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1.) Between a rock and a bigger, harder rock — House Speaker John Boehner is in an unenviable position. TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports:
“Speaker of the House John Boehner confidently declared that his ‘Plan B’ would pass the House Thursday, indicating that he has the votes to pass it, and said that President Barack Obama could either fall in line and help the bill pass the Senate, or he could take the blame for ‘the largest tax increase in American history.’ ‘Republicans continue to work toward avoiding the fiscal cliff. The president’s offer of $1.3 trillion of revenue and $850 billion in spending reduction fails to meet the test that the president promised the American people: a balanced approach. And I hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach,’ Boehner said in a brief statement to reporters Wednesday.”
If Plan B doesn’t work, the Republicans in the House will go to Plan C: Find a new speaker. And if not Plan C, Plan D: Find a dictator to save us from ourselves. #JustKidding! #KindOf.
2.) When heroes fall — For years, he delivered the news, challenged authority and acted awkwardly while warming our hearts. And then, in one act of irresponsibility, he throws away years of good will. TheDC’s Taylor Bigler reports:
“Veteran ABC News reporter Sam Donaldson, 78, was arrested for driving under the influence in Lewes, Del. on Dec. 1, local WGMD radio reports. The former ABC White House correspondent was pulled over for a traffic violation when Lewes police suspected he had been drinking. Donaldson failed the field sobriety test and was arrested for a DUI, and will appear in court early next year.”
Will America ever be the same again?
3.) And now, another tale of union misbehavior — Another union leader keeps it classy, TheDC’s Eric Owens reports:
“Only days after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the head of the nation’s third-largest teachers union is blaming Teach For America for helping ‘kill and disenfranchise children.’ … ‘We in Chicago have been the victims of their experiments on our children since the current secretary of Education ‘ran’ CPS,’ Lewis writes, calling Teach For America a group of ‘education missionaries’ who view teaching in poor communities as a ‘stepping stone to a more lucrative career.'”
4.) A real question! — You don’t often get very good questions out of the White House press corps, at least rarely from reporters who don’t scream out their question from the back of the Rose Garden. But the president got one Wednesday, TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“ABC White House correspondent Jake Tapper asked President Barack Obama Wednesday why the president’s plea for action on gun issues has come so late in his first term and only after last week’s tragic incident at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Obama was holding a noon press conference to announce the creation of a Vice President Joe Biden-led task force to craft new administration gun control policy. ‘It seems to a lot of observers that you made the political calculation in 2008 in your first term and 2012 not to talk about gun violence,’ Tapper said during the noon White House press conference. ‘You had your position on renewing the ban on semi-automatic rifles that then-Sen. Biden put into place, but you didn’t do much about it. This is not the first incident of horrific gun violence of your four years. Where have you been?'”
A good question indeed — and predictably coming from Jake Tapper. Read the article to see the president’s response.
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Jeffrey Goldberg: What is true about Hagel is that many people who despise Israel seem happy at the notion he will be picked for SecDef.
6.) Today in North Korean News — “Dozens of Poems Created”
AUDIO: Speaking of fiscal cliff, John McCain says “I’m glad I don’t have Boehner’s job”