Krugman Rips GOP Budget Plan, ‘SNL’ Spoofs Fiscal Cliff Negotiations, and More

Where’s the Beef?

Paul Krugman, who has been very critical of the Republicans’ “fiscal cliff” budget proposal, had some more harsh words for the GOP’s plan on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday morning. Said Krugman: “I think part of the problem is the Republicans are unable to actually make concrete proposals. If you actually look, all that talk we just heard about, you know, deficits and China and Greece, which is all nonsense, but all that talk about how we need to deal with this and ask, what is the Republican Party currently proposing?” He added that, “What they’ve actually put on the table is almost nothing. All of the rest is just big talk. So how is the president supposed to negotiate with people who say, ‘Here’s my demands. By the way, I can’t give you any specifics. Just make me happy?’ ” Krugman also riled the conservative panelists by calling Paul Ryan’s budget plan a “fake document.” (Read more)

She’s a Shoo-In: According to Newt Gingrich, if Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016, we shouldn’t even bother having an election. That’s because, according to Gingrich, the Republicans are “incapable” of beating the popular outgoing secretary of state. The former GOP presidential nominee and moon colony enthusiast told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that, “If their competitor in ’16 is going to be Hillary Clinton, supported by Bill Clinton and presumably, a still relatively popular President Barack Obama, trying to win that will be truly the Super Bowl.” (Read more)

Born to Run: Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker confirmed he is considering running against Chris Christie for governor next year. The mayor, who is currently in the middle of a weeklong challenge to live off the monetary equivalent of food stamps, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday morning that he is also mulling a U.S. Senate bid. Booker said he will make a decision about his political future within the next two weeks. (Read more)

Hear This: The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will take up two landmark cases next year that will have major implications for gay marriage, one involving a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the other regarding California’s Proposition 8. This is the first time the court will hear arguments about same-sex marriage. The justices are expected to take up the cases sometime in the spring, with a decision at the end of the court’s term in June. (Read more)

Knockout Punch: Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney emphasized his big November defeat while meeting with Manny Pacquiao before the fighter’s bout with Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night. “Hello Manny. I ran for president. I lost,” Romney reportedly told Pacquiao. The former GOP nominee sat ringside at the Las Vegas fight with wife Ann. (Read more)

Video of the Day: In its latest episode, “Saturday Night Live” imagined a fiscal cliff deal scenario in which President Obama capitulates to Republicans and decides against a tax increase. In the skit, Obama (played by Jay Pharoah) gives in to Republicans during a news conference because he feels sorry for their bullying of House Speaker John Boehner (played by Bill Hader). And you might too, if he were ever really pushed into the congressional ladies room and stripped naked from the waist down. “He had one hand covering his genitals, the other trying to cover his butt crack. Neither hand succeeding,” the president says in the show’s opening sketch, later adding, “Republicans, you win. You get what you want. But you leave this man alone. You leave this poor, orange man alone.”