Afternoon update for October 31, 2011

LATEST NEWS

John Rossomando on The Republican: Want a job? Ask Harry Reid

Guest commentary:

• Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson warns that whoever wins in 2012 faces an uphill fight in 2013 and 2014
• The Leadership Institute's Morton Blackwell  suggests that the village idiots in the Democratic Party don't understand Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street update:

• Sexual assaults mount at Occupy Wall Street - Daily Caller

Newslinks for Monday October 31, 2011

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: Rick Perry, languishing in the single digits, still gets frontrunner treatment because of money and his non-Romney persona

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: Because faith is more likely to make you a Republican, conservatives should be worried about the growing secularism among America's younger generation and lower classes

Politico: Two women accused Herman Cain of inappropriate behavior

"During Herman Cain’s tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain, ultimately leaving their jobs at the trade group, multiple sources confirm to POLITICO. The women complained of sexually suggestive behavior by Cain that made them angry and uncomfortable, the sources said, and they signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them financial payouts to leave the association. The agreements also included language that bars the women from talking about their departures." - Politico

The Cain campaign responds...

"Dredging up thinly sourced allegations stemming from Mr. Cain’s tenure as the Chief Executive Officer at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, political trade press are now casting aspersions on his character and spreading rumors that never stood up to the facts. Since Washington establishment critics haven't had much luck in attacking Mr. Cain's ideas to fix a bad economy and create jobs, they are trying to attack him in any way they can. Sadly, we’ve seen this movie played out before – a prominent Conservative targeted by liberals simply because they disagree with his politics. Mr. Cain -- and all Americans, deserve better." - Washington Examiner

Romney remains the top target of GOP rivals, White House

"Herman Cain may be battling with Mitt Romney atop the Republican presidential polls, but Romney remained the 'target du jour' Sunday for both his current and possible future competition. Two other rivals for the GOP nomination -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry and a fellow Texan, Rep. Ron Paul -- as well as David Plouffe, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, all accused the former Massachusetts governor of flip-flopping on major issues in a bid to strengthen his conservative credentials. The targeting of Romney on Sunday talk shows demonstrated how he remains the most formidable contender in the eyes of his rivals, even with Cain's rise to top-tier status in the Republican race." - CNN

• Fox's Chris Wallace calls out Mitt Romney for Sunday show absence - LA Times

2012 update:

• Bachmann taken to task on illegal immigrants statement - WSJ
• Cain is opposed to all abortion, he tells CBS - WSJ
• Rick Perry defends policy positions - National Journal
• Perry will debate but still doesn't like it - CNN
• Ron Paul plays down speculation he may launch third-party bid for the White House - WSJ
• Newt Gingrich calls Arab Spring "anti-Christian spring" - National Journal
• "Republican presidential candidates' economic teams are taking shape at a time when concerns about the recovery are increasingly dominating the 2012 presidential race." - WSJ

Election laws tightening in GOP-run states - LA Times

• Ohio ballot measure, Va. state Senate races among those to watch - Washington Post

The battle lines of the 2012 election will be the most sharply ideological in at least a generation

"President Obama and his Republican opponent will present vastly different visions of the role of government, how an economy best prospers and, still more fundamentally, what kind of nation the United States should be. Divisions between the parties on these scores are nothing new. But they have grown deeper and more central to the political debate for many reasons. ... Much of politics is about the relative merits of freedom and equality. But usually, those perhaps irreconcilable goals are obscured by passions of the moment. Not so today. The usual distractions have been scraped away. The core issues lie exposed as they rarely are." - The Hill 

Iowa vote is rising in stature

"The state's centrality was underscored over the weekend in a closely watched poll that found two former businessmen running mainly on economic platforms—Herman Cain and Mitt Romney—locked in a statistical dead heat among likely caucus-goers, just as in many national surveys. ... The results suggested that Iowa could become an important springboard for Messr. Romney or Cain ahead of voting in other states where each is showing strength. In New Hampshire, which hosts the country's first primary a short time after the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Mr. Romney has held a commanding lead for months, while Mr. Cain now leads nominally in South Carolina, the third state on the nominating calendar." - WSJ

Deficit reduction still a devil deal

"Imagine a C-SPAN version of “Margin Call” set against a trans-Atlantic debt crisis, with Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi on one shore, the hard-charging Grover Norquist on the other and an entire nation of aging baby boomers worried about their 401(k)s. That’s a little what it’s like these days in Congress as Nov. 23 approaches and with it the devil’s bargain made last August when Washington pushed the nation to the brink of default and then created an Armageddon for itself if lawmakers fail to come up with a $1.2 trillion deficit-reduction plan by Thanksgiving." - Politico

Judd Gregg: The supercommittee must reform entitlement programs

"We simply cannot function long in a nation where half the households are receiving an entitlement benefit and fewer than half the people with earned income pay taxes — unless of course we wish to adopt a European-model social welfare state where growth and prosperity are stifled and the standard of living of most is reduced. The time has come to face up to these facts and recapture the energy of our culture as a place where we expect and can accomplish a better future and strong, vibrant economy. ... Let’s hope the members of Congress, the president and supercommittee see this unique opportunity as the once-in-a-political-lifetime chance that it is and act for the better good of the nation." - Former Sen. Judd Gregg for The Hill

Wall Street reform law bogged down

"President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill into law 15 months ago, saying he was anxious to put new rules of the road in place for Wall Street. But federal agencies have blown about 77 percent of the rule-making deadlines for the massive overhaul, according to a recent progress report by the law firm Davis Polk — meaning key parts of the bill are far from implementation. Some Democratic officials see a Republican plot afoot to run out the clock, in hopes that a GOP-controlled Senate and White House can overturn the reforms. But one top Treasury official said the missed deadlines are less of a concern to the administration than the possibility that a rushed process would result in poor regulations." - Politico

Obama to pitch economic program at Group of 20 summit - Washington Post

Solyndra program to be reviewed by White House

"The White House has ordered an independent review of all Energy Department loan guarantees in response to Solyndra's collapse. Chief of staff Bill Daley tasked former Treasury Department official Herb Allison to lead the 60-day review into more than two dozen loan guarantees approved since the start of the Obama administration. Allison has also been assigned to make recommendations for how to improve the troubled DOE program going forward, including creating an "early-warning system" to flag possible problems." - Politico

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Afternoon update for October 30, 2011

LATEST NEWS

2012 update from the Sunday shows:

• Rick Perry on Fox: I’ve got a big war chest and I can definitely win this thing. - Politico
• The “consistent conservative” Perry differentiates himself from Romney. - FoxNews
• Fox’s Chris Wallace: Mitt Romney needs to stop avoiding the Sunday news shows. - Politico
• Dick Armey: FreedomWorks likes Herman Cain. - Newsmax
• We can balance the budget with lower revenues, Perry says. - Reuters
• Bachmann’s only hope, Iowa, crumbling before her eyes. - Breitbart
• Obama’s advisor David Plouffe says Romney lacks a “core” and would do anything to get elected. - TIME (video)
• Santorum questions whether Obama’s Iraq policy is responsible for the Afghanistan bombing. - NBC
• Ron Paul says there’s no way he’d consider being a third party candidate. - The Hill
• The six best parodies of Cain’s smoking ad. - The Daily Beast

Newslinks for Sunday October 30, 2011

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: On issue after issue, Obama is as vulnerable as he has been - but will the GOP be able to capitalize?

Herman Cain tops Iowa poll despite having spent little time in the Hawkeye State

“Cain has surged 13 percentage points since the first Iowa Poll of the caucus cycle, conducted in late June. His rise has come despite spending little time in Iowa recently, campaigning here just once since the Aug. 13 Iowa straw poll, where he placed fifth.” - Des Moines Register | LA Times

• But he’s working off a plan: Defeat the other conservatives before taking on Romney. - Robert Costa at NRO
• And he’s confident he can do so without spending much time in the early primary states. - NY Daily News

Up from the ashes: Newt Gingrich mounting an unexpected comeback

“There are signs that Republicans are giving Gingrich another look. Fundraising has picked up after his strong debate performances and amid the continued frostiness that many activist Republicans feel toward presumed front-runner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.” - Washington Post

• “Don’t nag us with some hypocritical baloney” – Newt takes on the anti-Christian bias of the lawsuit by Muslims at Catholic University while stumping in South Carolina. - FoxNews

A new era in political fundraising: Conservative groups eclipse the GOP as the center of activism in Republican politics

“[Groups such as] the Karl Rove-founded American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, the American Action Network and Americans for Prosperity…have begun conversations about how to divide up the swing states where each group is likely to focus its energies, with some like Americans for Prosperity expecting to shift chiefly to Senate races and the White House. Others, like the new Congressional Leadership Fund, will look to preserve the Republican hold on the House.” - New York Times

House Republicans say Obama’s unilateral actions on his jobs agenda may be unconstitutional

“The House GOP says they have passed more than 15 economic bills that aren't being considered by the Senate and they question the efforts by the White House to move forward without their input. On Thursday, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he had ‘great concerns’ that Obama was overstepping his constitutional authority by single-handedly enacting jobs programs.” - The Hill

Mitt Romney giving some conservatives heartburn over his advisory picks…

“The Republican right cringes at some of the high-profile people Romney is leaning on for donations and advice, including three former Bush-era officials whose recent records include lobbying for Solyndra and advocating on behalf of cap-and-trade legislation and carbon taxes.” - Politico

…and giving Obama heartburn, too: The President is losing the fundraising battle in swing states to Romney

"Though he’s raised almost three times as much as Mitt Romney—the former governor of Massachusetts has brought in $32 million—the president is trailing his GOP rival in a handful of battleground states. In both Florida and Nevada, Romney nearly doubled the president’s haul, despite a crowded field of Republican candidates who are also vacuuming up donations. And Romney, of course, doesn’t enjoy the power of incumbency.” - The Daily Beast

Lindsey Graham puts the spotlight back on national security

“Sen. Lindsey Graham is on a mission to convince Republican presidential hopefuls to stop ignoring national security, traditionally a key issue in the South Carolina primary but one that is likely to be eclipsed by the economy this time around.” - Roll Call ($)

Our redistributive state discourages upward mobility and rewards those who need help the least at the expense of those who need it the most

“Our entitlement system, meanwhile, is designed to redistribute wealth. But this redistribution doesn’t go from the idle rich to the working poor; it goes from young to old, working-age savings to retiree consumption, middle-class parents to empty-nest seniors… The story of the last three decades is…a liberalism that has often defended the interests of narrow constituencies — public-employee unions, affluent seniors, the education bureaucracy — rather than the broader middle class.” - Ross Douthat in the New York Times

• You might call this problem a partial expression of the global “grandpa population boom.” - Rod Dreher at The American Conservative
• The need for entitlement reform is urgent, so here are four steps toward reform that “will restore our solvency and our spirit.” - Amit Ghate at PJMedia

2012 update:

• Cain’s smoking ad was accidental brilliance. - Kathleen Parker at the Post
• Cain says that, no, he’s not running to get a TV show. - FoxNews
• Will he or won’t he?...He will: Perry says he will participate in more presidential debates after all. - AP | Politico
• In case you missed it yesterday: George Will on Romney the pretzel candidate. - Washington Post
• Bachmann swipes at Perry: “We don’t owe the children of illegals anything.” - NBC
• Barack Obama will be re-elected because the Republican candidates are too flawed. - Ellen Ratner at FoxNews
• Is Mitt Romney the GOP's Michael Dukakis? - Karl in HotAir's Green Room

Technocrat Romney and Preacher Perry spend the weekend in N.H. after a bruising week

“The Romney and Perry [N.H.] appearances came at the end of a difficult week for both. Romney was again accused of changing or hedging his positions on climate change and Ohio’s collective-bargaining referendum… Perry unveiled an economic plan last Tuesday but stepped on that message by wading unexpectedly into the issue of whether President Obama was born in the United States.” -  Washington Post

Millionaires to the rescue: Obama says the rich are ready to do their part to save the economy - NY Daily News

Michael Barone: Obama still hasn’t learned that he needs respect, not love, overseas

“Obama seemed to think that the replacement of an uncouth Texan by a nuanced black American would convert determined enemies of the United States -- a supposition that is one of those irritable mental gestures that pass for thought in the faculty lounge.” - Washington Examiner

Debra Saunders: Student loans, which benefit universities more than students, quickly becoming our next debt crisis

“The biggest losers are students who get sucked into colleges, because the federal loans look like free money, only to drop out of school. They get the debt, but no degree…The other losers are graduates with six-figure debt and little income.” - SF Chronicle

What if the Tea Party never existed?

“If the tea party hadn’t caught on, the Obama team would be fighting the same conservative movement that it had defeated in 2008. And a few more victories could have meant life for some legislation that died prematurely.” - Dave Weigel in the Washington Post

A week in political pictures. - TIME

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Afternoon update for October 29, 2011

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the 13 American troops killed in Afghanistan

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: I pledge allegiance to the welfare state of America...Our nation's growing dependency problem

Op-ed of the weekend - George Will: Mitt Romney, the pretzel candidate, twists and turns so much that he has become the Republicans’ Michael Dukakis

LATEST NEWS

2012 update:

• Rick Perry goes on the attack to claw back against Romney. - Newsmax
• Mitt Romney, telemarketer. - Weekly Standard
• Herman Cain’s rise is “no fluke” as he sits atop yet another poll. - Political Wire
• Perry calls for a repeal of New Hampshire’s gay marriage law. - Reuters
• Anyone’s guess: Two months out, Iowa is up for grabs. - AP

Newslinks for Saturday October 29, 2011

Video: Bobby Schilling, freshman from Illinois and owner of Saint Giuseppe's Heavenly Pizza, delivers weekly Republican address

Romney pulling in Bush backers 2-to-1 over Perry, though many fund-raisers are still on the sidelines

“About 80 people who were top fund-raisers for Mr. Bush have donated the maximum $2,500 allowed by law to Mr. Romney's 2012 campaign, the records show. Mr. Perry received maximum donations from about 40 individuals who helped raise big sums for Mr. Bush. Many top fund-raisers remain up for grabs.” - Wall Street Journal

Herman Cain stays atop the polls but heads south instead of to the early primary states

“[Cain is] carving out an unorthodox — and some say impossible — path to the White House, largely eschewing early voting states to focus heavily on the South — where tea party groups, social conservatives and evangelical voters that make up the backbone of his support hold sway. It's been weeks since Cain has set foot in Iowa or New Hampshire. - Washington Examiner

Perry’s flat tax proposal may have a political upside, but if history is any guide, it won’t go anywhere

“The last 30 years of tax politics is littered with the detritus of failed flat tax proposals, most prominent among them the one highlighted by Steve Forbes in his 1996 presidential campaign. Despite longstanding support for the idea, not once has a flat tax come remotely close to passing Congress.” - Politico

Conservatives should take income inequality seriously and follow Paul Ryan’s lead on how to address it

Ryan, better than any other Republican, articulates what every candidate should emphasize: the way to prosperity and to create opportunity for all is to promote economic growth combined with fiscal restraint in a manner that benefits all Americans, including those hurting today. - Ron Radosh at PJMedia

Eric Cantor calls for a “Steve Jobs plan” to spur greater upward mobility and economic opportunity

“’In a Steve Jobs plan, no American -- regardless of their current condition -- believes that they are unable to rise up. And in a Steve Jobs plan, we don’t believe that those who succeed somehow take away from those still working their way up the ladder,’ Cantor told an audience at Northwestern University.” - LA Times

The super committee should let its deadline pass and take the automatic spending cuts in the debt deal

“The ideal outcome from the Super Committee would be a deal to reduce spending even more than the sequestration process calls for. But with predictable gridlock between panel members over taxes and entitlements already setting in, that doesn’t seem likely. Sequestration may not be perfect, but, even with its limitations, it’s probably the best plausible result. So go ahead, Super Committee. Pull that trigger.” - Peter Suderman at Reason

The super committee’s nibbling around the edges and needs to aim for larger cuts

“The federal government now spends 25% of our nation's economy — one of every four dollars. The super committee's talks aren't serious until they address cutting that back at least below 20% — the government's average for most of the post-World War II era.” - IBD editors

Republican freshmen look past heated presidential campaign rhetoric on immigration for more pragmatic, incremental changes to fix America’s immigration problems

“Now many Republican freshmen, lacking the scar tissue of previous Congressional attempts to make sweeping changes in immigration law, are advocating that policy be changed in small, bite-size pieces that could help bring order to the system and redefine their party’s increasingly anti-immigration image, even as they maintain a strong push for better federal border security.” - New York Times

Romney changes tone on climate change, gives rivals another “flip-flop” to talk about

“Rivals of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday repeated their accusations of flip-flopping on core issues, after he told an audience on Thursday that he didn't know what caused global warming.” - Wall Street Journal

2012 update:

• Herman Cain raking in the cash after his smoking ad went viral. - The Hill
• Romney is vulnerable, but Perry won’t win by attacking him. - Bryan Preston at PJM
• Rick Perry is too deeply flawed to win. - James Carville at CNN
• Perry’s got a positive vision for America. - RedState
• Bachmann blames Rick Perry for Tea Party group’s call for her to end her campaign. - Politico
• Rick Santorum’s stump through Iowa takes him to all 99 counties. - FoxNews
• New Huntsman ad compares the flip-flopping Romney to a back flipping monkey. Washington Times
• Herman Cain will lay out his health care vision next week in Washington. - The Hill
• Will pushing a flat tax actually do in Perry’s campaign? - Ron Brownstein at The Atlantic

Perry defends his stance on tuition for illegal immigrants in New Hampshire as Romney trashes him on the issue

“The in-state tuition law continues to dog Perry’s candidacy, more than a month after the issue was raised in a Florida debate. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s campaign welcomed Perry to New Hampshire Friday by sending reporters a research dossier on Perry’s immigration record titled: ‘Rick Perry brings his liberal illegal immigration policies to New Hampshire.’” - Washington Post

OK, OK, we'll look into it: Obama team announces review of Energy Department loans after House Republicans threaten to subpoena White House documents - Washington Post

ObamaCare has become the great unmentionable as Democrats run away from it

“Americans heard the President's promises, over and over again, most of all that the bill would lower insurance costs. Those costs are rising as fast as ever, more so in some places as insurers and providers anticipate the price controls and other regulation to come.” - Wall Street Journal editors

> Yesterday on The Republican: Obama in trouble as Democrats abandon the ObamaCare ship

The inheritance tax on the rich hurts all of us and encourages over-consumption

“Do not confuse the death-tax issue with the question of whether the rich should pay more taxes. Even if your goal is to soak the rich, you don't need a death tax to do it. You can do it, for example, with a graduated consumption tax, where your tax form says: ‘How much did you earn last year? How much did you save? Now pay tax on the difference.’" - Steven Landsburg in the Wall Street Journal

Irwin Stelzer: Presidential campaigns are worth the money we spend on them because of the issues they force us to debate - Weekly Standard

Matt Lewis interviews Richard Brookhiser on his new book on James Madison - The Daily Caller

Do Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi really want to support Occupy Wall Street when its protestors are getting publicly sanctioned for…well, just read it - Powerline

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Afternoon update for October 28, 2011

LATEST NEWS

John Rossomando on The Republican: Bill Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn lend support to Occupy Wall Street

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: Obama in trouble as Democrats abandon the Obamacare ship

Videos:

• Bill Ayers trains Occupy Chicago in revolutionary tactics
• Karl Rove says nothing is certain in the presidential race
• Victim of Soviet communism confronts Occupy Wall Street
• Obama donors for 2008 flee him 

Occupy Wall Street update:

• Occupy Phoenix event asks when it is okay to shoot a cop -The Blaze
• NPR producer canned for supporting Occupy Wall Street - The Gothamist
• Heavy metal legend Dave Mustaine denounces Occupy Wall Street, calls Obama "divisive"- Loudwire
• Occupy Wall Street needs Obama to lose in 2012 - Jonah Goldberg digresses at NRO
• The OWS rap sheet - Big Government

Newslinks for Friday October 28, 2011

Poll: 76% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country

"Three-quarters of American voters -- 76 percent -- are dissatisfied with how things are going in the country, according to a Fox News poll released Thursday. That’s up from 69 percent who felt that way in April, and 61 percent at the beginning of the year. At the Obama administration’s 100-day mark in April 2009, just over half of voters -- 53 percent -- were dissatisfied with the direction of the country. That number has steadily increased since. The current level of displeasure is almost back to where it was immediately before Barack Obama took office -- 79 percent dissatisfied (January 2009)." - Fox

Obama writes for the Financial Times, talks up private sector job growth

"In the US, we've had 19 straight months of private sector job growth and added more than 2.5m private sector jobs. Still, progress has not come fast enough and today the global recovery remains fragile ... It's why I've proposed the American Jobs Act ... I've put forward a comprehensive and balanced plan to substantially reduce our deficit over the next few years ... Avoiding old imbalances also means moving ahead with financial reforms that can help prevent another financial crisis. In the US, we're implementing the strongest reforms since the Great Depression. Across the G20, we need to make sure banks maintain the capital they need to withstand shocks." - FT ($)

Will Rick Perry pass on debates?

"The Perry camp says it will be considering participation in future debates individually as they focus on campaigning in the first five states to vote in the GOP contest early next year. 'We're taking each of these as they come,' Sullivan said Wednesday, 'examining the schedule and examining the opportunities and the opportunity costs. And, again, we recognize we need to be in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Nevada and talking to those voters and giving them a chance to exercise their responsibility to vet the candidates, to have town hall meetings and to talk about the issues that are important to them.'" - CNN

• Santorum is first to whack Perry over skipping debates - Politico

Tea party group to Bachmann: Quit the presidential race

"A tea party group has a surprising and harsh urging for long-time tea party favorite Michele Bachmann: Quit the presidential race. 'It's time for Michelle [sic] Bachmann to go,' reads the first line of a statement from American Majority President Ned Ryun. His group operates in seven states, trains thousands of tea party supporters and is 'liked' by over 371,000 people on Facebook. ... 'Let's face it: she's a back-bencher and has been a back bencher congressperson for years,' Robbins added. 'This is not a serious presidential campaign.'" - CNN

2012 in Brief:

• Romney dominant in New Hampshire poll - Rasmussen
• Romney tied to former Solyndra lobbyist - The Hill
• Florida’s Jeff Miller endorses Mitt Romney - Roll Call
• Cain wades into abortion controversy again - CNN
• Tickets for Cain-Gingrich debate: $200, $500 or $1,000 - WSJ
• Poor no more: Herman Cain's net worth in the millions - LA Times
• "Judging by their public goals and 2010 spending, the conservative shadow party groups that helped Republicans to landslide wins in the 2010 midterm elections are likely to spend at least $270 million almost entirely on advertising in the run-up to Election Day 2012." - Politico
• "Despite a pledge not to take money from lobbyists, President Obama is relying on fund-raisers who are involved in lobbying for Washington consulting shops or private companies." - New York Times

Boehner rejects Dem debt proposal

"House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday rejected a proposal by the Democratic members of the congressional supercommittee on deficit reduction, declaring its $1.3 trillion in tax increases unacceptable. A majority of the six Democrats on the 12-member panel privately proposed a package that would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over 10 years, including more than $1 trillion in tax increases. Boehner said in a press conference that the amount of new revenue was too high." - The Hill

• Parties draw their lines in deficit reduction fight - Roll Call

Bipartisan group of 100 lawmakers to urge $4 trillion deficit-cutting deal

"At least 100 House lawmakers plan to urge the deficit-cutting congressional supercommittee to accomplish what the Obama administration and Congress failed to achieve this summer: a large agreement aimed at reducing the federal deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years. In a letter that the bipartisan group plans to send to the supercommittee next week, the lawmakers will argue a large deal is vital to the nation’s future. Economists generally believe that long-term deficit-reduction of about $4 trillion is needed to put the U.S. on sound fiscal footing. Importantly, the letter calls for the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to consider 'all options,' including both spending and revenue – suggesting that Democrats are open to entitlement reforms while Republicans would back tax increases if they were part a giant deal." - WSJ

• "The rejection by Democratic and Republican members of the deficit-reduction supercommittee of each others' opening offers may mark the beginning, not the end, of an intensifying effort to determine whether taxes will be raised as part of a compromise, officials following the work of the panel said Thursday." - WSJ ($)
• "Speaker John Boehner said Thursday that automatic across-the-board cuts in spending would be an unacceptable outcome out of the deficit-slashing supercommittee. The so-called trigger, created as part of the debt ceiling hike earlier this year, would cut from defense and social programs if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction falls short of reaching $1.2 trillion in cuts from the federal deficit." - Politico

Lawmakers unfazed by downgrade risk

"A growing number of lawmakers do not think another downgrade of the country's AAA rating will harm America's economy, raising questions about how much pressure Congress is under to fix the intractable budget deficit. ... Tim Ryan, a Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said there was broad sentiment in Congress that the U.S. economy would not necessarily suffer from a downgrade by the other two big agencies -- Fitch and Moody's -- that still rate U.S. debt as AAA. Ryan cited the role of the three major agencies in the buildup to the 2008 financial collapse, when they gave AAA ratings to the toxic mortgage-backed securities at the heart of the crisis." - Reuters

Sen. Marco Rubio attacks GOP immigration "rhetoric"

"Many Republicans see Marco Rubio as a rising star who can help them win over the fast-growing Hispanic population, but the Florida senator says toned-down rhetoric on the hot-button issue of immigration would be more likely to bring those voters to the GOP. 'The policies are important, but the rhetoric is sometimes the impediment,' Mr. Rubio said in an interview. 'Sometimes—and I'm not pointing fingers at anyone—the way the message is communicated is harmful and has hurt Republicans.'" - WSJ ($)

• Democratic-leaning PAC targets Rubio in exile controversy - CNN

Mitch McConnell's college football filibuster

"Mitch McConnell is better known for blocking action in the Senate, but he’s quietly expanding his defense to the college football world, mounting a goal-line stand against West Virginia University’s hopes to join the Big 12 Conference. But West Virginia’s senators, including onetime Mountaineers football player and now-Sen. Joe Manchin, are accusing McConnell of interfering on behalf of his beloved University of Louisville Cardinals. Manchin has already issued a rallying cry, telling McConnell to “bring it on” and suggesting a Senate inquiry into the GOP leader’s lobbying effort, as the two schools compete for the final spot in one of the nation’s premier football conferences." - Politico

Peggy Noonan: While Obama readies an ugly campaign, Paul Ryan gives a serious account of what ails America

"Mr. Ryan ... is doing something unique in national politics. He thinks. He studies. He reads. Then he comes forward to speak, calmly and at some length, about what he believes to be true. He defines a problem and offers solutions, often providing the intellectual and philosophical rationale behind them. Conservatives naturally like him—they agree with him—but liberals and journalists inclined to disagree with him take him seriously and treat him with respect. This week he spoke on 'The American Idea' at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. He scored the president as too small for the moment, as 'petty' in his arguments and avoidant of the decisions entailed in leadership. ... If more Republicans thought—and spoke—like this, the party would flourish. People would be less fearful for the future. And Mr. Obama wouldn't be seeing his numbers go up." - Peggy Noonan in the WSJ

Kaiser poll finds drop in Democratic support for Obamacare

"Just 34 percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act, the lowest ranking in Kaiser Family Foundation’s monthly Health Tracking Poll since the law passed in March 2010. By contrast, 51 percent said they have an unfavorable view. ... The big difference this time is that Democrats seem to be souring on the reform law. Even though Democrats remain much more supportive of the law than Republicans, favorability among Democrats dropped from 65 percent to 52 percent over the past month." - Politico

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Afternoon update for October 27, 2011

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: The college bubble is bursting, and Obama's plan may make things worse

LATEST NEWS

Occupy Wall Street update:

• Graphic showing where OWS and the Tea Party part ways. - Ricochet
• Protestors think that Rush Limbaugh is more dangerous than al Qaeda. - Beltway Confidential at the Examiner

2012 update:

• There’s a lot of George Romney in his son Mitt. - Ben Smith at Politico
• Only a matter of time: Rick Santorum goes after Herman Cain over the latter’s lack of clarity on abortion. - Politico
• Cain and Gingrich’s poll numbers have quadrupled since August. - Weekly Standard
• Unlike Obama, Hillary Clinton would crush Romney or Perry if she were the 2012 Democratic nominee. - TIME

Newslinks for Thursday October 27, 2011

Ryan Streeter on The Republican: The mathematician vs. the rhetorician: Why Paul Ryan has become Barack Obama’s biggest headache

John Rossomando interviews Ga. Congressman Tom Price: Obamacare will fall if the individual mandate is found unconstitutional (With audio)

Dems seek $1T tax hike, $3T deficit cut from supercommittee - The Hill

• In budget talks little agreement between Democrats and Republicans but both support lower cost of living adjustments for public benefits - WSJ
• The top 1% earn about 17% of taxable income but pay around 37% in income taxes - PowerLine
• Why the rich get richer - FrumForum

Democrats confident of gains in House but winning back control "pushes the edge of plausibility" - Roll Call

NPR on why the Democrats are optimistic about making gains.

President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly referring to the Congress as “Republican” even though their party controls one-half of the unpopular institution - The Hill

• McCain recycles joke about Congress' low, low approval ratings - USA Today

Republican officials complain that activist groups are too ready to give them "F" ratings - Politico

Romney's Finest Hour: He speaks the truth about housing and foreclosures - WSJ editorial

• Mitt Romney is '110% behind' Ohio law limiting union power - LA Times

Mitt Romney leads in first four states to vote - USA Today

"The TIME/CNN/ORC polls released Wednesday afternoon from the first four states on the 2012 Republican calendar paint a consistent picture of the Republican race. These polls show that the GOP race is being shaped by parallel but disparate movements: a more moderate and secular wing of the party is coalescing around Mitt Romney, while a more economically and culturally conservative wing continues to resist him, but remains more divided than the roughly other half of the party. That pattern is sufficient to place Romney in the lead comfortably in New Hampshire and Florida, and within the margin of error in Iowa and South Carolina, according to the surveys." - Hotline

Obama campaign delighted at Perry's attacks on Romney

"Romney is the opponent Democrats most fear, and whom Obama strategists view as the near-certain Republican nominee. Yet even among strategists who assume Romney will be Obama’s opponent, Perry’s newly feisty performance on the campaign trail has raised hopes that he may drag out the primary fight and bloody Romney ahead of the main event." - Politico

2012 in Brief:

• Rick Perry backed off the birther talk, but now calls on Obama to release his college transcript - Washington Post
• PowerLine on Perry's anti-debate remarks: "The idea that Perry could have stayed away from the debates, on the ground that he isn’t very good at them, and remained a serious candidate for the GOP nomination seems almost delusional." Also see HotAir.
• Steve Forbes has endorsed Rick Perry as the best GOP candidate to carry forward the media baron’s cherished flat tax, and tells Lloyd Grove the Texas governor will overtake Mitt Romney - Daily Beast
• "Cain’s current lead is evidence of a larger and longer-range trend that is both heartening and disturbing. I call it the revolt against the experts." - Michael Barone for NRO
• Cain appoints foreign policy team - The Cable
• Cain joins Palin and Perry as targets of Karl Rove's disapproval - Daily Caller
• Paul Ryan under pressure to reconsider presidential bid - Weekly Standard
• "Representative Paul Ryan’s speech to the Heritage Foundation earlier today once again demonstrated that he is, among elected public officials, the foremost intellectual defender of American conservatism." - Commentary
• The Washington Post continues its campaign against Marco Rubio arguing that putting the Florida Senator on national ticket could be risky bet for the Republican Party.

Opinion polls point towards victory for Obama but economic fundamentals suggest defeat - WSJ

• "Obama is past the point of being judged mostly on words. This time around, he'll be judged mostly on competence." - Karl Rove in the WSJ
• The WSJ looks at a World Bank survey which suggests America needs to be more pro-business.

Bloomberg should replace Timothy Geithner

"Naming Bloomberg Treasury secretary would be a bold move by Obama to seek a post-partisan truce against gridlock in Washington and to escalate an urgent bid to create jobs, revitalize housing and revive the economy." - Brent Budowsky at The Hill

Obama could create jobs if he worked with, not against, America's energy industry - Steve Forbes at Politico

"While the Obama administration was subsidizing failed or inefficient green industries, radical breakthroughs in domestic fossil-fuel exploration and recovery -- especially horizontal drilling and fracking -- have vastly increased the known American reserves of gas and oil. Modern efficient engines have meant that both can be consumed with little, if any, pollution -- at a time when a struggling U.S. economy is paying nearly half a trillion dollars for imported fossil fuels. The public apparently would prefer developing more of our own gas, oil, shale, tar sands and coal as an alternative to going broke by either importing more fuels from abroad or subsidizing more inefficient windmills and solar panels at home." - Victor David Hanson at RCP

Crony capitalism in America

"We face a threat to our capitalist system. But it’s not coming from half-naked anarchists manning the barricades at Occupy Wall Street protests. Rather, it comes from pinstriped apologists for a financial system that glides along without enough of the discipline of failure and that produces soaring inequality, socialist bank bailouts and unaccountable executives." - Nicholas Kristoff for the New York Times

Qaddafi’s dictatorship was preferable to an Islamist Libya - Andrew McCarthy for NRO

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