Essential Reads

Nov 04, 2011

Israel Faces Questions About News Reports of Eyeing Iran Strike
By Isabel Kershner and David E. Sanger, The New York Times
Israel's top leadership has spent the week answering and evading questions about widespread reports that it is once again considering a strike on Iran's nuclear complexes, while President Obama said Thursday that he and his allies would maintain “unprecedented international pressure” on Tehran to keep it from producing a nuclear weapon.
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Debt-reduction supercommittee talks appear to be at an impasse
By Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post
Washington’s latest exercise in debt reduction appeared to be at an impasse Thursday, as members of a special congressional committee barreled toward a Thanksgiving deadline with no movement on the fundamental question of whether to raise taxes.
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Nov 03, 2011

What about Afghanistan?
By Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
Republicans usually enter a presidential campaign with a built-in advantage on at least one issue: national security. Historically, voters trust the GOP to be tougher than Democrats on defense and foreign policy.
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Obama rips Republicans for House vote on 'In God We Trust' motto
By Sam Youngman, The Hill
President Obama invoked God on Wednesday as he criticized Congress for voting on commemorative coins and a resolution reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the national motto in all public buildings, public schools and other government institutions.

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U.S. Economic Outlook: Plateau or Promise?
With David Wessel, Wall Street Journal
Is the U.S. losing its place as the world leader in inventions and technological innovation?
Watch
The John Kerry Moment?
By Major Garrett, National Journal
Failure, it turns out, is an option. In fact, it sounds more and more like an imperative. “I’m worried you’re going to fail,” Erskine Bowles, the Democratic chairman of President Obama’s debt- and deficit-reduction commission, told the super committee on Tuesday. Hours earlier, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., told a National Journal panel on the 2012 election that he fully expected the super committee to fail and expected all of the underlying political and policy issues to be settled, at least in part, by the 2012 election.
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Cain Says Perry Is Orchestrating a Smear Campaign
By Jeff Zeleny, Michael D Shear and Jim Rutenberg, New York Times
A defiant Herman Cain accused Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican rival, of orchestrating a smear campaign to destroy his presidential candidacy, as additional accusations emerged Wednesday that Mr. Cain made unwanted sexual overtures to women while he led the National Restaurant Association more than a decade ago.
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Job Creation: Are Policies Geared to Startups the Answer?
by Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPolitics
President Obama on Tuesday proclaimed November 2011 to be National Entrepreneurship Month, a benign and routine ritual that stroked a favored cause, but nevertheless a timely nod to the heart of the economy’s job creation dilemma.
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Justice Stevens' memoir: Modest tone but pointed critiques
By Joan Biskupic, USA Today
For his nearly 35 years on the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens was never a scene stealer. As he gravitated toward the left, he was overshadowed by prominent liberals such as William Brennan. Later, when he became the senior justice on the left and controlled the assignment of opinions, he often gave important cases to key colleagues.
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Stuxnet Raises 'Blowback' Risk In Cyberwar
By Tom Gjelten, NPR
The Stuxnet computer worm, arguably the first and only cybersuperweapon ever deployed, continues to rattle security experts around the world, one year after its existence was made public. Apparently meant to damage centrifuges at a uranium enrichment facility in Iran, Stuxnet now illustrates the potential complexities and dangers of cyberwar.
Listen to parts 1 and 2

Nov 02, 2011

Herman Cain’s ‘Clintonian’ ways
By Nia-Malika Henderson, Washington Post
Herman Cain has maintained a packed schedule over these past few days as he has battled allegations that he sexually harassed at least two women while he led the National Restaurant Association. His strategy of rolling disclosures has found him parsing the definition of a settlement, claiming a faulty memory on key facts, then remembering more clearly, and finally wishing for a do-over, admitting that mistakes were made in initial interviews.

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Obama Goes Local in Round of Interviews
By Helene Cooper, New York Times
With his re-election campaign now in full swing, President Obama has been visiting swing states and attending fund-raisers almost every week. Unfortunately, this week he’s obligated to travel to a place with no electoral votes: Cannes, France, for the Group of 20 economic summit.
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Supercommittee must not ‘fail the country,’ Bowles says, offering his own plan
By Lori Montgomery, Washington Post
Erskine Bowles, the former White House chief of staff who has worked for months to tame the national debt, bluntly warned members of a congressional panel Tuesday that they will “fail the country” if they do not break the impasse over taxes that is blocking a far-reaching agreement.
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Obama 'can't wait' to Obama ‘can’t wait’ to fight Romney
By Sam Youngman, The Hill
The funniest scene in the old hockey movie “Slap Shot” might be the one where the Hanson brothers start a fight with the other team before the game even starts. Who knew that could be a parable for President Obama’s reelection campaign?
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When Herman Met Clarence
by John Dickerson, Slate
Herman Cain’s stump speech starts out talking about a nation in crisis. Now he has a campaign in one. Responding to reports about his history of sexual harassment claims, he has offered conflicting and confusing stories. The candidate known for his simplicity has fallen into lawyerly hairsplitting.
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Ex-Clinton Hand Gives Cain Some Advice
By Beth Reinhard, National Journal
While the sexual harassment allegations against Herman Cain are drawing some comparisons between him and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, there's also Bill Clinton. A woman named Gennifer Flowers, you'll recall, claimed having an affair with Clinton as he was poised to win the New Hampshire primary in 1992. To quash the damaging story line, Clinton and wife, Hillary, appeared on CBS's "60 Minutes." You know, I'm not sitting here - some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette,'' Hillary Clinton famously said. Her husband went on to win the presidency.
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Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay
By Jim Rutenberg, Jeff Zeleny and Mike McIntire, The New York Times
The National Restaurant Association gave $35,000 — a year’s salary — in severance pay to a female staff member in the late 1990s after an encounter with Herman Cain, its chief executive at the time, made her uncomfortable working there, three people with direct knowledge of the payment said on Tuesday.
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Nov 01, 2011

'Let Cain Be Cain' in GOP Race
By Beth Reinhard, National Journal
Allegations that Herman Cain sexually harassed two former employees landed like a grenade on the eve of what was supposed to be a weeklong charm offensive in Washington.
Read more in the National Journal
Herman Cain denies ever sexually harassing anyone, calls allegations ‘totally false’
By Philip Rucker and Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post
Herman Cain on Monday called accusations of harassment from two former employees “totally baseless and totally false,” moving aggressively to knock down allegations that could jeopardize his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

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Did President Obama Overstep His Powers?
By Eamon Javers, CNBC
President Obama signs an executive order to prevent prescription drug shortages. It's the fifth executive order he's signed in the past week -- is he overstepping his powers?
Watch the report