Essential Reads
Essential Reads is your one-stop source for the top stories of the day as reported by your favorite Washington Week panelists. It's a simple way to save time and stay informed about the news you need to know. Check it out every day!
Dec 03, 2012
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Criticized as weak in past talks, Obama takes harder line
By Peter Baker, The New York TimesAmid demands from Republicans that President Obama propose detailed new spending cuts to avert the year-end fiscal crisis, his answer boils down to this: you first.
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John Boehner on fiscal cliff negotiations: 'We're nowhere'
By Jim Tankersley, National JournalHouse Speaker John Boehner politely lashed out at President Obama over fiscal negotiations on Sunday, saying that after three weeks of talks the White House has offered “virtually nothing” toward an agreement to avert the large round of tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to take hold in January.
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Syria moves its chemical weapons, and U.S. and allies cautiously take note
By David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, The New York TimesThe Syrian military’s movement of chemical weapons in recent days has prompted the United States and several allies to repeat their warning to President Bashar al-Assad that he would be “held accountable” if his forces used the weapons against the rebels fighting his government.
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Egypt court, citing threats, cancels session on key issue in standoff with Morsi
By Nancy A. Youssef, McClatchy NewspapersEgypt’s highest court indefinitely postponed a highly anticipated ruling Sunday, leaving the nation’s upcoming referendum on the new constitution in a state of uncertainty and putting off for now a direct confrontation with President Mohammed Morsi over his claim of judicial immunity.
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Cabinet predictions for 2013
By John Harwood, CNBCPresident Obama is likely to replace a large portion of his Cabinet for his second term, but will almost definitely replace all of the Big Three. At the State Department, Secretary Hillary Clinton has clearly signaled her intent to move on. At Treasury, Secretary Tim Geithner has done the same. And at the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said he'd prefer to return home to California.
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Nov 30, 2012
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Obama taking "fiscal cliff" fight to the public
With Major Garrett, CBS News Watch more -
Obama makes fresh demands on ‘fiscal cliff’
By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane, The Washington PostPresident Obama offered Republicans a detailed plan Thursday for averting the year-end “fiscal cliff” that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, $50 billion in fresh spending on the economy and an effective end to congressional control over the size of the national debt.
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GOP calls White House cliff offer a non-starter
By Susan Davis and Aamer Madhani, USA TodayHouse Speaker John Boehner flatly rejected a $4 trillion Obama administration plan to avoid going over the fiscal cliff that was presented by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a private meeting Thursday.
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Charities fight to keep tax break on donations
By Naftali Bendavid, Wall Street JournalIn 2011, the nation's biggest charities swung into action to oppose President Barack Obama using limits on tax deductions to help pay for a jobs bill. Warning that such a move would hurt charitable giving, they prevailed, and Democrats looked elsewhere.
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Can Obama deliver on his education-to-jobs proposal?
By Fawn Johnson, National JournalPresident Obama is among the throng of public officials who tout education as the path to economic success. “Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now, more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life,” he said at the Democratic National Convention in September.
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Nov 29, 2012
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Obama tilts tax debate away from spending cuts
By Peter Baker, The New York Times
President Obama surrounded himself with taxpayers on Wednesday to pitch his plan to preserve current rates for the middle class and raise them for the wealthy. A day before, he met with small-business owners for the same purpose. On Friday, he plans to fly to Pennsylvania to tour a factory to make the same point.
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‘Fiscal cliff’ talks bogged down by dispute over cost of retirement programs
By Lori Montgomery and Rosalind S. HeldermanNegotiations to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff” advanced at a glacial pace Wednesday, with a dispute over how to tackle the soaring cost of federal retirement programs emerging as the latest roadblock to progress.
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Holiday hysteria
By Major Garrett, National JournalIf there is one redeeming feature of the otherwise gutless and indolent sequestration process, it is the underappreciated component of hysteria.
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The $4 trillion 'fiscal cliff' solution
With Eamon Javers, CNBCEamon Javers discusses how President Obama hopes that a fiscal cliff solution can be reached before Christmas.
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U.S. weighs bolder effort to intervene in Syria’s conflict
By David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt, The New York TimesThe Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.
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Nov 28, 2012
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To strike fiscal deal, Obama turns to the public
By Alexis Simendinger, Real Clear Politics
President Obama isn’t anchored to a chair in the White House with House and Senate leaders, sweating out a budget deal before Dec. 31 -- not yet anyway. Instead, he’s spending the week meeting with business representatives and other stakeholders before flying Friday to a Pennsylvania toy factory for a photo op to champion middle-class tax breaks.
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Now touring, the debt duo, Simpson-Bowles
By Jackie Calmes, The New York TimesTheirs is an improbable buddy act that is making for unlikely entertainment from campuses to corporations on a most serious subject: the federal debt. The proof of their appeal: some business groups pay them $40,000 each per appearance. Really. To discuss budgets and baselines.
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Cliff notes: Would House Republicans actually vote for a "fiscal cliff" deal that would raise tax rates?
By John Dickerson, Slate MagazinePresident Obama is adamant that he will only agree to a “fiscal cliff” solution that raises tax rates on those making over $250,000. The Republicans in the majority in the House of Representatives are adamant that they will not vote for those tax increases—Speaker John Boehner chief among them. I asked a senior House leadership aide the what chances were that Boehner would be able to get a majority of Republicans to vote for a tax increase of any kind: “pretty close to zero.”
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Filibuster fight adds drama to 'fiscal cliff' talks
By Susan Davis, USA TodayA brewing side drama between the Senate's Democratic and Republican leaders is testing their relationship as the two navigate tough negotiations on the "fiscal cliff" coming at the end of the year.
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Jeb Bush talks education, but politics comes to mind
By Beth Reinhard, National JournalThe former governor was passionate and persuasive as he opened his fifth annual education conference in Washington, D.C. He made a strong case for holding all students to the same academic standards as a way to bridge the nation’s growing income inequality gaps, seamlessly blending the concerns of liberals and conservatives, suburban moms and corporate executives. Among the hundreds of policy wonks in the audience were powerful political consultants and fundraisers chomping at the bit should he run for public office again.
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