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Archives for December 2012

Looking Back at 2012 From The 'Cliff'

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Welcome to the end of 2012 and the start of 2013 just beyond the (fiscal) cliff!

After a particularly rough election year, it almost seems unfair that we’re ending on the threat of the fiscal cliff. While the president is due to speak at 5:45 p.m. today, sources have already been spilling out as fast as they can to say there isn’t a deal. The National Journal already consultated their crystal ball to see what this means for Obama’s second term:

“After the debacle that resulted from Boehner’s pre-Christmas effort to pass a GOP fallback plan for resolving the cliff, Republicans seem poised to shoulder a bigger share of the blame if Washington misses the Jan. 1 deadline. Going over the cliff would also bring some tactical advantages to Obama and the Democrats. Once the Bush tax cuts lapse, the conversation will shift away from tax increases to enacting tax cuts, putting pressure on Republicans to drop their opposition to legislation that would renew the tax cuts only for the middle class.”

Still there’s more to 2012 than cliff crisises and elections–Think Progress goes over the year that was for bills blocked by the GOP. Even if there is “no White House bill” there was still so much that the last year gave us.

We found out Joe Biden could crash a party AND give a moving speech to a gathered crowd in Georgetown. That films shown at 48 frames per second need to be about hobbits, dragons and giant eagles. That Daniel Day-Lewis is a very convincing Abraham Lincoln. That anthropomorphic eggs are more fun at the White House than anywhere else. But more importantly, we learned in 2012 that no matter what cold or dark thing that happens that there’s always a silver lining.

Whether it’s a lifelong Star Trek fan getting his last wish or the WMATA not completely ruining the trains for one weekend. Also, that tickets for the Redskins/Dallas game this weekend are crazier than some of the things being said around the House and Senate aside from “cliff” talk. We even beat the apocalypse! So on that note, as the rest of Washington nervously watches the cliff talks now, be as calm as an Egg-man at the White House Easter Egg hunt.

We’ll be back in the new year with more insider intrigue and finding ways to help explain why the Beltway is so addictive despite it just being two loops inside of a larger loop. So why not leave a comment about what you’re thankful for in 2012 while we say Happy New Year.

Starbucks Comes Together for DC Despite Slushy Cliff

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The holiday cheer still lingers around DC, despite the slushy weather topped off with sleet. Except instead of the gingerbread and tickets to Les Miz—or Mis!–the Capitol is chugging back to work on the looming fiscal cliff. The White House Pool reports that President Obama is heading back from Hawaii tonight to DC, which seems like a positive sign for the cliff standstill. Heck, even Starbucks is getting an opinion about the cliff.
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Barbara Bush on Why You Should Apply to Global Health Corps

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Have you ever thought about working in policy, or just dropping everything to travel the world and gain insight to how “everything” works? Then why not start by applying to the Global Health Corps? Started in 2008 by a collection of like-minded and global-conscious individuals like Barbara Pierce Bush, her sister Jenna, Jonny Dorsey and Dave Ryan from FACE AIDs and Google’s Charlie Hale and Andrew Bentley. The Corps announced last week what positions would be avaliable for 2013 applicants. We reached out to the president of the Global Health Corps, Barbara, over email to find out what makes an ideal GHC candidate, how applicants could prepare for the role and the start of the corps.

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Brief Moments in Biden: The Other Kerry for Secretary of State

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Not only is Vice President Biden crashing parties and giving speeches, but he’s even sending in the other Kerry!

From the White House Pool Report of President Obama’s recent announcement to nominate Senator John Kerry for secretary of state:

“One thing you probably didn’t see on TV — Biden and T(eresa) H(einz) Kerry entered the room first and stood before reporters for a couple of minutes before the president and Sen. Kerry came in. In the awkward silence, Biden turned to the pool and said he was there to announce the nomination of Teresa Kerry as Secretary of State. She then smiled and said, ‘another woman!’“

The Pool also reports that Obama spoke to secretary Clinton today and “found her in good spirits.”

John Kerry Nominated for Secretary of State

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Sen. John Kerry meeting the President of Liberia (via Press Office for Senator Kerry)


Christmas comes early for Senator Kerry with this nomination for secretary of state. Let’s run down what we’re all saying about the expected nomination from President Obama at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon:

WaPo: “Kerry has long sought the post as America’s top diplomat, but appeared to be Obama’s second choice after U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice. Rice withdrew her name from consideration earlier this month because of Republican opposition based on her role as administration spokeswoman in the fatal Sept. 11 attack on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya.”

CNN: “It’s ironic that several prominent Republicans are rallying behind Kerry, just eight years after their party demonized him during his failed 2004 presidential campaign against President George W. Bush.”

Los Angeles Times:”Kerry, 69, has chaired the Senate Foreign Relatons Committee since 2009. His selection gives the White House a veteran foreign policy hand who has demonstrated his willingness to work with Obama’s inner circle of advisors over the last four years.”

Politico: “Kerry’s Republican colleagues have indicated that the confirmation process will be a smooth one — far easier than the one United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice would have faced had Obama nominated her. Rice withdrew her name from contention last week.”

Politico also reports that current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not attend while still recovering from a slight concussion. But that hasn’t stopped the rumor will for who’ll be gunning for his seat. The Atlantic Wire toplines a scruffy Ben Affleck, Scott Brown, Ed “Ted” Kennedy, Jr. while The Hill likes Rep. Ed Markey.

Slate wishes there was a special election because why not make 2013 more than just a regular ol’ “election year.” But maybe being will help?

CNN Gets Tapper, ABC Has Their Own Shuffle and No Go on ''Plan B"

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In case you thought it was the end of the world–well, it’s just another Friday for the District.

In pre-Christmas media shuffle CNN announced that Jake Tapper is their new chief Washington correspondent and anchor. Mike Ryan’s Playbook backstory sheds light on what CNN seems to have in mind for the former ABC correspondent: “Tapper’s new show will initially air during one of the hours that CNN programming is in D.C., between 4 and 7 p.m., after which it will likely find a later time slot. The pitch to Tapper by incoming CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker was key to the hire. Before his White House gig, Tapper was a utility player at ABC News, doing stories on Iraq, the culture wars, and plenty of general assignment stories ranging from the Virginia Tech attacks to interviewing Larry David. A show that focused on a broader palette of story subjects, from politics to international affairs to sports to popular culture, has always been his main goal.”

Which means over at ABC, Jonathan Karl has become their new Chief White House Correspondent and Martha Raddatz is bumped to Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, which the release notes will find her as “primary substitute for George Stephanopoulos on This Week and will contribute regularly to the roundtable” along with Karl.

Going to the pundit side, Politico has Purple Stategies’ Rob Collins being vetted for the National Republican Senatorial Commitee.

Would you call the failure to pass Speaker John Boehner’s “Plan B” proposal “embarrassing”? You’re not alone as nearly everyone lead with that description after last night’s rejection of his fiscal cliff spending plan. Here’s a sampling:

Bloomberg: “The flawed approach left Boehner embarrassed and Republicans without a clear alternative to Obama’s proposal to raise $1.2 trillion in taxes on high earners and cut $1.2 trillion in spending.”

Washington Post’s Right Turn: “House Republicans embarrassed their speaker Thursday night by shutting down his Plan B to protect all but millionaires from a tax hike, come Jan. 1. How close was the GOP to having enough support for Speaker John Boehner’s plan? A senior leadership aide replied glumly, ‘Not close enough.'”

On Morning Joe, David Axelrod said: “But the fact that they couldn’t even pass that was an embarrassment. This is the longest day of the year and certainly true for John Boehner, I’m sure he’s scratching his head right now.”

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Ambassador Susan Rice Withdraws from Secretary of State Nomination

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From Rice’s desk to our eyes.


Susan Rice, ambassador to the United Nations, is out of the running for the coveted secretary of state seat. After weeks of harassment from congress

ABC News published the letter that Ambassador Rice sent to President Obama, which is avaliable here. She starts her letter off thanking the president.
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