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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thursday's Daily Brief

Thursday, October 13, 2011
Arianna Huffington: Time for the next round of HuffPost's 2011 Game Changers -- the innovators, mavericks, visionaries, and leaders who are changing the way we look at the world and the way we live in it. Today we are announcing the top Game Changers in three more categories: World, Impact/Education, and Healthy Living. Look over the slideshows we've put together giving you the rundown of who we picked, why we picked them, and how they are changing the game. Then vote for the Ultimate Game Changer in each category. Click here to vote for the Ultimate Game Changer in World, here for the Ultimate Game Changer in Impact/Education, and here for the Ultimate Game Changer in Healthy Living.
POLITICS
Herman Cain Leads In One New Poll, Trails In Another [UPDATED]
POLITICS
Scott Brown Allegedly Plagiarized Elizabeth Dole Speech
LOS ANGELES
Shooting At Seal Beach: 8 Confirmed Dead, 1 Critically Wounded
TECHNOLOGY
Fantastic Or Flop? Critics Take On Apple's New iPhone
PARENTS
New Sign That Your Teen Might Be Drinking
BLOG POSTS
Bob Cesca: Senate Republicans Successfully Filibuster American Jobs
When I heard President Obama announce The American Jobs Act, I mistakenly thought the Republicans wouldn't dare vote against "American jobs."
Joy Behar: In Defense of Hank Williams, Jr.
In defending Hank Williams' right to speak his mind, I must also defend ESPN's right to part company with him. ESPN is a business and businesses have the right to fire employees.
Lisa Ling: Being Active About Your Health Is a Year-Round Priority
Women need to take a more proactive approach to their health. It sounds so simple, but it's something a lot of women don't do. Maybe you don't have the time, you're not sure what to do, or you're uncomfortable talking about it. But we need to make our health a priority.
David Katz, M.D.: Is It Time To Stop Taking A Multivitamin?
A multivitamin is very, very unlikely to kill anyone. If there is risk attached to the use of such supplements, it is very small. But there may be some risk -- and there is no reliable indication of benefit.
Leila Khalil: How Technology Has Revolutionized The Big Day (And Beyond)
Over the years, the way a bride accomplishes all of her tasks has evolved, and today she has unlimited access to ideas and resources thanks to new technology platforms that are making weddings easier to plan.



A Million Little Pieces: Obama's Jobs Bill Is on Hold in the Senate - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic

A Million Little Pieces: Obama's Jobs Bill Is on Hold in the Senate - Chris Good - Politics - The Atlantic:

A Million Little Pieces: Obama's Jobs Bill Is on Hold in the Senate

OCT 13 2011, 10:04 AM ET 1

Is it dead? Will some of it pass? What will the parcels look like? Some indications on the future of the president's plan.

Obama deficit speech waving 2 - Jason Reed Reuters - banner.jpg

President Obama's jobs bill failed in the Senate this week, and now Democratic leaders will break it into pieces that, they hope, will win enough Republican support to pass.

"Tonight's vote is by no means the end of this fight," President Obama said in a statement released Tuesday night. "We will now work with Senator Reid to make sure that the individual proposals in this jobs bill get a vote as soon as possible."

What's the timeline on this? Will most of Obama's proposals pass? What can we expect the political outcome to be?

Timeline: Senate Democratic leaders will start crafting the pieces in November, according to a senior Democratic aide. They'll have to cut bargains with Republicans not just on policy, but on how to offset the new spending -- not an easy task. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference Wednesday that the piece-drafting process has not yet begun. Realistically, it's doubtful the Senate will be able to move any part of Obama's bill before mid- to late- November.

What will the pieces look like? No one seems to know. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has floated the idea of coupling Obama's proposed national infrastructure bank with a GOP-proposed "repatriation" tax break for U.S. companies bringing their earnings back to American soil. While it sounds good on paper, Schumer's proposal could be a long shot, as Democrats have had problems with that tax proposal before.

Will Democrats stick with their proposal to tax millionaires? Most likely, but it will continue to be a tough sell with Republicans. Reid included this proposal as an alternative to Obama's suggestion to raise taxes on incomes over $250,000 and on oil companies, which could not have gathered unanimous Democratic support. Democrats can still use the millionaire tax to pay for smaller chunks of the plan, if they adjust the rate increase on millionaires, tailoring the tax hike to offset different amounts of spending.

Will most of Obama's plan pass the Senate? Probably not. While Democrats could have an easier time cutting deals with the GOP on individual pieces, Senate Republicans do not see eye to eye with Democrats on deficit-reduction mechanisms to pay for those pieces. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he opposes raising taxes on anyone -- and tax hikes are the cornerstone of Democratic "pay-fors." It's possible that Congress's deficit-reduction "supercommittee" will get roped into solving the deficit-offset issue, as Obama suggested when he first laid out the $447 billion plan. The committee must approve its deficit-reduction plan by Nov. 23, so the timelines sync up more or less.

Who will win the political fight? Obama has made the bill a high priority, knowing fully that Senate Republicans could and likely would block it. After Tuesday night's failure, Obama indicated that he would press for the individual pieces of his bill to pass. By all indications, Obama intended to hammer Republicans for opposing his package and his popular plan of taxing rich people to pay for it, but as Democrats and Republicans cut deals in the Senate, Obama will be dragged back into the ideological middle if he stumps for compromises that involve significant concessions from his own party.

Americans, unlike the Senate, approve of Obama’s jobs bill, poll says | The Ticket - Yahoo! News

Americans, unlike the Senate, approve of Obama’s jobs bill, poll says | The Ticket - Yahoo! News:

Americans, unlike the Senate, approve of Obama’s jobs bill, poll says

(Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Senate Republicans Tuesday may have blocked President Obama's jobs bill, but a new poll suggests that's not what a majority of Americans want.

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents to a survey from NBC/Wall Street Journal voiced their approval when pollsters were told them the details of the president's "American Jobs Act"-- including that it would cut payroll taxes, fund new road construction, and extend unemployment benefits. NBC reports that 63 percent of respondents said they favored the bill, with just 32 percent opposing it.

But the numbers for the bill only spike when Americans learn about its provisions in some detail. When NBC pollsters asked for a simple up-or-down appraisal of the bill, minus any policy details, the same group of respondents expressed less than half the level of support that they later showed. "When asked simply if Congress should pass the legislation or not, 30 percent of respondents answer yes, while 22 percent say no; 44 percent have no opinion," according to NBC.

One element of the bill in particular enjoyed wide support--Obama's proposal to remove tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans. Sixty-four percent of respondents said it is a "good idea" to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Thirty-one percent said it was a bad idea.

The poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points is set for release Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.

On Tuesday evening, senate Republicans joined together to filibuster the president's jobs bill--denying efforts to begin formal debate on the legislation even though a majority of senators had already voted to advance the bill in a 50-49 vote.

The president first introduced the jobs bill in early September and has since been traveling across the country to make the case for his proposal.