Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “George W. Bush to Republicans: Embrace Immigration,” at The Daily Beast.
The former president devoted his second major policy speech since leaving office to immigration reform. It was a rebuke to Romney, says John Avlon.

2. “Sheldon Adelson: ‘I’m Basically a Social Liberal,’” at The Wall Street Journal.
So said the casino magnate in a three-hour interview.

3. “Dave Brubeck Was Jazz’s Greatest Centrist,” at The Daily Beast.
Take five – hits from the Brubeck catalog, that is. By Matt DeLuca.

Forget politics – jazz demands civility. Like the democratic arena, the world of woodwinds and high-hat cymbals insists on both innovation and the ability to negotiate with others under shifting circumstances. Passing a bill is nowhere near as hard as, say, keeping up with Charlie Parker’s flights of be-bop fancy, or finding one with Miles Davis as he slipped through modes.

Few jazzmen knew how to meld the genre's manic moods as well as ivory-tickler Dave Brubeck, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 91. Best known for the one song in 5/4 time almost everyone recognizes – “Take Five” – Brubeck charted a path through the thickets of polyrhythm and atonality that sometimes threaten to overwhelm mainstream jazz completely. Bringing together the best of the extremes, he ensured that jazz remained both approachable and challenging. From his early work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, which he formed in 1951, to his work for “This is America, Charlie Brown,” Brubeck is among the musicians who gave vitality to America’s greatest original musical form.

Here are five recordings that show Brubeck at his best:

Why aren’t politicians from both parties getting together behind the scenes? As the country races toward the fiscal cliff, it’s time for President Obama and Speaker Boehner to get together and strike a bargain.  “The parties need a new wake up call,” I said in an appearance on CNN Tuesday. “This is the most anticipatable problem ever. We knew the Bush tax cuts were expiring, we knew the sequestration cuts were coming in. Those cuts that everyone is so upset about, that itself was a measure of the failure of the super committee.” Now it’s time for the adults in the room to act.

 Watch the full video at CNN.

This qualifies as an instant classic. The impressive new millennial group, The Can Kicks Back, struck viral gold today by convincing Alan Simpson to do a PSA on debt reduction that involves going "Gangnam Style" next to a giant mascot-sized can.  The video starts with the unvarnished former Senator unleashing a great diatribe against self-obsessed social media types and urges them to use their pre-occupation as a force for good - recruiting three friends a week until President Obama's inauguration to urge congress to take action on the $16 trillion debt.   A cause worth promoting by any means necessary.

President George W. Bush’s first postelection speech was a call for immigration reform—and an implicit rebuke of the failed GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

On Tuesday morning, the Bush Center held a conference on immigration and economic growth at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. It was only the second major policy speech the former president has delivered since leaving office, and Bush let himself wax poetic on the subject of immigration: “Not only do immigrants help build our economy, they invigorate our soul.”

The fact that Romney received just 27 percent of Hispanic vote, eight years after Bush got 44 percent, was not far from attendees’ minds, even though Romney’s name went unmentioned. Instead, the conference was an extended argument for the economic benefits of immigration, offering a new policy booklet to that effect (PDF). It was also by implication a meditation on the comprehensive immigration reform Bush backed in his second term, only to see it cannibalized by talk-radio conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and those politicians who choose to pander to them, including Romney.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “The Truly Grand Bargain,” at The New York Times.
A short-term deal won’t do it, writes David Brooks. Will Republicans pull through?

2. “Obama Rejects GOP ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Offer, Says Tax Rates Must Rise,” in the Los Angeles Times.
No deal without tax increases for the wealthiest two percent of Americans, President Obama said Tuesday.

 3. “Same Players, Same Disputes in Fiscal Cliff Debate,” at CNN.
A mere month until automatic spending cuts and tax hikes kick in, and the main players can’t agree on whether America’s wealthiest should pay more.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s five essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “Obama’s Ominous Surprises,” in Newsweek.
David Frum on how Obama will handle the crises around the corner.

2. “Post-Campaign Super-PAC Cash Still Flowing to Consultants,” at Bloomberg.
Months after the election, super-PAC founders give themselves a big payback.

3. “On the Fiscal Cliff, Republicans Got Nothin’,” at The Daily Beast.
Daniel Gross on the GOP’s astounding lack of a counteroffer to the Dems.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “Will the Second-Term Quicksand Swallow Barack Obama?” at The Daily Beast.
Presidencies are not fine wines, and rarely improve with age, writes John Avlon.

2. “Team of Rivals,” at The Daily Beast.
With staggering amounts of recovery aid on the line, will the Christie-Cuomo bromance hold? David Freedlander reports.

3. “A Morning-After Constitutional,” at The Economist.
Will congressmen and women who fought off dark money move to regulate it?

Second terms come with instant historic legitimacy—and seemingly inevitable scandal.

Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Full Monica all started snowballing a year after strong second-term presidential wins. The defining domestic disaster of President Bush’s second term, the response to Hurricane Katrina, also fits the overall pattern of a tough repeat act—with the president rarely leaving office as a conquering hero.

So if history is any guide, President Obama should spend his political capital wisely, and now.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “Inside the Talks: Fiscal Framework Emerges,” at Politico.
Off-camera, a deal on tax hikes and spending cuts may be slowly coming together.

2. “Can This Party Be Saved?” at Time.
The Republican failure is one of policy.

3. “Welcome to the Conspiracy Carnival,” at The New York Times.
Fact-anemic conspiracies make up the biggest tents in American politics these days.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “Tom Ricks to MSNBC: You’re Just Like Fox, Only Not As Good At It,” at The Washington Post.
The veteran reporter speaks truth to left- and right-wing media alike.

2. “Tom Cole: Join With President Obama on Quick Deal,” at Politico.
The Republican rep wants lawmakers to extend the Bush tax cuts, and haggle over the rest later.

3. “The Coming Filibuster War,” at The Daily Beast.
Nothing is more needed than filibuster reform, writes Michael Tomasky.

1. “Democrats Must Step Up on Entitlement Reform for Fiscal Cliff Deal,” at The Daily Beast.
Democrats must do their part and give on entitlement reform to reach a bipartisan deal and avoid the fiscal cliff, writes John Avlon.

2. “Harry Reid: Tie Debt Ceiling to Fiscal Cliff Deal,” at Politico.
We’re going right over the edge if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the top Democrat said on Tuesday.

3. “Mitch McConnell’s Five Biggest Whoppers On the Filibuster,” at The Washington Post.
The Senate minority leader was raving mad, and spouting nonsense.

4.”Former Florida GOP Leaders Say Voter Suppression Was Reason They Pushed New Election Law,” at The Palm Beach Post.
Republican insiders admit that a Florida voter law was designed to keep Democrats away from the polls.

The good news is that Republicans are starting to recognize the need to break with Grover Norquist and his anti-tax pledge. But that’s only part of the way toward a genuinely balanced bipartisan deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Listen carefully to what one of the principled defectors, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday on ABC’s This Week: “I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform.”

Got that? Democrats are going to have to step up with serious entitlement reforms to get a balanced plan done.

Independent Nation gives you the day’s 5 essential reads for independents and centrists:

1. “Republicans Wisely Break With Grover Norquist,” at CNN.
Lawmakers are finally breaking ranks with the tax hawk and his procrustean pledge, and it’s about time, John Avlon says.

2. “Revitalize the Rockaways!” at The Daily Beast.
With the right leadership, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo can transform tragedy into triumph after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Rockaways, writes John Avlon.

3. “Election Depletes Centrist Ranks in Both Parties,” in The Washington Times.
There will be plenty of fresh faces and more women in the new Congress, but centrists are a vanishing species.

4. “The GOP’s Wilderness Years,” at The Daily Beast.
Sensible Republicans seeking to renew the viability of the conservative party are being denounced as ‘heretics.’ Robert Shrum says the GOP may never find its way back.

More and more Republicans are saying they will violate Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge, and it’s about time, I write in my latest column for CNN:

“This post-election outbreak of pragmatism is welcome and needed. These senators and congressmen are profiles in courage for speaking out against the stranglehold that one self-appointed activist and lobbyist has had on bipartisan governing.”

Norquist, a conservative activist and leader of Americans for Tax Reform, has long had a stranglehold on legislators in the GOP who might otherwise be willing to compromise on ways to increase revenue. Now, with the fiscal cliff looming, it looks as though the party might be able to break his grip. That could go a long way toward breaking partisan gridlock:

“The biggest stumbling block for tea party conservatives has been Norquist, who says any new revenue violates the pledge and promises to invite a primary challenge to any member of Congress who puts revenues on the table. Given the number of safe seats carved up in the rigged system of redistricting, a primary challenge from the wings is what most members of Congress fear most. The result is gridlock: an inability to reason together and make a long-term deal for the good of the country.