Politics: Stop the Filibuster, Fix Presidential Appointments

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Politics Stop the Filibuster, Fix Presidential Appointments Is "No Labels" the first centrist group ever to have good ideas? By David Weigel Posted Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011, at 07:03 PM ET Have we been too hard on the centrists? I just spent most of a day with these creatures, learning their language of applause and mutual congratulation. By the end, I was shocked: They were on to something. One year ago, when the group No Labels announced itself with an all-day congratulation-fest in New York, Politico's Ben Smith asked whether it was basically a Democratic front group. The only Republicans onstage, he wrote, "had recently lost primary races." Its too-cute logo, a Noah's Ark of animals to compete with the donkey and the elephant, was ripped off from an independent designer. Its slogan—"Not Left. Not Right. Forward"— was ripped off from MSNBC, said Rush Limbaugh. In 2011, political reporters knew No Labels as the guys who sent out "action" emails with no actual policy demands. This was odd. While FreedomWorks or MoveOn would call for a phone-melting campaign to pass a bill or block a nominee, No Labels cried only for people to get along. A July 14 email asked supporters to "call your representative and urge them to continue their work in Washington to find a bipartisan solution." An Oct. 5 blast about the supercommittee called for politicians to "put their labels aside and work together for the good of the country." Repeat, repeat, every few days. But this was before Dec. 13, and the smoothly choreographed launch of an actual No Labels plan. "Make Congress Work!" (the exclamation point is theirs) is a list of 12 ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Does Obama Always Think a Speech Can Save His Presidency? The Tragic Demise of the Recipe Card—That Grease-Stained Grandmotherly Token Why We Use Balloons To Celebrate Things: A History	Advertisement
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Arts: A User's Guide to Foreign Telly on Hulu

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Culturebox Foreign Telly on Hulu: A User's Guide The best TV shows you've never seen are hiding on your computer. By June Thomas Posted Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011, at 08:29 PM ET For a young TV lover growing up in England, Christmas wasn't just presents and a festive meal. It was all about television. There was so much good stuff available between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day—Christmas episodes, movie premieres, and wacky specials—that I had to plan out my viewing schedule with military precision. It's no different in 2011: After the mince pies and Christmas pud, Brits can take in brand new episodes of Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, and Absolutely Fabulous. Bliss! The U.S. TV networks, on the other hand, treat the second half of December like a very long Saturday night. Starting next week, the TV schedule is a solid wall of reruns and college football bowl games. How's a TV addict supposed to cope with this programming desert? You probably have a few shows banked in the DVR. But enough for 14 days? I wish it were possible to fill the holiday gap by tuning in to those amazing British broadcasts. Happily, you can create your own Commonwealth viewing station by seeking out the best of the Australian, British, and Canadian shows available on Hulu. With my guidance, you can cross "find something to watch" off your holiday to-do list—and add new swear words to your vocabulary. You might think the imports available on Hulu would be second-rate—after all, if a show was any good, wouldn't some enterprising U.S. channel have snapped it up? The fact is, many ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Does Obama Always Think a Speech Can Save His Presidency? The Tragic Demise of the Recipe Card—That Grease-Stained Grandmotherly Token Why We Use Balloons To Celebrate Things: A History	Advertisement
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Moneybox: The Norwegian Butter Crisis

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Moneybox The Norwegian Butter Crisis An absurd dairy shortage and its very valuable economic lessons . By Matthew Yglesias Posted Wednesday, Dec 14, 2011, at 08:03 PM ET The occasional spree killing aside, Norway normally only makes it into the American press as a lighthearted human interest story. Back in the spring of 2010, for example, when the Eyjafljallajökull eruption stranded Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in New York, there was much joy over the spectacle of him calmly running the country via iPad from his hotel room. Today, Norway is back in the news for its nationwide butter shortage, a story so silly it was brought to America's attention by the Colbert Report. It seems more than a little absurd for one of the richest countries on earth (per capita of GDP, only Luxemburg and tiny Liechtenstein have it beat) to be rationing a basic household commodity, which is what's happening . But behind this silly story are several important economic lessons about trade and the surprising economic dilemmas posed by striking it rich. Let's start with trade. Norway is tiny—more people live in Colorado or Cook County—and it has very marginal agricultural climate. They had some bad weather this summer, hurting the small dairy industry. It's easy to see how that could lead to reduced national butter output and shortages. Except small places don't normally try to produce everything themselves: That's a stupid and wasteful strategy in a global economy. If Norway can't make enough butter for everyone to slather on their eller morkt rugbrod, shouldn't they just import butter from abroad? The supermarket downstairs from my ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Does Obama Always Think a Speech Can Save His Presidency? The Tragic Demise of the Recipe Card—That Grease-Stained Grandmotherly Token Why We Use Balloons To Celebrate Things: A History	Advertisement
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DAI: Wall Street ends down for 3rd day

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	12/14/2011
Good Evening LATEST NEWS Wall Street ends down for 3rd day NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sent commodity prices tumbling, drove the euro to its lowest in a year and forced Italy to pay a euro-era high to sell debt. | Full Article Insight: MF Global puts harsh light on self-regulation December 14, 2011 02:35 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two weeks after MF Global's collapse, officials from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission briefed Senate staff on the brokerage firm's final days. When asked about reports that the brokerage firm had written checks that bounced when customers tried to cash them, the regulators had an admission that surprised the room: they didn't know about the bad checks. | Full Article OPEC oil deal puts Saudi back in charge December 14, 2011 03:12 PM ET VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC oil producers on Wednesday sealed their first new output agreement in three years in a deal that settles a 6-month-old argument over supply policy firmly in Saudi Arabia's favor. | Full Article Fed won't bail Europe out, Bernanke tells lawmakers December 14, 2011 03:42 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Republican senators on Wednesday the Fed can't and won't provide bailout funds to support European banks or nations, lawmakers said. | Full Article Avon needs bold change as Jung's CEO tenure ends December 14, 2011 04:34 PM ET (Reuters) - Avon Products Inc's decision to look outside its walls for a new CEO is viewed as an admission that the cosmetics brand needs a major overhaul rather than the small make-overs it has undertaken in recent years. | Full Article US TOP NEWS Germans rebuff calls for ECB action after summit December 14, 2011 02:29 PM ET BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's chancellor and central banker urged Europe to stick to stricter budget discipline and forget about one-shot solutions after financial markets judged that another EU summit had failed to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis. | Full Article Tax fight gets nastier as government shutdown looms December 14, 2011 04:35 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday faced the prospect of an imminent government shutdown for the third time this year as a fight between lawmakers in Congress over taxes and spending turned nastier. | Full Article China says will hit U.S. auto imports with duties December 14, 2011 04:24 PM ET BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China will impose punitive duties of up to 22 percent on large cars and SUVs exported from the United States, China's Commerce Ministry said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world's two largest economies. | Full Article Obama: Troops leaving Iraq with heads held high December 14, 2011 03:53 PM ET FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (Reuters) - President Barack Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, marking a symbolic end to the nearly nine-year war that strained America's armed forces and damaged its standing worldwide. | Full Article Analysis: Supreme Court immigration case a federal-state test December 14, 2011 03:28 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court's promised ruling next year on Arizona's immigration crackdown could turn on how much a state can intrude on federal government enforcement powers. | Full Article HEALTH NEWS Cancer group aims to boost trust in guidelines Analysis: Big Pharma gets a driving lesson from carmakers Kids' leukemia risk tied to dads' smoking Teen smoking at historic lows but marijuana use high: survey 2.5 million young adults insured due to reforms: U.S. RELATED VIDEO Tax Cheats Are Cheating You Trading at Noon: Nasdaq drops 2 percent U.S. stocks slide for third day A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today. Your daily briefing on the latest tech developments from around the world from Reuters expert tech correspondents. Register Today. The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day.. Register Today. » MORE NEWSLETTERS ODDLY ENOUGH Take off that tie to save energy, Chilean men told Full Article Missouri woman gets $6.1 million from unclaimed property Chinese man arrested for hiring wedding strippers Take care selling the family silver, hard up Greeks told Italy winemaker sends literary message in the bottle Hanover 96 pass flare-lighting fine on to fan - 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters. Unsubscribe from this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter Friend us on Facebook Forward to a friend