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Occupy Wall Street kitchen staff protesting fixing food for freeloaders — The Occupy Wall Street volunteer kitchen staff launched a “counter” revolution yesterday — because they're angry about working 18-hour days to provide food for “professional homeless” people and ex-cons masquerading as protesters.
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Oakland Mayor Jean Quan Says She Will Minimize Police Presence And That She Supports The Movement — After the first heavy-handed police crackdown on demonstrators in Oakland, Mayor Jean Quan wrote a statement on her Facebook page praising police for closing down the Occupy Oakland protest encampment.
Discussion:
US Politics

Crony Capitalism Comes Home — Whenever I write about Occupy Wall Street, some readers ask me if the protesters really are half-naked Communists aiming to bring down the American economic system when they're not doing drugs or having sex in public. — The answer is no. That alarmist view …
Discussion:
Concurring Opinions, Prairie Weather, Balloon Juice and Cafe Hayek


Gibbs: Obama gets ‘Occupy’ anxiety — Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs argued Thursday that President Barack Obama was the best choice for the middle class distress illustrated by the Occupy Wall Street movement. — “Every one of the Republican candidates wants to roll …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Daily Kos

Occupy Oakland: Mayor Quan Issues Contrite Statement after Police Crackdown
Discussion:
The Raw Story

Scott Olsen injuries prompt review as Occupy Oakland protests continue
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, CNN, Veterans For Peace, Indecision Forever, Indybay newswire, Oakland North, US Politics, Boing Boing and Balloon Juice


As Cain Promotes His Management Skills, Ex-Aides Tell of Campaign in Chaos — If Herman Cain feels his management skills are up to any challenge, some of his former staff members think he should have started with the disorder in his own campaign. — Mr. Cain has hardly shown up in New Hampshire …
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Herman Cain, Outlier — Herman Cain, the Georgia businessman who has never held elected office, is tied for the lead in national polls of Republican voters — or perhaps even slightly ahead of Mitt Romney, as he was in Tuesday night's New York Times/CBS News poll.


James Carville: Cain aide ‘drunk or stoned’ — 'If that guy wasn't drunk, I hadn't taken a drink in my life!' Carville says. AP Photo — James Carville says the Herman Cain adviser who raised eyebrows this week by puffing on a cigarette in a campaign video was either “drunk or stoned.”
Discussion:
CNN and The Raw Story

Fox News Poll: GOP Primary Voters Get on the Cain Train
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, RedState, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Page, Hot Air, American Power, msnbc.com, Nice Deb, CNN and The Politico

National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 3rd quarter 2011 (advance estimate) — Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the third quarter of 2011 …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Money & Company, Business Insider, BizzyBlog and Calculated Risk
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GDP: good expectations for growth
Discussion:
Daily Kos and americanthinker.com

Economists React: ‘Where Are the Recession Calls Now?’
Discussion:
Econbrowser


Economic Growth in U.S., Though Still Modest, Speeds Up
Discussion:
Jared Bernstein, Economix, Gothamist, Outside the Beltway and Gawker

Democrats are increasingly calling it a ‘Republican Congress’ — President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill are increasingly referring to the Congress as “Republican” even though their party controls one-half of the unpopular institution. — Obama and his allies have started to deploy the phrase …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Adviser: Connie Mack to enter U.S. Senate race
Discussion:
The Politico, Riptide 2.0, CNN, MiamiHerald.com and Ballot Box

Euro deal leaves much to do on rescue fund, Greek debt — (Reuters) - Euro zone leaders struck a last-minute deal to limit the damage from the currency bloc's debt crisis early on Thursday but are still far from finalizing plans to slash Greece's debt burden and strengthen their rescue fund.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, The Enterprise Blog and Money & Company
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Merkel wants ‘permanent’ supervision of Greece, warns of war
Discussion:
TigerHawk and Vodkapundit


The Big Questions: By Mark Halperin — Is President Obama on the ropes? — If the election were held today, the Obama-Biden ticket would not win the 270 electoral votes required to hold the White House. The coalition that helped elect the President—fired-up liberals, independents …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog


7 reasons why Obama is wrong on income inequality — As if ordered up directly by the Obama White House and Occupy Wall Street, the Congressional Budget Office has produced a timely report looking at income inequality. The CBO found that between between 1979 and 2007 …

Hillary Clinton and the Limits of Power — Hillary Clinton argues in our cover story this week that America is not so much in decline as adjusting to a world of increasingly diffuse power, where like-minded networked individuals, non-governmental organizations and other non-traditional global actors …
Discussion:
GOP 12, The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, The Politico, New York Magazine, Shakesville and Business Insider


What if Perry Skips the Debates? — Is there a debate revolt brewing? — There have already been eight Republican presidential debates and there are 11 more scheduled just through the end of January. At this rate, there could be close to 30 debates if the nomination fight stretches months longer.
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Perry may pass on debates
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Business Insider and The Politico


Paul Ryan Is Living in a Fantasy Land Older Than Ayn Rand — Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you today's worst paragraph in political rhetoric, courtesy of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Dickens), in an appearance at the Heritage Foundation, which must be like seeing The Beatles at The Cavern in Liverpool, back in the day.
Discussion:
tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Connecting.the.Dots, Grasping Reality …, New York Magazine and TBogg

Dr. Terry Jones for President — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: — MEDIA CONTACT: 352-371-2487 or 352-871-2680 (Stephanie Sapp) or info@standupamericanow.org — Announcing: Dr. Terry Jones for President — Our campaign promises or agenda: — 1. Stop overspending immediately.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Riptide 2.0, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign … and Gawker

The Truth Has A Well-Known, Well, You Know — Greg Sargent takes us to Paul Ryan's latest speech, in which Ryan expresses outrage over what President Obama is saying: … Just for the record: why is this petty? Why is it anything but a literal description of GOP proposals …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hullabaloo and Eschaton

Gay troops to file suit challenging Defense of Marriage Act — Gay and lesbian service members and veterans plan to file suit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of the federal ban on gay marriage and federal policy that define a spouse as a person of the opposite sex.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Shakesville, The Politico, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Wisconsin Capitol to allow guns — Walker policy would allow weapons on Assembly floor — By Patrick Marley and Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel — Madison - The public will be able to carry guns into most parts of the state Capitol, under a policy being developed by Gov. Scott Walker.
Discussion:
The Raw Story


Despite ‘ban,’ fat-cat lobbyists bankroll Obama — President Obama doesn't take campaign contributions from lobbyists — unless you count the owners and CEOs of lobbying firms, corporate vice presidents for government relations, or managing directors for public policy.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com

Marco Rubio on national ticket could be risky bet for Republican Party — Republicans who are eager to repair the party's battered image among Hispanic voters and unseat President Obama next year have long promoted a single-barrel solution to their two-pronged problem: putting Sen. Marco Rubio on the national ticket.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, The PJ Tatler and Daily Kos

Judge rejects Edwards attempt to have charges of illegal pay-off dismissed — A North Carolina judge has rejected motions from former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) to have charges stemming from his cover-up of an extramarital affair dismissed, according to multiple media reports.
Discussion:
The Politico


California high court rejects challenges to redistricting — The legal challenges were brought by Republicans seeking to overturn congressional and state Senate voting district maps drawn by a citizens commission. — Members of the California Citizens Redistricting Commission listen …