memeorandum: Qualms in both parties over massive tax and spending package (Anna Palmer/Politico)

4:20 PM ET, December 16, 2015

Top Items:

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

GOP chair probes if Cruz unveiled classified info during debate — A key Senate Republican is looking into whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) discussed classified information during Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate. — “I'm having my staff look at the transcripts of the debate right now …

Discussion: RedState, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Business Insider, The World's Greatest …, Bloomberg.com news, The Right Scoop and The Week

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:

Ted Cruz Has a Problem — Up until last night, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%'s refusal to attack Donald Trump was defensible. Without question, it was smart politics, as his rise in the polls would attest. But it was also defensible on the merits as a guy who is a solid conservative in good standing …

Discussion: Business Insider, USA Today, Western Journalism, WBTW-TV, American Power, The Daily Caller, SGBerman, NBC News, Roll Call, Moe Lane, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Yahoo Politics and Talking Points Memo

Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:

Joe Scarborough Notices Something During Debate That Has Him Convinced Trump, Cruz Made ‘Inside Deal’ Against GOP Establishment — MSNBC's Joe Scarborough speculated on Wednesday that GOP frontrunners Donald Trump and Ted Cruz may have made an “inside deal” against the Republican establishment.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Cruz Blusters and Trump Sulks at Tense Republican Debate — Someone needs to explain carpets to Ted Cruz. — They're continuous stretches of material, usually rectangular, sometimes round. They're not staggered, interrupted, with stops, starts, holes and sharp jags so that they smother …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Atlantic, PoliticusUSA, The Huffington Post, Prairie Weather, The Mahablog, Los Angeles Times, Salon, The Moderate Voice and Hot Air

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

The GOP's worst nightmare: A runaway convention — With the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas dramatizing again the divisions plaguing the GOP, the unfolding battle for the presidential nomination suggests the growing odds of a runaway convention that could choose an unelectable nominee …

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:

CNN Republican debate: Winners and losers — Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidates sought to cement — or improve — their standings in a debate Tuesday night that comes less than two months before the first votes of the election season are cast.

Discussion: AOL, ImmigrationProf Blog and Towleroad

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:

Bush v. Trump: Behind the Vegas rumble — LAS VEGAS — Jeb Bush came at Donald Trump with everything he had, turning in his strongest debate performance to date just as much of the party was threatening to tune out his flagging candidacy entirely. — He dismissed Trump as a “chaos candidate” …

Discussion: Hot Air, ABC News, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Bloomberg.com news, Yahoo Politics, Bloomberg Business and The Hill

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:
7 Ways the GOP Debate Did (and Didn't) Change the Presidential Race

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg Business and Yahoo Politics

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Chris Christie just made the GOP race a lot more interesting

Discussion: Politico and Betsy's Page

Will Rahn / The Daily Beast:
Was Marco Rubio Overrated All Along?

Discussion: Washington Post, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, National Review, New York Times, Fox News Insider, JustOneMinute, Trail Blazers Blog, Eschaton and Bloomberg Business

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Jeb: ‘This is a wide open race’

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Bloomberg View, Hot Air and No More Mister Nice Blog

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:
Winners and Losers in Tonight's CNN/Salem Debate

Discussion: Independent Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Daily Mail, Political Wire, Hit & Run and Slate

Philip Haney / The Hill:

Administration nixed probe into Southern California jihadists — There are terrorists in our midst and they arrived here using legal means right under the noses of the federal law enforcement agencies whose mission is to stop them. That is not due to malfeasance or lack of effort on the part …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Washington Free Beacon, Israel Matzav and Jihad Watch

Washington Post:
FBI: San Bernardino attackers didn't show public support for jihad on social media

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, Hullabaloo, The Verge and Independent Journal

Washington Post:

Congress reaches year-end deal on taxes and spending — Congressional leaders on Tuesday night reached agreement on a year-end spending and tax deal that would prevent a government shutdown and extend a series of tax breaks that benefit businesses and individuals, according to lawmakers.

Discussion: Vox, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Gothamist

Anna Palmer / Politico:
Qualms in both parties over massive tax and spending package

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and Forbes

Bloomberg Business:
Congress Reaches Fiscal Agreement Ending U.S. Oil Export Ban

Discussion: Al Jazeera America, Forbes, ThinkProgress, Common Dreams, EcoWatch, The Hill and Hullabaloo

Erin Kelly / USA Today:
Congress reaches deal on 2016 spending bill to fund federal government

Discussion: The Week, Shakesville, New York Times and Political Wire

ABC News:

Most Now Oppose an Assault Weapons Ban; Doubts About Stopping a Lone Wolf Run High (POLL)

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, National Review, Independent Journal, Bearing Arms, Washington Free Beacon, Vox, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Week and Washington Times

Isite Design / Wheaton College Home:

Wheaton College Statement Regarding Dr. Larycia Hawkins — In response to significant questions regarding the theological implications of statements that Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Larycia Hawkins has made about the relationship of Christianity to Islam …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Washington Post, U.S. Uncut, Raw Story, NBC News and USA TODAY College

Jamie Sotonoff / Daily Herald:
Wheaton College puts hijab-wearing professor on leave

Discussion: WGN-TV, myfox8.com and BizPac Review

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in October suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Household spending and business fixed investment have been increasing at solid rates in recent months …

Discussion: Tim Duy's Fed Watch, New York Times, Bloomberg View, Slantpoint, NPR, Bloomberg Business and The Week

Washington Post:

5th Republican debate transcript, annotated: Who said what and what it meant — Nine Republican candidates are participating in tonight's 2016 presidential debate in Las Vegas: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former tech executive Carly Fiorina …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, PoliticusUSA, The Week, Daily Kos, Althouse, Mother Jones, PoliPundit.com and ACASignups.net

Anthony Gockowski / Campus Reform:

Harvard placemat serves up social justice for Christmas — The placemat was created by the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in collaboration with the Freshmen Dean's Office and were distributed in an undergraduate dining hall. — The Office for Equity, Diversity …

Discussion: Harvard News, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Rand Paul Didn't Win, But He Raised the Most Important Questions of the Debate — Namely, if we're willing to start World War III to look “strong.” — “It's time we punch Russia in the nose.” — That was noted Republican moderate John Kasich. — Almost entirely by accident …

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog and Politico

Michael Allen / Opposing Views:
Chris Christie Says He'd Shoot Down Russian Plane In No-Fly Zone, Risk War (Video)

Discussion: Mediaite

James Morgan / BBC:

Republican debate: Tweeters mock Trump's internet call — As the candidates in Tuesday's Republican debate grappled over how to tackle the growing threat of the Islamic State group (also known as Isis), Donald Trump calmly reassured them “the answer is simple”.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and whorunsGov

Washington Post:

Secret Service officer on leave in domestic incident fatally shot in D.C. — A member of the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service who had been suspended in a domestic incident in April was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in Southwest Washington, a spokeswoman for the federal law enforcement agency confirmed.

Discussion: DCist

WTTG-TV:
Off-duty Secret Service officer killed in DC shooting

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Gateway Pundit

Todd Starnes / Fox News:

Students practice calligraphy by writing “There is no god but Allah” — The Riverheads High School calligraphy assignment (Courtesy The Schilling Show) — A Virginia school district is defending a classroom assignment that required students to practice calligraphy by writing the Muslim statement of faith, “There is no god but Allah.

Discussion: Pamela Geller and Jihad Watch