Day's End Round-Up

FROM THE BLOGS:

Kill this deal
Tim Noah of The New Republic writes a letter to House and Senate Democrats saying President Obama has sold them out in "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

It's the spending, stupid
If the final fiscal-cliff deal raises revenues on anything but defense it should be widely rejected, The American Spectator's Quin Hillyer argues at the magazine's Spectacle blog.

Clinton's clot, Krauthammer's shame
A number of conservative pundits accused Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of faking a blood clot so she would not have to testify about a hearing on the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, notes Mark Kleiman at The Washington Monthly.

Reforming the Senate at snail's pace
Sarah Binder at The Monkey Cage writes that December has been a great month for observers of the Senate.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Biden, Senate nearing ‘cliff’ deal
Vice President Biden and Senate leaders are nearing a fiscal-cliff deal just ahead of the year-end deadline, reports The Hill's Alexander Bolton.

Huntsman says Republican Party is 'devoid of a soul'
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) described the Republican Party as "devoid of a soul" in a recent interview, writes The Hill's Alexandra Jaffe.

FROM THE BLOGS:

All reason leaves the GOP
Dick Polman at the Philadelphia Inquirer says the GOP has lost its sanity.

David Gregory makes the gun rights activists' argument
David French at the National Review says the "Meet the Press" host’s stunt makes a strong argument for gun rights activists.

Do Democrats want to take us over the cliff?
Debra Saunders at the SF Chronicle thinks so.

What I learned from being in Congress
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ari.) writes in the American Spectator about his life in Congress as he faces retirement.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Reid, McConnell working on fiscal-cliff deal after meeting Obama
Alexander Bolton at The Hill has the latest “fiscal cliff” update.

Another debt-ceiling showdown looms
Two Republican senators on Friday introduced a plan to reduce entitlement spending for an equal increase to the federal debt ceiling, reports Alexander Bolton at The Hill.

FROM THE BLOGS:
 
Hillary Clinton goes back to work
Foreign Policy’s Josh Rogin reports Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will return to work next week, following illness and a concussion.
 
The Tea Party is still influential
Salon’s Steve Kornacki writes that while the rallies have dwindled, the Tea Party mindset remains strong.
 
Obama should sidestep Congress
Rena Steinzer and Amy Sinden at the Baltimore Sun say President Obama must turn to executive orders in the face of GOP obstructionism.
 
Why the House is so divided
Nate Silver at the FiveThirtyEight blog says the House is so polarized because incumbents fear primary opponents more than the voters in their own districts.

OHER NEWS SOURCES:
 
House returns for the ‘cliff’
House members will return Sunday for one final year-end push on a “fiscal cliff” deal, reports Daniel Strauss at The Hill.
 
Acting EPA chief among most likely to succeed Jackson
Ben Geman at The Hill reports on the likely successors to Lisa Jackson, who announced Thursday that she will resign from the top spot at the Environmental Protection Agency.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Maria Bartiromo lays the smackdown on Ben Cardin, trading floor erupts in cheers
The New York Stock Exchange erupted in cheers after CNBC's Maria Bartiromo aggressively questioned Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) on a deficit-reduction deal. Watch the video at National Review's The Corner blog. 

No moderate makeover in Virginia
At The Washington Monthly's Political Animal blog, Ed Kilgore writes politics have already centered on the "midterm cycle" in Virginia. 

The GOP likes Michèle Flournoy for the wrong reasons, but she's the right choice
Michèle Flournoy is actually the best person to be the next secretary of Defense, writes The New Republic's Molly Redden. 

34 years of satellite temperature data show global warming is on a plateau
Ronald Bailey at Reason magazine highlights research by a pair of climatologists at the University of Alabama suggesting global warming has "been largely stalled" since 1998. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

US to hit $16.4 trillion debt limit on Dec. 31
The United States will hit its borrowing limit on Dec. 31, the Treasury Department said Wednesday, reports The Hills Peter Schroeder. 

Blues cruise
At New York magazine, Joe Hagan reported on the most recent National Review cruise.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Cuomo, newly revealed gun owner, doubts there will be a special session for gun control
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) revealed he owns a shotgun on Thursday, according to Capital New York's Reid Pillifant.

Michael Kinsley's very strange take on taxing capital gains
James Pethokoukis at the American Enterprise Institute critiques a Michael Kinsley column on capital gains taxation.

15 More of the world's most dangerous people, selected by you
Robert Beckhusen, writing for Wired's Danger Room, lists the 15 most dangerous people in the world voted by readers in the blog's comments, on Facebook and over Twitter.

Boehner's ultimatum
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is confident that his Plan B deficit reduction plan will pass the House, writes Robert Costa at National Review's The Corner blog.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES: 

Liberal Democrats say chained CPI is a deficit deal breaker – almost
House Democrats are refusing to move on a chained CPI in a deficit reduction deal, reports The Hill's Mike Lillis.

WHIP COUNT: House lawmakers' position on GOP's 'Plan B'
Follow The Hill's whip count of legislators who say they won't vote for Boehner's Plan B here.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Menendez and Hagel on opposite sides of Iran issue
If former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) becomes Secretary of Defense and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) becomes chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they could find themselves on opposite sides of dealing with Iran, writes Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy's The Cable.

The new mandate on defense
In the latest issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas outgoing Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) argues it's time to spend more, not less.

Libertarians and risk aversion
Noah Millman ponders whether libertarians tend to avoid risk at his blog at The American Conservative.

Graham, Rubio and Blunt meander through questions about gun control
Dave Weigel asked a number of Republican senators about new gun legislation. Read responses from Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), and Roy Blunt (Fla.) here. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Boehner moves to 'Plan B'
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) took steps to introduce a "Plan B" deficit reduction plan on Tuesday, The Hill's Erik Wasson and Russell Berman report. 

President Obama to push assault weapons ban in second term
President Obama will push legislation strengthening gun restrictions in his second term, according to the White House. The Hill's Justin Sink has more.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Why Jim Moran’s son Patrick will get away with domestic abuse
On RedState.com, Moe Lane calls for an investigation into the role that Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) played in his son’s sentencing after he assaulted his girlfriend and a police officer.

European Court rules CIA tortured terror suspect
According to Hayes Brown at ThinkProgress, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the CIA tortured a German man during his time in custody.

Doomsday for the Defense Department
Whether sequestration happens or not, budget cuts are coming to the Pentagon, reports Kelley Vlahos on The American Conservative.

Poll: Taking tax cuts and the economy hostage isn't working out well for GOP
According to several polls, the GOP’s fiscal-cliff strategies are hurting the party’s popularity, writes Jed Lewison on Daily Kos.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama, Boehner meet at White House to push deficit negotiations
The Hill's Justin Sink reports that President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will meet Thursday afternoon at the White House to continue fiscal-cliff negotiations.

Rice withdraws name from consideration for secretary of State
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of State, reports The Hill’s Daniel Strauss.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Why Republicans can't propose spending cuts
Daily Intel's Jonathan Chait argues that Republicans have been unable to identify their desired spending cuts because there isn't actually very much waste in the federal budget.

Reince Priebus and the RNC contemplate an overhaul
National Review's Jim Geraghty speaks with the RNC chairman about how to fix the organizational issues that plagued Republican efforts during the 2012 election.

Can we even discuss guns after the Oregon shooting?
Salon's Alex Seitz-Wald contemplates whether politicians can even contemplate the shooter's use of a previously banned assault weapon, considering the strength of the gun lobby.

Are right-to-work laws un-libertarian?
Reason's J.D. Tuccille argues that the move by the Michigan legislature is another instance of government inserting itself into the marketplace.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Immigration officials arrest Menendez intern
The New Jersey senator's intern was a registered sex offender and an illegal immigrant, The Hill's Daniel Strauss reports.

Senate unveils Hurricane Sandy recovery bill
The legislation matches an Obama administration request for $60.4 billion in aid, The Hill's Erik Wasson reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Obama to push back on Michigan Right-to-work Law
Breitbart.com’s Mike Flynn explains why President Obama’s trip to Detroit isn’t random.

Move over, NRA. Meet the knife lobby
According to Mother Jones’s Richard Grant, because the Second Amendment protects your right to wield anything, say hello to the knife lobby.

If not Boehner, then who? We have options
RedState’s Ned Ryun mulls who could succeed Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

The gang’s getting back together to prevent Senate reform
Daily Kos’s Joan McCarter writes that Republicans and a group of "soft-spined Democrats" are fighting reasonable reforms to the Senate. 

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
 
Graham to Obama: How about ‘manning up’ on entitlement reform?
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) suggested that President Obama should think about "manning up" on deficit reduction, The Hill’s Justin Sink reports.

Senate panel expected to move torture report
The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to approve a secretive report on "enhanced interrogation techniques" on Tuesday, according to The Hill's Jordy Yager.

FROM THE BLOGS:

GOP falsely claims Obama debt-limit proposal is secret plan to spend taxpayer money
In an attempt to block debt-ceiling legislation, the GOP is misleading the public about what the debt ceiling is, according to Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler.

Why a falling birthrate is terrible news for an already hurting economy
According to RedState’s Brad Jackson, the current recession, along with a falling birthrate, spells trouble for the U.S. economy.

Trayvon Martin’s shooter sues NBC over edits
On Salon.com, Natasha Lennard reports that George Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin, is suing NBC for a releasing an edited phone call in order to portray Zimmerman as a racist.

Gov. Lincoln Chaffee: It’s a holiday tree, not a Christmas tree
Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I-R.I.) said that he calls the evergreen tree in the Rhode Island State House a “holiday” tree and not a “Christmas” tree, reports William Bigelow on Brietbart.com.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Axelrod slashes his mustache
According to The Hill’s Daniel Strauss, former Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod shaved his signature mustache to settle a bet.

Boehner: Obama wants to ‘slow-walk’ talks, wastes another week
Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) accused the White House of attempting to “slow-walk” fiscal cliff negotiations, reports The Hill’s Russell Berman.