memeorandum: McConnell: Tax issue ‘finished completely,’ focus now on spending (Sam Baker/The Hill)

12:00 PM ET, January 6, 2013

Top Items:

White House weighs broad gun-control agenda in wake of Newtown shootings — Chip Somodevilla/GETTY IMAGES - Vice President Biden, center, leads the first meeting of the working group on gun violence on Dec. 20. From left, he's joined by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Washington Examiner, Chicago Boyz, Daily Kos and The Hill

George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp: Reported Obama Gun Proposals ‘Way in Extreme’ — Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D, told me this morning on “This Week” that while all options should be on the table to address gun violence, President Obama's reported plans to curb shootings are “way in extreme” …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Republican Congressman Insults Nancy Pelosi's Appearance: 'There's No Facelift With John Boehner' — An outspoken Republican congressman castigated House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's looks during a radio interview Friday. — Speaking with guest host Larry O'Connor on the Dennis Miller Show …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, The Political Carnival, The Moderate Voice and msnbc.com

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Conservatives gone wild — Mindless slaps at the speaker — The most passionately anti-Obama Republican politicians and activists consider themselves the truest and purest of conservatives, and often unleash their scorn and fury on others who also call themselves conservative but differ on strategy and tactics.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Hill and The Reality-Based Community

Annie Lowrey / New York Times:

G.O.P. Begins Soul-Searching After Tax Vote — Everett Wilkinson, a Tea Party leader, top left, says pressure will continue. Newt Gingrich, top right, has softened his views on same-sex marriage. Pat McCrory, bottom left, the new governor of North Carolina, emphasizes pragmatism.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather and Althouse

Sam Baker / The Hill:

McConnell: Tax issue ‘finished completely,’ focus now on spending — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Sunday said Republicans will demand steep spending cuts during the next round of budget negotiations. — McConnell, in an interview with ABC's “This Week,” …

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Politico

Politico:

Obama to pick Chuck Hagel for Pentagon — President Barack Obama has settled on Chuck Hagel, a Republican and former U.S. senator from Nebraska, to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, with an announcement expected Monday, Democratic officials tell POLITICO.

Discussion: The Week and The Fix

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Hagel: War for Oil

Discussion: MichaelMoore.com, Hullabaloo, Associated Press, Guardian and The Huffington Post

Reed Abelson / New York Times:

Health Insurers Raise Some Rates by Double Digits — Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration's health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers.

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Obama to draw on public support in new round of economic battles — President Obama intends to take a confrontational approach with Republicans in future economic battles by using the same campaign-style events the White House saw as effective in the “fiscal-cliff” fight.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:

GOP dissension over debt-ceiling strategy — Video: In President Barack Obama's weekly address he says, “will not compromise” over his insistence that Congress lift the federal debt ceiling. The nation's credit rating was downgraded the last time lawmakers threatened inaction on the ceiling, in 2011.

Discussion: The Fix, Prairie Weather, Calculated Risk, The Hill and The Daily Beast

The Daily Caller:
Democratic Rep.: Debt-ceiling blank check is like Emancipation Proclamation [VIDEO]

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Tarini Parti / Politico:

Outside, secret money likely to flow in 2013 — McAuliffe (left), Christie (center) and Cuccinelli. Races in Va. and N.J. may be expensive. AP Photos — Close — Get ready for what could very well be the most expensive gubernatorial elections ever.