memeorandum: Berlusconi faces the ultimate downgrade (Guy Dinmore/Financial Times)

12:30 PM 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.

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: Campaign 2012, Washington Post, Hot Air, GOP 12, New York Times and Political Mojo

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: Washington Post, Washington Wire, Campaign 2012, Connecting.the.Dots, CNN, Wall Street Journal and Fox News

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 Wire, The Enterprise Blog, Washington Post, Campaign 2012, The Atlantic Online and Balloon Juice

Jason Embry / Austin American-Statesman:
First Reading: Details of Perry's tax proposal

Discussion: ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Agonist, ABCNEWS and Weasel Zippers

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Perry campaign calls on Romney to release tax returns

NationalJournal.com:
Perry Proposes 20 Percent Flat Tax

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, National Review, Race 4 2012, The Gateway Pundit, msnbc.com and Pat Dollard

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

Discussion: CNN

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, Guardian, Right Wing Nut House, L.A. NOW, Big Government, americanthinker.com, JammieWearingFool, Daily Kos and Portland Press-Herald

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 — Hundreds of protesters at “Occupy Oakland” were facing arrest in the early hours of Tuesday morning as 100 or more police officers closed in on their location. — Local media reports indicated that hundreds of police showed …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Crooks and Liars

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: No More Mister Nice Blog, GOP 12 and Political Mojo

Geneva Sands-Sadowitz / The Hill:
New Cain ad showing chief of staff smoking cigarette catches attention

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and The Atlantic Online

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Answering the Cain question

Discussion: The Caucus and The Maddow Blog

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, ABCNEWS, National Review, The Caucus, Runnin' Scared and Business Insider

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, Questions and Observations, Indecision Forever, GOP 12, 2012 US Elections, Hotline On Call, Taegan Goddard's … and Business Insider

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: Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs and JammieWearingFool

Stephen Castle / New York Times:

European Finance Ministers Call Off Pre-Summit Meeting — BRUSSELS — A meeting of European Union finance ministers that was to precede the second gathering in a week of European leaders was abruptly canceled on Tuesday, raising questions about prospects for a comprehensive deal to resolve Europe's debt crisis.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Reuters and Prairie Weather

Guy Dinmore / Financial Times:
Berlusconi faces the ultimate downgrade

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE and Paul Krugman

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: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Dow Jones Newswires, ProPublica, New York Times, Prairie Weather, Angry Bear, White House.gov Blog, Daily Kos and Paul Krugman

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: msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call and Taegan Goddard's …

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Perry On Why He Went Birther: 'It's A Good Issue To Keep Alive' — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) flirted with birtherism over the weekend, telling PARADE Magazine that he didn't “have a definitive answer” on whether President Obama was born in the U.S., even though he believes he was.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Business Insider and National Review

Arlette Saenz / ABCNEWS:
Rick Perry Doubles Down on Birther Issue

Discussion: USA Today and The Raw Story

Shelby Grad / L.A. NOW:

Obama's celebrity-rich L.A. tour causes traffic jams — President Obama's fundraising swing through Los Angeles made for a tougher afternoon commute for some motorists on Monday. — The traffic problems were most intense in Hancock Park and Mid-City, with east-west commuters facing some delays.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Los Angeles Times and JammieWearingFool

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama tells Hollywood 2012 campaign won't be as ‘sexy’ as last time

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

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

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, Hot Air and DownWithTyranny!

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

Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog:

Constitutional Law Prof Blog — Election Law Blog — White Collar Crime Prof Blog — Antitrust & Comp. Pol'y Blog — 197,630 — +17.2% — Discourse.net — 169,541 —23.6% — Legal Profession Blog — 148,568 —12.9% — These Law Prof Blog Rankings …

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, more at Mediagazer »