"Man-on-dog" might make Rick Santorum squeamish, but a little man-on-man street justice really gets his blood pumping. Democrats have fired up their legislative hydraulic drill and are hollowing out a big cave for ending tax cuts for the rich. And freedom-loving Americans everywhere took 7.3 seconds out of their day to tweet their gratitude to our nation's military heroes. Your usual funnyman, Eliot Nelson, went missing for most of the day, no doubt preparing to be raptured at 11:11 PM, but this is still HUFFPOST HILL for Friday, November 11th, 2011 :
SUPER COMMITTEE DEMS CONSIDER GIVING UP ON 'END THE BUSH TAX CUTS' DEBATE - Sam Stein: "According to a private document, the authenticity of which was confirmed by a leadership aide, super committee Democrats are eyeing between $950 billion and $1 trillion in revenue raisers and tax hikes as part of a $2.3 trillion deficit reduction package. Between $300 billion and $350 billion of that would come from what one congressional aide described as 'low-hanging fruit' -- ending tax incentives for corporate jet owners, closing loopholes for oil and gas companies, changing ethanol subsidies, and so on. The remaining $650 billion in revenue that committee Democrats are targeting would be raised through a set of 'Fast Track Procedures For Tax Reform.' As part of those procedures, Democrats would agree to three guiding principles: '(a) corporate tax reform to enhance competitiveness, (b) an individual rate no higher than 35% and (c) a distribution of changes that ensures a tax code as progressive as current law.' Another Senate aide, familiar with discussions, insisted that the document was not a formal Democratic plan but rather a 'proposal that's been discussed.'" [HuffPost]
THE MAN WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS - A few weeks ago, we quoted a 20-year-old from Rochester, N.Y., Josh Ehrenberg, who'd spent two weeks in Zuccotti Park before heading down to join Occupy DC. We asked him about a transaction tax. "I think that's a great idea. I like that tax a lot," he said while serving oatmeal to morning protesters. "I don't know too much about it, and I'm not going to claim to understand it to a degree I don't, but that is in [the same] vein with a lot of the things that I want." Apparently, he has since returned to Zuccotti. He's now facing a felony assault charge. Gothamist: "Joshua Ehrenberg, 20, was arrested by police and charged with assault after an emergency medical technician was injured while police officers and protesters clashed over Ehrenberg, who has been engaged in a fight with his girlfriend. According to Chris Reider, a member of the Occupy Wall Street demonstration’s internal security team, they tried to escort Ehrenberg out of the park after the initial fight with the girlfriend; someone called police about a disturbed person, who offered Ehrenberg the choice of being arrested or being taken for a psych evaluation. A small group of Ehrenberg's friends then circled him, locking arms, to keep the officers from reaching him. According to the FDNY, there was then a scuffle to subdue him which led to Ehrenberg shoving the EMT worker into a ladder and injuring his ankle and knee. But Reider says things went down a bit differently: as the officers and three EMT workers tried to collect Ehrenberg, one medical worker stumbled over a barricade." Our guess: The Man saw that he was speaking out in the pages of HuffPost, and set him up. [Gothamist]
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Vivian Cardriche of Harvey, La. said she applied for a mortgage modification in 2009 even though she was current on her payments because her lender told her she qualified. She's been rejected for a modification no fewer than eight times since then and is on the verge of being thrown out of her house. "I wish I never had applied because if I hadn't applied I wouldn't be foreclosed and packing up all my stuff to leave my home that I've been living in for 15 years," said Cardriche, who is a 57-year-old former card dealer getting by thanks to Social Security disability payments. Most of the denial letters say Cardriche doesn't make enough money to qualify for a mod, even though she insists her income is the same now as it was before she applied. "The loan modification is like a poison apple. It's like someone being caught in a spider web trap."
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OBAMA THANKS VETERANS, REMINDS NATION THAT HE 'ENDED' THE WAR IN IRAQ - Forget that the war isn't actually over, as security duties will just be shifted from the U.S. military to an army of expensive private contractors and shadow CIA personnel when troops withdraw at the end of the year. Semantics! From his speech: "Because of their incredible efforts, we can stand here today and say with confidence -- the tide of war is receding. In just a few weeks, the long war in Iraq will finally come to an end. Our transition in Afghanistan is moving forward. My fellow Americans, our troops are coming home." [White House]
NATION'S PRINCESSES LESS INTO HERMAN CAIN, FOR SOME REASON - A new CBS News poll confirms that being an alleged serial sexual harasser of women doesn't improve your favor with them. Cain's support among women voters has fallen from 28 percent in October to 15 percent now. Sam Stein: "At least four women have claimed Cain harassed them while he headed the National Restaurant Association in the late 1990's, claims that have likely persuaded 30 percent of all respondents to say that they are now less likely to back his candidacy. That number rises to 38 percent when restricted to female respondents." Despite this blip, however, Cain still maintains the overall lead in this poll -- in which 70 percent of respondents said it was still too early to pick a candidate. But according to a new McClatchy-Marist Poll, Cain has dropped to third, allowing Newt Gingrich to take second place and Mitt Romney to take first. Newt, as we know, doesn't necessarily harass women, but does divorce them while they're in the hospital, or whatever he did to one of his wives. [HuffPost]
GINGRICH RISING - First, promising poll numbers, then an endorsement from the 21-year-old Chairwoman of the Iowa Federation of College Republicans? Everything's coming up Gingrich. [HuffPost's Off the Bus]
CAIN JUST A FUN-LOVING BOSS WHO LIKED TO PARTY WITH HIS COWORKERS - At least that's what his former associates at the National Restaurant Association tell the Washington Post: "During his years as leader of the restaurant association, Cain lived alone in Washington, while his wife stayed in Omaha. The association paid for an apartment, car service, first-class airline travel, country club dues and, often, Cain's restaurant tabs, said one current association official, who requested anonymity to speak frankly. 'He lived a great lifestyle,' the official said. 'Meetings and whatever, he would hang out in the bar ... late into the night,' often with staffers." [WaPo<]
RICK PERRY SEEKS TO REBOUND WITH FOX PAYOFF - Still reeling from his nearly inexplicable mental collapse during Tuesday's debate, the Perry campaign announced today that it is going all in with a massive ad buy exclusively on Fox News. Call us, Rick! "A rival campaign monitoring advertising sales said Mr. Perry's campaign had purchased $975,000 worth of advertising time on the channel, a huge amount of money for advertising on national cable television, ensuring that his ads are seen up to seven times a day." Seven times a day? Considering Fox News is playing the "Oops" clip about ten times more than that a day, we're guessing he might need to up the frequency. [NYT]
Speaking of the stumble, was the "EPA" line Romney threw Perry while he was drowning a lifeline or a noose?
NOW WE KNOW WHAT RICK SANTORUM MIGHT HAVE DONE IF HE CAUGHT THE ALLEGED PENN STATE CHILD SEX ABUSER - Penn State alumnus Rick Santorum channeled his inner Al Capone from "The Untouchables" today. While discussing Jerry Sandusky, the former football coach charged with sexual abuse of children (and the man Santorum sponsored for a "Congressional Angels in Adoption" award in 2002), the former Keystone State senator got...remorseful. "To see people turn a blind eye to this monster is just devastating," Santorum told reporters after a speech in Boston. "How does a guy walk by, a 28-year-old man walk by, and see somebody doing this to a child in a shower and not take a baseball bat and beat the guy's head in?" We totally feel you, Rick, but ... damn. [ABC News]
GOP SENATE CANDIDATE TO COLLEGE STUDENTS: WEALTH 'GAP'? LET'S AIM FOR A WEALTH CHASM - Michigan GOP Senate candidate Clark Durant got hyper dismissive about the Occupy movement this week, effectively telling a gathering at Calvin College that our nation's hippies deserve a good punchin'. "In regards to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Durant said the protesters should 'go find a job.' In regards to the wealth gap the movement decries, Durant said, 'I think it should be wider.'" Nice. [The Grand Rapid Press]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Cute rodents eating pasta.
TYLER KINGKADE'S NEWS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED - Citing excessive police force, the city council of Berkeley decided against renewing their mutual aid agreements with the University of California campus police. Meaning, if things get crazy at UC Berkeley, the city of Berkeley may not deploy their police to help out. Texas Tea Party group using claim that Occupy Wall Street is being funded by non-existent group ACORN to raise money for themselves. From the Iowa Independent: "The Nebraska legislature, meeting in a special session to deal specifically with the Keystone XL pipeline that would cross their state, may be on the verge of passing a bill that could give the governor control over the route that pipeline would take." How many times have you seen a cop throw a clown on the ground and handcuff them? Two clowns and a matador were arrested for trying to scale the iconic Wall Street bull. Here's the video. Cancer-causing chemicals found in Wyoming drinking water, after residents complained for a decade about gasoline-scented tap water. EPA has not yet said if it's a result of fracking. Thanks, Tyler!
COMFORT FOOD
With @bradjshannon
- "The Kitten Covers" takes famous album covers and replaces them with, what else, kittens. The kitty cover for Van Morrison's "Moondance" really captures Van the man's bardic introspection. [http://huff.to/siLUfD]
- Damien Walters is a stuntman/gymnast/freerunner. Here is his annual showreel. [http://bit.ly/tOFwCg]
- Bread knows how to boogie. [http://youtu.be/scJYnmGhbIo]
- I thought birds were supposed to have an innate sense of direction, but here are a few million that missed out. Bummer for them, magical for us. [http://youtu.be/43oR60WX2x8]
- Scary cat shoots green lasers out of its eyes. Scary cat is scary. Scary cat is also the next step in the terrifying process of feline evolution. They will take over. [http://huff.to/vArix4]
- Breakdancing meets yoga? [http://vimeo.com/30619461]
- Cat stuck on top of cactus. Don't worry, someone is dealing with it. [http://huff.to/skrQy0]
- Baby elephant stuck in mud pit. Don't worry, someone is dealing with it. [http://youtu.be/f_gBWPs4r3U]
TWITTERAMA
@stephenathome: Apple is reportedly working on an improved version of auto-correct. Wow, that is a really grape irving!
@elise_foley: God, why wasn't Herman Cain around two years, two months and two days ago?
@sesamestreet: Today is definitely brought to you by the number 11.
ON TAP
WEEKEND
Saturday, 1:00 p.m.: Hill staffers will get together and tell redheads they can't help tackle Alzheimer's in the 7th Annual Blondes vs. Brunettes Football Game Fundraiser. eh? eh? [GW University Mt. Vernon Campus, 2100 Foxhall Rd. NW]
Saturday, 6:00 p.m.: Sen. John Cornyn has dinner at the home of Andi and Brandon Steele for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. [Private home]
Sunday - Monday: A gaggle of Democratic female lawmakers will be at the Women's Senate Network police conference. Cost ranges from $250 to $30,800 to hang with Dianne Feinstein, Amy Klobuchar, Debbie Stabenow, Barbara Boxer, Barbara Mikulski, Kristen Gillibrand, Claire McCaskill, Jeanne Shaheen, Kay Hagan and Christina Romer. Assuming Herman Cain is not invited. [Grand Hyatt Hotel, 109 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal, New York City]
MONDAY
8:30 am: Raising money for the Rely On Your Beliefs means believing bonus rounds on Big Buck Hunter shooting birds will translate to real life talent at Roy Blunt's Annual Bird Hunt. [Bristol Mines Farm - King George, VA]
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Allen West gets a luncheon held for him by Harold Siegel at the Milton Berle Room of the Friars Club. We'll be watching for Howard Stern's producer for an introduction like we saw last week.
5:30 p.m.: Lasers! The National Rifle Association will show you how to prepare for the end-times to raise money for Rep. Bill Owens (D-NY) by showing off the latest in laser shooting technology. [410 First Street SE]
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