memeorandum: Rep. Grayson loses $18 million in fraud scheme (Rebecca Shabad/The Hill)

5:35 AM ET, December 11, 2013

Top Items:

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Capitol Leaders Agree to a Deal on the Budget — WASHINGTON — House and Senate budget negotiators reached agreement Tuesday on a budget deal that would raise military and domestic spending over the next two years, shifting the pain of across-the-board cuts to other programs over the coming decade …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Plum Line, Balloon Juice and Mediaite

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

It's A Deal! Paul Ryan, Patty Murray Announce Budget Agreement — In a major breakthrough after three years of paralyzing partisan rifts, Congress' top two budget chiefs finalized a bipartisan agreement Tuesday that would set spending levels for two years and mitigate some of the painful spending cuts required by the sequester.

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Budget agreement reached — House and Senate budget negotiators will unveil a budget agreement Tuesday evening. — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) both briefed their colleagues Tuesday on their plan to set spending levels for the next two years and reorganize budget cuts set to take hold in 2014.

Discussion: Salon, Hot Air, Daily Kos, CNN and Business Insider

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Here's what's in Paul Ryan and Patty Murray's mini-budget deal

Discussion: Campaign for America's Future and Forbes

Otto J. Reich / National Review:

The Damage of a Handshake — American presidents should avoid shaking the hand of dictators, especially those that have American blood on theirs. One example of many: Raul Castro was Minister of Defense in 1996 when Cuban Air Force Mig's, cold-bloodedly and over international airspace destroyed …

Discussion: USA Today, Post Politics, Hot Air, Mediaite, NPR, CANNONFIRE, Ed Driscoll, Twitchy and Weasel Zippers

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
McCain On Obama-Castro Handshake: ‘Chamberlain Shook Hands With Hitler’ (AUDIO)

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Daily Kos, PERRspectives, TIME, The Impolitic, PoliticusUSA, Taylor Marsh, The Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story and CNN

Fox News:
Cuban-American lawmakers dismayed over Obama handshake with ‘thug’ Castro

Discussion: The White House, Strange Bedfellows, BuzzFeed, Hit & Run, Informed Comment, ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider and Telegraph

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
CNN: OBAMA-CASTRO HANDSHAKE SHOULD ‘NOT BE MISUNDERSTOOD’

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line, Rush Limbaugh, alicublog, The PJ Tatler, National Review, BizPac Review, Little Green Footballs and Michelle Malkin

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
Rubio Complains That Obama Didn't Take Castro To Task For Denying ‘Basic Freedoms’

Discussion: Mario Piperni dot Com and Liberaland

Lesley Clark / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Obama hand shake with Raul Castro makes waves

Discussion: jobsanger, Sister Toldjah, neo-neocon, rubber hose and Booman Tribune

Congressman Steve Stockman / stockman2014.com:

I'm running for Senate against liberal John Cornyn — You are in a foxhole fighting to save our constitutional Republic... ...and the last thing you need is a Republican bayonet in your back. — But that's what liberal John Cornyn has been doing to you every day. — And we have less than 90 days to stop him.

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Religion Dispatches, Taylor Marsh, Capitol Report and ABC News

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

Reid Aide Gives Cornyn Democratic Bear Hug — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) communications director tried to give Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) a small kiss of death on Tuesday. … The tweet by Reid communications director Adam Jentleson came a day after Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider and The Daily Banter

Ben Jacobs / The Daily Beast:
Five Outrageous Outbursts By Senate Candidate Steve Stockman

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic Online, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, PoliticusUSA, Balloon Juice, Mediaite and Unfair Park

The Texas Tribune:
Stockman Files to Run Against Cornyn

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Fix, NPR, Washington Post, Right Wing Watch, Daily Kos, Texas on the Potomac, Off the Kuff and Hot Air

John Fritze / Baltimore Sun:

Cummings: Ted Cruz ‘got an earful’ from Dems on South Africa trip — (Rep. Cummings' office / December 10, 2013) — Rep. Elijah E. Cummings is in South Africa for Nelson Mandela's memorial, but that doesn't mean he's abandoned domestic policy. In fact, Cummings said he and other Democrats …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Liz Cheney's 1988 Op-Ed on Anti-Apartheid Protestors: “Nobody's Listening” — Her father wasn't the only Cheney to speak out against speaking out against apartheid. — Liz Cheney for Senate; The Catalyst — In a 1988 op-ed for her college newspaper, Liz Cheney, the daughter …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Liberaland, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Julian Zelizer / CNN: From one first black president to another

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Another potential boost for Obamacare — Opponents of the Affordable Care Act tend to suggest expanded coverage resulting from the law's Medicaid expansion somehow doesn't really count as success. But the law's goal is to expand coverage, and the Medicaid expansion is one of the tools it utilizes to accomplish that.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Alyssa Brown / Gallup:
Costs Still Keep 30% of Americans From Getting Treatment

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and Firedoglake

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:
Cracks emerge in anti-ACA wall

Discussion: American Prospect, NewsBusters, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Kerry gets his way on Iran — Secretary of State John Kerry and the Obama administration appear to have won a fight with Congress over new Iran sanctions — at least for now. — As Kerry readied to give testimony on Tuesday to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the administration's …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Politico, BuzzFeed and ThinkProgress

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Kerry tells Congress to hold off on new Iran sanctions for now

Discussion: National Review

James Arkin / BuzzFeed:

Here's Why That Kentucky Doctor Is Closing His Practice “Due To The Policies Of Obamacare” — A Kentucky doctor took out a newspaper ad saying he was closing his practice “due to the policies of Obamacare.” The reason is a federal requirement that he keep electronic records.

Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:

Twitchy Sold To Owners Of Townhall And Hotair — “Media Matters types would like to paint conservatives as boring, old white guys. Twitchy ads more fun and humor to our platform,” Townhall's general manager says. — Twitchy, the conservative Twitter aggregation site …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Politico and Joe. My. God., more at Mediagazer »

Pacilin / California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris:

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Arrest of Revenge Porn Website Operator — SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrest of the alleged owner and operator of a revenge porn website who facilitated the posting of more than 10,000 sexually explicit photos …

Discussion: Mashable, Boing Boing, Guardian and Wonkblog

Pew Research Center:

Obama Job Rating Regains Some Ground, But 2013 Has Taken a Toll — Current Health Law Problems Register, Outlook Is Little Changed — For the first time since last spring, Barack Obama's steadily declining job rating has shown a modest improvement. And while his signature legislative accomplishment …

Discussion: TIME, CNN and Politico

New York Times:

Why Machiavelli Still Matters — FIVE hundred years ago, on Dec. 10, 1513, Niccolò Machiavelli sent a letter to his friend Francesco Vettori, describing his day spent haggling with local farmers and setting bird traps for his evening meal. A typical day for the atypical letter writer …

Discussion: Althouse

Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:

Senate Confirms Millett to D.C. Circuit Court — Move Marks First Judge Approved Since Democrats Changed Filibuster Rules — WASHINGTON—A divided U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Washington lawyer Patricia Millett to serve on a powerful U.S. appeals court, the first Obama administration nominee …