memeorandum: Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’ (Igor Volsky/ThinkProgress)

4:00 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 …

John Boehner / CNN:

TRENDING: Boehner's White House F-bomb — (CNN) - For all the stalemate in the fiscal cliff negotiations, there were some heated moments, too. — A Democratic source familiar with one particular exchange told CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Politico, RedState, Taylor Marsh, John Lott's Website and The Gateway Pundit

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: Washington Monthly, First Read, The Huffington Post, American Prospect, BuzzFeed, Hot Air, Slate, The Hill, msnbc.com, Politico, Guardian, Firedoglake, The Week, Gestetner Updates, National Review, Booman Tribune, Daily Pundit and Joe. My. God.

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: ThinkProgress, PERRspectives, Little Green Footballs, Politico and The Raw Story

Jeff G. / protein wisdom:

Jim Geraghty, et al: Obama won! — So, you know, deal with it. Besides, other “pragmatic” Republicans agree. It really was the best we could do: … (A quick interjection here: it was Boehner's willingness to caucus with Dems, rather than his own base, that allowed this monstrosity to pass.

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Washington Examiner

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

James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
Why the Obama tax hikes have only just begun

Discussion: protein wisdom, White House Dossier and Vodkapundit

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

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Wonkblog, RedState, Wall Street Journal, The Maddow Blog, American Prospect, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly and Washington Examiner

Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Tax Bill Comes Due

Discussion: Belmont Club, First Read, American Power and The Hill

David Weigel / Slate:
The House Republicans' Primal Scream

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Hot Air, The Week, Political Insider and Post Politics

Los Angeles Times:
House approves ‘fiscal cliff’ deal, rescinding broad tax hike

Discussion: The Daily Beast, USA Today, CBS News, TechCrunch, The Reaction, ThinkProgress, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice, Patterico's Pontifications and The Hill

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: CNN, Slate, Little Green Footballs, The Fix, New Jersey Online, The Raw Story, The Week, The PJ Tatler, emptywheel, Business Insider, Politicker, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

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 …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Chris Christie Rips House GOP For Blocking Sandy Relief: ‘Shame On You’ — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) — a rising star within the GOP — tore into the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for failing to vote on a Hurricane Sandy aid package before the end of the 113th Congress on Tuesday night.

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: American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Guardian, BBC, Taylor Marsh and msnbc.com

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Boehner under growing pressure to allow vote on Sandy relief bill — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) came under intense pressure Wednesday from Republicans in New York and New Jersey to allow a vote on legislation providing relief to the states hit by Hurricane Sandy in October.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Hill, Politico, BREITBART.COM, Business Insider, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette

Dorsey Shaw / BuzzFeed: Outraged Congressman Suggests He'll Abandon Republican Party Over Sandy Relief

Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Boehner committed to move Hurricane Sandy relief bill in January

Discussion: Firedoglake

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

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal and Politicker

Marc Santora / New York Times:
New York Area Officials Blast House for Ignoring Storm Aid Bill

Discussion: The New Republic and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

New Year, New Dish, New Media — When I first stumbled into blogging over 12 years ago, it was for two reasons: curiosity and freedom. I was curious about the potential for writing in this new medium; and for the first time, I felt total freedom as a writer. On my little blog, I was beholden to no one but my readers.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Mediaite, The Verge, Towleroad News #gay, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Poynter, FishbowlDC, The Daily Banter, Brad DeLong, Joe. My. God., The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Leading Conservative Religious Organization Warns That Christians Will Soon Be Treated Like Blacks In Jim Crow Era — The American Family Association, a top conservative Christian organization, emailed members today with a dire warning that, within 50 years, Christians will be treated like African Americans during the Jim Crow era.

Discussion: Mediaite, Shakesville and The Raw Story

David Ingram / Reuters:

Gun purchasers set new record in December: FBI — (Reuters) - The number of FBI background checks required for Americans buying guns set a record in December, as the Connecticut school massacre stirred interest in self-defense and prompted renewed talk of limits on firearms, according to FBI data.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jason Ryan / ABCNEWS:
Record Gun Sales in December, 2012

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

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: Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story and The PJ Tatler

Keith Koffler / White House Dossier:

Obama Returns to Hawaii at an Added Cost of Over $3 Million — In a move that is rich in irony, President Obama agreed Tuesday night to sign an emergency deficit reduction bill that does almost nothing to rein in spending and then jetted out to Hawaii to resume his vacation at an extra cost of more than $3 million to taxpayers.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, NewsMax.com, USA Today, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy, ABCNEWS and Fausta's Blog

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

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots and Pundit & Pundette

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

Matt Cover / CNSNews:
Senators Got 154-Page Fiscal Cliff Bill 3 Minutes Before Voting on It

Discussion: protein wisdom and Patterico's Pontifications

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 the National Review, Kevin Williamson argues that nearly everyone calling …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Townhall.com

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider:

RIP: The Bush Tax Cuts — Thanks to last night's Fiscal Cliff deal, we an now put to bed the term “The Bush Tax Cuts.” — As of now, they're the Obama Tax Cuts. — It should be noted, that income taxes are lower for everyone today than they would have been if the American Taxpayer Relief Act hadn't gone into effect.

Discussion: Brad DeLong