The Golden Report

The Evening Report for Thursday December 15

19 DAYS UNTIL IOWA

25 HOURS UNTIL A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

In Sioux City, Iowa tonight- the 13th Republican Presidential Candidates Debate. It is the final debate before the January 3rd Caucuses.

THE HEADLINE: “Newt Under Attack in Iowa Debate”

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT- POLITICO

“Asked about his views on the Keystone XL pipeline, and how House Republicans should handle their standoff with the president, Gingrich said he was consciously trying not to use overwrought rhetoric.

“I’ve been standing here editing. I’m very concerned about not appearing to be zany”

SECOND PLACE QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

“You know, there are a lot of people out there — I understand it. There are a lot of folks that said Tim Tebow wasn’t going to be a very good NFL quarterback. There are people that stood up and said well, he doesn’t have the right throwing mechanisms, or he doesn’t — you know, he is not playing the game right. You know, he won two national championships, and that looked pretty good.”

“We’re the national champions in job creation back in Texas. But am i ready for the next level? Let me tell you — I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.”

HOW IT PLAYED- The Washington Post-

“Answering a debate question about his electability, Gingrich invoked the conservative icon, but when asked about his leadership credentials, he turned the tables and cited a favorite of Democrats, former president Bill Clinton.

“I believe I can debate Barack Obama and I think in seven three-hour debates Barack Obama will not have a leg to stand on in trying to defend a record that is terrible and an ideology that is radical.”

Later, when pressed about his leadership ability, the former House speaker pointed to a record of accomplishments that includes a balanced budget and welfare reform while in Congress and touted his ability to have “actually worked things out with Bill Clinton.” Never mind the government shutdown in 1995 (these days, there are only a lot of threats, not actual shutdowns), and the fact that Gingrich’s House impeached the former president for only the second time in history. “

DEVELOPING TONIGHT…A tentative deal has been reached to avert a government shutdown, which would have Congress pass an omnibus appropriations bill by early Saturday morning and an extension of the payroll tax cut by the end of the weekend.

THE LATEST from THE HILL

“House and Senate negotiators on Thursday night reached a tentative agreement on a $1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would avert a government shutdown, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee announced.

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said he expected the conference report to be filed later Thursday for a vote in both chambers Friday.

The 1,200-page legislation funds most of the federal government for the balance of fiscal 2012.

Republican leaders claimed they had a hand-shake agreement earlier in the week, but they said Democratic negotiators refused to sign off because the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) held up the agreement to gain leverage in a separate year-end dispute over the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits. Democrats said some issues remained unresolved, including travel restrictions with Cuba.”

WALL STREET- from CNBC- “Stocks limped into the close Thursday, eking out the first positive day of the week as traders shifted their focus from Europe’s problems and onto some positive U.S. economic news.

Major averages finished the day modestly positive after surging by as much as 1 percent earlier. Defensive stocks such as staples, health care and utilities were most popular, while tech and energy lagged.”

DOW up 45
NASDAQ up 2
S&P up 4

FOR HISTORY...New York Times…”U.S. Marks End to 9-Year War, Leaving an Uncertain Iraq”

“After nearly nine years, about 4,500 American fatalities and $1 trillion, America’s war in Iraq is about to end. Officials marked the finish on Thursday with a modest ceremony at the airport days before the last troops take the southern highway to Kuwait, going out as they came in, to conclude the United States’ most ambitious and bloodiest military campaign since Vietnam.

For the United States, the war leaves an uncertain legacy as Americans weigh what may have been accomplished against the price paid, with so many dead and wounded. The Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, was vanquished, but the failure to find illicit weapons undermined the original rationale, leaving a bitter taste as casualties mounted. The lengthy conflict and repeated deployments strained the country and its resources, raising questions about America’s willingness to undertake future wars on such a grand scale.

Iraqis will be left with a country that is not exactly at war, and not exactly at peace. It has improved in many ways since the 2007 troop “surge,” but it is still a shattered country marred by violence and political dysfunction, a land defined on sectarian lines whose future, for better or worse, is now in the hands of its people.”

FINALLY…69th Grammy Awards nominations- the awards ceremony is set for January 15th…

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
“War Horse”
“The Ides of March”
“The Help”
“Moneyball”
“Hugo”
“The Descendants”

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Brad Pitt, ”Moneyball”
Leonardo DiCaprio, ”J.Edgar”
Ryan Gosling, ”The Ides of March”
Michael Fassbender, ”Shame”

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Viola Davis, “‘The Help”
Meryl Streep, ”The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton, ”We Need to Talk About Kevin”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Glenn Close, ”Albert Nobbs”

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, ”Hugo”
George Clooney, ”The Ides of March”
Michel Hazanavicius, ”The Artist”
Alexander Payne, ”The Descendants”
Woody Allen, ”Midnight in Paris”

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The Evening Report for Wednesday December 14

20 DAYS UNTIL IOWA

50 HOURS UNTIL A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

TOP STORY: Brinkmanship by both parties on Capitol Hill has set the federal government up for a potential shutdown effective Saturday morning after the Senate today rejected a House passed payroll tax bill, which also includes a provision speeding implementation of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline.

This evening, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went to the White House to meet with President Obama and then return to the Capitol to sit down with Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. This is at least the third time this year that the government has come within two days of a potential shutdown and, both times, a shutdown was avoided.

Conventional wisdom on the Hill remains that Congress will pass some sort of a continuing resolution before midnight on Friday, however, with only 50 hours remaining, nothing is certain.

TONIGHT’S DEVELOPMENT: Numerous reports say that Democrats are prepared to drop their proposal for a millionaire surtax to pay for extension of the payroll tax, a sign that with the impending holiday recess, the parties may be moving closer to a deal.

The Washington Post reports tonight:

“Taken together, the developments signaled the end game for a year of divided government — with a tea party-flavored majority in the House and Obama’s allies in the Senate — that has veered from near-catastrophe to last-minute compromise repeatedly since last January.

The rhetoric was biting at times.

“We have fiddled all year long, all year,” McConnell complained in a less-than-harmonious exchange on the Senate floor with Reid. He accused Democrats of “routinely setting up votes designed to divide us … to give the president a talking point out on the campaign trail.”

Reid shot back that McConnell had long ago declared Obama’s defeat to be his top priority. And he warned that unless Republicans show a willingness to bend, the country faces a government shutdown “that will be just as unpopular” as the two that occurred when Newt Gingrich was House speaker more than a decade ago.

It was a reminder — as if McConnell and current Speaker John Boehner of Ohio needed one — of the political debacle that ensued for Republicans when Gingrich was outmaneuvered in a showdown with former President Bill Clinton.”

GOVERNMENT PREPARES FOR POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN- The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe-

“Cabinet secretaries and agency heads planned to send an e-mail message to workers by close of business Wednesday informing them that a shutdown could occur, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the plans.

A shutdown would not apply to a wide swath of agencies and departments that already have full-year funding in place thanks to a partial spending bill that passed in November, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, House and Urban Development, Justice, State, and Transportation, NASA, and other smaller agencies covered by separate appropriations measures.

In a statement, Office of Management and Budget spokesman Kenneth Baer said Wednesday that “There is no reason for the government to shut down.”Congress could act quickly to pass a short- or long-term spending measure, Baer said, as they have seven times already this year.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA made his first trip as President to FORT BRAGG NORTH CAROLINA today, speaking to soldiers who have deployed to Iraq

WALL STREET TODAY- from CNBC- “Worries over European debt again plagued Wall Street, sending stocks down at the close for a third straight day in a selloff that also hit commodities and energy stocks hard.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 and Dow industrials lost about 1 percent each, with energy down nearly 3 percent. All 10 S&P 500 sectors were negative with materials and industrials also getting hammered. Financials and health care were closest to positive territory.”

DOW down 131
NASDAQ down 40
S&P 500 down 14

CAMPAIGN 2012:

QUOTE OF THE DAY- Romney interview with the New York Times-

“Zany is not what we need in a president.”

“Zany is great in a campaign. It’s great on talk radio. It’s great in print, it makes for fun reading. But in terms of a president, we need a leader, and a leader needs to be someone who can bring Americans together.”

In IOWA tonight, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee did not give any clues as to which candidate he might be leaning towards endorsing, or even if he will endorse before the Caucus on January 3rd. Huckabee hosted the screening of a conservative film- “The Gift of Life”- in Des Moines attended by four presidential candidates- Santorum, Perry, Bachmann & Gingrich- tonight.

ROMNEY ATTACKS GINGRICH- in interview with CBS News-

“[I was] frankly, very surprised that he would attack conservatism, he would attack free enterprise, he would attack capitalism. This is a party that believes in free enterprise.”

Q: Is he in the wrong party?

“Well, it depends on the day. I just think hes been unreliable in his support of conservative principles.”

ALSO

“Newt Gingrich has wealth from having worked in government. He’s a wealthy man, a very wealthy man. If you have a half a million dollar purchase from Tiffany’s, you’re not a middle-class American.”

TOMORROW NIGHT is the 13th Republican Presidential Candidates Debate of the 2012 primary- sponsored by FOX News and the Republican Party of Iowa- in Sioux City, Iowa.

THE EVENING REPORT will publish a special POST-DEBATE edition tomorrow night.

LEADING POLITICO TONIGHT- “Is Newt taking Iowa seriously enough?”- by Jonathan Martin-

“Gingrich’s return from the political grave has been premised on disregarding the practice of politics as usual, and he now seems to be betting that he can bypass the traditional, retail-focused path to victory in Iowa and still win. Asked if he was endangering his Iowa prospects, Gingrich acknowledged he was taking intense fire but said he’d ramp up his effort before January 3rd.

“I think Iowa’s going to be a challenge because you have everybody firing away simultaneously in a relatively small market,” the former speaker told reporters following his lecture here at the University of Iowa. “And so I think it’s going to require two weeks of my going around, telling the truth, letting people look at the negative ad, look at the truth and decide if they really want to give their vote to somebody who’s not telling the truth.”

Gingrich promised to do more retail events – he teased a post-Christmas bus tour – and said he’d do more ads.

But he also offered a mix of nonchalance and high-road confidence in explaining that he didn’t have enough money to match his rivals’ ad campaign and, in any event, wasn’t inclined to engage in traditional back-and-forth on the airwaves.”

REUTERS/IPSOS POLL HAS GINGRICH UP BY 10

GINGRICH 28
ROMNEY 18
PAUL 12
PERRY 12
BACHMANN 10
HUNTSMAN 5
SANTORUM 4

GALLUP TRACKING HAS GINGRICH UP BY 8

GINGRICH 31
ROMNEY 23
PAUL 9
BACHMANN 6
SANTORUM 4
HUNTSMAN 2

GENERAL ELECTION MASHUPS

OBAMA V. ROMNEY (USA TODAY) OBAMA: 47%, ROMNEY 46%
OBAMA V. GINGRICH (USA TODAY): OBAMA: 50% ROMNEY 44%

OBAMA V. ROMNEY (NBC/WSJ): OBAMA 47% ROMNEY 45%
OBAMA V GINGRICH (NBC/WSJ): OBAMA 51% GINGRICH 40%

OBAMA V ROMNEY (REUTERS) OBAMA 48% ROMNEY 40%
OBAMA V GINGRICH (REUTERS) OBAMA 51% GINGRICH 38%

FINALLY...

BRIAN WILLIAMS INTERVIEWS MARCEL THE SHELL. If you haven’t yet seen the video from Monday Night’s ROCK CENTER, America #1 evening newsman traveled to Brooklyn to interview the Mama and Papa of this Internet sensation

“Marcel has plenty of spunk, which he brought to his interview with Williams. When asked if having just one eye has affected him in any way, Marcel returned, “Has having one nose affected you in any way, Brian?”

The conversation made Williams chortle. He even hinted that he and his colleagues could learn a thing or two from Marcel. “A lot of network primetime shows would kill for 14 million plus viewers,” Williams said. “When the second installment hit the web, it had more viewers by its first night than a lot of popular cable news shows and it’s already up to three million.”

“Rock Center” debuted in November with 4.1 million total viewers.”

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The Evening Report for Thursday November 17

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.

The Golden Report for Friday September 23

FRIDAY EARLY EDITION

TOP STORY: SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN IN THREE PARTS

THE VOTES: The House of Representatives voted at 12:30am ET on a Continuing Resolution, their second attempt at a bill to keep the government funding beyond the end of the fiscal year: one week from today. The bill contained the “Solyndra Option”- increases in funding for emergency disaster assistance offset by cuts in a renewable energy program that gave a government-backed grant to the now-failed solar company. The party-line vote was the result of nearly two days of behind door talks with the Speaker and the Republican Caucus. This afternoon, on a 59-36 vote, the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to consider the House CR. Thereby making it dead. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said today that the Senate will vote on Monday afternoon on a Democratic-sponsored continuing resolution, that is also expected to fail.

THE DEADLINES: According to Congressional officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency only has about $174 million left in disaster assistance funds. At current burn rates, the money will be expired by Monday at the earliest and Wednesday at the latest. The Federal Government would begin a shutdown at midnight next Friday night, into Saturday morning. A partial shutdown would occur over the weekend (many offices are closed anyway) and a full shutdown on Monday morning. The House of Representatives was supposed to adjourn tonight for a week-long recess, that is now in question- the House would appear to have to stay in session in order to pass a bill to meet both of these deadlines. Both the House and Senate have adjourned for the weekend- delaying any action until next week.

THE NEXT STEP: Far from clear. What we do know is nothing is going to get done this weekend. The Senate could still try to pass the House approved continuing resolution- and by staying in Recess, that is a bargaining chip that House Republicans can play. The obvious next step is for both sides to negotiate on a compromise package- although there do not appear to be any negotiations planned or considered at this time. And unlike the shutdown threat earlier this year, the White House has thus far not become involved in any way on reaching a resolution. Watch to see if there are signs over the weekend- perhaps on the Sunday shows- of movement on any of these three areas.

THE OTHER BIG STORY: Despite posting some gains for the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its worst week since August 2008, down over 6%. The NASDAQ was lower by 5% and the S&P 500 was lower nearly 7% on the week, although all three indices were up today. The culprit? The health of the global economy- specifically in Europe and the continuing Greek debt crisis. Last week’s extraordinary meeting of Euro Zone Finance Ministers with Treasury Secretary Geithner, the statements of support and unity by France and Germany, and this week’s IMF meetings all seem to have done very little to calm the nerves of clearly rattled markets. This week shows that there are not going to be easy answers to solving the underlying problems- and they are not going to come quickly. There is now active conversation about a repeat of 2008: a global economic recession that will be sparked- not by a crisis of credit, but rather by a crisis of confidence. As the IMF met in Washington this week, statements from leaders indicated this concern and a desire to get ahead of financial instability- using any and all monetary and fiscal policy tools at central banks disposals- before a crisis could spread, potentially causing a devastating ripple effect. This was evidenced in an overnight statement from the financial leaders of the G-20 nations which said, in part, there is an urgent need for “a response to address the renewed challenges facing the global economy.”

THE THIRD BIG STORY: At the United Nations today, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went ahead, as expected, with a proposal to grant the Palestinian Authority statehood status and recognition. Shortly after that move, it was learned that the United States, United Nations, Europe Union and Russia (the quartet) would soon announce a re-opening of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Details are still emerging and will continue to be learned for the rest of the day. If true- then Abbas succeeded in this week’s UN tactics in a sense- because he re-injected the Mid East Peace Process onto the international agenda and forced the international community- distracted by a plethora of issues, including Libya, Iran and the global economy- to focus again on the complexities and challenges of his nation. Statement from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: ““We urge both parties to take advantage of this opportunity to get back to get back to talks, and the United States pledges our support as the parties themselves take the important next steps for a two-solution, which is what all of us are hoping to achieve.”

TWO OTHER INTERNATIONAL STORIES:

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh returned to his country today, after four months in Saudi Arabia for health treatment and as the result of insurgency, protest and political tumult in his country. It has been a particularly violent week in Yemen as months-long anti-government protests continued and it is unclear whether his return will help to quell- or provoke further- the protests
In Senate testimony yesterday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Michael Mullen suggested that he has evidence that the Pakistan Intelligence Service, the ISI, was behind recent attacks against American forces in Afghanistan, including the siege of the American compound last week and the assassination this week of the former Afghan President. Today, the Pakistani Army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani rejected Mullen’s suggestions (which has been reinforced by other US leaders in recent days and weeks) of a connection between the ISI and the militant Haqqani network. This only further shows the difficulty and complexity of the US relationship with Pakistan.

FINALLY: The Evening Report comes to you tonight from Phoenix, Arizona- site of the 66th Annual National Conference on Citizenship. Today, the 2011 Arizona Civic Health Index was released at a breakfast before the actual Conference, which came to Arizona this year- for the first time in its history- thanks to a partnership between NCoC and the Center For The Future of Arizona. Among the speakers today: former Huffington Post and New York Times reporter Jose Antonio Vargas, who publicly revealed his undocumented immigration status three months ago. In a state where immigration is a deeply contentious issue, Vargas’s appearance- as well as the rest of the insightful Conference program- showed how NCoC is advancing its role as a dynamic, non-partisan non-profit exploring what shapes today’s citizenry, define the evolving role of the individual in our democracy, and uncover ways to motivate greater participation.