memeorandum: Joe Scarborough Notices Something During Debate That Has Him Convinced Trump, Cruz Made 'Inside Deal … (Jason Howerton/TheBlaze.com)

2:40 PM ET, December 16, 2015

Top Items:

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

GOP chair probes if Cruz unveiled classified info during debate — A key Senate Republican is looking into whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discussed classified information during Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate. — “I'm having my staff look at the transcripts of the debate right now …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Bloomberg.com news, Business Insider, NBC News, Roll Call and The Right Scoop

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:

Ted Cruz Has a Problem — Up until last night, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%'s refusal to attack Donald Trump was defensible. Without question, it was smart politics, as his rise in the polls would attest. But it was also defensible on the merits as a guy who is a solid conservative in good standing …

Discussion: American Power, SGBerman, NBC News, Roll Call, Washington Post, Moe Lane, The Gateway Pundit, Yahoo Politics, Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, The Week, Business Insider and Independent Journal

Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:

Joe Scarborough Notices Something During Debate That Has Him Convinced Trump, Cruz Made ‘Inside Deal’ Against GOP Establishment — MSNBC's Joe Scarborough speculated on Wednesday that GOP frontrunners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz may have made an “inside deal” against the Republican establishment.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Cruz Blusters and Trump Sulks at Tense Republican Debate — Someone needs to explain carpets to Ted Cruz. — They're continuous stretches of material, usually rectangular, sometimes round. They're not staggered, interrupted, with stops, starts, holes and sharp jags so that they smother …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Mahablog, PoliticusUSA, Prairie Weather, Salon and The Moderate Voice

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Chris Christie just made the GOP race a lot more interesting — After being in the minors for two debates, Chris Christie graduated to the main stage of the Republican clash for the presidential nomination Tuesday night. And he made the most of it. — The governor of New Jersey …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

CNN Republican debate: Winners and losers — Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidates sought to cement — or improve — their standings in a debate Tuesday night that comes less than two months before the first votes of the election season are cast.

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog and Towleroad

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:
Bush v. Trump: Behind the Vegas rumble

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg.com news, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Yahoo Politics, Bloomberg Business and The Hill

Will Rahn / The Daily Beast:
Was Marco Rubio Overrated All Along?

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, National Review, New York Times, JustOneMinute, Trail Blazers Blog, Fox News Insider, Eschaton and Bloomberg Business

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Jeb: ‘This is a wide open race’

Discussion: Mother Jones, Bloomberg View, Yahoo Politics and Hot Air

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:
Winners and Losers in Tonight's CNN/Salem Debate

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Mail, Political Wire, Hit & Run and Slate

Shushannah Walshe / ABC News:
Fifth Republican Presidential Debate: 7 Moments That Mattered

Discussion: Politico, The Cook Political Report, Mediaite, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, abc7.com, Bloomberg Business, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette, abc13.com, Yahoo Politics and TVNewser

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
The 13 biggest moments of the GOP debate

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg Business, Yahoo Politics, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, NPR, Slantpoint, CANNONFIRE, Bloomberg.com news and Hot Air

Michael Crowley / Politico:
How Cruz and Rubio exposed the GOP's rift on foreign policy

Discussion: Yahoo Politics

Washington Post:

Congress reaches year-end deal on taxes and spending — Congressional leaders on Tuesday night reached agreement on a year-end spending and tax deal that would prevent a government shutdown and extend a series of tax breaks that benefit businesses and individuals, according to lawmakers.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Gothamist

Bloomberg Business:
Congress Reaches Fiscal Agreement Ending U.S. Oil Export Ban

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Forbes, Al Jazeera America, EcoWatch and Common Dreams

Erin Kelly / USA Today:
Congress reaches deal on 2016 spending bill to fund federal government

Discussion: Shakesville, The Week, New York Times and Political Wire

Anna Palmer / Politico:
Qualms in both parties over massive tax and spending package

Discussion: Forbes and Washington Free Beacon

The Hill:
Ryan unveils sweeping $1.6T deal on government funding, taxes

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and Talking Points Memo

Philip Haney / The Hill:

Administration nixed probe into Southern California jihadists — There are terrorists in our midst and they arrived here using legal means right under the noses of the federal law enforcement agencies whose mission is to stop them. That is not due to malfeasance or lack of effort on the part …

Discussion: Israel Matzav and Jihad Watch

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

FBI: ‘No evidence’ Calif. shooters supported jihad on social media — The FBI said on Wednesday that suspected San Bernardino, Calif., shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik did not express their support for jihad publicly on social media, potentially undercutting efforts to ramp up surveillance of foreign travelers' online presences.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Verge, LearnBonds and Los Angeles Times

CNN:
San Bernardino shooter's social media posts on jihad were obscured

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Washington Post, Fast Company, Independent Journal and The Week

James Morgan / BBC:

Republican debate: Tweeters mock Trump's internet call — As the candidates in Tuesday's Republican debate grappled over how to tackle the growing threat of the Islamic State group (also known as Isis), Donald Trump calmly reassured them “the answer is simple”.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and whorunsGov

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump pledges allegiance to GOP, rules out independent bid

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, addictinginfo.org and whorunsGov

Tal Kopan / CNN:
Live updates from the Republican debate

Discussion: Politico, Western Journalism, WBTW-TV, Washington Post, EcoWatch, The Gateway Pundit, TVNewser, Little Green Footballs, FOX 61, SOOPERMEXICAN, The Week and Fox News Insider

ABC News:

Most Now Oppose an Assault Weapons Ban; Doubts About Stopping a Lone Wolf Run High (POLL)

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Independent Journal, Bearing Arms, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, Outside the Beltway, The Week and Washington Times

Isite Design / Wheaton College Home:

Wheaton College Statement Regarding Dr. Larycia Hawkins — In response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements that Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Larycia Hawkins has made about the relationship of Christianity to Islam …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Chicago Tribune, ThinkProgress, U.S. Uncut, Washington Post, Raw Story, NBC News and USA TODAY College

Jamie Sotonoff / Daily Herald:
Wheaton College puts hijab-wearing professor on leave

Discussion: WGN-TV, myfox8.com and BizPac Review

Washington Post:

5th Republican debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant — Nine Republican candidates are participating in tonight's 2016 presidential debate in Las Vegas: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former tech executive Carly Fiorina …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, PoliticusUSA, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, The Week, Daily Kos, Althouse, Mother Jones, PoliPundit.com and ACASignups.net

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Household spending and business fixed investment have been increasing at solid rates in recent months …

Discussion: New York Times, Slantpoint, NPR and The Week

Michael Allen / Opposing Views:

Chris Christie Says He'd Shoot Down Russian Plane In No-Fly Zone, Risk War (Video) — During the Dec. 15 GOP debate, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said that he would shoot down a Russian plane (video below). — CNN host Wolf Blitzer asked Christie a hypothetical question about downing …

Discussion: Mediaite

Nick Gass / Politico:
Rand Paul tries to revive Bridgegate scandal

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Monthly

Todd Starnes / Fox News:

Students practice calligraphy by writing “There is no god but Allah” — The Riverheads High School calligraphy assignment (Courtesy The Schilling Show) — A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no god but Allah.

Discussion: Pamela Geller and Jihad Watch