Top Links: Republican fiscal cliff meltdown, Karl Rove benched and Ted Nugent on welfare reform

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Top Links: Republican fiscal cliff meltdown, Karl Rove benched and Ted Nugent on welfare reform

While John Boehner fiddles with a debt plan, the Tea Party burns. That and more of the stories we'll be talking about at 4 p.m.

House Speaker John Boehner is having to look over his shoulder to see if anyone is threatening is having to watch who, if anyone, on his far right is behind…ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dec. 5, 2012, 11:02 AM EST

By John Flowers

While John Boehner fiddles with a debt plan, the Tea Party burns. That and more of the stories we’ll be talking about at 4 p.m.

The Tea Party: Dead? Or just resting? (The Fix)

This piece about the civil war at the biggest Tea Party group, FreedomWorks, is rich in whatever the transfat version of schadenfreude is: “The fear is the organization will become a 5 million-member marketing organization that simply sells books and movies and T-shirts and raises money…It’s going to get nasty.” (Politico)

President Obama is now working to schmooze corporate leaders over his fiscal cliff plan. (Morning Money)

And it sounds like he may have some corporate support for his plan to eliminate the debt limit. (Political Wire)

Republicans’ fiscal cliff options are beginning to resemble those of Kevin Costner in “No Way Out.” (The New York Times)

Mitt Romney backer Ted Nugent has a novel approach to help curb spending: “Let’s also stop the insanity by suspending the right to vote of any American who is on welfare.” (Washington Times)

How cowardly were Republican senators in their vote to quash a treaty that helped disabled people? “Many members did not register their ‘nay’ votes verbally, instead whispering their opposition directly to the clerk or gesturing their hands from their chairs.” (Roll Call)

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Georgia, believes evolution and the big bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of Hell.” That’s why he’s planning to stay on the House Science Committee. (U.S. News & World Report)

Sounds like Paul Ryan took a 47% shot at Mitt Romney at last night’s Jack Kemp Foundation dinner. (Neil King)

And so did Marco Rubio: “Some say that…too many people want things from government. But I am still convinced that the overwhelming majority of our people just want what my parents had: a chance.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Of course, if Rubio is running in 2016, he’s going to have to have a better answer than this on the subject of homosexuality. (Lois Romano)

Karl Rove reportedly has been benched for his Election Night meltdown. Ditto, Dick Morris. (Daily Intel)

What makes casino magnate Sheldon Adelson such a Republican favorite? Is it, as he says, his “pocket personality.” Or, perhaps, it’s his willingness to double down on the reported $150 million he blew in the 2012 election. (The Wall Street Journal)

Poll: Americans want their weed and are warming up to the idea of gay marriage. (Quinnipiac)

Ambassador Anna Wintour? (Bloomberg)

Hillary Clinton’s missives the latest to fuel the Hillary-in-2016 rumors. (Politicker)

The U.N.’s secretary general disapproves of any asylum deal for Bashar al-Assad. (The Guardian)

Tens of thousands are protesting Egypt’s new draft constitution. (The New York Times)

And .. half of all Republicans think ACORN stole the election for Obama. Amazing. ACORN doesn’t even exist any more. God, they’re crafty. (Public Policy Polling)

John Flowers