memeorandum: In Chavez's absence, U.S. works to open communication with Venezuela (Juan Forero/Washington Post)

12:10 PM ET, January 10, 2013

Top Items:

Giffords gun control group wants $20 million for 2014 elections — (Reuters) - A new gun control group led by Gabrielle Giffords, the former U.S. congresswoman wounded in a Tucson shooting rampage, wants to raise $20 million for the 2014 congressional elections, matching …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Post Politics, Washington Free Beacon and The Hinterland Gazette

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Reframing the Gun Debate — This time things are different. — This time, nearly a month after the horrible mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., the public attention hasn't ricocheted to the next story. On the contrary, sorrow has hardened into resolve. — This time, something can and must be done.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Vox Popoli, Democratic Strategist, The Moderate Voice and CNN

Katie Glueck / Politico:

NRA: 100,000 new members after Sandy Hook shooting — The National Rifle Association has gained more than 100,000 new members in the last 18 days, the organization told POLITICO's Playbook on Thursday. — The number of paid new members jumped from 4.1 million to 4.2 million in that time frame.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

In campaign for tougher gun laws, Obama and allies work to tilt public opinion — The White House is working with its allies on a well-financed campaign in Washington and around the country to shift public opinion toward stricter gun laws and provide political cover to lawmakers who end …

Discussion: Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Fix and Post Politics

Politico:
Expectations low for Joe Biden, NRA talks

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Week, The New Republic, New York Times and Economix

First Read:

First Thoughts: The disorganized cabinet shuffle — The Obama White House's disorganized cabinet shuffle... And some legitimate excuses for it... Obama to nominate Jack Lew for top Treasury job at 1:30 pm ET... Biden meets with the NRA and other gun-rights groups at the White House …

Discussion: The Hill, The Hill, Salon, Washington Post, Hot Air and Booman Tribune

Los Angeles Times:
Obama Cabinet may not meet his own diversity standards

Discussion: Washington Post, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com and Hot Air

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
Obama Will Keep His “Heat Shield”

Discussion: The Week

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis resigns

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, CNN, This Just In and Power Line

New York Times:
Obama's Pick for Treasury Is Said to Be His Chief of Staff

Discussion: Rational Irrationality, msnbc.com, Calculated Risk, Gawker, Wonkblog, The New Republic, Economix and Wall Street Journal

Bobby Cervantes / Politico:
Mike Huckabee: Obama's own ‘war on women’

Discussion: Shakesville and Mediaite

Ken Thomas / Associated Press:
Obama Cabinet: Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius, Eric Shinseki Staying On For Second Term

Discussion: New York Times, emptywheel and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
Obama selects White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to head Treasury

Discussion: msnbc.com, National Review, NationalJournal.com, Daily Mail, The Fix, Post Politics, The Agonist, Politico and Hot Air

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Anti-Gay Pastor Removed From Inaugural Program … Louis Giglio, the anti-LGBT pastor who had been announced to perform the benediction at President Obama's second inauguration, has been removed from the program, ABC News's Jonathan Karl reported Thursday. — The move came after ThinkProgress …

Discussion: Good As You and Daily Kos

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
Inaugural Benediction To Be Delivered By Pastor Who Gave Vehemently Anti-Gay Sermon

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Hill, Alternet, Washington Blade, BuzzFeed, Good As You, New York Times, Shakesville, The Week, The Caucus, Towleroad News #gay, Advocate, NPR, Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Pharyngula, AMERICAblog and The Hill

petitions.whitehouse.gov:
Replace anti-gay Pastor Louie Giglio for the benediction at the inauguration with a pro-LGBT member of the clergy.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, AMERICAblog, Firedoglake and Towleroad News #gay

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

A GOP Strategy for the Debt-Ceiling Fight — The House should pass a bill pairing spending cuts with a dollar-for-dollar debt-ceiling increase. — President Obama says he won't negotiate with Republicans over his proposed more than $1 trillion increase in the debt ceiling as a matter …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Right Turn, ABCNEWS and p m carpenter's commentary

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Business leaders: Failure to raise debt ceiling will drive markets “haywire”

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Applesauce, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS and Business Insider

Steve Benen / The Maddow Blog:

Carney on coin gambit: ‘There is no backup plan’ — For all the recent scuttlebutt about resolving the Republican debt-ceiling crisis with a trillion-dollar coin, there was an elusive detail: what does the White House think about this? Yesterday, for the first time, press secretary Jay Carney was pressed for an answer.

Discussion: The Reaction

The White House:
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 1/9/2013

Discussion: American Prospect

David Weigel / Slate:

What Crazy Fascist Executive Orders Might Obama Use to Take Away Your Freedoms? — The Drudge Report is America's leading source of hyperlinks to Alex Jones articles, so I'm not sure why this splash page so shocked Washington. (Apparently there are reporters who still use Drudge as a sort of homepage?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, p m carpenter's commentary, FP Passport, CANNONFIRE, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, Maggie's Notebook, The Gateway Pundit, neo-neocon and The Hill

Talking Points Memo:
Biden On Guns: Executive Order Is On The Table

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog and Truthdig

Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:

Robert Bork's Tragedy — Even before Robert Bork died last month, he had achieved something close to martyrdom. In the quarter-century since the Senate rejected his Supreme Court nomination, successive generations of conservative lawyers and activists have carried the torch …

Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Court Wary on Warrantless DUI Tests

Discussion: New York Times

Juan Forero / Washington Post:

In Chavez's absence, U.S. works to open communication with Venezuela — FERNANDO LLANO/ASSOCIATED PRESS - Hugo Chavez talks with Vice-President Nicolas Maduro during a meeting in Caracas in this file photo from 2006. As Chavez remains in Cuba for medical treatment, the U.S. has made attempts to communicate with the government.

Discussion: Power Line

William Neuman / New York Times:
Chávez, or at Least His Sash, Is Set for Venezuela Inauguration

Discussion: War Is A Crime .org and The Heritage Foundation

Mike Allen / Politico:

11 days to inaug — NRA MEMBERSHIP SURGES — POTUS names Chief of Staff Jack Lew as Treasury secretary, 1:30 p.m. - Jim Warren to D.C. — Kevin Sheridan joins Dyke-Madden firm — TapprTumblr — THE JUICE: As pushback to N.Y. Times' A1 boys'-club photo, the White House yesterday blast-emailed …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, msnbc.com, Wake up America, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and BuzzFeed

John Cornyn / CNN:

Cornyn: Why I can't support Hagel — Editor's note: John Cornyn, a Republican, is the senior United States Senator from Texas. — (CNN) — To the surprise of many, including me, President Barack Obama has nominated former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel to be his next defense secretary.

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico, Weekly Standard, Patterico's Pontifications, Gawker and ABCNEWS

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Republican Party Path Back From 2012 Election Requires Shift In Culture, Not Just Tactics … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Barack Obama , Mitt Romney, Barack Obama , Republican Party, Elections 2012, GOP, Barack Obama 2012 , Video, Heritage Foundation, Teddy Goff, Harper Reed …

Steve Benen / The Maddow Blog:

Dick Armey dishes dirt accidentally — There's been a remarkable amount of drama surrounding Dick Armey's departure from FreedomWorks, culminating Friday with a stunning report from Media Matters, who interviewed the former House Majority Leader directly. Armey had all kinds of interesting insights …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice and The Atlantic Online

Joe Picard / The Hill:

Boehner takes flak from defense hawks on sequester stance — House Republican defense hawks are pushing back strongly against Speaker John Boehner's claim that he has GOP support to allow steep automatic budget cuts to take effect if President Obama does not agree to replace them with other reductions.

Discussion: Washington Wire and Daily Kos

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Virginia Democrat Wants To Roll Back Key Environmental Rules: 'I'm Not Going To Be Here' To Suffer Consequences … As Virginia's state legislature considers whether to lift a decades-old ban on uranium mining in the Commonwealth, Senate Democratic Leader Richard “Dick” Saslaw has been among the most vocal proponents of such a move.

Discussion: Firedoglake