Rick Perry might run for president a second time, though we're pretty confident he'd blank on a third campaign. Mitt Romney visited Disneyland, which appropriately enough is the the Disney resort that doesn't have a Hall of Presidents. And Hillary Clinton used her Muslim Brotherhood contacts in the State Department to help forge a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Your move, Congresswoman Bachmann. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Wednesday, November 21st, 2012:
Programming note: We'll be off tomorrow and Friday in observance of our nation's annual turkey holocaust. Gobble gobble!
DEFICIT DEBATE: BOEHNER TARGETS OBAMACARE - In a Cincinnati Inquirer op-ed published last night, the House speaker insisted that scaling down Obamacare should be a central component of any long-term deficit plan. The move could conceivably keep his conference's more conservative members from making a stink for about 3.4 seconds and will simultaneously keep Eric Cantor from pulling out the drape-measuring tape he carries around in his breast pocket at all times. "The president's health care law adds a massive, expensive, unworkable government program at a time when our national debt already exceeds the size of our country's entire economy. We can't afford it, and we can't afford to leave it intact," Boehner writes. "That's why I've been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation's massive debt challenge." [Cincinnati Inquirer]
The Inquirer's headline suggests the GOP is against health in all forms: "House GOP is angling to repeal health care" -- Run! John Cornyn is coming for your Lipitor!
And the White House was all "Nuh-uh!" "The White House and congressional Democrats are balking at the idea, floated byHouse Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday, that changes to the president's signature health care law should be on the table during lame-duck talks over taxes and the deficit. An administration official told The Huffington Post that the president would oppose involving the Affordable Care Act in the negotiations taking place to stave off the so-called 'fiscal cliff.' A top Senate Democratic aide called the idea 'absolutely' a non-starter." [HuffPost's Sam Stein]
JESSE JACKSON JR. RESIGNS - Even money says Pat Quinn won't rub his hands together and declare "I've got this thing, and it's fucking golden. I'm just not giving it up for fucking nothing" as he prepares to set a special election date... though it would be hilariously awesome if he did. Chicago Sun-Times: "Battling bipolar disorder and a federal probe into his campaign accounts, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress Wednesday afternoon, submitting his letter of resignation to House Speaker John Boehner. The Chicago Democrat is embroiled in a federal probe into his campaign accounts, and multiple sources have said the eldest son of the famed civil rights leader is trying to negotiate a deal with the feds. No such deal is in place, however, a source said." [Sun-Times]
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - John Horsey landed his current job by hollering across the street to a friend back in 2005. After a little back and forth, his friend shouted that a man nearby wanted to talk to Horsey. "He said, 'Hey, this guy wants to know if you want a job.'" Horsey walked across the street and asked the man what kind of job he was offering. "'Doing what you do: yelling,'" he said the man told him. "They said this job might last 30 days, 90 days," Horsey said. "I've been doing it ever since." Every business day, Horsey, 54, walks in a line with 30 or so other men and women, chanting slogans on behalf of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters in downtown Washington, D.C. But Horsey and the others are not members of the union; they're "hired feet" earning $8.50 an hour to chant about substandard wages and benefits at worksites where contractors are not using union labor. Some of the picketers are homeless. Horsey, for instance, spends most of his nights in a downtown D.C. park, though he said his wages from the union afford him the occasional room in a house or a motel stay. He said he'd been without regular shelter for the past four years, ever since his landlord raised the rent. [HuffPost]
The rent really is too damn high.
DOUBLE DOWNER - Unemployment increases your chances of a heart attack.
Don't be bashful: Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
ISRAEL AND HAMAS AGREE TO PUT OFF KILLING FOR A WEE BIT - Josh Hersh: "Israel and Hamas have agreed to a cease-fire in the week-old conflagration in Gaza that has left more than a hundred dead and many more wounded. The halt in hostilities was announced during a Wednesday press conference in Cairo, Egypt, by the Egyptian foreign minister Mohammed Kamel Amr. He was joined by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has spent the past 18 hours engaged in a whirlwind tour of diplomacy in a hasty attempt to reach a peace deal. The cease-fire is set to take effect at 9 p.m. Cairo time, or 2 p.m. EST. More than 140 Palestinians, and five Israelis, have been killed in the conflict, which was almost entirely conducted by airstrike, rocket and drone. Egyptian mediators told Reuters that Hamas believes it has won 'guarantees' from the Israeli government to stop assassinating its leaders, and to ease the way for Palestinians to move across the borders of the Gaza Strip. Israelis say that if the rocket fire from Gaza does not stop, they hold the right to redouble their military strikes in the future." [HuffPost]
Obama for America, keeping its email list in play: "Right now, President Obama is working with leaders of both parties in Washington to reduce the deficit in a balanced way so we can lay the foundation for long-term middle-class job growth and prevent your taxes from going up. Your voice and action helped re-elect President Obama, and hundreds of thousands of you have already responded to our survey, which will help shape our next steps. Thanks to your feedback, we're taking immediate action on one of your suggestions: keeping you informed about how the President is fighting for you so you can continue to talk to your friends, family, and neighbors."
ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT - Unless the primary debates are held in the House chamber -- and we're pretty sure that's not allowed -- 2015 will likely witness a lot of Google hangout debates. Politico: "Upwards of 15 prominent Republicans are privately contemplating 2016 campaigns for the presidency -- and the most serious and ambitious of the bunch are already plunging in, some quite publicly... POLITICO has also learned that Rick Santorum is telling friends he wants to run again. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has said publicly that he might, too, and has begun talking to donors and other top supporters like he means it...Republican sources said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) might want to fill the void on the religious right now..." [Politico]
IOWA GOVERNOR WANTS TO END THE STRAW POLL - The quadrennial survey of Iowa Republicans is a bit like Major League Baseball's new Wild Card playoff, in that both allow for dark horse candidates. However in this comparison, the Yankees and Red Sox are Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush and the Atlanta Braves are some fringe candidate who thinks Jesus invented English. WSJ: "Is one of the quirkiest rituals of the Republican presidential election calendar heading for the grave? It is, if Iowa's Republican Gov. Terry Branstad has his say. Eyeing the wreckage of the 2011 Ames Straw Poll, which Rep. Michele Bachmannwon only to fizzle as a candidate soon after, Mr. Branstad wants to do away with the whole thing. 'I think the straw poll has outlived its usefulness,' Mr. Branstad said of the 33-year-old GOP ritual. 'It has been a great fundraiser for the party but I think its days are over.'" [WSJ]
ROMNEY ADVISER: ET TU, EVERYBODY? - Dan Senor, a sen(i)or adviser to the former Republican presidential nominee, revealed on MSNBC his startling discovery that political alliances are often impermanent. "The Friday night before the election, we were in Cincinnati for this huge rally ... Tens of thousands of people, you could feel the energy, a hundred top-tier Romney surrogates were at the event. I'm backstage with some of them, I won't mention their names, but they're talking about Romney like he's Reagan," Senor said on "Morning Joe." "'His debate performances were the best performances of any Republican nominee in presidential history. He's iconic.' They were talking about him because they believed he was going to win in four or five days. And in fact, some of them were already talking to our transition to position themselves for a Romney cabinet... They know who they are. They were on television, it was unbelievable, it was five, six days later, absolutely eviscerating him." Sorry, guy! [Politico]
Georgia might soon lead the nation in exports of head-scratching comments about women's reproductive systems. Amanda Terkel: "Karen Handel, the former Susan G. Komen for the Cure executive who drove the charity's attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, is considering running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, according to one of her former aides. 'She's considering it,' Rob Simms, a Republican campaign consultant who worked on Handel's unsuccessful run for governor in 2010, told the Weekly Standard. If she ran, she would be going up against Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)... According to the Weekly Standard, Kay Godwin, the co-chairman of Georgia Conservatives in Action, also said she is hearing that Handel may challenge Chambliss in a primary...Before joining Komen in April 2011, Handel ran for governor of Georgia on an aggressively anti-abortion platform." [HuffPost]
MSNBC CRUSHING ON OBAMA - Michael Calderone takes a look at whether the network will throw out its American Apparel Obama-print shirt now that the election is over: "MSNBC President Phil Griffin labels his network's sensibility as progressive, but the cable news channel could also be described these days as simply pro-Obama. In the final week of the 2012 election, MSNBC ran no negative stories about President Barack Obama and no positive stories about Republican nominee Mitt Romney, according to a study released Monday by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism...Speaking to The Huffington Post, [MSNBC President Phil] Griffin attributed MSNBC's recent ratings success to having built a strong brand and community around hosts whom viewers trusted during the 2012 election cycle and will hopefully stick with into Obama's second term. 'What I really believe is we analyzed this election in a really smart way and we didn't go over the top,' Griffin said. 'We weren't just shilling for Obama. We were really smart. And people are responding to that now.'" [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - A musical Thanksgiving recipe starring a dancing raw turkey.
COMFORT FOOD
- Two-year-old yoga instructor wants you to breathe out tension and breathe in peace... and also to not take its xylophone away. [http://bit.ly/10ddCI9]
- Twenty-five years of cell phones in one image. [http://bit.ly/T5utHH]
- Pregnancy-themed cocktail napkins from the 1950s, back when fetal alcohol syndrome was... fun? A weird relic. [http://bit.ly/TeziR1]
- This juggling pianist will haunt your dreams... enjoy! [http://chzb.gr/Qtk4t9]
- The best Thanksgiving-themed Someecards. [http://huff.to/TPRNHN]
- A supercut of Bobby Moynihan's "Drunk Uncle" SNL character. This will probably be the last time you laugh at a drunk uncle for the rest of the week. [http://huff.to/TWBxa8]
- "Later, we'll be selling rare, unsigned copies of Gary's work." The roast of Gary Shteyngart. [http://bit.ly/SenZa7]
TWITTERAMA
@tyrangiel: Next time Hillary will just Skype the Israelis and Palestinians and say 'Don't make me stop this car.'
@pourmecoffee: If you are cooking for Thanksgiving in Colorado, double the recipe from previous years to be safe.
Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com), Ryan Grim (ryan@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e