memeorandum: In Arizona, the first hints of what a John Kasich presidential campaign might look and sound like (Plain Dealer)

8:40 AM ET, December 12, 2014

Top Items:

Conservatives rage against the machine — Opponents of Obama's immigration action hoped the GOP would use budget to push back harder on issue — Conservatives began the lame-duck session enraged over President Barack Obama's executive actions on immigration and hell-bent on unraveling …

Discussion: Bloomberg View

The Hill:

Funding bill struggles for votes as government shutdown nears — A $1.1 trillion bill to keep the government open appeared to be teetering Thursday after House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) announced her opposition and the package narrowly survived a procedural vote.

Discussion: Politico, PoliticusUSA, ABC News, Hit & Run and Daily Kos

Pelosi / Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi Dear Democratic Colleague on CRomnibus — It is clear from this recess on the floor that the Republicans don't have enough votes to pass the CRomnibus. This increases our leverage to get two offensive provisions of the bill removed: the bank bailout and big money for campaigns provision.

Discussion: Roll Call, The Hill, RedState, Daily Kos, Politico, The Daily Caller and Business Insider

The Hill:

House approves $1.1T bill to fund government despite Dem uprising — The House on Thursday approved a $1.1 trillion bill funding most of the government through September despite an outcry from Democrats and significant defections in both parties. — By a vote of 219-206 …

Discussion: Bloomberg Politics, Daily Signal, Daily Kos and Hit & Run

Kevin Cirilli / The Hill:

JPMorgan CEO helped whip votes — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made calls to lawmakers on Thursday urging them to support the “cromnibus” spending bill, House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) told reporters. — Dimon's involvement came amidst progressives enraged …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

New York Times:

House Narrowly Passes Bill to Avoid Shutdown; $1.1 Trillion in Spending — WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday narrowly passed a $1.1 trillion spending package that would fund most government operations for the fiscal year after a rancorous debate that reflected the new power held by Republicans …

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Roll Call and New Economic Perspectives

Joel Gehrke / National Review:

Sources: Leadership Promised to Pull Cromnibus — I'm hearing from two sources, including one Republican lawmaker, that Representative Marlin Stutzman (R., Ind.) provided one of the final, decisive votes needed to clear a crucial procedural hurdle because House leadership promised to pull …

Discussion: RedState and Hot Air

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Bipartisan Revolt Imperils House Bill To Avert Government Shutdown

Discussion: Shakesville and Washington Monthly

Roll Call:
Lacking Sufficient Support, House GOP Leaders Delay ‘Cromnibus’ Vote

Discussion: PoliticusUSA

William McGurn / New York Post:

Tortured tantrums: Feinstein's fake fury — Angus King raises an excellent point about torture. It's just not the point he probably intended. — This week on CNN, Maine's Independent senator was asked about the Senate Democrats' release of a scathing report saying the CIA interrogation program …

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Charles Krauthammer: A travesty of a report

Discussion: Guardian

New York Times:
C.I.A. Director Defends Use of Interrogation Tactics, Avoiding Issue of Torture

Discussion: Just Security, USA Today, WhoWhatWhy, The Moderate Voice, The Intercept, Featured stories, The Week and Mediaite

Politico:
John Brennan defends CIA, won't say torture wasn't useful

Discussion: WhoWhatWhy and The Dish

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:

Torture Is Who We Are — A country, like a person, is what it does. — Torture, declared President Obama this week, in response to the newly released Senate report on CIA interrogation, is “contrary to who we are.” Maine Senator Angus King added that, “This is not America. This is not who we are.”

Discussion: The Dish

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

Open Carry Activist Charged With Shooting Ex-Husband And Stepdaughter Dead — A woman charged with shooting and killing her ex-husband and stepdaughter has strong connections to groups advocating for expanding open carry gun laws in Texas. — Local news outlets on Wednesday reported …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Gawker, Mediaite, Joe. My. God. and Hullabaloo

Todd Unger / WFAA-TV:
Woman in custody after two found dead in Arlington home

Discussion: Daily Kos, Liberaland and Raw Story

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Ed Rendell trash-talks ‘pathetic’ Chris Christie's Cowboys loyalty — (CNN) — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Gov. Chris Christie's unapologetic love for the Dallas Cowboys is “pathetic,” adding that it's rooted in a “basic inferiority complex.” — “If you are a Jerseyite …

Discussion: Political Wire

Politico:

Backers: Romney more open to 2016 run — He has sounded unimpressed with the emerging GOP field, associates say. — For most of the past year, Mitt Romney supporters have publicly said he should consider running again. And for most of the past year, Romney has seemed uninterested. — Until recently.

Discussion: Daily Kos, New York Magazine, OnPolitics, The PJ Tatler, CNN, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Bloomberg Politics and Talking Points Memo

Will Carr / Fox News:

Veteran Fox News correspondent Dominic Di-Natale dead at 43 — Dominic Di-Natale, a globetrotting journalist whose work at Fox News Channel and other news organizations took him to Usama bin Laden's compound, demonstrations in Egypt's Tahrir Square and, more recently, to the scene of racially charged riots in Ferguson, Mo., has died.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gawker and Mediaite

Beverly Johnson / Vanity Fair:

Bill Cosby Drugged Me. This Is My Story. — Like most Americans, I spent the 60s, 70s, and part of the 80s in awe of Bill Cosby and his total domination of popular culture. He was the first African American to star in a dramatic television series, I Spy, a show my family in Buffalo, New York, always watched.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette, TMZ.com and Gawker

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Few See Quick Cure for Nation's Political Divisions — Large Majority Expects No Progress on Top Problems Facing U.S. — As 2014 draws to a close, the public is deeply pessimistic about the prospects for healing the nation's deep political divisions. And most Americans …

Discussion: Washington Post

Mike Fleming / Deadline:

Scott Rudin Apologizes After Leak Of Sony's Hacked Racially Insensitive E-Mails On Barack Obama — EXCLUSIVE: Producer Scott Rudin has issued a public apology for the racially insensitive comments that surfaced last night in an exchange of hacked private e-mails between him and Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Amy Pascal.

Discussion: National Review, Variety, CNNMoney.com, Mediaite, Mashable, Hinterland Gazette, New York Times, Politico, The Huffington Post and BuzzFeed

Dawn Chmielewski / Re/code:
Sony Pictures Tries to Disrupt Downloads of Its Stolen Files

Discussion: Washington Post, Mashable, Hollywood Reporter and The Verge

Anthony Breznican / Inside Movies:

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ character names revealed (in coolest way possible) — exclusive — We finally got to meet some new characters in the teaser trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but now we're getting to put some names with the faces. — J.J. Abrams, the film's co-writer …

Discussion: Screen Rant and Mashable

CBS News:

ISIS issues guidelines for sex slavery — Shares - — Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have kidnapped thousands of women and girls in their raids on non-Sunni Muslim towns and villages across northern Syria and western Iraq. — Many of the captives are believed to be sold …

Discussion: “The Lid”