“BEHIND THE CURTAIN” column – “Crafting a boom economy,” by Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen: “Most politicians in the most powerful positions in Washington agree in private that there are a half-dozen or so big things they could and should do that could put a rocket booster on the U.S. economy — but they are too timid to say it in public. … The current tax-and-spending debate only flirts with what these insiders say needs to be done. Instead, top White House and congressional leaders talk privately of the need for tax reform that goes way beyond individuals and rates; much deeper Social Security and Medicare changes than currently envisioned; quick movement on trade agreements, including a proposed one with Europe; an energy policy that exploits the oil and gas boom; and allowing foreign-born students with science expertise to stay here and start businesses. … Next year represents the best opportunity in decades to do something about some or all of them, according to those in the trenches. It starts with taxes.” Column, with cameos by Sen. Portman, Sen. Warner, Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon, Brian Moynihan, Lloyd Blankfein, Erskine Bowles and more. With video. http://politi.co/QTvUMa

SPOTTED: Aaron Pickrell, Obama for America senior adviser for Ohio, at Boundary Road bistro with John Davis, chief of staff to Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa).

FIRST LOOK – TRUTH BOMB from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, the keynoter this afternoon at the Brookings Institution’s “Improving Educational Choice and Competition”: “As I was thinking about what to say here today, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should say some things that are not allowed to be said in public, maybe I should say some things that folks think about but are afraid to say in polite company. … The United States of America does not provide equal opportunity in education. Yes. We are the land of the free and the home of the brave. You can all take solace in that. But do not lay your head on the pillow at night believing that America provides equal opportunity in education.  We do not. …

“[I]t is completely dishonest to pretend today that America provides equal opportunity in education. We do not. And if you say that we do, you are lying. … If you are a low-income parent residing in an urban area in America, it is more likely than not your child attends a failing school.  And, unless you are fortunate enough to live in New Orleans, or Milwaukee, or Cleveland, you have no options, no recourse.  You do not have the resources to enroll your child in a non-public school that is performing well, and you do not have the resources to move your family to an area with higher performing public schools. This is fact.”

OUT TODAY – Great gift for any operative, principal or wannabe -- “Masters of Disaster: The Ten Commandments of Damage Control,” by Christopher Lehane, Mark Fabiani and Bill Guttentag: “THE SURVIVAL PRINCIPLES:

“DO NO HARM – It’s Not the Crime, It’s the Cover-Up: Don’t Chase the Story, Get Ahead of the Story … Avoid Over-Spin, Focus on Counter-Spin … Don’t Lay the Blame on Others, Accept Responsibility.

“DISCIPLINE – It’s Not Personal, It’s Strictly Business: Commit to Preparation … Exercise Mental Toughness in the Fog of a Crisis … Think Long Term.

“CREDIBILITY – I Want the Truth! Accurate Information Is the Coin of the Real … Manage Expectations … Control the Flow of Information. …

“THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF DAMAGE CONTROL: I. Full disclosure … II. Speak to your core audience … III. Don’t feed the fire. … IV. Details matter … V. Hold your head high … VI. Be straight about what you know, what you don’t know, and what you are going to do to fix the problem … VII. Respond with overwhelming force …. VIII. First in, first out … IX. No swiftboating … X. They dissemble, you destroy.” $16.90 on Amazon http://amzn.to/SNRIHz

TO TELL THE KIDS: Tomorrow is 12-12-12. It’ll be 98 years – 10-10-10 – before the date is three identical numbers again.

JODI SETH, communications director for Sen. John Kerry, joins Facebook in D.C. as Manager, Public Policy and Communications. Jodi accepted the job at the beginning of November (before the election), and heads to the mother ship for orientation on Monday.

--ANDREW NOYES, her predecessor,  moves to Facebook HQ to join  Sarah Feinberg and the communications team.

--SEN. KERRY: “Jodi's the complete package: She knows communications strategy, as well as policy, and she has practical Capitol Hill experience that spans both the House and Senate. She has tested management skills and good old-fashioned loyalty and common sense.”

THE JUICE – WashPost Style front, “The quiet dealmaker: Rob Nabors’s authenticity, connections and discretion make him a vital player in the ‘fiscal cliff’ talks between the White House and Congress,” by Suzy Khimm: “Nabors … is Obama’s chief congressional liaison, who’s in the closed-door negotiations … ‘He’s our Congress whisperer,’ says David Plouffe, a senior Obama adviser, of the famously soft-spoken Nabors. ‘Rob’s got a great instinct for where the deal lies, what Democrats are willing to do, what Republicans are willing to do. He’ll say, “Here’s what’s going on, here are what the odds are of success.” He doesn’t ever paint a rosier picture than exists.’ The wonkish 41-year-old Nabors is also wading into the weeds of any potential fiscal cliff deal. ‘It’s clear when you talk to Rob that he’s not someone just reporting the news at 1600 [Pennsylvania Avenue]; he’s helping to make the news at 1600,’ says Mike Sommers, Boehner’s chief of staff.

“‘He is very methodical and takes you through things point by point,’ says David Krone, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid’s chief of staff. ‘And if it is a point that is a priority [for the president], he makes that clear.’ …On those rare occasions when Nabors loses his cool (‘with a unique level of intensity,’ says Sean Kennedy, a former staffer in the Obama White House) it usually involves an inopportune public disclosure. … Usually, though, it’s Nabors who tries to bring down the temperature in the West Wing. ‘He sees his role as bringing us back to reality. “Okay, this is all interesting, but . . . ”’ says Gene Sperling, the president’s economic adviser. ‘He brings us down to earth.’” http://wapo.st/Vxc727

RON BONJEAN, with the mime at his Christmas party, hired to follow Brian Walsh and Kyle Downey all night and creep them out. Photo by Brian J. Walsh http://bit.ly/12iKb7D

ANOTHER ISSUE, BESIDES IMMIGRATION, WHERE GOP IS SCRAMBLING THE RECALIBRATE AFTER THE THUMPING – “GOP mute as Supreme Court tackles gay marriage,” by Josh Gerstein: “The timing is most uncomfortable for House Republicans, who are playing a key role in one of the cases the court agreed to hear. In June, the House of Representatives told the Supreme Court that the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act ‘is an issue of great national importance’ that urgently requires the justices’ attention. The 1996 law denies federal benefits to same-sex married couples. But when the court agreed on Friday to hear one of the DOMA cases early next year, the Republican leadership had nothing to say about it. … The platform the Republican Party adopted at its convention in Tampa this year not only backs DOMA and salutes the House for its defense of the law but also calls for a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage across the nation.” http://politi.co/TRm91H

TRANSITIONS – “Tim Adams appointed to succeed Charles Dallara as [Institute of International Finance: The Global Association of Financial Institutions] Managing Director” – Release: “Tim Adams, Managing Director of The Lindsey Group, the Washington D.C.-based economic advisory firm, has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Institute to succeed Charles Dallara as IIF Managing Director. He will join the Institute on January 1, 2013 as Managing Director-Designate, and take up his new position on February 1. … As Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs, Mr. Adams was the [George W. Bush] Administration’s point person on international financial issues, including exchange rate policy, G-7 meetings … Adams served as Chief of Staff to both Treasury Secretary Mr. Paul O’Neill and Treasury Secretary Mr. John Snow. Mr. Adams also served in the White House under the first President Bush, at the Office of Policy Development.” http://bit.ly/Uw7ILH

KARL ROVE has postponed his Playbook Breakfast appearance until January, so he can help with a family matter in Texas.

** A message from the American Hospital Association: Will Congress Jeopardize Patients' Access to Care? As it works to reduce the deficit, Congress should not cut funding to hospitals and hurt patient care. Oppose Hospital Cuts. Protect Patient Care. Visit www.aha.org/preparedtocare to learn more. **

FIRST LOOK – “2,500 Small Business Leaders Join the Campaign to Fix the Debt: Leaders from Across the Nation Call on Washington’s Policymakers to Enact a Comprehensive Debt Deal” – Release: “The 2,500 small business owners, founders and leaders are now a part of a bipartisan coalition of more than 315,000 individuals active in 17 states across the country.  Members come from a diverse range of social, political and economic backgrounds.  The Campaign believes that a viable deal should be based off a framework that leaves all debt-reduction options on the table and raises revenues, cuts wasteful spending, and ensures the long-term sustainability of important social programs.” Full list www.fixthedebt.org

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE – L.A. Times A1, “New UC logo a no-go for many: University officials are caught off guard as protesters take to social media to mock the new symbol,” by Larry Gordon and Matt Stevens: “Critics of the new University of California logo … say it looks like the loading symbol for a computer operating system … UC officials … emphasize that the traditional seal, with its ‘Let There Be Light’ motto, a drawing of an open book, … is not being abandoned and still will be used on such things as diplomas and official letterhead. But they say that the 1910 seal is so ornate that it does not reproduce well for many Internet uses and that it is often confused with variations created by the 10 individual UC campuses. UC websites are now adorned with the new logo. It was introduced with little fanfare about six months ago.” See the classy old one and the absurd new one. http://lat.ms/VPjg3N

THE SUPREMES -- “Scalia quizzed at Princeton on gay issue,” by AP’s Geoff Mulvihill: “Justice Antonin Scalia … was asked by a gay student why he equates laws banning sodomy with those barring bestiality and murder. … ‘It's a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the “reduction to the absurd,”’ Scalia told [freshman Duncan] Hosie of San Francisco during the question-and-answer period. ‘If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder? Can we have it against other things?’ … Then he deadpanned: ‘I'm surprised you aren't persuaded.’  … Scalia … [took] aim … at those who view the Constitution as a ‘living document’ that changes with the times. ‘It isn't a living document … It's dead, dead, dead, dead. … My Constitution is a very flexible one … There's nothing in there about abortion. ... The same with the death penalty." http://yhoo.it/12iFdIa

--HuffPost banner, “SCALIA GOES OFF: 'IF WE CAN'T HAVE MORAL FEELINGS AGAINST HOMOSEXUALITY, CAN WE AGAINST MURDER?'”

PRESSWATCH – “Royal prank station to give $500,000 to dead nurse's family” – AFP/Sydney: “An Australian radio station Tuesday pledged at least Aus$500,000 (US$523,600) to help the grieving family of a nurse duped by a royal prank phone call … Nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who fielded the hoax call from Sydney station 2Day FM to London's King Edward VII Hospital, was found Friday after apparently committing suicide. The Indian-born mother-of-two put the call through to a colleague, who divulged details of the recovery of Prince William's pregnant wife Kate from severe morning sickness. The station initially suspended all advertising after the death but said it would resume Thursday.”

--“Station's royal hoax call may be illegal,” by AP’s Kristen Gelineau in Sydney: “[W]hen it comes to a potential criminal case, the question is not about the death; it's whether a private conversation was broadcast without the permission of the participants. … The New South Wales state Surveillance Devices Act prohibits the broadcast of recorded private conversations without participants' permission … The radio station trumpeted the prank call until Friday.”

SPORTS BLINK – NFL flex scheduling – NFL release: “The Week 16 San Francisco 49ers-Seattle Seahawks game on Sunday, December 23 will be played at 8:20 PM ET on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the NFL announced … The San Diego Chargers-New York Jets game, originally scheduled for Sunday night, will move to 1:00 PM ET on CBS and the New York Giants-Baltimore Ravens game will move to 4:25 PM ET on FOX.”

ENGAGED: Linden Zakula proposed to Ali Fetissoff by their Christmas tree over the weekend, and she said yes. Linden was Sen. Klobuchar's comms director and Ali is Sen. Franken's press secretary.

BIRTHDAYS: J. Michael Allen (Crimson Tide helmet tip: JMA IV, a.k.a. Baby Joe)… Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus  is 71 … Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry is 69 … Emily Buchanan’s birthday, Executive Vice President, Susan B. Anthony List (hat tip: Billy Valentine) … WJLA's Devon Lucie ... John Patrick Feehery (hat tips: Patrick Gavin) ... Phillip Escoriaza, a political analyst for Univision Puerto Rico and expert on Puerto Rican statehood, is 45 (h/t daughter Zoe Guzman, currently a senior at Syracuse University, studying hard for finals week) … Ashley Spillane, executive director of The Atlas Project and Democratic GAIN (h/t Lucy Hall) … Tom Hayden is 73 (h/t AP)

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the SBA List … (was Sunday): Ryan Whalen, Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson

BIRTHDAY TOMORROW: Lanny J. Davis: “My children -- Marlo, 44, Seth, 43, Josh, 14, and Jeremy, 7 and six grand-children (nephews and nieces to Josh and Jeremy) (3 from Marlo, 3 from Seth) -- are all doing skype to ask me whether I believe Bill Clinton, who would say I am only turning 47, not 67, since Baby Boomers are 20 years younger due to our being special and advances in medical science.” … Dwight Fettig, staff director of the Senate Banking Committee (h/t Paul Equale) … THURSDAY: actual date of Mo Elleithee’s 40^th … DEC. 19: retired Marine Gen. Jim Jones, Obama’s first national security adviser, is 69.

** A message from the American Hospital Association: Will Congress Jeopardize Patients' Access to Care? America's hospitals are always open, serving our communities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Even as hospitals face new challenges to provide high-quality care to everyone who needs it, Congress is debating additional cuts to hospital funding which would cost jobs and hurt access to care. Because hospitals care for everyone who comes to the ER, we provide billions in uncompensated care, including $39.3 billion in 2010. During the last decade, uncompensated care rose 82%. Now Congress could further cut hospital funding to reduce the deficit. These cuts will have serious implications for our patients, and could jeopardize access to quality health care. Oppose Hospital Cuts. Protect Patient Care.

Visit www.aha.org/preparedtocare to learn more. **