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By Scott Wong (
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DEBT LIMIT: THE OTHER FISCAL FIGHT - Carrie Budoff Brown and Jake Sherman report for the hometown paper: "President Barack Obama made a demand of House Speaker John Boehner near the end of their first White House meeting on the fiscal cliff: Raise the debt limit before year's end. Boehner responded: 'There is a price for everything.' And with that exchange, described by sources familiar with the Nov. 16 session, an issue that has been overshadowed by the fiscal cliff showdown moved to the forefront of already complicated negotiations to avert more than $500 billion in spending cuts and tax increases by the new year. With bitter memories of the 2011 debt-limit standoff still fresh, both
sides are engaged in another aggressive round of hardball. Within a few months, Congress will once again need to increase the nation's borrowing capability. Obama and congressional Democrats, still stung by the last bruising fight, want to hike the debt ceiling without drama. But Boehner wants to use the debt limit to extract more concessions from Democrats. He told Obama at the White House that it's 'my leverage,' although he added that he's flexible on when it should be done. ...

-- "The politics of this fight are simple:Democrats are roundly peeved with how Congress and the White House handled the debt ceiling in 2011 and say they won't fight on it again. Democrats on Capitol Hill thought the administration gave up too much for a vote that was once a legislative technicality. Republicans know it's a difficult vote for nearly all of their members. They need something to show for it - and to uphold Boehner's principle that the nation should only acquire more debt if it's willing to cut an equal amount of spending or save a commensurate amount of money through entitlement reform. This time, Obama is saying he won't indulge the speaker."
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-- Talks between the White House and Boehner appear to be picking up, Zachary A. Goldfarb and Lori Montgomery write on A1 of the Washington Post: "Boehner, meanwhile, was laying plans Monday for top Republicans to meet with Erskine Bowles, a chief of staff in the Bill Clinton administration who also has close ties to Obama's White House. Ahead of the Wednesday meeting, GOP aides noted that Bowles offered a debt-reduction plan last fall in line with Republican principles. That plan called for $800 billion in fresh revenue through an overhaul of the tax code and significant spending cuts, including major changes to Medicare and other federal health programs."
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-- POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn explains that words matter in the fight over the fiscal cliff, er, slope: "If some Democrats had their way, the country wouldn't be facing the 'fiscal cliff' - but a 'fiscal slope,' 'fiscal curve' or even an 'austerity crisis.' Debating Republicans about how to solve the fiscal cliff is a fight on the wrong turf, they argue, since it doesn't explain the origins of the problem or what will actually happen - George W. Bush-era tax breaks expire and across-the-board spending cuts go into effect. It's an old adage in Washington: Words matter in a fight, so pick the best ones you can. In this case, the fiscal cliff has become embedded in the lexicon after almost a
year of presidential campaigning and an obsessive media that's counting down the days - 36! as of Monday - until the country makes the proverbial plunge."
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DURBIN DIGS IN: LAYS OUT PROGRESSIVE CASE FOR DEFICIT REDUCTION - Here are excerpts from Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin's speech at 11:30 this morning at the Center for American Progress:

-- What We Won't Do: "Number one: We will not repeal or gut the Affordable Care Act. Number two:We will not allow special interests to use deficit reduction as an excuse to gut rules that protect America's workers, our economy and our environment. Number three: we won't abandon entitlement programs in the name of reform. We won't privatize Social Security and turn it over to Wall Street to run. We won't turn Medicare into a voucher plan for the insurance companies to run. And we won't block grant Medicaid.That's not reform; that's just shifting costs onto state taxpayers and families."

-- Progressives Should Talk About Entitlements - But NOT as Part of a Plan to Avert the Cliff: "Social Security doesn't add a penny to the debt and should not be part of any deficit reduction talks. We can and must do what we can to ensure its solvency for another 75 years, but that is another topic for another time. Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Medicare and Medicaid, but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff. Small changes in the short-term will pay dividends in the long-term as long as current beneficiaries are protected. Meaningful reforms can protect the vulnerable and improve care and
efficiency, leaving the programs stronger for future generations."

-- Deficit Reduction Today: "I hope my friends at FOX are sitting down when they hear this because it may come as a shock to them: President Obama didn't invent trillion-dollar deficits, he inherited them.That's just a fact.The day he took office, America's economy was in free fall and the federal budget was more than $1 trillion in the red, with additional trillion-dollar deficits forecast for years to come. Despite the extraordinary steps our government has had to take to get our economy out of recession and help those hurt by the Great Recession, the deficit as a share of our overall economy has actually fallen considerably under this President. ... Cutting the deficit deeper or faster
than we are already cutting is likely to hurt our economy, not help it.

-- The Deficit is a Progressive Cause: "I didn't agree with all of the recommendations of the Simpson Bowles Commission but I voted for them and I spent hundreds of hours poring over budget numbers and options with the Gang of Six, for one reason. I have stayed at the table in deficit reduction talks because I wanted to make sure that someone was in those negotiations to speak for working people and progressive values.I wanted to make sure that there was someone in those talks looking out for middle class and poor families who need help paying for college, or health care."

AT 9:30 TODAY: RICE TO MEET WITH McCAIN ON BENGHAZI - Scott Wong reports: "U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice will meet Tuesday morning with at least three of her most vocal Senate critics to discuss her remarks about the deadly attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, senators confirmed. GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire have agreed to a joint meeting with Rice so that she can answer questions about why she incorrectly described the assault as something that originated with a spontaneous demonstration, rather than being a deliberate terrorist attack. Rice made those remarks on five Sunday talk shows. The Sept. 11 attack killed
U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans. ... The meetings have raised speculation that President Barack Obama could possibly tap Rice to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, setting up a showdown with McCain and a handful of other Republicans who have threatened to block her possible nomination."
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-- Benghazi talking points vs. what Rice said: Huddle reader Mark Cohen emailed over this cheat sheet comparing the intelligence community-approved talking points Rice usedand what she actually said during interviews on five Sunday morning talk shows Sept. 16.
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LIEBERMAN'S EXIT BREAKS UP THREE AMIGOS - Jennifer Steinhauer writes for the New York Times: "For over a decade, the bipartisan trio of senators traveled the world together, from war-torn Iraq to security conferences in Germany to the remote kingdom of Bhutan. Their hawkish world views often placed them at odds with their respective parties, but together they secured a place at the center of every major foreign policy debate. Now the senators - John McCain of Arizona, Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a triumvirate of frequent fliers dubbed 'the three amigos' by Gen. David H. Petraeus - are breaking up the band, as Mr. Lieberman retires in January. For
Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham, the loss of Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent who is the chairman of the homeland security committee, goes beyond personal deprivation and could profoundly affect their ability to influence foreign policy. Though he frustrated many Democrats with his interventionist ideas, Mr. Lieberman gave Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham, both Republicans, a veneer of bipartisanship that lent credibility to their policy goals.

-- "An illustration of life without Mr. Lieberman surfaced recently when Mr. McCain and Mr. Graham, along with a new amiga, Senator Kelly Ayotte, a Republican freshman from New Hampshire, called for a special committee to investigate the deadly attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The push quickly fell flat, and Mr. McCain, who had harshly criticized Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, over the attack, appeared to retreat over the weekend from his original assertion that Ms. Rice was unqualified to be secretary of state. ...

-- "The amigos say they will miss their travels, watching Borat films, walking together after dark on Friday nights instead of driving so Mr. Lieberman could observe the Sabbath and visiting with troops."
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SNOWE CALLS FOR UNITY, GIVES MONEY TO REPUBLICANS - Colin Woodard writes for the Portland Press Herald: "When U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe made her surprise announcement in February that she would not seek re-election, she condemned the 'atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies' in Washington and stressed the 'vital need for the political center in order for our democracy to flourish.' But in Maine, her political donations this year went exclusively to Republicans, including Gov. Paul LePage and a number of legislative candidates who few would identify with the political center. The scale of giving was not enormous. Snowe for Senate, using campaign funds that Snowe
didn't need, donated $19,545 to Maine candidates and political action committees from Feb. 28, when Snowe announced her retirement, until Oct. 1, when the campaign organization was renamed Olympia's List and refocused on supporting 'individuals who will follow the principles of consensus-building.' Nearly one-third of the donations went to entities that supported Republican legislative candidates. Snowe for Senate gave $1,000 to the Maine Senate Republican Fund, $4,500 to the Republican Speakers Fund and $895 to the Maine Republican Party. Another $3,000 went to Gov. Paul LePage's 2014 re-election campaign, in two transfers made on July 10. The rest went to 35 Republican
legislative candidates, each of whom received $350, the maximum allowed."
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SOME GOPers FLOUT ANTI-TAXMAN NORQUIST - Philip Elliott writes for the AP: "For decades, conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist vowed to drive Republicans out of office if they didn't pledge to oppose tax increases. Many lawmakers signed on. But now, several senior Republicans are breaking ranks, willing to consider raising more money through taxes as part of a deal with Democrats to avoid a catastrophic budget meltdown. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker says the only pledge he will keep is his oath of office. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says no one in his home state of Virginia is talking about what leaders in Washington refer to simply as 'The Pledge,' a Norquist invention that dates to
1986. Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss says he cares more about his country than sticking to Norquist's pledge. It's quite an about-face for senior members of a party that long has stood firmly against almost any notion of tax increases. And while GOP leaders insist they still don't want to see taxes go up, the reality of a nation in a debt crisis is forcing some to moderate their opposition to any movement on how much Americans pay to fund their government."
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WSJ LEAD EDITORIAL: GROVER IS NOT THE PROBLEM - "Grover's-everyone calls him Grover-apparent crime against Washington is that he now actually wants to hold politicians to what they willingly signed. If enough Republicans will disavow their tax pledge, then the capital crowd can go about agreeing to a grand fiscal bargain that raises taxes, pretends to cut spending and avoids the January 1 fiscal crack-up that the politicians have set us up for. Voters are supposed to believe that only Grover stands in the way of this happy ever-after. ... The truth is that Mr. Norquist doesn't have such power. The voters do. ... Politicians sign the pledge not because they want to box themselves
in-politicians by their nature want, er, flexibility-but because they want to get elected. And re-elected.

-- "If Republicans in Congress want to repudiate the pledge, they are free to do so at any time. They could even quote Edmund Burke's line that a democratic representative owes his electors his best judgment, not a slavish fealty to majority opinion. But that would mean saying they didn't mean it when they signed the pledge. So they are now busy pretending that Mr. Norquist is a modern Merlin who conned them into signing the pledge and must be eliminated before they can do the 'right thing' and raise taxes."
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RETIREMENT WATCH IN THE SENATE -- Manu Raju reports for POLITICO: "Jay Rockefeller won't talk about it. Neither will fellow Democrats Tom Harkin, Carl Levin, Tim Johnson and Frank Lautenberg. None of these senior senators will give a definitive answer about whether they're running for reelection in 2014. 'I'm very definitely going to make a statement about that - but not yet,' the 75-year-old Rockefeller, who saw a formidable Republican opponent enter his race Monday, told POLITICO. 'Not until we get some other things set.' The retirement watch is in full swing on Capitol Hill as veteran senators weigh whether to endure another reelection grind, the endless demands for fundraising and the
barrage of personal attacks - all to serve another six years in a body known for its constant gridlock. On the Democratic side, the concern over retirements is more acute - the senators most likely to leave come from red states like West Virginia and South Dakota or swing states like Iowa. On the Republican side, perhaps the most likely retirement centers on Thad Cochran, who presumably would be replaced by another GOP senator in deep-red Mississippi. And just like in 2012, Democrats face an unfavorable electoral map, having to defend 20 seats to 13 for the GOP in a midterm election historically difficult for the party that controls the White House."
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-- GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito's entry into the West Virginia Senate race is "creating an unsettling sense of deja vu for Republicans,"writes POLITICO's David Catanese. "Not even three weeks since the election, Capito's challenge to Democrat Sen. Jay Rockefeller is already shaping up as test case of whether Republicans can overcome deep fissures within the party and produce palatable general-election candidates who aren't fatally wounded by bruising primary battles. Indeed, within an hour of Capito's campaign kickoff in Charleston, the anti-tax Club for Growth fired the first warning shot. Fresh off winning a seventh term in the House, Capito was deemed too 'establishment' and not
conservative enough by the Washington-based group, which most recently assisted in the takedown of Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar. ... The Senate Conservatives Fund, which was founded by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, also signaled outright opposition. ... Another conservative group, FreedomWorks, cited Capito's mediocre 61 percent rating in its vote rankings in saying an endorsement would not be 'automatic.'"
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ARE EARMARKS REALLY DEAD? - Humberto Sanchez reports for Roll Call: "The biennial fight over earmarks came and went this year with barely a peep. While the issue has not been permanently put to rest, the informal ban on congressionally directed funding appears to have staying power. House and Senate Republicans adopted internal prohibitions on earmarks this month, and while Senate Democrats have yet to make it official, they'll likely follow suit if for no other reason than the GOP's position would make any Democratic-sponsored earmarks dead on arrival in the House."
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GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 27, 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 @MattVas and @amyklobuchar.

TODAY IN CONGRESS - The Senate is in at 10 a.m. and will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. for weekly party caucus lunches. The House returns at 2 p.m. Tuesday with votes expected at 6:30 p.m. Legislation considered under suspension of the rules include several Homeland Security and border enforcement bills and the Clothe a Homeless Hero Act.

AROUND THE HILL - At 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) moderates a Foreign Policy Initiative 2012 Forum on the "pivot" to Asia with Ambassador Nirumpama Rao of India, Ambassador Kim Beazley of Australia, and Ambassador Jose Cuisia of the Philippines at The Newseum. Other speakers throughout the day include Sens. John McCain, Jon Kyl, Kelly Ayotte, Joe Lieberman and Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Sen. Jim Inhofe will receive 15,000 petitions regarding the EPA at 11 a.m. in SVC 215. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a member of the Bowles-Simpson commission and the so-called "Gang of Eight," delivers an address laying out the progressive case for a bipartisan fiscal cliff deal at 11:30 a.m.
at the Center for American Progress, 1333 H St. NW.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democrats hold a photo op with President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico at noon in Statuary Hall. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Chris Coons speak on the bulletproof vest partnership grant program at 2:45 p.m. in S-115. Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hold a photo op with President-elect Pena Nieto at 5 p.m. in S-219.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, other members of Congress, staffers, friends and family members hold a 10th anniversary remembrance event to honor the lives of Paul and Sheila Wellstone, Dirksen 106. RSVP at
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BLOOMBERG ASKS CONGRESS FOR $9.8B FOR SANDY RECOVERY - Reuters reports: "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday he will ask Congress for $9.8 billion to pay for superstorm Sandy costs not covered by insurance or other federal funds. In a letter to New York's congressional delegation, Bloomberg said public, private and indirect losses to the city from the devastating late-October storm totaled an estimated $19 billion. Of that, private insurance is expected to cover $3.8 billion, with Federal Emergency Management Agency reimbursements to cover at least an additional $5.4 billion, Bloomberg said in a statement."
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THE ROGERS REPORT: DUCK STAMPS FOUL UP SPORTSMEN BILL - "A major sportsmen bill to improve wildlife habitat and expand access to federal lands for hunting and fishing stumbled badly in the Senate on Monday night - the victim of an obscure budget dispute over how to count a proposed $10 increase in the price of duck stamps to pay for wetlands conservation. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) let the roll call run for more than an hour but still ended up with just 50 votes - 10 short of the required 60 to waive the budget point of order. Reid was hurt by Democratic absentees, but the outcome was dictated by Republicans and reflected the continued harsh feelings still in the chamber. Alabama
Sen. Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, insisted later that he would be open to compromise.

-- "But with time already short, the partisan-tinged fight was a stunning setback - and perhaps fatal - for the coalition of gun and conservation forces who have backed the legislation. ... No less than the National Rifle Association has been a prime mover behind the bill, and through most of Monday, proponents were already thinking ahead to the next step in the House - not on getting out of the Senate."
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'MR. CAO GOES TO WASHINGTON' - Directed by S. Leo Chiang, the documentary premieres at 9 p.m. ET Jan. 3 on PBS. The film "follows the unexpected journey of Representative Joseph Cao, a Vietnamese American Republican who scored a surprise victory when he was elected to Louisiana's mostly African American Second Congressional District, which had elected Democrats for more than a century. The first Vietnamese American ever elected to the U.S. Congress and the only non-white House Republican of the 111th Congress, Cao quickly made headlines as the only Republican to vote for President Obama's Affordable Health Care Act. But will two years in Washington allow Cao to keep his integrity
and idealism intact?"

DOJ ASKS ETHICS PANEL TO HOLD OFF ON GRIMM PROBE - John Bresnahan reports for POLITICO: "The Justice Department has asked the House Ethics Committee to hold off on its probe of Rep. Michael Grimm while federal investigators conduct a criminal investigation of the New York Republican over alleged campaign-finance violations, the panel said in a statement Monday. DOJ is looking into Grimm's relationship with Ofer Biton, an Israeli citizen with close ties to Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, who has a large following in New York. Grimm - with Biton's help - raised more than $500,000 from Pinto's followers, including alleged improper cash donations or contributions from non-U.S. citizens. Biton
reportedly sought help from Grimm in obtaining a green card. ... The Office of Congressional Ethics referred the Grimm case to the Ethics Committee in June but recommended dismissal, saying it was unsure if any alleged violations occurred after Grimm became a member of Congress in 2010 and thus had no jurisdiction to look into the case. But the Ethics Committee - which has final say in imposing sanctions against lawmakers - asserts that it is not bound by the same restrictions as OCE."
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JACKSON COULD STILL COLLECT PENSION - Katherine Skiba writes for the Chicago Tribune: "Jesse Jackson Jr., who resigned from Congress last week and acknowledged he was the subject of a federal investigation, could be eligible for an annual pension estimated at $45,000, but that benefit would be lost if he was convicted of one of several public corruption felonies. Jackson, 47, a South Side Democrat who served 17 years in Congress, remained out of sight Monday, five days after sending a resignation letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. A federal criminal investigation into Jackson's alleged misuse of campaign money remains active, a source said Monday. ... Federal officials do not
disclose how much a retiree receives as a pension. But at the National Taxpayers Union, Executive Vice President Pete Sepp estimated that Jackson could collect about $45,000 a year when he reaches age 62. If Jackson chose to draw the pension beginning at age 56 - just a little more than eight years from now - the sum would be reduced by 30 percent, leaving about $31,500 a year."
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-- A special primary election to fill Jackson's vacancy will be held on Feb. 26, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced Monday.
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MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Lots of correct answers yesterday but David Heymsfeld once again was first to respond that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the San Francisco board president who became mayor, testified in the 1970s murder trial of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, in which the media coined the term "Twinkie defense."

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Allan Katz has today's question: What state has had two members of Congress resign to become Secretary of Defense ? First to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at
mailto:swong@politico.com
swong@politico.com .

WEATHER - A cold rain will fall across the metro region today with a few flakes possibly mixing in. Highs will be between 38 and 43 degrees, according to ABC7's Brian van de Graaff.

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