- “Bald and bombastic, paunchy and pretentious” former New York City Mayor Ed Koch dies at the age of 88. “I’m not the type to get ulcers,” he wrote in Mayor, his autobiography. “I give them.”
- Mother Jones on the inside, controversial world of online gun sales.
- Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) announced that he will vote against confirming Hagel, citing issues with the former senator on Cuba, Iran, Israel, North Korea, and defense budgets.
- Republicans Senators move to withhold funding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and National Labor Relations Board.
- Retirement woes: Nearly two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 45 and 60 say they plan to delay retirement, according to the WSJ
- In “30 Rock” Minority House leader Nancy Pelosi calls Jack Donaghy, played by actor Alec Baldwin, “an economic war criminal.”
- As Hillary Clinton leaves her post as Secretary of State, she says on Syria’s civil war, “I’ve done what’s possible to do.” Obama strategist David Axelrod on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential prospects.
- Economist Paul Krugman’s NYT column on putting the “deficit obsession aside” to focus on unemployment; David Brooks calls immigration, “The Easy Problem.”
- Geraldo Rivera considers running for NJ Senate. As Jon Stewart once said of the mustached Fox contributor, “Dude’s got major sack.”
Morning Must Reads
In the news: Hillary Clinton, online gun sales, Marco Rubio, immigration, Geraldo Rivera, and former NYC Mayor Ed Koch