memeorandum: Chaffetz pushes bill to sell ‘excess’ federal lands (Thomas Burr/Salt Lake Tribune)

2:40 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: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Firedoglake, Campaign 2012, New York Times, The Page, The Maddow Blog, Hot Air, Political Mojo, GOP 12, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, msnbc.com and Balloon Juice

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, Guardian, The Strata-Sphere, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, CNN, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, The Caucus, National Review, Runnin' Scared and Business Insider

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, CNN, Campaign 2012, Connecting.the.Dots, Business Insider, 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, Business Insider, Washington Wire, Ballot Box, Washington Post, The Enterprise Blog, Race 4 2012, Balloon Juice and The Atlantic Online

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Hotline On Call, The Agonist and Campaign 2012

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

Discussion: GOP 12 and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

It's on: Republicans slam Elizabeth Warren for embracing Occupy Wall Street — Wow, this is going to be good: Occupy Wall Street is now officially an issue in what may be the highest-profile and most polarizing Senate race in the country. — National Republicans are now attacking Elizabeth Warren …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, TBogg and Campaign 2012

The Daily Beast:

Who's Afraid of Elizabeth Warren? — The Harvard professor has spooked the right. As she begins her high-profile Senate campaign against GOP star Scott Brown in Massachusetts, the consumer advocate tells Samuel P. Jacobs how she created ‘much of the intellectual foundation’ for the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Washington Post

Agoldberg / The Smoking Gun:
L.I. Couple Seeks Trademark For “Occupy Wall St.”

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, The Daily Caller, Wonkette, JONATHAN TURLEY, Boing Boing, Gothamist and Gawker

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: NY Daily News, Campaign 2012, ThinkProgress, Right Wing Nut House, Guardian, Big Government, americanthinker.com, L.A. NOW, JammieWearingFool, Shakesville, 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.

Discussion: Verum Serum

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Watch live: ‘Occupy Oakland’ attacked by police — With additional reporting by Andrew Jones. — 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.

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

John Berman / ABCNEWS:

'It's a Phenomenon!' Why Herman Cain's Campaign is Smoking — “It's a phenomenon, but so is the Herman Cain campaign.” — That is the only explanation Mark Block, Herman Cain's campaign chief, has for the white-hot focus on his new campaign video; the one where Block is smoking.

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

Discussion: CBS News, CNN and Guardian

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Answering the Cain question

Discussion: The Caucus and The Maddow Blog

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Biden's office complains after dust-up with conservative 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 …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool and NewsBusters.org blogs, more at Mediagazer »

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: Politics Extra, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Third Base Politics, msnbc.com, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call and The Maddow Blog

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

A 53% Surge in Poverty Rate Is Reshaping Suburbs — PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The poor population in America's suburbs — long a symbol of a stable and prosperous American middle class — rose by more than half after 2000, forcing suburban communities across the country to re-evaluate their identities and how they serve their populations.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Chicago Sun Times and Prairie Weather

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

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: Washington Post, ABCNEWS, Daniel W. Drezner, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Questions and Observations, Indecision Forever, Hotline On Call, 2012 US Elections, GOP 12, Business Insider and Campaign 2012

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Televangelist Pat Robertson Calls GOP Field Too ‘Extreme’ To Win General Election — You know you've hit rock bottom when one of the most radical, hate-spewing figures in America calls you “extreme.” That's how televangelist Pat Robertson described the field of GOP candidates, Right Wing Watch reports.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:
Even Pat Robertson Thinks Republican Voters Are Too Extreme

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Mario Piperni dot Com, Business Insider, Mediaite, The Raw Story and Gawker

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: iOwnTheWorld.com, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Los Angeles Times and JammieWearingFool

G-A-Y / Good As You:

Photo: A mutant strain of NOM misrepresentation (Part 2) — Last night, I showed you how the National Organization For Marriage, staunch pro-DOMA warriors, are using a crowd shot from a rally in support of now-President Obama, staunch anti-DOMA voice, in order to beef up their reliably paltry rally pics.

Discussion: Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and Holy Bullies …

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Still ‘plenty of time’ for a deal, ‘super committee’ co-chair says — Washington (CNN) - With the deadline to come up with a $1.5 trillion deficit reduction package just weeks away, and very little detail about what the so-called “super committee” is discussing behind closed doors …

Discussion: The Politico

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: GOP 12, The Politico 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, DownWithTyranny!, Gawker and Hot Air

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

Nicholas Ballasy / The Daily Caller:

Obama says he'll be taking ‘executive actions’ without Congress on ‘regular basis’ to ‘heal the economy’ — President Barack Obama told an audience in Nevada on Monday that he will be regularly announcing “executive actions” his administration will take to “heal the economy” without the “dysfunctional” Congress.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Say Anything, Hot Air, americanthinker.com and Sister Toldjah