The Golden Report

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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21 DAYS UNTIL IOWA

JUST IN: Conservative activist and former Delaware senate candidate Christine O’Donnell tonight announced her endorsement of Mitt Romney on FOX News. And tonight, the Romney campaign is TRUMPETING the endorsement.

TOP STORY: The House passed a payroll tax cut extension this evening; it is considered dead on arrival in Senate.

THE VOTE: 234-to-193. 10 Democrats joined 224 Republicans in backing the measure, while 14 Republicans and 179 Democrats voted no.

WHAT’S NEXT: Unclear. Democrats are using as leverage in the debate over the payroll tax cut the omnibus appropriations bill which will fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.

That bill is ready to be filed and considered and has bipartisan support. But Senate Majority Leader Reid doesn’t want to bring it to the floor until there is an agreement on the tax cut, as the omnibus is the last remaining “must-pass” item before the holiday recess. That despite the fact the tax cut expires on 12/31. The current continuing resolution funding the government expires on Friday night, 12/16.

TRUMP’S FIRED- Today the man who has played an outsized role in the Republican primary so far said he was pulling out of his own debate, which was set to be held in Iowa two weeks from tonight sponsored by Newsmax. Only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum had agreed to participate.

GETTING LOCAL- President Obama conducted interviews with four regional network affiliates today. The White House Communications Office has scheduled these block interviews with TV stations from around the country about twice a month, allowing the President to sit for questions with reporters outside of the White House Press Corps.

Today he was interviewed on WVEC (Norfolk, VA), WEAR (Pennsacola, FL), KOAA (Colorado Springs, CO) and KIMO (Seattle, WA).

HERE’S HOW KOAA-NBC5-Coloardo Springs led their 5pm broadcast tonight, with a clip of President Obama’s interview with a local news anchor saying “Colorado, I always like to think, is the future of America” then a 3-part split screen with video from the interview, a live picture of the press briefing, and B-roll of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Then, local reporter Rob Quirk live from the North Lawn of The White House.

A theme for this round of regional television interviews was the end of the war in Iraq. THE WHITE HOUSE has released an interactive timeline that walks through the President’s speeches and decision-points on Iraq since taking office at whitehouse.gov/iraq

DEFENSE SECRETARY LEON PANETTA made a previously unannounced visit to Afghanistan today

J.W. MARRIOTT, JR. announced today that he will retire as CEO of MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, the international hotel chain his parents started and which is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.

The Washington Post reports on the end of an era of a local business leader:

“Throughout the growth of his family’s company and the industry, there was Mr. Marriott, as his devoutly loyal employees call him, espousing his family’s simple maxim that if you take care of your employees, your employees will take care of your customers, and your customers will come back.

That philosophy still permeates the company — which is now worth nearly $10 billion and employs 129,000 people — after countless nights of putting heads in beds. Arne Sorenson, a trusted Marriott lieutenant for more than a decade, will become chief executive in March, the first non-Marriott to run the company. J.W. Marriott, known as Bill, will become executive chairman.”

TODAY ON THE STREET- from CNBC- “Wall Street sold off sharply in the final hour of trade after the Federal Reserve delivered little hope that it would turn on the easing spigots anytime soon and as a formerly rosy holiday retail season suddenly turned gloomy.

Major averages closed just off their lows from the day in a selloff that began shortly after the Fed’s Open Market Committee released its meeting statement shortly after 2. The red numbers accelerated into the close as banks and energy — leaders during a morning rally — turned tail and dropped sharply.”

• DOW down 66
• NASDAQ down 33
• S&P 500 down 11

CAMPAIGN 2012- THREE WEEKS UNTIL IOWA CAUCUS NIGHT

GINGRICH STAFFER OUT IN IOWA- Following a Des Moines Register report that a staffer for the Gingrich Campaign raised questions about Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith, the campaign today fired the staffer.

Via POLITICO: Craig Bergman agreed to step away from his role with Newt 2012 today,” Gingrich spokseman RC Hammond said in a statement. “He made a comment to a focus group prior to becoming an employee that is inconsistent with Newt 2012’s pledge to run a positive and solutions orientated campaign.” 

GINGRICH TOPS ROMNEY BY 17 POINTS in new NBC NEWS/WALL STREET JOURNAL POLL (a national survey) released tonight at 6:30pm.

• GINGRICH 40
• ROMNEY 23
• PAUL 9
• BACHMANN 8
• PERRY 6
• HUNTSMAN 5
• SANTORUM 3

THREE POINTS:

1/ It’s the first time that Gingrich has topped 40 points in a national survey.
2/ Romney remains mired in the low to mid 20s.
3/ The field is separating between Newt/Romney and everyone else, with Ron Paul currently in third place, 14 points behind Romney

In IOWA, Gingrich has a 12-point lead over Romney according to a Real Clear Politics average of recent polls
In NEW HAMPSHIRE, Romney has a 10-point lead over Gingrich, with Paul in 3rd and Huntsman in 4th.
In SOUTH CAROLINA, Gingrich has almost a 20-point lead over Romney.

HARD HITTING AD by RON PAUL in IOWA “Selling Access”

As one political observer put it today “we didn’t know Ron Paul could create an ad that good”

FINALLY.…No Labels, the 501(c)(4) organization formed about a year ago with the lofty goal of bringing Republicans and Democrats together, today took their first tangible step at relevance in a crowded political environment, releasing a blueprint for reforms that Congress can make to the way it does business, unveiling a 12-step action plan to “Make Congress Work” at nolabels.org/work including

1/ No Budget, No Pay- members of Congress would not be paid if the annual Congressional budget process wasn’t completed on time
6/ Question Time for the President- a monthly forum for Members of Congress to ask questions of the President, a la Prime Minister’s Questions
8/ No Pledge But the Oath of Office
10/ Bipartisan Seating
11/ Formation of a Bipartisan Leadership  Committee

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