Background:

Fox News-Opinion Dynamics: “FOX News Polls Shows Obama Approval At New Low.”

Rasmussen Reports: “Matches The Lowest Approval Index Rating Yet Recorded For This President.”

Quinnipiac University: “Obama Approval Dips Below 50% For First Time.”

Public Policy Polling: “Barack Obama's Approval Rating Has Dropped Below 50% For The First Time.”

As Republicans continue to offer responsible solutions to jump start the economy and get Americans back to work, Democrats continue to offer nothing but rhetoric. True to form, Democrats are pushing for higher taxes to pay for traditional liberal programs that will stifle small businesses and increase the role of government … all while hard working families watch their futures mortgaged with record deficits.

Now on to the news …
 

Republicans Have Been Focused On Jobs Since Day One. "It’s almost as if the president and the speaker are operating under a 'do as I say, not as I do' mentality," said the number two House Republican, Representative Eric Cantor. Republicans have been striving to help create jobs "from day one" but "would welcome Democrats finally joining us to help get Americans back to work -- if they do so in a responsible manner," he said. Agence France-Presse

The Economy: Whip Office Responds To Majority Leader Hoyer. “The three million workers and their families who have lost their jobs are not about to congratulate Democrats for wasting $787 billion from the taxpayer’s wallet.” – Press Secretary Brad Dayspring The Plum Line

Strassel: National Job Czar Wanted, Apply With In. The Democratic Party seeks a wildly optimistic individual to oversee a national jobs-creation program. Jobs can be real, or not, so long as the public thinks the party is "doing something." The National Jobs Creator will have at his disposal Congress to pass new "jobs legislation" (aka The It-Is-Not-Another-Stimulus Act of 2009). The Wall Street Journal

Poll: Blame For Recession Shifting To Democrats. "The bad news for the Democrats is that the number of Americans who hold the GOP exclusively responsible for the recession has been steadily falling by about two to three points per month," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "At that rate, only a handful of voters will blame the economy on the Republicans by the time next year's midterm elections roll around." … 28 percent feeling that the president's programs have made things worse, and 35 percent saying what he's done has had no effect on the economy. One reason for that, says Holland, may be the growing federal budget deficit: Two-thirds say that the government should balance the budget even in a time of war and recession. CNN

Democrats Fight Over How To Spend Remaining TARP Funds As The Deficit Continues To Grow. The Treasury Department is pushing for fiscal prudence and wants to use the money to pay down the deficit and keep a small rainy-day fund in case of economic catastrophe. But Democrats are salivating over the possibility of $200 billion in unspent money. House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson of Connecticut wants dough to fund job-creation legislation. Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, wants to direct $2 billion of repaid Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to loans for unemployed homeowners so they can avoid foreclosure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California admits that “there’s a good bit of interest” in spreading the money around to various economic projects. Politico

ECONOMY (2): Democrats Divided: House Dems Move Against The Administration’s Economic Policies

White House Rebuke: Angry Dems Shut Down Vote. "We will not be proceeding to passage today," Frank began. "I have been meeting with members of the committee, particularly the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who have informed me that they are troubled by what they believe is the lack of response to the economic situation that is confronting them on the part of the administration, and therefore do not feel that they could -- in deference to the various constituencies that they represent -- vote for passage." The Huffington Post

CBC Moves Against Obama On The Economy. President Obama's allies in the Congressional Black Caucus, exasperated by the administration's handling of the economy, unexpectedly blocked one his top priorities, using a legislative maneuver to postpone the approval of financial reform legislation by a key House committee. The Washington Post

Defazio Looks To Rally Populist Caucus Against Administration. Rep. Peter DeFazio, one of the most outspoken Democratic critics of the White House economic team, said he plans to press the 27-member Congressional Populist Caucus to back his call for their ouster. … “I see it as helping the president get rid of the losers on his staff that America doesn’t need,” DeFazio said. Roll Call

STIMULUS: Reported Stimulus Job Numbers Are Unreliable

Watchdog: Stimulus Reports “Riddled With Inaccuracies And Contradictions”. The reports on jobs created or saved by the $787 billion stimulus package are "riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions," the federal watchdog overseeing the spending acknowledged Thursday. USA Today

Number Of Stimulus Jobs “Saved” or “Created” Remains Unknown. "It may be a fact that that's what's on my Web site, but that may not be the correct number," Mr. Devaney testified. Hours later, administration officials organized a conference call for reporters and said that the overall total of jobs credited to the stimulus could be lower or higher than the number claimed on the Web site. White House officials didn't offer a precise tally of jobs. The Wall Street Journal

How’s This For Clarity? The 640,000 figure, announced by the White House with some fanfare last month, came from reports filed by recipients of the stimulus money, many of which have been shown to be inaccurate or overstated since they were made public. …“I think it could be above or below 640. I think missing reports might drive the job numbers up, and I think there’s enough inaccuracies in here to question if the 640 number might go down.” - Earl E. Devaney, Chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board  The New York Times

HEALTH CARE ROUND UP

On The Doc Fix: White House Endorses Another $210 Billion In Deficit Spending, Then Touts Fiscal Discipline: “President Obama commends the House of Representatives for taking action … the Administration will continue to work with Congress to achieve comprehensive reforms, ensure choice and high-quality care for beneficiaries, and restore fiscal discipline in our legislative process.” – Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Rep. Marsha Blackburn Warns Mammography Study Puts America On A Slippery Slope Towards Rationed Care. “This is the toe in the edge of the water, that puts you on that slippery slope, where gradually, and perceptively, and even legally you end up moving towards rationing.” NBC Nightly News

CHC Points To Administration On Immigration Language. Hispanic lawmakers say an old adversary, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, has his fingerprints all over a push to prohibit illegal immigrants from buying health insurance plans in a new market for people who don’t get insurance through their employers. “A forensic study would show it all leads back to Rahm Emanuel and the White House,” said Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who worked with Emanuel when the president’s top aide was in the House. Politico

WaPo Editorial: Reid Bill Is Fictitiously Deficit-Neutral. This bill does not do enough to reform how health care is delivered and paid for. It also contains some of the fiscal dangers and fictions of its brethren. … The plan is officially deficit-neutral, but only because it pretends that Medicare payments to physicians will fall precipitously after the first year, which everyone knows will not happen. It assumes that Congress will allow payments to other Medicare providers to grow far more slowly than they have until now. As the CBO tactfully put it, "These longer-term calculations assume that the provisions are enacted and remain unchanged throughout the next two decades, which is often not the case for major legislation." The Washington Post

Business Lines Up Against Reid Bill. Chances of business supporting the Obama administration's health overhaul are fading fast, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's bill took a liberal turn. … Employers began stepping up their concerns around the time the House passed its bill two weeks ago. Nearly a dozen employer groups, including representatives of small business, manufacturers and builders, banded together to spend about $10 million on television advertisements attacking the House bill. "The new health-care bill is a bill America can't afford to pay," said one ad, which aired on cable television in 19 states. The Wall Street Journal

WHAT TO WATCH

IRAN: International Support For Tough Sanctions On Iran Looks Dim. The Obama administration is shifting the focus of its Iran policy from talk to sanctions, but the prospect of winning early international support for toughened new penalties appears dim. Equally problematic is finding a set of sanctions that would have a significant impact on the prime target of American and international worry: Iran's suspected pursuit of an atom bomb. Three rounds of U.N. sanctions, dating to December 2006 and aimed mainly at squeezing Iran's nuclear work, have had little apparent effect. The Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN: Timeline: Once A Troop Level Decision Is Made, Deployments Will Be Slower Than Iraq. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen on Thursday said additional troop deployments to Afghanistan likely would happen at a slower pace than the surge in Iraq because of the lack of infrastructure in Afghanistan. … “The situation in Afghanistan is very different than the situation we faced in Iraq, in the sense that we do not have the same kind of transportation access to Afghanistan that we did in Iraq,” Gates said. “So almost everything of consequence has to go in by air.” The Hill

IN OTHER NEWS

• WP: Energized Republican Governors Aim For Majority Status
• Rep. Hensarling and Rep. Ryan: Why No One Expects A Strong Recovery
• Krauthammer: Travesty In New York
• WSJ: U.S. Talks Tougher On Dealing With Iran
• Bonjean: Dems' Health Hits Medicare Third Rail

THE SCHEDULE

• The House is not in session
• The Senate will convene at 9:45 a.m. and resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.3590, regarding health care reform.
 

The Republican Whip team worked hand-in-hand with Republican doctors for over a month and coordinated with multiple committee Ranking Members and their staff to develop a fully paid for alternative. The Republican alternative compensates doctors appropriately while ensuring that seniors have access to the care they need without increasing the deficit.

The key to opposing reckless Democrat legislation is to offer a credible alternative as Republicans have done with every piece of major legislation this year. This is the latest example of Republicans coalescing around a common-sense solution that stands in sharp contrast to the Democrat Majority’s spend now, pay later approach.

Today’s Democrat ‘Doc Fix’ Bill (which adds $210 to the deficit) passed 243-183
Breakdown: R-1-172 – D-242-11

Point Of Reference:

Last Year’s ‘Doc Fix’ Bill passed 355-59
Breakdown: R 129-59 – D-226-0
 

Americans didn’t need more proof that Democrats are completely out of touch with the challenges faced by American families and small businesses, but today Speaker Pelosi and her team have really outdone themselves. It’s understandable that Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are panicked after having blown up the deficit to alarming levels while the economy continues to hemorrhage jobs. Speaker Pelosi may like to brag about the Democrats’ accomplishments, but the three million workers and their families who have lost their jobs are not about to congratulate Democrats for wasting $787 billion from the taxpayer’s wallet.

Leader Hoyer’s statement that, “….Republicans have been playing catch-up and trying to decide what they stand for,” and “Democrats have been working around the clock to create jobs and grow the economy” is beyond ludicrous. First, Americans can rest assured that Republicans are not “playing catch-up” to policies that have created the highest unemployment rate in decades and record deficits that place an alarming burden on our children and grandchildren. Second, and more importantly, if working around the clock produces results like these, the majority of Americans would prefer that Democrats simply stop working. 

While the President talks about the dangers of increasing the deficit, Democrats in the House today will offer a “doc fix” that adds over $200 billion to the deficit. We doubt the President will warn them of the dangers of their actions, but would welcome some consistency. Perhaps the senior minds in the West Wing believe that though the President and his party continue to drive up the deficit to alarming levels, as long as he says they’re concerned, that’s enough for the American people. We believe otherwise. Today Republicans will offer a “doc fix” alternative that doesn’t add to the deficit. Another day, another contrast - serious problems require serious solutions, not lofty rhetoric and little action.

Republican Leaders and GOP Doctors will hold a stakeout press avail on the “doc fix” at 10 am. This afternoon, Mr. Cantor and the Republican Economic Solutions Group will hold a press avail at 1 pm regarding jobs and economy in H-307.

Now on to the news …
 

Congressional Dems Eye TARP Funding For Jobs Bill. Larson said the unexpended TARP money is an obvious source of funding for a jobs bill. He said he is also pressing a plan to tax over-the-counter derivatives at a rate to be set by Treasury. "There is a vast amount of money, unregulated, and we ought to be able to tap into that," he said. The Washington Post

Cantor Focusing On Jobs, Reconvenes Republican Economic Solutions Group. "Republicans have focused on jobs, the economy, and the deficit since January, and unlike some, not because our pollsters told us to," said Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring. That theme is expected to be underscored today as Cantor reconvenes the House Republican Economic Solutions Group. The session will focus on GOP ideas as well as Obama's planned Dec. 3 jobs conference -- the GOP meeting notice calls it a "jobs summit not focused on jobs" and the Democrats' plan for a jobs bill, which the Republicans refer to as "a second stimulus bill." Congress Daily

Phantom Stimulus Jobs Come Back To Haunt The Administration. Other media outlets and government watchdog groups have also found numerous errors in the stimulus filings. Jobs have been overstated or counted multiple times. One Alabama housing authority claimed that a $540,071 grant would create 7,280 jobs. The Birmingham News reports that only 14 were created. In some cases, Recovery Act funds went to nonexistent Congressional districts, such as the 26th in Louisiana or the 12th in Virginia. Up to $6.4 billion went to imaginary places in America, according to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. Asked by the New Orleans Times-Picayune why so many recipients would misstate their districts, Ed Pound, the director of communications for the Obama Administration's recovery.gov, said, "Who knows, man, who really knows." The Wall Street Journal

GAO Finds Designated Stimulus Recipients Creating and Saving Jobs Without Receiving Any Money. The Government Accountability Office found that almost 4,000 designated recipients who have not yet received stimulus funding reported creating or saving more than 58,000 jobs. Another 9,200 recipients reported no job creation, despite receiving a total of $965 million. The findings demonstrate the difficulty of counting jobs created by the stimulus. The Washington Post

ECONOMY: Divisions Emerge Between Democrats On The Hill And In The Administration, While The American People Wait For Washington To Act

Regulators Knew Of Banks Risky Business Practices, But Failed To Act Quickly. At bank after bank, the examiners are discovering that state and federal regulators knew lenders were engaging in hazardous business practices but failed to act until it was too late. At Haven Trust, for instance, regulators raised alarms about lax lending standards, poor risk controls and a buildup of potentially dangerous loans to the boom-and-bust building industry. Despite the warnings — made as far back as 2002 — neither the bank’s management nor the regulators took action. Similar stories played out at small and midsize lenders from Maryland to California. The New York Times

House Liberals At Odds With Administration Over Handling Of The Economy. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said Wednesday that he and other liberal House members are becoming increasingly tired of Obama administration economic policies that they say are too focused on maintaining the stability of Wall Street firms and largely ignore "Main Street." "A growing consensus in the caucus [believe that Geithner should be removed]," DeFazio said on MSNBC this evening, adding that some lawmakers are "considering questions regarding him and other economic advisers." The Hill

Housing Market Tumbles As Americans Face Tough Times. Just a few months after housing showed signs of leveling off, bad weather and uncertainty over the extension of a home-buyer tax credit sent new-home starts in October tumbling 10.6% from the previous month. They fell to the lowest level since April, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Starts of single-family houses fell 6.8%. … Meanwhile, more Americans who bought homes during the boom are falling into mortgage limbo. About 3.4% of U.S. households -- or about 1.9 million homeowners -- are 120 days or more overdue on their payments, but not yet in foreclosure, according to LPS Applied Analytics, a research firm in Denver. That is up from 1.5% a year earlier. Many of these people are likely to lose their homes over the next few years. That means more bank-owned homes will hit a market already suffering from oversupply. The Wall Street Journal

HEALTH CARE ROUND UP

Unlike Democrats’ Fix, The Republican “Doc Fix” Alternative Doesn’t Add To The Deficit. Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has held meetings with Republican doctors and other concerned Members throughout the week to see where they were on the bill, according to sources familiar with the meetings. “Like many Americans, Mr. Cantor is extremely concerned about the massive debt that Democrats and the administration continue to leave in their wake,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring said. “Everyone wants to help doctors, which is why Republicans developed a fully paid-for alternative that takes care of hard-working docs without adding another quarter-trillion to our debt.” Roll Call

GOP Women Warn Of Health Care Rationing. "This is how rationing begins. This is the little toe in the edge of the water," said Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "This is when you start getting a bureaucrat between you and your physician. This is what we have warned about." CBS News

GOP Members Warn Americans About The Wrong Approach To Health Care. "This is the wrong approach, especially as we're debating health care reform in America," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said. "It is concerning to us that these recommendations mirror policies in single-payer nations like England." Politico

Reid Bill: From The Senate Budget Committee: True cost of implementing the Reid Bill over 10 years $2.5 trillion.

Senate Health Bill Raises Premiums And Taxes While Cutting Medicare. "Now it's America's turn, and this will not be a short debate," Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, warned after Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled long-awaited legislation Wednesday night to extend coverage to 30 million more Americans and force insurance companies to take all comers. "Higher premiums, tax increases and Medicare cuts to pay for more government. The American people know that is not reform," McConnell said. The Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN: Reports Indicate No Decision Before Thanksgiving, As The NYT Presses Obama To Move Forward With A Strategy

NYT Presses President Obama To Outline Success And Move Forward In Afghanistan. It has become a cliché in Washington that there are only bad choices in Afghanistan. But it seems clear that this is not the time for a precipitous withdrawal, nor can the United States cling to the status quo while the Taliban gains ever more territory and more power. To move forward, Mr. Obama needs to explain the stakes for this country, the extent of the military commitment, the likely cost in lives and treasure and his definition of success. The New York Times

Talk Of Afghanistan Exit Plan Draws Resistance. "It's not a good idea," said Rep. Ike Skelton (D., Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee."When the area has been stabilized...then it's time to go home. But to set up a timetable for people in that neck of the woods, they'll just wait us out," said Rep. Skelton, a prominent supporter of proposals by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Kabul, to send more troops for a counterinsurgency campaign. The Wall Street Journal

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT THE PRESIDENT’S TRIP

President Obama’s Asian Trip Soft On Substance. The Seoul stop was the last on a trip that has notably lacked concrete achievements but has seen Obama's personal narrative on full display … Obama does not fly home with any big breakthroughs or any evidence that he has forged stronger personal ties with regional leaders. Even at the ground level, there was no Asian equivalent of the Cairo speech -- when he spoke to the Muslim world in the summer, invoking his father's Islamic heritage. The Washington Post

Being Popular Doesn’t Translate Into Policy Results. But Mr. Obama quickly discovered that popularity on the Asian streets did not necessarily translate into policy successes behind closed doors in the Kantei, the Japanese White House, let alone in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The New York Times

The Spin Was In … Before The Trip Was Over ... Even before President Obama boarded his home-bound flight for Washington, capping his exhausting weeklong Asian tour, the White House was scrambling to combat perceptions that the trip failed to produce concrete results. Compared to Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, the U.S. is putting its alliances "on a firmer footing" and has "reasserted our leadership in the region," the White House said in a statement released to reporters hours before the president's flight home. The Los Angeles Times

IN OTHER NEWS

• Will: Unlawful Health Reform?
• Rove: The Permanent Campaign Continues
• AP: Another Obama Nominee Runs Into Tax Problems
• RC: Gitmo Still Vexing Democrats
• Gov. Romney: The Cost Of On-The-Job Training

THE SCHEDULE

• The House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected at 4:00 p.m. Republican Leaders and GOP Doctors will hold a stakeout press avail on the “doc fix” at 10 a.m.. This afternoon, Mr. Cantor and the Republican Economic Solutions Group will hold a press avail at 1 p.m. regarding jobs and economy in H-307.
• The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. and begin a period of morning business. Thereafter, begin consideration of S.1963, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services bill.
 

Over a trillion dollars spent later, Democrats now say they want to focus on jobs. They are calling for a ‘do over’ on their first stimulus by talking about another stimulus bill that we fear will again increase the deficit and not create jobs. Strangely, President Obama told the Associated Press that job creation is not the goal of his jobs forum on December 3. Well, it should be.

Democrats continue to show the American people just how out of touch they are with the reality faced by small businesses and working families. People across this country are tired of Washington getting in the way of job creation. Want businesses to start hiring? Democrats should stop threatening them with massive tax hikes. Worried about continued unemployment? Democrats should stop talking about job killing energy taxes in their cap & trade bill. Think that Washington should focus on jobs? Democrats should stop wasting month after month arguing amongst themselves over a health care plan that families, workers, and seniors in this country don’t support.

Tomorrow afternoon, the House Economic Recovery Solutions group will meet again to continue to develop real common-sense solutions to the economic challenges facing our nation. Republicans have been focused on small business job creators, working families, and fixing our economy from day one. And time and again, Democrats have taken a “my way or the highway” approach. And that approach has not only failed to create jobs, but has blown up the deficit to alarming levels. We would welcome Democrats finally joining us to help get Americans back to work – if they do so in a responsible manner.

Serious problems require serious solutions, not public relations tours, press events, and empty “jobs bills” that focus more on titles than substance. The majority simply doesn’t get it.

Since they passed their “stimulus,” over 3 million jobs have been lost, and now Speaker Pelosi and President Obama say they want to focus on jobs. Amazing. Republicans have been focused on small business job creators, working families, and fixing our economy from day one. We’ve offered solutions that they’ve rebuffed. The MWU doesn't often give out free advice to Democrats but: Want businesses to start hiring? Stop threatening them with massive tax hikes. Worried about continued unemployment? Stop talking about job killing energy taxes in your cap & trade bill. Think Congress should focus on jobs? Stop wasting month after month arguing amongst yourselves over a health care plan that families, workers, and seniors in this country don’t support. Serious problems require serious solutions, not PR tours and press events.

Now on to the news…
 

A Jobs Summit Not About Job Creation? Obama: Job creation not goal of Dec. 3 jobs forum The Associated Press

Maybe President Obama And Speaker Pelosi Should Look At What Independents Are Saying … a flurry of new polls makes clear that Democrats are facing deeper problems with independents—the swing voters who swung dramatically toward the party in 2006 and 2008 but who now are registering deep unease with the amount of spending and debt called for under Obama's agenda in an era of one-party rule in Washington. Politico

Cantor On Johnny Come Lately Democrats’ Focus On Jobs. "You gotta be kidding me," Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said when he heard about the jobs push. "They have for months now been about more spending, leaving a wake of deficits in their trail, and now they want to focus on what's important?" McClatchy Newspapers

Leadership From Speaker Pelosi On Jobs - “I Don’t Know”: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she hopes to move on a jobs bill next month but cautioned against rushing in before Democrats have found the “right initiative” to deal with what’s proved to be a very stubborn, deep recession for workers. “I would hope so, but I don’t know, I don’t know,” Pelosi told POLITICO, when asked if the House will act before the end of the year. “This is a very systematic job challenge that we have. So we have to do something at the right time, the right initiative. This is a deep recession. ... It’s a joblessness that is quite challenging. Politico

Fool Me Once… Democrats Talk Jobs Bill, Come Up Empty On How To Pay For It. Democratic leaders haven't determined any specifics -- including the politically dicey question of how to pay for it. … Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R., Va.), said any bill that added to the deficit wouldn't work. "They tried that approach once and failed," Mr. Dayspring said. The Wall Street Journal

STIMULUS: Administration Jobs “Saved” Or “Created” Claims Can’t Be Certified

Recovery.Gov Jobs Cannot Be Certified. Earl Devaney, the chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, responded to questions posed by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., late yesterday to say the board can’t vouch for the numbers submitted by recipients of stimulus funding. “Your letter specifically asks if I am able to certify that the number of jobs reported as created/saved on Recovery.gov is accurate and auditable. No, I am not able to make this certification,” Devaney wrote, in a letter provided to ABC News. ABC News

Tracking Stimulus Jobs Proving To Be Problematic For The Administration. From the start, the Obama administration framed the stimulus act as a job-creating initiative, saying that it would create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years. Skeptics noted that this would be a very hard number to verify -- after all, how can one know for sure whether a job has been "saved"? But the administration and congressional Democrats not only stuck with that number, they also promised an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability, saying they would require recipients of the money to report how it had been spent and how many jobs they created or saved with it. More and more, it is looking like this approach may have been a strategic mistake. The Washington Post

Random Congressional Districts, Yeah We Know About The Problem … "We know what the problem is and we are trying to fix it,'' said Pound. Asked why recipients would pluck random numbers - 26, 45, 14 - to fill in for their congressional district, Pound replied, "who knows, man, who really knows. There are 130,000 reports out there.'' The Times-Picayune

$98 Billion In Improper Payments Made In One Year. The federal government made $98 billion in improper payments in fiscal 2009, and President Obama will issue an executive order in coming days to combat the problem, his budget director announced Tuesday … In an evening media briefing, Orszag was unable to provide an overall figure for what percentage of the bad payments was due to fraud. He also lacked a breakdown on how much of the total improper payments involved spending on Obama's $787 billion economic recovery package passed in February. CNN

HEALTH CARE: Health Care Budget Gimmicks Continue

CBO: Doc Fix Costly To Seniors. Seniors would pay $49 billion in higher premiums over the next decade as a result of legislation headed for a House vote that raises fees for doctors treating Medicare patients, according to an estimate by congressional budget officials. The Associated Press

Budget Gimmicks: Doc Fix, No… PAYGO Doesn’t Apply. The Comedy Central punchline: "A previous Congress established the policy for paying Medicare doctors, so the update for 2010 is not a new policy to be paid for. . . . The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act would not increase total payments to physicians above what they are today and therefore, would not be subject to the paygo requirement." In other words, under the Madoff school of accounting, Democrats rely on straight deficit spending. The Wall Street Journal

Americans Support Abortion Funding Ban In Health Bill. On Six in 10 Americans favor a ban on the use of federal funds for abortion, according to a new poll which also indicates that the public may also favor legislation that would prevent many women from getting their health insurance plan to cover the cost of an abortion, even if no federal funds are involved. CNN

WHAT TO WATCH

AFGHANISTAN: Obama: Leaks Are A Firing Offense. Obama: “I think I am angrier than Bob Gates about it, partly because we have these deliberations in the Situation Room for a reason – because we are making decisions that are life-and-death, that affect how our troops will be able to operate in a theater of war. For people to be releasing information during the course of deliberation — where we haven’t made final decisions yet — I think is not appropriate.” Reid: “Firing offense??” Obama: “Absolutely.” Politico

GITMO: Obama Admits Gitmo Will Not Be Closed By January Deadline. In an interview in the Chinese capital with Major Garrett of Fox News , Obama claimed he was "not disappointed" that the Guantanamo deadline had slipped, saying he "knew this was going to be hard." "People, I think understandably, are fearful after a lot of years where they were told that Guantanamo was critical to keep terrorists out," Obama said. Closing the facility, he added, is "also just technically hard." The Washington Post

CHINA: Little Progress Made By President In China. On topics like Iran (Mr. Hu did not publicly discuss the possibility of sanctions), China’s currency (he made no nod toward changing its value) and human rights (a joint statement bluntly acknowledged that the two countries “have differences”), China held firm against most American demands. With China’s micro-management of Mr. Obama’s appearances in the country, the trip did more to showcase China’s ability to push back against outside pressure than it did to advance the main issues on Mr. Obama’s agenda, analysts said. The New York Times

IN OTHER NEWS

• Boskin: An Alternative Stimulus Plan
• WT: U.S. Health Plans Have History Of Cost Overruns
• WSJ: Senate Pushes Climate Change To Next Year
• RC: McConnell Hits Stride On Health Reform

THE SCHEDULE

• The House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected at 4:00 p.m.
• The Senate will convene at 9:30 a.m. and begin a period of morning business. Thereafter, proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the nomination of David Hamilton, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit.
 

With each passing week, it seems as though the Administration and the Democrat Majority is committed to continue spending money that our country does not have. That is unfortunate news for struggling Americans and future generations.

Let’s take a quick look back. First, the Democrat majority forced a nearly $800 billion failed stimulus plan through Congress. Then the President proposed the largest budget in history, racking up more debt than the previous 43 Presidents combined. Not to be outdone, the Speaker prodded House Democrats to vote for a job killing national energy tax, as the Administration bought two car companies. Most recently, House Democrats passed a trillion dollar health care program that raises taxes, increases health care costs, cuts benefits to seniors, and spends even more money that we do not have.

It continues today. In this story, the Majority Leader, unfortunately, makes clear that the ability to pay for the Democrats’ new stimulus plan comes secondary to getting something – anything – done. They tried that approach once and failed. Now they’re back at it again, despite a lack of credibility in the eyes of concerned Americans.

How will "spend, spend, spend" get the American economy back on track?

Republicans began the year focused on job creators, workers, and small businesses and fixing our economy. We’ve called for getting this country’s fiscal House in order. We offered solutions that would actually put Americans back to work. We would welcome Democrats finally joining us in getting Americans back to work – if they do so in a serious, responsible manner.

Thus far, they have not.

Rep. Eric Cantor: “Good morning. Well, I guess the switch is on. The Speaker announced today she’s going to begin to focus on jobs. The White House also now has decided that for December we will finally be focusing on deficits and jobs and how it affects our families. We say it’s about time, I say you gotta be kidding me. They have for months now been about more spending, leaving a wake of deficits in their trail, and now they want to focus on what’s important. Sometimes it is difficult for us to take the other side seriously, but if they are serious we welcome this news. Republicans have been working for months now trying to forge solutions as to how to get Americans back to work. We urge Speaker Pelosi to take into consideration some of the Republican solutions for job creation and look forward to working together so that we can get this economy back on track.” 

We’ve long been wondering what taxpayers would get for their $18 million Website redesign at Recovery.gov.

ABC’s Jonathan Karl is reporting on one thing we never guessed might have been purchased: Jobs created in congressional districts that do not exist. 

Arizona only has eight House seats. So the $34 million that Recovery.gov tells us was spent in the state’s 86th district is equally incredible.

Another gem: More than $36 million in stimulus funds spent between the 69th and 99th districts of the Northern Mariana Islands -- a self-governing US territory that gets only one (non-voting) representative in the House. (Did Jack Abramoff do a better lobbying job than anyone could have imagined?)

These figures seem more likely to be data-entry errors than evidence of fraud or corruption.

But for an administration that’s prided itself on scrupulous accounting surrounding everything connected to the stimulus, mistakes like these contribute to suspicions that counting jobs “saved or created” is more art than science.

And there’s more in that vein today: ABC’s Matthew Jaffe reports that the administration has been forced to slice 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on stimulus spending because of what officials deemed to be “unrealistic data” flowing in from stimulus recipients.
 

Guess what? It turns out the Chinese are kind of curious about how President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform plans would impact America’s huge fiscal deficit. Government officials are using his Asian trip as an opportunity to ask the White House questions. Detailed questions.

Boilerplate assurances that America won’t default on its debt or inflate the shortfall away are apparently not cutting it. Nor should they, when one owns nearly $2 trillion in assets denominated in the currency of a country about to double its national debt over the next decade.

Nothing happening in Washington today should give Beijing any comfort or confidence about what may happen tomorrow. Healthcare reform was originally promoted as a way to “bend the curve” on escalating entitlement costs, the major part of which is financing Medicare and Medicaid. That is looking more and more like an overpromised deliverable.

In addition, the CMS study gives a clearer cost estimate than the one provided by the Congressional Budget Office. According to the CBO, the 10-year cost of PelosiCare is $894 billion. But that analysis includes early years with little government spending, According to the CMS, the House approach would cost $1 trillion from 2013-2019, or some $140 billion a year when fully put into effect.

Few realists in Washington think any of the current reform plans make a significant dent in the long-term healthcare cost to government. Indeed, the Senate Budget Committee recently held hearing about creating a bipartisan commission to find solutions to America’s entitlements problems.

If healthcare reform really bent the curve, there would be a no need for such a commission to do Healthcare Reform 2.0.

The Chinese might want to keep up the questioning.
 

WASHINGTON — More than 15 million taxpayers could unexpectedly owe taxes when they file their federal returns next spring because the government was too generous with their new Making Work Pay tax credit.

Taxpayers are at risk if they have more than one job, are married and both spouses work, or receive Social Security benefits while also earning taxable wages, according to a report Monday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in April. The tax credit was made available through new withholding tables issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

The withholding tables, however do not take into account taxpayers with multiple jobs or married couples in which both people work. They also don't take into account Social Security recipients with jobs that provided taxable income.

The Social Security Administration sent out $250 payments to more than 50 million retirees in the spring as part of the economic stimulus package. The payments were meant to provide a boost for people who didn't' qualify for the tax credit.

However, they went to many retirees who also received the credit. Those retirees will have the $250 payment deducted from their tax credit — but not until they file their tax returns next year, long after the money may have been spent.

"While implementing a credit through reduced withholding is an effective way to provide economic stimulus evenly throughout the year, it is difficult to account for everyone's circumstances," said J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. "More than 10 percent of all taxpayers who file individual tax returns for 2009 could owe additional taxes."

The tax credit is also available for 2010. Russell said the problems will continue in 2010 if they are not resolved.

The credit pays workers 6.2 percent of their earned income, up to a maximum of $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples who file jointly. Individuals making more than $95,000 and couples making more than $190,000 are ineligible.

"Making Work Pay was designed to deliver much needed boosts to the paychecks of 95 percent of all working Americans," said Nayyera Haq, a Treasury Department spokeswoman. "Since enactment, more than 110 million families have benefited from as much as $60 in additional take home pay each month to put toward their family budgets, serving as a steady boost to spending and consumption."

For many, the new tax tables will simply mean smaller-than-expected tax refunds next year. The average tax refund this year was about $2,800.

The IRS, in a response to the audit, advised taxpayers to check their withholding throughout the year to make sure they don't get hit with an unexpected tax bill.

"The withholding system must approximate the tax liability of tens of millions of Americans, and therefore, cannot be tailored precisely to fit every individual situation," Richard Byrd Jr., commissioner of the IRS' wage and investments division, wrote in the agency's response to the report.
 

The Obama administration, under fire for inflating job growth from the $787 billion stimulus plan, slashed over 60,000 jobs from its most recent report on the program because the reporting outlets had submitted "unrealistic data," according to a document obtained by ABC News.

The Office of Management and Budget document shows that before an Oct. 30 progress report on the program the administration asked the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to remove information from 12 stimulus recipients that contained "unrealistic data," including "unrealistic job data."

"The administration committed from the start to be upfront with the American people about the impact of the Recovery Act. Overall, the recipients provided good information on the impact of the Recovery Act across the country," Rob Nabors, deputy director at OMB, told ABC News Monday. "The test that we used when examining the data for accuracy was, 'Is that reasonable?' When the answer was no, we acted accordingly."

"For instance," Nabors noted, "there is little chance that a $42,000 grant actually created 5,000 jobs, and we did not want that count to be part of the final jobs report. We are continuing to examine data for inconsistencies or errors, whether small or large. Given the unprecedented nature of this reporting effort, these are cautious, responsible steps to ensure that the information provided to the American people is accurate and reliable."

Some of the other recipients whose data was omitted included Belmont Metropolitan Housing Authority in Ohio that reported 16,120 jobs saved or created after receiving $1.3 million in stimulus funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Shelton State Community College in Alabama reported 14,500 jobs saved or created after receiving $27,000 from the General Accounting Office. And Alkan Builders of Alaska reported 3,000 jobs saved or created after receiving $11 million from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

All told, the omitted data from the 12 outlets reflected 60,803 jobs saved or created from over $20 million in stimulus funds. If the administration had included the data in its report last month, the total job growth from the stimulus would have exceeded 700,000, rather than the 640,000 ultimately reported.

However, OMB's role in filtering the jobs numbers led a senior Republican lawmaker to call for the agency to come to Capitol Hill to testify on its involvement.

On Thursday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on how stimulus recipients account for their use of funds. The hearing will feature Earl Devaney, chair of the Recovery Act board, officials from the Department of Education and the Department of Transportation, and a representative from the Government Accountability Office, but no witnesses from OMB.

In light of the OMB document, the panel's ranking Republican called for an agency representative to be added to the witness list for Thursday's hearing.

"The more we learn about the administration's 'jobs created or saved' methodology, the more questions we have regarding its accuracy and validity," Rep. Darrell Issa told ABC News Sunday night. "Now we learn that OMB is playing an active role in trying to filter information. Given this hands-on role that the administration is playing, it would be appropriate to have OMB represented at Thursday's hearing."

Last month the administration claimed that 640,329 jobs had been saved or created because of the $159 billion in stimulus money allocated as of the end of September.

When the numbers were released October 30, the White House acknowledged that they were not exact, while touting the work they had done to make the report as accurate as possible. Ed DeSeve, senior advisor to the President for Recovery Act Implementation, said he had been "scrubbing" the job estimates so much that he now had "dishpan hands and my fingers are worn to the nub."

As ABCNews.com reported last week, Issa has sent a letter to Devaney challenging the stimulus jobs numbers.

Since the latest stimulus report, there have been numerous media reports that the jobs numbers were inflated.

The Associated Press said the report "significantly overstates the number of jobs spared with money from programs serving families and children, mostly the Head Start preschool program."

The Denver Post also cited overstated federal figures with the Colorado Head Start program, noting that the government reported 269 jobs saved or created by the program, but only three were actually saved or created.

The Chicago Tribune noted that the administration said $4.7 million in stimulus money for schools in north Chicago had saved the jobs of 473 teachers, but the school district only employed 290 teachers. The statistics claiming that stimulus money had helped save or create 14,330 school jobs in Illinois were "riddled with anomalies that raise questions about their validity."

The Boston Globe also reported that Massachusetts recipients of stimulus funds claimed that 12,000 jobs had been saved or created, "that number has been inflated by miscounts, erroneous figures, or claiming jobs for work not yet started."
 

A week before Thanksgiving, CMS says that the bill Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have spent the last 5 months putting together will actually increase health care costs by $289 billion. So, the bill doesn’t lower costs, cuts benefits to seniors, and won’t allow Americans to keep the coverage they have if they like it. That’s reform? More notably, this is now the 2nd time that outsourcing the bill to Congressional Democrats has come back to bite the President.

Now on to the news …

CMS: House Health Care Bill Increases Costs. Democrats have promised that health reform would reduce health care costs, but legislation the House passed last week would increase costs over the next decade by $289 billion. By 2019, health costs would rise to 21.1 percent of GDP compared to 20.8 under current law, according to an actuarial report prepared by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Politico

Americans Support Reform, But Remain Leery Of Who’s Going To Pay For It. Despite a widely shared conviction that major health care changes are needed, Democratic bills that aim to extend coverage to the uninsured and hold down medical costs get no better than a lukewarm reception in the latest results. … "The cost - who's going to pick up the cost? There's nobody to help that business out. If they can't afford to pay for the insurance, then what do they say, you either pay for the insurance or you go out of business?" said Emerson Wilkins, 62, of Powder Springs, Ga. The Associated Press

Senate Health Bill: Redistributing Wealth One Tax At A Time. The versions leaked so far would add as much as 0.5% on workers who earn more than $200,000. If assessed on both the worker and employer, this would increase the Medicare tax rate to 3.9% from 2.9% today. It would also create the first progressive payroll tax in American history, with wealthier workers paying a higher Medicare payroll tax rate than lower income workers. … In another trial balloon, Mr. Reid would impose the payroll tax on all income, not just wages and salaries. This means applying the tax to capital gains, dividends and other investment income. This would convert the Medicare levy into a de facto version of the income tax. The Wall Street Journal

Democrats Divided By Senate Bill Before It Hits The Floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will unveil legislation to overhaul the U.S. health-care system as early as this week. The floor debate that follows is likely to divide his Democratic Party. Reid wants to include a government-run insurance program that would let states opt out, which may cost him Senate votes. His version probably won’t require employers to cover workers and will be funded through a tax on high-end insurance plans, which would put him at odds with House Democrats. … There are other questions. Democrats are fighting over restrictions that might be included in the bill to ensure that no federal money goes to fund abortions; some argue the House provision on the issue will end up curbing abortion rights. If Reid loses even one Democrat, he must make it up with Republican support, an effort that’s proving difficult. Bloomberg

ECONOMY: Michigan Is The Latest State To Report Inflated Job Numbers

Billions Of Stimulus Dollars For Michigan Have Residents Wondering, Where Are The Jobs? Seven months into the massive federal stimulus program, the vast majority of government grants, contracts and loans in Michigan so far have created or retained virtually no jobs, a Free Press analysis shows. The analysis also revealed that others who have been promised or have received stimulus money have overstated -- in some cases greatly -- the number of jobs created or protected. The Detroit Free Press

House Health Bill Contains Stealth Stimulus Funding. Wedged in the House health-care bill is $23.5 billion that looks a lot more like new federal stimulus spending than anything to do with national health-care reform. … Two House Democrats who spoke on the condition of anonymity so that they could freely discuss the provision in closed-door negotiations, said the measure was designed to be a pragmatic solution to the reality that states do not have the capacity to deal with a reversion to regular Medicaid rates. … "Call it stimulus if you want," one of the Democrats said, "but it's a recognition that it's a dire situation for states that have to run a balanced budget." The Washington Post

Job Search: Executives Start Looking Overseas For Stability. Jeff Joerres, CEO of Manpower, the No. 1 U.S. staffing company, says about 500 clients are seeking jobs abroad, up from a few dozen six months ago. "It suddenly looks like there may be better opportunities outside the U.S.," Joerres says. "It is a phenomenon we haven't had before." While the number of globe-trotting job candidates is still relatively small, the trend reverses a longtime pattern of far more foreign workers seeking jobs in the U.S., Joerres says. Fifty-four percent of executives said they'd be likely or highly likely to accept a foreign post, according to a survey of 114 executives Friday by talent management company Korn/Ferry. Just 37% of those surveyed in 2005 said they'd go abroad. USA Today

U.S. Investment Fails To Save CIT, Taxpayers’ Money. "It was very obvious as of a year and a half ago that it was in dire need of a substantial amount of more capital," said Sean Egan, co-founder of the independent credit rating firm Egan-Jones, who had questioned the move at the time. "The $2.3 billion was wasted. They didn't save CIT, and they didn't save the taxpayers' money." The Washington Post

AFGHANISTAN: Administration Calls For Allies To Step Up, No Decision On Troop Levels

“New” American Strategy Will Only Work If Pakistan Steps Up Its Efforts … What New Strategy? While Afghanistan has dominated the public discussion of Mr. Obama’s strategy, which officials say could be announced as early as this week, Pakistan is returning to center stage in administration planning. As the president traveled to Asia, his national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones, was quietly sent to Islamabad, its capital. His message, officials said, was that the new American strategy would work only if Pakistan broadened its fight beyond the militants attacking its cities and security forces and went after the groups that use havens in Pakistan for plotting and carrying out attacks against American troops in Afghanistan, as well as support networks for Al Qaeda. The New York Times

President Takes Heat On Afghanistan. Jennifer Loven of The Associated Press had asked: “Can you explain to people watching and criticizing your deliberations what piece of information you're still lacking to make that call.” “With respect to Afghanistan, Jennifer,” the president scolded, “I don't think this is a matter of some datum of information that I'm waiting on. … Critics of the process … tend not to be folks who … are directly involved in what's happening in Afghanistan. Those who are, recognize the gravity of the situation and recognize the importance of us getting this right.” The cool president’s heated response reflected second-guessing from the press and Pentagon about a process that has spanned eight formal meetings with his war cabinet, totaling about 20 hours. Politico

Administration: Afghan Government Must Step Up. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on "This Week" that Afghan President Hamid Karzai "must do better" and there must be “tangible evidence” of stability if Afghan leaders want to keep U.S. support. "We've delivered that message. Now that the [Afghan] election is finally over, we're looking to see tangible evidence that the government, led by the president but going all the way down to the local level, will be more responsive to the needs of the people," Clinton said. Clinton suggested creating a major crimes tribunal and anti-corruption commission. "We're going to be doing what we can to create an atmosphere in which the blood and treasure that the United States has committed to Afghanistan can be justified and can produce the kind of results that we're looking for," Clinton said on "This Week." ABC News

WHAT TO WATCH

NUCLEAR WEAPONS: START Treaty Deadline To Pass Without A New Treaty. Administration officials said it is impossible to get a treaty ratified and in place before the existing START treaty ends, but they said the plan is to come to an agreement on a bridging agreement that would keep in place the central aspects of the START treaty until a new one can be completed. Mike McFaul, the National Security Council senior director for Russia, told reporters that he does think that bridging agreement will be put in place before Dec. 5, and the two countries are making progress on the overall treaty. "But we're not at the endgame yet, we're not at the end of the year," McFaul said. "We still have some fairly major things to finish." The Hill

GITMO: Destination Illinois? Administration Looks At Thomson Facility To Hold Gitmo Inmates. The U.S. is looking at a mostly unused prison in Illinois as a place to move some terrorism suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay, administration officials said. The idea of using the Thomson Correctional Center, 150 miles west of Chicago, has the support of some local elected officials, including Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate. But people in Thomson, a town of roughly 500 people bordering the Mississippi River, said that while they welcome the economic lift, they worry about the possible effect from people visiting the detainees. The Wall Street Journal

THE ADMINISTRATION: Is The Left Turning On Obama? While much attention has been paid to the feud between the Fox News Channel and the White House, the Obama administration is now facing criticism of a different sort from Ms. Maddow, Keith Olbermann and other progressive hosts on MSNBC, who are using their nightly news-and-views-casts to measure what she calls “the distance between Obama’s rhetoric and his actions.” The New York Times

IN OTHER NEWS

• Samuelson: Obamacare: Buy Now, Pay Later
• O’Hanlon: A Blue Line In Afghanistan
• Douthat: Off The Chart
• Yoo: The KSM Trial Will Be An Intelligence Bonanza For Al Qaeda
• Schmitt: Iran Issue Is Key To Obama's Other Foreign Policy Goals

THE SCHEDULE

• The House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.
• The Senate will convene at 2:00 p.m. and begin a period of morning business. Thereafter, resume consideration of H.R.3082, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.