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BOEHNER OPEN TO MORE REVENUE - Manu Raju and Jake Sherman write for the hometown paper: "House Speaker John Boehner privately told President Barack Obama that he's prepared to consider more than the $800 billion the GOP has already proposed in new tax revenues - but only if the White House will back much deeper cuts to entitlement programs, according to several sources familiar with the talks. Getting beyond $800 billion in revenue without raising tax rates on upper-income families would be difficult. Obama has long demanded that marginal income rates go up on the top 2 percent of Americans. But for the time being, Boehner's private concession might not be the breakthrough the fiscal talks
need. The White House has been resistant to additional entitlement savings - their proposal has been stuck at $600 billion, and their revenue target is pegged at $1.4 trillion. Republicans insist a revenue increase that large could never pass the House or Senate. ...

-- "With this stalemate, Republicans are starting to ponder a Plan B: Extend the Bush-era rates for families who earn less than $250,000 and then reopen the debate on taxes and entitlements next year, when the nation heads for the debt limit again. ... The White House declined to comment on the president's private conversations. But White House aides say they have been asking the speaker's office for weeks to provide details of the cuts that Republicans want. The aides also argued that Republicans took a step back from a middle ground on taxes with their counteroffer Tuesday to lock in the Bush-era tax rates for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, saying they were skeptical about a
verbal concession since the speaker has yet to detail such a plan on paper."
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FISCAL CLIFF COUNTDOWN: 18 DAYS

A WSJ/NBC POLL found that two-thirds of Americans want Congress to strike a deal to reduce the deficit, even if it means cuts to Social Security and Medicare and boosting some tax rates. And three quarters of Americans - including 61 percent of Republicans - said they were OK with higher tax rates on the wealthy if it meant averting the fiscal cliff.
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EVERYONE FEELS LEFT OUT OF TALKS - The Hill's Alex Bolton writes that senators are frustrated the chamber has no representatives at the fiscal cliff negotiating table, while Roll call's Daniel Newhauser writes that rank-and-file House Republicans are growing antsy as they sit on the sidelines.
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BIDEN IN THE BULLPEN - Reid Epstein and Carrie Budoff Brown report for POLITICO: "Vice President Joe Biden walked the halls of Congress and hosted top-level talks at Blair House during the last fiscal showdown. This time, he's roaming the aisles of Costco. It's a stark shift in responsibilities for the vice president, who has been asked to hold off - for now - on leveraging his Capitol Hill connections and to leave the negotiating to his boss. Biden's new role is a product of President Barack Obama's decision to streamline fiscal cliff negotiations between himself and House Speaker John Boehner, the two sides' clear sticking points and Obama's increased post-election political clout. The
vice president worked on the Hill for decades and led the bipartisan 2011 debt ceiling group that laid much of the groundwork for the fiscal cliff talks. Now he waits for his moment as Obama leads the White House public relations battle at campaign-style stops in Pennsylvania and Michigan as well we the private talks with Boehner."
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THE 'CLIFF' THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS? - "You're a mean one, Fiscal Cliff," writes POLITICO's Kate Nocera. "It's become somewhat of a Grinchy holiday tradition in Washington: Make sure the flights are refundable, get the shopping done early and be ready to stay in town until something, hopefully, maybe, happens. This year is no different. With the fiscal cliff deadline looming and party leaders seemingly miles away from a deal, members of Congress are rearranging their travel schedules and crossing their fingers they'll be able to make it home for at least a part of the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. It's not looking good: The politics of making a deal are putting a damper on holiday
cheer more than unwelcome relatives. Majority Leader Eric Cantor told Republican lawmakers on Tuesday to expect to stay in town through Christmas Eve and be ready to return immediately after Christmas Day. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) similarly signaled little progress had been made on a deal....

-- "Throughout the halls of the Capitol on Wednesday there were dismayed faces of staffers and heavy sighs from reporters who couldn't quite remember the last time holiday plans were secure. The last time there was a Christmas Eve vote was just in 2009, when the Senate convened at 7 a.m. to pass its version of Obamacare."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=a4ebb70accb6a0ee822cca9cf60541a93de32e93336d217b77ab1791c2d78f94 For nostalgia's sake, here's the Grinch Song:
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GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 13, 2012, and welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news. Send tips, suggestions, comments, complaints and corrections to
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com . If you don't already, please follow me on Twitter @scottwongDC.

My new followers include but are not limited to @ggoldsborough and @Texas_CR.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The House is in at 9:00 a.m. with first and last votes expected between 11 a.m. and noon on several bills considered under suspension of the rules: the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act, GAO Mandates Revision Act of 2012, and D.C. Courts and Public Defender Service Act. The chamber will also vote on a motion to go to a conference committee on the defense authorization bill.

The Senate meets at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to vote at noon on a motion to waive a GOP budget point of order to a bill to temporarily extend the transaction account guarantee program. If the motion to waive is successful, the Senate will then move to a cloture vote on the bill.

AROUND THE HILL - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel announces his new leadership team at 9:30 a.m. at the DNC. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Anna Eshoo mark a new law doing away with loud TV commercials at 9:30 a.m. in SVC 208. Reps. Ed Markey, Joe Barton and the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus hold a briefing on the data broker industry at 10:30 a.m. in Rayburn 2226. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly on-camera briefing at 10:30 a.m. in HVC Studio A. Speaker John Boehner will follow at 11:15.

Reps. Joseph Crowley, Michael Grimm, John Larson, Frank LoBiondo, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Charles B. Rangel and Jon Runyan unveil bipartisan tax relief legislation to assist Hurricane Sandy victims at noon in HVC Studio A. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Patty Murray hold a media availability at noon in the Senate Studio. Rescheduled: Reps. Chris Smith and Nydia Velazquez speak on the American trapped in Bolivia at 1:30 p.m. at the House Triangle.

MENENDEZ INTERN WAS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SEX OFFENDER - Alicia A. Caldwell reports for the Associated Press: "Sen. Robert Menendez employed as an unpaid intern in his Senate office an illegal immigrant who was a registered sex offender, now under arrest by immigration authorities, The Associated Press has learned. The Homeland Security Department instructed federal agents not to arrest him until after Election Day, a U.S. official involved in the case told the AP. But a Homeland Security spokesman, Peter Boogaard, said yesterday that it was 'categorically false' that the department delayed the arrest of Luis Abrahan Sanchez Zavaleta, 18, until after the election.

-- "Sanchez, an immigrant from Peru, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in front of his home in New Jersey on Dec. 6, two federal officials said. Sanchez, who entered the country on a now-expired visitor visa, is facing deportation and remains in custody. ... Menendez (D-N.J.), who advocates aggressively for pro-immigration policies, was re-elected in November with 58 percent of the vote. He said his staff was notified about the case Monday, he personally learned about the case from AP's reporting and knew nothing about whether DHS delayed the arrest. The senator said his staff asks interns whether they are in the country legally but cannot check to be sure. 'We
certainly wouldn't have known through any background checks since he is a minor about any sex offender status,' Menendez said in an interview with MSNBC. 'Once it came to our attention, our New Jersey staff director let the young man go.'"
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SENATE RETIREMENT SPEECHES IN 3 MINUTES - If you don't want to watch hours of Senate retirement speeches, The Washington Post has put together an abbreviated highlight reel:
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LIEBERMAN ON HISTORY AND TWEETING: "The senior senator from Connecticut, who is retiring in January after four terms, spoke for some 20 minutes on the floor of a chamber where, at various points in his career, he was an outspoken leader on matters like cultural decency, bipartisanship and the war on terror," Raymond Hernandez writes for the NYT. "With only a few of his Senate colleagues in attendance and the gallery sparsely filled, Mr. Lieberman, 70, expressed gratitude for the opportunity he had to serve, and then vividly recalled how much the world had changed since he was sworn in on Jan. 3, 1989. He noted that his term coincided with major events around the globe, including the defeat
of the Soviet empire and the spread of democracy.He also took note of momentous events here at home, like the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama, and he marveled at the profound changes technology had ushered in during his time here. 'When I started here in the Senate, a blackberry was a fruit and tweeting was something only birds do,' he said."
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LUGAR CALLS FOR COOPERATION: "In his official farewell speech delivered on the Senate floor with his family and staff on hand, Lugar particularly called for better cooperation between the White House and Congress on national security issues, saying that the current dialogue is 'one of the least constructive that I have ever witnessed,'" writes Gannett's Maureen Groppe. "Before the country faces another 9/11, Lugar said, President Obama must be willing to call Republicans into the Oval Office to establish the basis for a working partnership on foreign policy. 'And Republicans must be willing to suspend reflexive opposition that serves no purpose but to limit their own role in strategic
questions and render cooperation impossible,' said Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 'All parties should recognize the need for unity in the coming year when events in Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and other locations may test American national security in extreme ways.'"
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BROWN HINTS AT RETURN - "Senator Scott Brown used his farewell floor speech this morning to foreshadow his potential return to Congress and to oppose changes to the filibuster process that several Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, have been pushing. 'As I've said many times before, victory and defeat is temporary,' he told colleagues. 'Depending on what happens, and where we go, all of us, we may obviously meet again.' Brown, a Republican, has been talking about a possible return to the Senate since his concession speech on election night last month, when Warren defeated him. Warren will replace Brown on Jan. 3.With President Obama contemplating a potential cabinet position for Senator
John Kerry, a Democrat and the state's senior senator, speculation has been rampant that Brown will compete in another special election.

THE ROGERS REPORT: GETTING PAST GRUDGES TO A CLIFF DEAL - "Between the hit movie and President Barack Obama's second Inauguration, Lincoln is in the air in Washington. But maybe it's time to also remember Grant, who knew war firsthand and had the good sense in victory to let the defeated take home their horses and mules for spring plowing," David Rogers writes. "Obama won November's election and as a practical matter is in full control of whether the top tax rates go up Jan. 1 - as already allowed under current law. This is a Tax Code written in sand after all because George W. Bush - unlike Ronald Reagan - never had the votes to make his cuts permanent a decade ago. It's worth remembering
that the 15 percent capital gains rate only passed on a 50-50 Senate roll call in 2003, with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voting no and Vice President Dick Cheney having to break the tie. Health care reform seems a landslide by comparison. But to win the peace and govern, would Obama be smart to also make concessions to get past the resentments of the past four years?"
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WaPo, A14, "Fearing 'cliff,' executives push for a deal," By Steven Mufson and Juliet Eilperin: "With corporate tax rates and tax breaks up for grabs, chief executives are personally stepping forward to lobby Congress and the White House on taxes, seeking to set priorities while conceding that some taxes will have to go up. The business executives, while unenthusiastic about higher taxes, say that avoiding the "fiscal cliff" is their No. 1 priority and that many other key issues can be taken care of in broader tax reform negotiations they hope would take place next year."
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SECRETARY CLINTON will testify about the Benghazi attacks on Dec. 20 on Capitol Hill, Seung Min Kim reports. She'll attend hearings of both the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees.
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LATINO GROUPS WARN CONGRESS ON IMMIGRATION - Julia Preston writes for the New York Times: "The nation's largest Latino organizations warned Congress on Wednesday that they will keep a report card during the immigration debate next year, with plans to mobilize their voters against lawmakers who do not support a comprehensive immigration bill. At a news conference here, seven Latino groups and one labor union were showing their muscle, after the record turnout of Hispanic voters in the November elections played a pivotal role in President Obama's re-election victory. Janet Murguia, the president of N.C.L.R., also known as the National Council of La Raza, said the election had been a
'game-changer' that conclusively 'made the political case for a bipartisan solution' on immigration."
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GOP MAY RELENT ON PAY-FORS FOR SANDY AID - Seung Min Kim and Kate Nocera write for POLITICO: "Republicans in Congress may not insist on spending cuts to pay for some of the billions in federal aid for Hurricane Sandy victims - a potential win for Eastern Seaboard Democrats who were fretting about that possibility. Late last week, the White House submitted a $60.4 billion disaster aid request that covers the immediate emergency response to Sandy but also includes nearly $13 billion that would be funneled toward long-term efforts to mitigate future natural disasters. The administration designated about $55 billion as emergency spending. Though some Republicans have said the disaster-relief
package should be paid for, several other GOP lawmakers told POLITICO that's unlikely, given the urgent need for the aid package."
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-- But House Republicans are wary of the $60 billion tab, saying the administration hasn't provided details to justify that amount, the Wall Street Journal's Corey Bowles and Andrew Grossman report.
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BARRASSO TAKES REID TO TASK OVER FILIBUSTER -The Wyoming Republican writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed: "If Senate Democrats succeed with their new plan, they will destroy any hope of achieving a balanced solution to the challenges we face. With less opportunity for minority participation, bills that come out of the Senate would be less nuanced and more biased toward one end of the spectrum. Today it is the liberal side; in the future, it may be the conservative side. With a divided Congress, any viable solution to the challenges we face must be the product of thorough debate in the Senate. The current Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate won't pass each
others' bills unless there is significant bipartisan support. Since its inception, the American political system has functioned on majority rule but with strong minority rights. Democracy isn't winner-take-all. If Sen. Reid breaks the rules to change the rules, political minorities-and all Americans-will lose."
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INDEPENDENT KING WINS 4 PANEL SLOTS - Scott Wong reports: "After agreeing to caucus with Democrats, independent Sen.-elect Angus King of Maine was rewarded with four key committee assignments: Armed Services, Intelligence, Budget and Rules. Meanwhile, Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who was tapped last week to head up the Democrats' campaign operations for the 2014 cycle, won a coveted seat on the Finance Committee, which oversees key issues like health care and taxes. Senate Democrats made the announcement Wednesday after their steering committee approved committee assignments for the 113th Congress. ... Joining the powerful Appropriations Committee will be first-term Sens. Tom Udall of New
Mexico, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. In addition to Bennet, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who just won reelection to a second term, will be joining the Finance panel."
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ILLINOIS DEMOCRATS TO ENDORSE 2ND DISTRICT CANDIDATE - Shira Toeplitz writes for Roll Call: "Chicago-area Democrats are scheduled on Saturday to slate a candidate in the special election for the open 2nd District seat. Influential Thornton Township Committeeman Frank Zuccarelli will lead the committee to pick a favorite in a burgeoning field of Democrats. But Zuccarelli's favorite, state Sen. Donne Trotter, was recently charged with trying to bring a gun on a plane. The Democratic field is crowded: Alderman Anthony Beale, former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, former NFL linebacker Napoleon Harris, state Sen. Toi Hutchinson, Cook County Chief Administrative Officer Robin Kelly, former Rep. Mel
Reynolds and Trotter. Former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.'s resignation last month forced a special election for his district on the Windy City's southern end. The Feb. 26 primary should decide the next member in his heavily Democratic district."
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WEDNESDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Nobody got yesterday's question. John L. McClellan of Arkansas was the last World War I veteran to serve in the Senate. He died in office on Nov. 28, 1977.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Matt Laslo has today's question: Name the person who set three Senate records in just one day. And what were the three records? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com .

WEATHER - Sunny with highs in the 40s, according to ABC7's Adam Caskey.

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