics:

Bipartisan outrage after House skips vote on $60 billion Sandy aid bill — House Republicans have abandoned plans to vote on an aid package for victims of Superstorm Sandy in the current term of Congress after the Senate approved more $60 billion to help affected residents recover.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BBC, Taylor Marsh and msnbc.com

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House members to Boehner: ‘Shame on you’ for not holding Sandy vote

Discussion: Politicker

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Boehner, Cantor take different sides

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Algemeiner.com, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Wonkette and Crooks and Liars

Michael O'Brien / NBC Politics:
Fiscal cliff deal: House OKs proposal despite GOP objections

Discussion: American Prospect, USA Today, The Talking Dog, BBC, First Read, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice 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, The Gateway Pundit and The Agonist

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

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

Discussion: The Jawa Report, 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, Fausta's Blog, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite and The National Memo

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ABCNEWS, Business Insider, Techdirt, The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, John Lott's Website, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Politico and Michelle Malkin

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

The Strangest Conservative Priority: Prepping a ‘2nd Amendment Solution’ — The Bill of Rights offers much smarter, more effective ways to safeguard liberty than preparing for armed insurrection. — Reuters — In National Review, Kevin Williamson argues that nearly everyone calling …

Discussion: Townhall.com

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

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

GOP State Senator: Kwanzaa Is A Leftist Plot ‘To Destroy’ America — While outrage about the so-called war on Christmas has died down for another year, Wisconsin state Senator Glenn Grothman (R) has launched a new war on Kwanzaa, claiming it is a fake holiday invented by racist radicals who want to “divide America.”

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Jonathan Terbush / The Raw Story:
Wisconsin state Senator: Kwanza is a fake holiday that black people don't even like

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

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

Richard Rubin / Bloomberg:

Senate-Passed Deal Means Higher Tax on 77% of Households — The budget deal passed by the U.S. Senate today would raise taxes on 77.1 percent of U.S. households, mostly because of the expiration of a payroll tax cut, according to preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center in Washington.