Monday, December 16, 2013   Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. GOP Civil War   John Boehner Crushes The Tea Party In The Budget Deal -- But Can He Do It Again? Tea Party candidates launch battle against Republican party leaders Business to Boehner on his Tea Party attacks: Hit 'em hard Boehner's blasts at the Tea Party: One more volley in the long GOP civil war Rep. Paul Ryan Prefers Conservative Debate Remain Within 'Family' Jason Sattler: The Republican 'Civil War' Isn't About Policy - It's About Campaign Cash  Budget Battle   Sen. Dick Durbin: GOP presidential ambitions and Tea Party challengers imperil budget deal On budget deal, all eyes turn to Senate Republicans Rep. Paul Ryan: Budget Deal Will Allow House To Focus More On Obamacare Repeal Steve Benen: Rep. Paul Ryan readies debt-ceiling threat for 2014 Paul Ryan Indicates GOP Willing To Hold Debt Limit Hostage Again in 2014 Ed Kilgore: Reminder - Dems will see Ryan in Hell before they negotiate on the debt limit After Senate budget vote, few hopes for a productive 2014 What the budget deal really means for most working Americans Newtown Remembered Obamas observe moment of silence on Newtown anniversary Pres. Obama marks Newtown anniversary with call for action on gun control Nation reflects on legacy of Newtown, the 2nd-deadliest mass shooting The one thing the federal government did on gun control since Newtown David Frum: The lesson we didn't learn from Newtown Guns & America Arapahoe HS shooting: Gunman intended to harm many at school Colorado's latest school shooting was over in just 80 seconds Colorado school shooting victim remains in critical condition The School Shootings You Didn't Hear About: One Every Two Weeks Since Newtown What's next for the gun control movement? A Brady Campaigner lays it out Year In Review 5 Reasons Why 2013 Was The Best Year In Human History Rasmussen Poll: 23% Name Pope Francis Most Influential Person of 2013, 21% Say Obama Energy, Climate & Environment Snow Falls In Cairo For The First Time In More Than 100 Years Canadian greenhouse gases key in Obama's choice on Keystone XL Energy Next: Researchers split water into hydrogen, oxygen using light, nanoparticles Nations In Turmoil Syrian helicopter bomb raids kill 36 in Aleppo Syrian govt. continuing to use red tape, threats to control U.N. aid agencies Refuge: 18 Stories From The Syrian Exodus Heavy gunfire rocks capital city of South Sudan International News South Africa buries 'greatest son' Mandela Progressive Candidate Bachelet Wins Re-election To Chilean Presidency in Landslide Neo-Nazis attack anti-racism demonstrators in Sweden Amnesty International report: North Korea expands prison camp where inmates dig own graves Pope Frank Pope Alarms Traditionalists with Crackdown on Religious Order Pope Francis To Critics: I'm No Marxist, But They're Good People Midwest Roundup Nebraska Tax Modernization Committee makes no tax proposal for 2014 Legislatue Iowa voter fraud probe nets few cases, no trials since July 2012 Economists downplay impact of EPA's proposed reduction in ethanol production Paint By Dumbers Weekends near the end of the year are rarely slow and boring for most people in the world, and this past weekend was seemingly no different than most. Some Americans - including President Obama and his family - held a moment of silence for those who died in Newtown, Connecticut, even as some sympathetic thoughts went to the victims of the latest school shooting in Colorado. South Africans buried the man they think of as the modern father of their nation, Nelson Mandela. Meanwhile, violence continued to rage in Syria, while the Great Pyramids of Egypt fell under a blanket of snow for the first time in 112 years. A strong progressive woman also won re-election for President in a landslide in Chile, much like New York City's progressive mayor-elect Bill De Blasio won his election in the U.S. earlier this year. In other words, the worldwide situation over the weekend was relatively normal, and mostly boring, though still kinda screwed up. Nowhere is this twisted but normal state more obvious than in Washington, DC. That's where the Senate took an unexpected break this weekend, before wrapping up its work for the year. Unless the Republican extremists in the Senate dump their party - and the rest of the world - into a fiscal hole by voting down the crappy two-year Ryan/Murray budget that the House finally passed at the end of last week, things in Washington, DC should get fairly quiet by about Wednesday of this week. Of course, the fact that the Tea Partiers could paint themselves, and the entire world, into a disastrous financial corner is still a very real possibility. That's according to Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, who did the Senate math in front of the whole world on CBS' 'Face The Nation' on Sunday morning. Sadly, he's right... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for December 16, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy U.S. Industrial output posts largest gain in a year Steve Benen: Further proof of Republican's indifference to job creation Wall Street Watch Corporations turning again to stock buybacks to reward shareholders Revealed: BofA Office of CEO Stymied Needy Homeowners Purposely Economic Inequality Paul Krugman: Why Solving Inequality Matters Workers Strike Back Wage theft settlement against Wal-Mart yields millions for workers Health Care Checkup Confident Most Major Errors Are Fixed, Health Insurers Crank Up Ad Spending in a Late Rush Greg Sargent: Ins. industry bets on Obamacare. GOP bets on failure. Ezra Klein: Insurers will now spend more than $500 million to get people to sign up for Obamacare Sam Baker: The Right Wing Response - Take Two Aspirin and Blame Everything on Obamacare The Spying Game NSA finally speaks out on Snowden, spying U.S. Security Officials Say They May Never Know Full Extent of Snowden's Leaks NSA officials consider Edward Snowden amnesty in return for documents Obama to Keep Security Agency and Cyberwarfare Under a Single Commander Ethics & The Media Anonymous sources are increasing in news stories, along with rather curious explanations | Fox's Megyn Kelly Addresses White Santa Remarks, Slams Critics' 'Knee-Jerk Instinct' to 'Race-Bait' Here It Is! Your HuskerNutz Preview for December 16, 2013 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update White House delayed enacting some rules ahead of 2012 election, to avoid controversy White House: No amnesty for Snowden News From Capitol Hill Senate Gets a Weekend Break From Recent All-Night Sessions James Oliphant: Republicans Set Themselves Up for the Judicial Failure They're Living Through Now On The Left Greg Mitchell: The Sad Decline of '60 Minutes' Continues With This Week's NSA Whitewash Dean Baker: Time to bury the Clinton economic legacy On The Right Rep. Paul Ryan: Watch for GOP tax reform in 2014 Still wrong: 2014 GOP candidates continue to push 'Nix, not fix' slogan on health law States Of Confusion Florida Supreme Court rules lawmakers must testify in redistricting case North Carolina Legislator: Obamacare Worse Than Terrorists, Stalin, Hitler Combined | Bizarre Racial Profiling Lawsuit Will Do Nothing To Restore Mississippi's Reputation Utah Governor says state will review polygamy ruling We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.