The Golden Report

TOP STORY: Tonight, Congress has averted a potential government shutdown with the passage of a continuing appropriations bill for most of the federal government, and a spending package dubbed the “minibus” that funds five agencies for the rest of this year.

Earlier, the House voted 298-121 to approve the bill, with 101 Republicans breaking ranks with their party and voting against the bill. Tonight, the Senate voted 70-30 to send the bill to the President, with all Democrats voting in favor and most Republicans voting against.

Interestingly, with the President out of the country and the current continuing resolution lapsing at midnight, it is very likely that the bill Congress passed tonight, H.R. 2112, will be signed with an auto pen, only the second time in history when this procedure has been used (The previous time, earlier this year, occurred with the President was also out of the country and Congress passed a continuation of the USA PATRIOT Act).

The passage of tonight’s CR is a rare moment of bi-partisanship for a bitterly divided Congress, but there are no signs that the apparent goodwill will extend to the major issue Congress is considering: the Supercommittee’s deficit reduction charge.

POLITICO’s HEADLINE TONIGHT: “Supercommittee talks on brink of collapse.” From lead reporter Jake Sherman:

“Democrats appeared to be working on a new offer Thursday evening, but Republicans said they were not working on a fresh proposal. Staff level discussions were ongoing, aides said, but there was not much optimism.

With less than a week until the deadline, both parties appear ready to rally around their competing proposals — setting up a partisan showdown in the days before Thanksgiving.

Both proposals are like to fail in the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction Wednesday.”

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

All members of the Committee are scheduled to be in Washington this weekend though it is not clear if the full Committee will meet or if work will continue in smaller groups. It is also unclear at what point, if ever, Congressional leadership may be called in to break any impasse. The Committee now has less than one week, until Wednesday November 23rd, to produce its final proposal.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL TODAY:

NEWT GINGRICH continued to face questions about his consulting contract with Freddie Mac. As Gingrich’s standing has risen in the poll numbers, so too has the media questions about his long record of public service, which conflicts with his campaign’s message of being a fresh face and not a creature of Washington.

HERMAN CAIN turned down an opportunity to meet with the editorial board of the New Hampshire Union-Leader today, an almost unheard of decision less than 60 days before the New Hampshire primary.

The paper’s endorsement is seen as one of the most coveted, and important, in the run up to the primary and Cain’s apparent dissing is not likely to go over well. Of course, Cain did not have a good experience earlier this week with the editorial board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, when he gave a long and waffling answer on US military policy in Africa.

Cain did, however, find time to make a visit to New York City tonight to tape the Late Show with David Letterman.

As of today, Cain is also receiving Secret Service protection, the agency reported today.

As Mike Allen reports tonight:

“We are protecting Herman Cain,” Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. He said the decision was made by Homeland Security “Secretary Napolitano, at the request of the Cain campaign and in consultation with the Congressional advisory committee.”

“The authority was given to the Service to protect Herman Cain [beginning] today,” Donovan said.

Asked about the decision to protect Cain about a year before the general election, Donovan said: “Historically, it’s not that unusual.” The Secret Service spokesman noted protection was granted to Jesse Jackson at a similar point during his two campaigns, to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) in October 1979 and to a variety of candidates at a similar point in the 1976 cycle.

Donovan declined to say whether any threats prompted the decision to protect Cain, who at this point is the only candidate under protection other than President Barack Obama. “We don’t discuss the deliberations on which an assessment is made,” the spokesman said.”

WHITE HOUSE SHOOTING SUSPECT Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez was charged today by federal officials with attempting to assassinate the president or his staff, stemming from Friday night’s bullet exchange close to the White House that ended up reaching a glass window on the Truman Balcony. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Meanwhile, new details are emerging about Ortega and his evidently makeshift plot, as The Washington Post reports,

“Authorities said Ortega was clad in black when he pulled his car within view of the White House on Friday night, fired shots and then sped away. The White House has not said whether the Obamas’ daughters, Sasha and Malia, were there at the time or commented on the shooting.

Ortega was questioned by police on Friday morning, before the shootings, just across the Potomac River from Washington in Arlington, Va. Police said they stopped him after a report of suspicious behavior, but let him go after photographing him because they had no reason to make an arrest.”

WALL STREET: After some traders were inconvenienced on their way into work today because of the Occupy Wall Street protests that declared today a day of mobilization, on the two month anniversary of the protests, anxiety from both Europe and Washington contributed to another down day. European stocks reported six-month lows today.

• DOW down 135
• NASDAQ down 52
• S&P 500 down 21

SYRIA UPDATE: For a second day, Syrian Army defectors engaged in attacks on government buildings and other landmarks today, a striking demonstration of the sectarian strife now turning violent in a country that is at risk of descending into civil war.

As The New York Times reports:

“The attacks may have been more symbolic than effective, but could mark the increased ability of a growing number of defectors to publicize their exploits. Attacks on government installations — in the southern town of Dara’a and the central city of Homs, for instance — have been reported since the start of the uprising.

The attacks themselves paled before the bloodiest episodes of Syria’s last uprising in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then, insurgents stormed the office of the Aleppo Artillery School, killing 32 cadets. It was unclear whether anyone was killed or wounded in these attacks, but the constituency of armed strikes and the bold choice of targets has heightened the profile of Syria’s armed insurgency.”

FINALLY: Demi Moore and  Ashton Kucher are getting divorced.

Today, Moore told the Associated Press, “As a woman, a mother and a wife, there are certain values and vows that I hold sacred, and it is in this spirit that I have chosen to move forward with my life,” indicating that the reason for the divorce was Kucher cheating on Moore with Sara Leal in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Tonight, Kucher tweeted, “I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi. Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and Light, AK.”

THE EVENING REPORT will next publish on Monday November 21 after your editor returns from a Caribbean cruise.