memeorandum: Obama must engage Congress (U.S. Sen. John Cornyn/Houston Chronicle)

10:45 PM ET, January 4, 2013

Top Items:

Schumer: Dems Won't Negotiate With GOP On Debt Ceiling — Echoing President Obama's refusal to negotiate on the debt limit, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) warned Republicans on Friday that Democrats have no intention of giving in to any of their demands in exchange for lifting the nation's borrowing limit to pay its bills.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Off the Charts Blog and Booman Tribune

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn / Houston Chronicle:

Obama must engage Congress — Texans would have been hit with the biggest tax increase in the history of our country if Congress failed to act on the American Taxpayer Relief Act in the early hours of 2013. The question I faced was, “Would Texans be better off with a massive tax increase?”

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United States Senator John Cornyn, Texas:
Cornyn: Partial Government Shutdown May Be Needed to Restore Fiscal Sanity

Discussion: American Prospect, ABCNEWS, Business Insider and Washington Examiner

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
How Washington Learned to Love Hostage-Taking

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U.S. Sen. John Cornyn / Houston Chronicle:
Obama must engage Congress

Discussion: Politico, Trail Blazers Blog, msnbc.com and Post Politics

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Obama expected to pick Hagel as opponents prepare for a fight — President Barack Obama is expected to name Chuck Hagel as his choice for defense secretary as early as Monday, as critics of the former Nebraska senator prepare to go to war to fight his expected nomination.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, CNN, The Daily Beast, Algemeiner.com, The PJ Tatler, Washington Free Beacon, Gestetner Updates and Israpundit

First Read:

Hagel likely to be nominated for Defense Secretary next week — Multiple sources on Capitol Hill and in key special-interest groups involved in national security issues say they have been told to be prepared for a Chuck Hagel nomination for Defense Secretary, either as early as Monday or perhaps more likely Tuesday of next week.

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Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS and This Just In

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
OBAMA TO PICK HAGEL

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Frank Newport / Gallup:

Americans Have Mixed Reaction to Fiscal Cliff Agreement — Democrats much more positive about agreement than Republicans — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have a decidedly mixed reaction to the “fiscal cliff” agreement reached by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama this week …

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Politico, Post Politics and Christian Science Monitor

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Harry Reid Would Back Obama If He Bucks GOP On Debt Ceiling: Source

Discussion: Reuters, Hot Air, Right Turn, Weasel Zippers, Politico and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Gingrich warns Boehner could have ‘disaster on his hands’

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Politico, Washington Monthly and msnbc.com

Wall Street Journal:
Boehner's Second Chance

Discussion: The Plum Line, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
David Axelrod: Boehner's ‘unruly children’

Discussion: ABCNEWS

John Parkinson / ABCNEWS:

Pelosi Not Fazed by Photoshopped Pic of Dem Women — Thursday morning, as the 113th Congress prepared to be sworn into office, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held a photo opportunity on the steps of the House of Representatives with Democratic women from the caucus.

Discussion: Post Politics

Andrew Beaujon / Poynter:
Pelosi's office releases doctored photo of female lawmakers

Discussion: Washington Wire, Weasel Zippers, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed and The Caucus

Associated Press:
Nancy Pelosi defends photoshopped picture of congresswomen

Discussion: CNN

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Club for Growth will punish members voting for Sandy flood aid — The conservative Club for Growth said Friday that it will punish House members who voted for a flood insurance measure aimed at helping pay for Hurricane Sandy's damage. — The Club will “key-vote” the measure, using it to compile an annual rating for each lawmaker.

Discussion: Business Insider, Little Green Footballs, The Political Carnival, Capital New York, The Impolitic, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABCNEWS

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
Congress Passes $9.7 Billion in Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, Politico, The Week, City Room, The Maddow Blog, The National Memo and Capital New York

Rebekah Metzler / US News:
House Set to Vote on Partial Sandy Relief Bill

Discussion: Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes', Right Wing News, Townhall.com, Forbes and Politicker

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Former NRA President Equates Gun Laws With Racism — Those looking for moderation and sensitivity in the gun control debate probably, by this point, know better than to look to the National Rifle Association. — But even by the standards of what we've heard from the NRA recently …

Discussion: FIRST DRAFT, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Raw Story and The Maddow Blog

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
Republican Congressman Claims Hammers Could Be Outlawed Under Assault Weapons Ban

Discussion: The Raw Story

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress: Former NRA President: Banning Assault Weapons Is Like Banning People of Color

Reid Pillifant / Capital New York:

A trillion-dollar-coin idea takes off, and a former head of the U.S. Mint doesn't see why it shouldn't — Rep. Jerry Nadler proposed issuing a trillion-dollar coin to circumvent an impending fight over the federal debt ceiling, and the idea has taken off. — The idea, which Nadler assured me was …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Guardian, Business Insider, Patterico's Pontifications and Firedoglake

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
No, a $1 Trillion Platinum Coin is Not Legal

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Week, The Plum Line, No More Mister Nice Blog, Unfogged and Balloon Juice

Josh Barro / Bloomberg:
Why We Must Go Off the Platinum Coin Cliff

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New York Times:

Al Jazeera in America — Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab news network, has long wanted to gain a bigger American television audience, and it may have finally found a way to do that by buying Current TV. But as the deal was being signed, Time Warner Cable announced it would immediately stop carrying Current …

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Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:
Gore Went to Bat for Al Jazeera, and Himself

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Andy Kroll / Mother Jones:

Powerful Tea Party Group's Internal Docs Leak—Read Them Here — FreedomWorks bills itself as a grassroots outfit, but it's bankrolled mostly by big-money donors. — FreedomWorks, the national conservative group that helped launch the tea party movement, sells itself as a genuine grassroots operation …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The National Memo and The Raw Story

Kevin Robillard / Reuters:

Barney Frank: I want to be senator — Barney Frank, one day out of Congress, said on Friday that he has asked Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to send him back as an interim senator when Sen. John Kerry becomes secretary of state. — “A month ago, or a few weeks ago, I said I wasn't interested,” Frank said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.”

Discussion: The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, OpenSecrets.org, Boston Globe, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, The Democratic Daily, Washington Monthly and Joe. My. God.

Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:
Barney Frank: I Want The Massachusetts Senate Appointment

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!

E.J. Graff / American Prospect:

Purity Culture Is Rape Culture — Indian women offer prayers for a gang rape victim at Mahatma Gandhi memorial in New Delhi. — Her intestines were removed because the six men used a rusty metal rod during the “rape.” — That fact—the rusty metal rod—is what's haunted …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Washington Monthly, Slate and Guardian

KGO-TV:

SF buses help teach what ‘jihad’ really means — SFMTA, san francisco news, ama daetz — Ama Daetz — , Ama Daetz biography — More: Bio, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, News Team — SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Buses in San Francisco are carrying messages of jihad, but it's not what you might think.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

nbcconnecticut.com:

Lawmaker Proposes Publicizing Gun Owners' Names — Lawmakers across the state are taking on gun control issues in the aftermath of the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown on Dec. 14. — State Rep. Stephen Dargen, a Democratic legislator from West Haven …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Sam Baker / The Hill:

House rules aim to block controversial healthcare board's Medicare cuts — House Republicans signaled Thursday they will not follow rules in President Obama's healthcare law that were designed to speed Medicare cuts through Congress. — The House is set to vote Thursday afternoon on rules for the 113th Congress.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Monthly and The Incidental Economist

John Zaremba / Boston Herald:

Welfare recipients ‘missing’ — State scrambles as voter mail exposes holes in system — Red-faced state officials admitted last night they are trying to find as many as 19,000 missing welfare recipients — after the controversial taxpayer-funded voter registration pitches the state mailed …

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:

Hope and less change: Americans cringe at first paychecks of 2013; Stunned lib asks, ‘What happened?’ — Happy New Year and happy payday! Thank goodness our “lord and savior” Obama signed the fiscal cliff bill into law after proudly proclaiming, “Under this law, more than 98 percent …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review and protein wisdom