By Eliot Nelson, Ryan Grim & Arthur Delaney
We can't figure out which paper the SUPER CONGRESS works for when it's undercover (drop a line if you see John Boehner wearing super thick-rimmed Buddy Holly glasses in the WaPo newsroom). Mitt Romney will attend a "Lawyers for Romney" fundraiser in Washington, a match so perfect that it must be the lead-up to a "Dull, Nakedly Ambitious Patriarchs for Romney" event. The New York Times needs to get out of the business of telling rich people how to spend their money ... and Esquire should stick to that (and that alone). And HuffPost wondered if Amy Winehouse's death would hamper small businesses, while Rep. Billy Long compared her demise to the U.S.'s financial predicament. Here's hoping America's recovery is more Robert Downey Jr.-ish. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, July 25th, 2011:
President Obama will address the nation tonight at 9:00 pm. John Boehner will deliver a response immediately after. We won't be able to watch. We'll be busy perfecting the upturned toilet-to-corroded steel beam ratio of the Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic highway road block we'll be assembling soon. Sell!
@mikememoli: POTUS fears the beard. Great shot http://twitpic.com/5vttgn
HARRY REID PROPOSES DEAL: NO REVENUES, HEAVY ON WAR DRAWDOWN, WHITE HOUSE ENDORSES - The Senate majority leader's plan leaves entitlements as they are and instead focuses largely on the savings reaped by ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (though not our
@allisonkilkenny: Batshit. RT @OKnox: Wow. @NancyPelosi says in statement about #debt "it is clear we must enter an era of austerity."
Jen Bendery with Reid's breakdown: "1.2 trillion in discretionary spending cuts. $100 billion in mandatory savings, including: $40 billion in Program Integrity Savings (i.e. draws from reducing fraud and abuse in mandatory programs.. $30 billion in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac reforms.. $15 billion in spectrum sales and Universal Service Fund Reforms $10-15 billion in agricultural reforms Higher Ed program reforms whose savings to go sustain the Pell Grant program.. $1 trillion in savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.. $400 billion in interest savings ($220 billion from discretionary spending cuts and $180 billion from winding down the wars).. Establishes a joint congressional committee to find future savings. The committee's recommendations will be guaranteed an up-or-down Senate vote, without amendments, by the end of 2011." [HuffPost's Debt Ceiling Liveblog and Moonbounce]
BOEHNER SEES YOUR PLAN AND RAISES YOU A ... UH ... PLAN - And the Tea Party up and REJECTED that sucker. "A coalition of Tea Party chapters and conservative lawmakers on Monday rejected the debt proposal put forward by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), despite his efforts to sweeten the deal with provisions favored by his conservative base. The Cut, Cap, Balance Coalition, which boasts hundreds of Tea Party groups and more than 100 GOP lawmakers in its membership, is citing two provisions in Boehner's proposal that amount to deal-breakers: its call for creating a Congressional Commission and its inclusion of a balanced budget amendment that, according to the group, is only for show...Conservatives were also rubbed the wrong way by Boehner's inclusion of a 'Super Congress' in his plan. The new commission, composed of 12 members from both parties and both chambers, would be granted extraordinary new powers to fast-track legislation through both chambers without it being amended. The commission would be tasked with finding a minimum amount of spending cuts before Congress could proceed to a second increase in the debt ceiling next year." [HuffPost]
Too bad Obama already gave up D.C. abortion funding. Wonder what other irrelevant under-the-bus fodder he might find this time.
MOVEON SAYS SUPER CONGRESS SHOULDN'T CUT SOCIAL SECURITY - So the first time HuffPost Hill went to Cairo, we couldn't get past the guys telling us the only way to see the pyramids was to fork over whatever we had in our pockets. The price kept changing so they made it up to us with a bunch of totally authentic ancient papyrus art that we got at a really great discount. MoveOn is showing roughly the same level of sophistication with its statement on the Super Congress. "[A]ny Joint Congressional Commission must be set up in such a way that it protects Social Security and Medicare benefits," MoveOn head Justin Ruben said today. The whole point of the Super Congress is to cut entitlement spending. The position puts the liberal group to the right of Barney Frank, who said he wouldn't vote for a debt-ceiling deal that includes a Catfood Commission with parliamentary powers. [FDL]
Reid's proposal is actually not much different from the one previously supported by Boehner. "Let me be as clear as I can," Boehner said on May 9th to the Economic Club of New York. "Without significant spending cuts and reforms to reduce our debt, there will be no debt limit increase. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in debt authority the president is given...We should be talking about cuts of trillions, not just billions...And with the exception of tax hikes -- which will destroy jobs -- everything is on the table. That includes honest conversations about how best to preserve Medicare." [HuffPost's Mike McAuliff]
Obama and Boehner: Thelma and Louise: Hill staffers watching Obama and Boehner unable to let go of the grand bargain see a Hollywood parallel, as the president and speaker floor it and lock hands. What we wanna know is who's the shirtless and enigmatic Brad Pitt? Eric Cantor? Paul Ryan? This being Washington, we're inclined to say "no one."
Here's a chart detailing the costs of policy changes under Presidents Bush and Obama. It's getting passed around like a Cuban cigar in Kevin McCarthy's office (Joke! We're sure he smokes American).
HOUSE GOP FOCUSED ON EPA - Lucia Graves: "With eight days until the country officially defaults on its debts, sparking a worldwide credit crisis, the House of Representatives is busy with legislation aimed at repealing environmental regulations and stymieing conservation efforts. The Interior and Environmental Protection Agency spending bill for fiscal 2012 contains policy riders added by panel Republicans to thwart White House-backed initiatives on everything from the EPA's regulation of greenhouse gas emissions to conservation efforts in the Grand Canyon. It would halt new regulations on mountaintop removal mining and prevent the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing new species under the Endangered Species Act."
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Writes John Allison of Charlotte, N.C. to DDD just a few minutes ago: "I applied for any position at an Apple retail store that is opening here next month. My resume was picked from 10,000 applicants. At least that's how many they told us they received. They 500 people to go to a group interview. I was called back within an hour of leaving the interview to come to a final interview this past Friday. I went to that and didn't get the vibe from the guy that I was 'on the team' so to speak but he said they would contact us all on Tuesday or Wednesday. Today I received my last unemployment check, I am not a 99er. At 2:30 today I received a rejection email stating that Apple had moved forward with candidates that meet the needs of today. I have 15 years retail experience, 5 of which are in management, and I can't even get a part time spot with Apple retail." As Joe Biden would say, "Hang in there."
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PELOSI REQUESTS DAVID WU INVESTIGATION - Oy vey, this is getting bad. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi last night called for the House Ethics Committee investigate allegations that Rep. David Wu engaged in sexually explicit communication with a teenage girl -- the daughter of a donor, to be more precise. "With deep disappointment and sadness about this situation, I hope that the Ethics Committee will take up this matter," she said. Wu's apparently erratic behavior has been under the microscope for quite some time, and the recent allegation, which comes after former staffers claimed he made unwanted advances toward them, certainly fits with the pattern. Also, a tiger suit was apparently involved, and if this were any less serious a charge, there'd be a paragraph or two of vamping right here, but ... yeeeeeeesh. [NYT]
OBAMA ADDRESSES PERNICIOUS COMMUNITY-CENTRIC ORGANIZATION, WANTS TO DANCE - The president today appeared before the National Council of La Raza -- a destructive Hispanic umbrella group dedicated to their radical and secretive agenda of ... being Hispanic (To give you a sense of just how toxic La Raza is among right-leaning types, here's conservative Amanda Carpenter's totally straight-faced tweet: "In a speech to La Raza, Obama talks about the 'American way' and says that's what National Council of La Raza is 'all about'"--decipher its sobriety as you will). "I need a dance partner here, and the floor is empty," the president said about alleged Republican intransigence on immigration reform. "Feel free to keep the heat on me, and keep the heat on Democrats, but here's the thing to remember: The Democrats and your president are with you. Remember who it is we need to change the laws." [HuffPost's Elise Foley]
@FishbowlDC: Chris Matthews: "Some people are willing to see this country burned in the butt."
MITT ROMNEY TO ATTEND DC LAWYER FUNDRAISER - If there were a talking, singing leather valise in Beauty and the Beast, Mitt Romney would ABSOLUTELY be the human form it takes at the end of the film. The erstwhile governor and perennial human/robot hybrid yearning to know what it's like to feel is the guest of honor tomorrow at a "Lawyers for Romney" fundraiser. The event is being held at Patton Boggs, one of Washington's biggest meeting places for influence peddlers -- imagine if the Cheers bar had more lawyers and a better selection of bottled water (just as much booze). Minimum suggested individual donation is $1,000, which is kind of ritzy by fundraising standards. [Sunlight Foundation]
Rudy Giuliani will host an AMC documentary miniseries on the mob. The former New York -- 9-11!!!! 9-11!!!! 9-11!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! -- mayor will have emcee duties for "Mob Week," the channel's celebration of cinematic portrayals of organized crime. Giuliani, a former New York prosecutor who actively went after New York's mobs in the 1980s, is a professed fan of gangster movies like The Godfather. If this is a last ditch effort to salvage a presidential campaign, it sucks. Whereas "Sarah Palin's Alaska" featured the former governor in her familial element in front of a very red state TLC audience, Giuliani will be talking tough in front of haughty eastcoasters who make up a large portion of AMC's viewership. "Rudy Giuliani's Alaska" would've been wiser ... and awesome-er. [Politico]
Yep, this happened: @auctnr1: No one could reach #AmyWinehouse before it was too late. Can anyone reach Washington before it's too late? Both addicted - same fate???
REP. MIKE ROSS TO RETIRE - Jessica Taylor reports that the Arkansas Blue Dog will not seek reelection in 2012. Ross joins three of his conservative House Democratic colleagues who have already announced their plans to call it quits -- making Blue Dog Democrats just about as relevant to policy formation as the Pickens Plan (remember the Pickens Plan???). Along with Senator Mark Pryor, Ross is one of two Democrats in the state's six-person congressional delegation. He is reportedly considering a run for governor, following in the footsteps of one of his old Arkansas political colleagues, Bill Clinton. Also there's the Mike Huckabee comparison, if you want it. So if Ross wins, he will either produce a weight loss book that is leveraged into a presidential race or open up an office in Harlem that he never visits. [National Journal]
We're pretty sure Rep. Todd Akin called President Obama a gay socialist this weekend. "Here's the situation. You've got to understand: Obama [was] the most liberal of the Democrat Senators. I mean -- he is a flaming socialist," he said in an interview with PoliticsMo this weekend. "The Republicans in the Republican Conference are pretty conservative. I mean, I'm almost one of the most conservative, and these people are almost the threat. " Never change, Todd! [PoliticsMo]
Tonight in Roll Call from Janie Lorber: "Rep. Todd Akin has amended nearly a decade's worth of personal financial information, disclosing a minimum net worth last year of more than 10 times what he had previously reported." Whoops!
Apparently the guy who ran Kenneth Cole's Twitter feed (Brief summary: "Who says violent crackdowns of Arab rebellions can't FABULOUS!?!") now helms @Esquiremag's account.
BAD APOLOGY: @Esquiremag: Sometimes our sense of humor doesn't come out the way we intend. Sorry if an earlier tweet offended anyone.
NEW YORK TIMES: KIDS FLYING PRIVATE TO SUMMER CAMP - This isn't really about politics ... except it's EXACTLY about politics. The gray lady this morning published one of those "Isn't getting your kid into private preschool just AWFUL?!?" kind of pieces that always inspires proletariat-conscious lefty readers to suit up in their class war armor. "Now, even as the economy limps along, more of the nation's wealthier families are cutting out the car ride and chartering planes to fly to summer camps. One private jet broker, Todd Rome of Blue Star Jets, said his summer-camp business had jumped 30 percent over the last year." Liberals will (and are) bitch about how vapid and unnecessary this is. Then the resulting outrage will cause MoveOn's website to be overrun like a locovore food truck on H Street. Articles bemoaning the cost of marble kitchen countertops, or whatever = 1,000 Daily Kos posts. [Les Temps de York Nouveau]
Bill Keller will end his short-lived New York Times Magazine column. While we have all the respect for Keller's managerial ability, the dude was about yay close to denouncing Foursquare by referencing something that happened to him in the Hamptons recently. Everyone wins here. [Reuters]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Kittens butt heads.
JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT - Tonight: Thunderstorms around the area. A very good chance of flooding on streets, as the deluge took the ground by surprise. Tomorrow: The cold front is sweeping through (hence the downpour), and will soon be gone. You can expect drier air, if only a bit cooler (low-90s). That's what a cold front is this summer. And yes, there's another high pressure "heat dome" in the Midwest, though we'll see if it comes north enough to bother us. Thanks, JB!
COMFORT FOOD
- "A History Of The Title Sequence" is just that. And very interesting. [http://huff.to/pNmNe3]
- Someecards really nails the "Let's talk about how awful the weather is" dynamic. [http://some.ly/fKZ2VY]
- The Fred-Wilma syndrome: A study finds marriages are "happier" when the wife is thinner than the husband. [http://huff.to/pul9Eg]
- What happens when classical music meets your local car dealership? This. [http://huff.to/p9BsN9]
- Dog serves as doorman to this ramshackle building. Just remember to tip the dog at Christmas. [http://huff.to/qURvpG]
- Sad, upset and sick cup barfs soda. [http://huff.to/qu49Us]
- This is sad: Over Time is a short film about a bunch of Kermit clones basically learning that Jim Henson died. [http://huff.to/mTh6if]
- Giant pet hog is large and domesticated. [http://huff.to/pDSlNO]
TWITTERAMA
@pwgavin: rest of DC to continue long-standing "load sources w free drinks "policy / '@HowardKurtz ABC bans pay-to-play interviews thebea.st/opoAbp
@dashb0t: Attn: Congresspeople. Each of you is now officially more incompetent than the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals. #thinkaboutthat
@nickconfessore: An actual HuffPo headline: "Amy Winehouse's Untimely Death Is a Wake Up Call for Small Business Owners."
@lizzieohreally: There's always money in the banana stand.
ON TAP
TONIGHT
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm: A "South Carolina BBQ and Birthday Reception" is such a money fundraiser that Jim Clyburn should really think about raising the $500 minimum suggested donation [Frederick Douglass Museum, 320 A. Street NE].
7:30 pm: Saxby Chambliss, Richard Burr and Tom Coburn -- who are kind of like a legislative Jordan/Pippen/Grant if Jordan/Pippen/Grant were old white guys who dedicated themselves to making the tax code more regressive -- hold another one of their "Monday Meeting PAC" receptions [Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street SE].
TOMORROW
8:00 am: Investigate the pastry sitch at Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa's breakfast fundraiser [Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street SE].
8:00 am: Richard Lugar attends a breakfast fundraiser at the law offices of Fierce, Isakowitz and Blalock. We usually wait until Sunday for hangover brunch at Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock [Offices of Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, 1155 F Street, NW Suite 950].
8:30 am: Donna Edwards is the guest of honor at a "Breakfast Discussion" campaign function. So are all those other fundraisers that are simply listed as "Breakfast" awkward, silent affairs where everyone chews their food and just ... stare? [National Democratic Club Townhouse, 40 Ivy Street SE].
8:30 am - 9:30 am: Even heroes do morally ambiguous things. Gabrielle Giffords is the beneficiary at a "Financial Services and Insurance Industry Breakfast." Joseph Crowley will be the stand-in. Say it ain't so. [Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar, 223 Pennsylvania Ave SE].
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Being a Republican who has to care about other people's success must be a conflicting thing. NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions makes like a self-interested free marketer and raises some money for himself. [The Homer Building, 601 Thirteenth Street NW Eleventh Floor South].
Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com), Ryan Grim (ryan@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e
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