memeorandum: Lack of jobs leaves more suburban, middle class sliding into poverty (Francine Knowles/Chicago Sun Times)

11:15 AM ET, October 25, 2011

Top Items:

My Tax and Spending Reform Plan — Individuals will have the option of paying a 20% flat-rate income tax and I'll cap spending at 18% of GDP. — The folks in Washington might not like to hear it, but the plain truth is the U.S. government spends too much.

Kevin Drum / Political Mojo:

Rick Perry's Miraculous Tax Plan — Huzzah! Rick Perry's new tax plan is out: … In addition, Perry is going to lower the corporate tax rate, move to a territorial tax system, pass a Balanced Budget Amendment, ban earmarks, freeze federal hiring and salaries through 2020 …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, Balloon Juice, Pat Dollard, Weasel Zippers and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

The Politico:

Rick Perry readies assault on Mitt Romney — The Rick Perry relaunch has finally arrived. — After weeks battling questions about how he plans to salvage his listing presidential bid, the Texas governor has finally started spelling out an answer. It involves opening his $15 million campaign war chest …

Discussion: CNN and Connecting.the.Dots

John Harwood / The Caucus:

10 Questions for Rick Perry — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is seeking to jump-start his Republican presidential campaign by proposing a new tax system: a 20 percent flat rate on individual and corporate income, down from the current 35 percent top rate, and elimination of existing taxes on estates, capital gains and dividends.

Discussion: New York Times, msnbc.com and Campaign 2012

Jason Embry / Austin American-Statesman:

First Reading: Details of Perry's tax proposal — Perry to call for flat tax of 20 percent, plan will be called a gift to the rich and Herman Cain web ad leaves plenty of heads scratched. — (Happy birthday to Luke Legate, even though it was yesterday. Today, happy birthday to Rep. Donna Howard.)

Discussion: The Agonist, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Business Insider and National Review

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Sen. DeMint meeting with Rick Perry

Discussion: CNN

The Daily Beast:
Why the GOP Demonizes ‘Illegals’

Discussion: 24Ahead, Washington Monthly and Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Chronicle:

Cops arrest Occupy Oakland protesters — (10-25) 05:58 PDT OAKLAND — Oakland police arrested dozens of people at a plaza outside City Hall, two weeks after the protesters began building an intricate encampment as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement against corporate greed and economic inequality.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Right Wing Nut House, Big Government, L.A. NOW, americanthinker.com and JammieWearingFool

Mercury News:

Police arrest protesters, tear down Occupy Oakland tent city — Early Tuesday, the city began ousting protesters who have camped out for two weeks at the Occupy Oakland tent city on Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Police started assembling around the tent city at 14th Street and Broadway at about 3 a.m.

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:
Watch live: ‘Occupy Oakland’ attacked by police

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Allison Kopicki / The Caucus:

Most Republican Primary Voters Remain Uncommitted — A large majority of Republican primary voters have yet to make up their minds about the candidate they would like to see as their party's nominee for president in 2012, with the nation's first nominating contests just two months away.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Daily Kos, GOP 12, Questions and Observations, Indecision Forever, 2012 US Elections, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call and Business Insider

CBS News:

Herman Cain tops Mitt Romney in latest CBS/NYT poll — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. — Businessman Herman Cain is now atop the field of Republican White House hopefuls, squeaking past former Massachusetts …

Discussion: New York Magazine, ThinkProgress, The Caucus and Business Insider

David Weigel / Slate:

Herman Cain's Amazing Campaign Ad … - Saletan: Bachmann Thinks Our Military Was in Iraq Not To Liberate It but To Own It - The President of ASU on Rick Scott's Stupid Idea To Cut Funding for Liberal Arts Education - My Seven Beliefs About Tim Tebow: 1) He Is Not a Viable NFL Quarterback …

Discussion: GOP 12 and Political Mojo

Geneva Sands-Sadowitz / The Hill:

Cain ad catches attention with chief of staff puffing cigarette — A new video from Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's campaign features chief of staff Mark Block puffing a cigarette. — The ad touts Cain's unusual candidacy, with Block saying he's proud to be serving a candidate the country has not seen before.

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and The Atlantic Online

Joseph E. Gagnon / RealTime Economic Issues Watch:

The Last Bullet — US policymakers are running out of options to solve our massive unemployment problem and get the economy growing again. The Administration's jobs bill faces resistance in Congress. The best option that can be implemented without a vote of Congress is to work through …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, Angry Bear, Daily Kos, Paul Krugman and New York Times

MIke Lillis / The Hill:
House Dems: Obama's response to mortgage crisis is insufficient

Discussion: naked capitalism, Sky Dancing, The Atlantic Online and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Biden complains after dust-up with reporter — Joe Biden's office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation the vice president had with a conservative journalist last week on Capitol Hill. — Biden aides asked whether Senate rules were broken in the wake …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs and JammieWearingFool

Quinnipiac University:

Opposition To Ohio's SB 5 Grows, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Women, Union Members Push Kasich Deeper In Hole — Ohio voters support 57 - 32 percent the repeal of SB 5, the centerpiece of Gov. John Kasich's legislative program, as the margin against the governor's measure has almost doubled …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Hotline On Call

Arlette Saenz / ABCNEWS:

Rick Perry Doubles Down on Birther Issue — Perry in Iowa. Is he risking his candidacy with birther talk? Nati Harnik/AP Photo — Gov. Rick Perry will unveil an economic plan today that he hopes will revive the economy as well as his campaign, but in an interview prior to his speech …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Rick Perry's birther Parade

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, Prairie Weather, Burkablog and ABCNEWS

Jonathan Bines / The Huffington Post:
How to Speak Republican — Republican Party , Gop Dictionary …

Discussion: Room Eight

Tracy Connor / NY Daily News:

Occupy Wall Street sympathizer creates 'I'm Getting Arrested' app to help protesters — Police arrested this Occupy Wall Street supporter during a protest against ‘stop and frisk.’ — An Occupy Wall Street sympathizer created a free app called “I'm Getting Arrested” that lets protesters send …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Guardian and Shakesville

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Public Divided Over Occupy Wall Street Movement

Discussion: American Power and The Raw Story

Sarah Kunin / ABCNEWS:

Jon Huntsman Vies for ‘The Colbert Bump’ — With poor poll percentages and even worse fundraising numbers, there's no denying that these days Jon Huntsman could use a little public relations pick-me-up. — On Monday, the former governor swapped out the New Hampshire house party circuit …

Discussion: The Politico, GOP 12 and Campaign 2012

CBS News:

GlobalPost: Qaddafi apparently sodomized after capture — Amid mounting questions about just how and when Muammar Qaddafi died, a GlobalPost analysis of video footage suggests a Libyan fighter sodomized the former dictator after he was captured near Sirte. — As GlobalPost reports:

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, JONATHAN TURLEY and The Jawa Report

n+1:

Monday Night Urgent OWS Message — UPDATE (12:44 AM): Crisis averted: tonight at the General Assembly, the working group of drummers, Pulse, in a spirit of conciliation and generosity, brought forward a proposal to limit their drumming from 12 to 2 and 4 to 6 PM only.

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, Gawker and Hot Air

C.J. Ciaramella / The Daily Caller:

Justice Dept. proposes lying, hiding existence of records under new FOIA rule — A proposed revision to Freedom of Information Act rules would allow federal agencies to lie to citizens and reporters seeking certain records, telling them the records don't exist.

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, ProPublica, Betsy's Page and Big Government

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama tells Hollywood 2012 campaign won't be as ‘sexy’ as last time — President Obama acknowledged that his re-election effort “will not be as sexy as the first one” at a star-studded fundraiser Monday night in Hollywood. — “This election will not be as sexy as the first one,” Obama said.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

David Welna / NPR:

Rubio Tries To Clarify How His Family Left Cuba … GOP rising star Sen. Marco Rubio caught heat last week for his Senate bio that misstated when his family left Cuba for the U.S., a detail of some relevance in his home state of Florida. But in explaining his side of the story in a Politico op-ed …

Discussion: US Politics, Naked Politics, DownWithTyranny!, Washington Post and Associated Press

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

M.T.A. Tries to Reduce Total Trash Hauled Away by Train — If cleanliness is next to godliness, then the New York City subway has long been in need of a few prayers. — So trash-weary officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority are trying something new: in a counterintuitive plan …

Discussion: City Room, Gothamist and New York Magazine