memeorandum: With her political future in question, Clinton heads for Benghazi testimony (Tom Curry/NBC Politics)

10:00 AM ET, January 23, 2013

Top Items:

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:

Clinton More Popular than Biden; Let the 2016 Handicapping Begin — Of two potential Democratic successors to Barack Obama, one has a clear advantage in personal popularity: Hillary Clinton, whose favorability rating exceeds Joe Biden's by a hefty 19 percentage points in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's …, Ballot Box, Political Capital, NBC Politics and The Hill

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Hillary Clinton pays off 2008 campaign debt — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has finally paid off the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign. — According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, Clinton paid the remainder of her debt in the last days of 2012.

Discussion: CNN and Taylor Marsh

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

GOP critics get opportunity to grill Secretary Clinton on Benghazi — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify Wednesday that her agency is moving full speed ahead with recommendations to avoid a repeat of the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.

Discussion: CNN

Politico:

Joe Biden ‘intoxicated’ by 2016 run — Joe Biden summoned more than 200 Democratic insiders to the vice presidential residence Sunday night to chat about the 2012 triumph — but many walked away convinced his rising 2016 ambitions were the real intent of the long, intimate night.

Discussion: Associated Press, Weasel Zippers and Twitchy

Tom Curry / NBC Politics:

With her political future in question, Clinton heads for Benghazi testimony — The political stakes will be high Wednesday morning when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about her role in the events leading up to the September attack …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Mediaite

Tarini Parti / Politico:
Clinton 2008 now debt-free

Discussion: The Fix, Hot Air and CNN

Judicial Watch:
JW Special Report: “The Benghazi Attack of September 11, 2012: Analysis and Further Questions”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Wayne LaPierre of N.R.A. Has Angry Response to Obama — WASHINGTON — Wayne LaPierre, the executive director of the National Rifle Association, angrily accused President Obama on Tuesday of demonizing law-abiding gun owners and of wanting to put “every private personal firearms transaction right under …

Discussion: The Reaction, msnbc.com, Hot Air and Politico

Robert Tracinski / Real Clear Politics:

Barack Obama Is Boring — I was not going to comment on President Obama's second inaugural address until I saw a headline quoting a line from the speech: “We are made for this moment.” — Really? “This moment”—again? — “This moment” was in Obama's big speech in Berlin as a candidate …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

NRA's LaPierre: Obama making ‘mockery’ of nation's freedoms — National Rifle Association (NRA) CEO Wayne LaPierre on Tuesday offered a sharp critique of President Obama's second inaugural address, warning that his agenda threatened to make a “mockery” of the nation's constitutional freedoms.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Paul Ryan slams Obama ‘straw man’ speech

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Hill, The Week, CNN, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, The Maddow Blog and Washington Post

Quinnipiac News + Events:

Release Detail — January 23, 2013 - New Jersey Voters Back Christie's Rap On GOP 5-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Tell Lautenberg To Step Aside — Gov. Christopher Christie was right to criticize Congressional Republicans for delaying a vote on Hurricane Sandy relief …

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …

Philly.com:

Lautenberg: Booker ‘entitled’ to run, but no decision yet — WASHINGTON — Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who might face a 2014 primary challenge from Newark Mayor Cory Booker, said his fellow Democrat is “entitled” to run if he chooses to but suggested that he had to give a “spanking” to his potential rival for so openly coveting his seat.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, theGrio, CNN, Politico, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's …, Ballot Box, Ed Driscoll, Post Politics and Weekly Standard

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Obama Speech Leaves G.O.P. Stark Choices — WASHINGTON — President Obama's aggressive Inaugural Address on Monday presented Congressional Republicans with a stark choice over the next two years: accommodate the president's agenda on immigration, guns, energy and social programs and hope …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Prairie Weather, msnbc.com, Washington Post and Hullabaloo

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
House GOP debt-limit bill gains momentum ahead of floor vote

Discussion: Politico, Slate, CNN, Hot Air, Hullabaloo and Washington Examiner

Joel Greenberg / Washington Post:

Netanyahu emerges weakened from Israeli elections — JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged weakened and facing a redrawn political map Tuesday after Israeli television projections showed a surge for a new centrist party, Yesh Atid, in Israel's elections, making it a key element of a future coalition.

Discussion: msnbc.com, americanthinker.com, The Week, Right Turn, Hit & Run and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Gil Hoffman / Jerusalem Post:
Exit polls: Netanyahu, Right suffer blow, Lapid big winner

Discussion: Haaretz and Washington Monthly

Barry Rubin / rubinreports.blogspot.co.il:
Israel's Election: A Preliminary Analysis

Discussion: Israel Matzav, The Gateway Pundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Reid to Senate Republicans: Filibuster deal in 36 hours or face nuclear option — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is giving Republican colleagues 36 hours to agree to a deal on filibuster reform or he will move forward with the nuclear option. — “I hope in the next 24, 36 hours we can get something we agree on.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Lonely Conservative, Politico, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Political Carnival, Weekly Standard and Booman Tribune

Dan Rather / The Huffington Post:

How Israel's Iron Dome Is Also Saving Palestinian Lives — There's been a lot written recently about Iron Dome — Israel's high-tech missile defense system that hit the world stage during Israel's eight-day conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Its unprecedented success rate …

Discussion: NewsBusters and Mondoweiss

Anthony Faiola / Washington Post:

Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy — PALERMO, Italy — Inside a midnight-blue BMW, a Sicilian entrepreneur delivered his pitch to the accused mafia boss. A new business was blowing into Italy that could spin wind and sunlight into gold, ensuring the future …

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Washington Examiner

Tyler Kingkade / The Huffington Post:

Lone Star College Shooting: 2 People Shot At Texas College Campus, 2 Suspects Detained (UPDATE) — FOLLOW: — Video, College Campus Shooting, Lone Star College, Lone Star College Multiple People Shot, Lone Star College Shooting, Lone Star Shooting, Multiple People Shot Texas College …

Discussion: BBC, KTRK-TV, Los Angeles Times, Inside Higher Ed, ABCNEWS, The National Memo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Adam Nossiter / New York Times:

Some Algeria Attackers Are Placed at Benghazi — ALGIERS — Several Egyptian members of the squad of militants that lay bloody siege to an Algerian gas complex last week also took part in the deadly attack on the United States Mission in Libya in September, a senior Algerian official said Tuesday.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs

Jay Busbee / Yahoo! Sports:

Phil Mickelson warns of ‘drastic changes’ because of state, federal tax situation [UPDATED] — Phil Mickelson loves throwing boulders into the placid pond that is golf, and watching the ripples spill over the sides. Whether it's rules changes or course design, Mickelson isn't shy about speaking his mind.

Discussion: Forbes, ThinkProgress, Associated Press, TBogg, Los Angeles Times, The PJ Tatler and Washington Monthly

Ginger Gibson / Politico:

McCain: Waterboard Kerry (just kidding) — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) joked that he's going to get the truth out of Sen. John Kerry during confirmation hearings this week, even if he has to resort to enhanced interrogation methods. Kerry has been nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Mediaite

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Break All the Rules — First, my congratulations and condolences to John Kerry for being nominated to be our next secretary of state. There is no one better for the job today and no worse job to have today. It is no accident that we've started measuring our secretaries of state more by miles traveled than milestones achieved.

Discussion: msnbc.com and Daniel W. Drezner

Ben Popper / The Verge:

As Obama heads back to office, a battle rages over the tech that got him reelected — Programmers and politicians spar over sharing the campaign-winning code with the public — The tech team behind the 2012 Obama campaign has probably received more attention than any political programmers in history.

David J. Lynch / Bloomberg:

U.S. Budget Discord Is Top Threat to Global Economy in Poll — Global investors say the state of the U.S. government's finances is the greatest risk to the world economy and almost half are curbing their investments in response to continuing budget battles, a Bloomberg poll shows.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Ibrahim Mshelizza / Reuters:

Suspected Islamists kill 23 in two Nigeria attacks — (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 23 people in northern Nigeria in attacks that appeared to target gamblers and people selling ‘forbidden’ meat that Islamist militants disapprove of, officials and locals said on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers