The way forward

By Charles Krauthammer, Published: November 8

I added the cartoons, some of the rhetoric that sunk the Republicans.

They lose and immediately the chorus begins. Republicans must change or die. A rump party of white America, it must adapt to evolving demographics or forever be the minority.
The only part of this that is even partially true regards Hispanics. They should be a natural Republican constituency: striving immigrant community, religious, Catholic, family-oriented and socially conservative (on abortion, for example).

The principal reason they go Democratic is the issue of illegal immigrants. In securing the Republican nomination, Mitt Romney made the strategic error of (unnecessarily) going to the right of Rick Perry. Romney could never successfully tack back.
For the party in general, however, the problem is hardly structural. It requires but a single policy change: Border fence plus amnesty. Yes, amnesty. Use the word. Shock and awe — full legal normalization (just short of citizenship) in return for full border enforcement.

I’ve always been of the “enforcement first” school, with the subsequent promise of legalization. I still think it’s the better policy. But many Hispanics fear that there will be nothing beyond enforcement. So, promise amnesty right up front. Secure the border with guaranteed legalization to follow on the day the four border-state governors affirm that illegal immigration has slowed to a trickle.
Imagine Marco Rubio advancing such a policy on the road to 2016. It would transform the landscape. He’d win the Hispanic vote. Yes, win it. A problem fixable with a single policy initiative is not structural. It is solvable.
The other part of the current lament is that the Republican Party consistently trails among blacks, young people and (unmarried) women. (Republicans are plus-7 among married women.) But this is not for reasons of culture, identity or even affinity. It is because these constituencies tend to be more politically liberal — and Republicans are the conservative party.
The country doesn’t need two liberal parties. Yes, Republicans need to weed out candidates who talk like morons about rape. But this doesn’t mean the country needs two pro-choice parties either. In fact, more women are pro-life than are pro-choice. The problem here for Republicans is not policy but delicacy — speaking about culturally sensitive and philosophically complex issues with reflection and prudence.
Additionally, warn the doomsayers, Republicans must change not just ethnically but ideologically. Back to the center. Moderation above all!

More nonsense. Tuesday’s exit polls showed that by an eight-point margin (51-43), Americans believe that government does too much. And Republicans are the party of smaller government. Moreover, onrushing economic exigencies — crushing debt, unsustainable entitlements — will make the argument for smaller government increasingly unassailable.

So, why give it up? Republicans lost the election not because they advanced a bad argument but because they advanced a good argument not well enough. Romney ran a solid campaign, but he is by nature a Northeastern moderate. He sincerely adopted the new conservatism but still spoke it as a second language.
More Ford ’76 than Reagan ’80, Romney is a transitional figure, both generational and ideological  Behind him, the party has an extraordinarily strong bench. In Congress — Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Kelly Ayotte, (the incoming) Ted Cruz and others. And the governors — Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Nikki Haley, plus former governor Jeb Bush and the soon-retiring Mitch Daniels. (Chris Christie is currently in rehab.)

They were all either a little too young or just not personally prepared to run in 2012. No longer. There may not be a Reagan among them, but this generation of rising leaders is philosophically rooted and politically fluent in the new constitutional conservatism.

Ignore the trimmers. There’s no need for radical change. The other party thinks it owns the demographic future — counter that in one stroke by fixing the Latino problem. Do not, however, abandon the party’s philosophical anchor. In a world where European social democracy is imploding before our eyes, the party of smaller, more modernized government owns the ideological future.

Romney is a good man who made the best argument he could, and nearly won. He would have made a superb chief executive, but he (like the Clinton machine) could not match Barack Obama in the darker arts of public persuasion.

The answer to Romney’s failure is not retreat, not aping the Democrats’ patchwork pandering. It is to make the case for restrained, rationalized and reformed government in stark contradistinction to Obama’s increasingly unsustainable big-spending, big-government paternalism.
Republicans: No whimpering. No whining. No reinvention when none is needed. Do conservatism but do it better. There’s a whole generation of leaders ready to do just that.

 

V.O.T.E.S. 2012 Mock Election

Posted: 11/06/2012 2:06 pm

Jim Shea

Teacher and coach

Northfield Mount Hermon 

School

What do you do if you are a high school history teacher who becomes frustrated with his students' lack of knowledge of and enthusiasm for the electoral process here in the United States? On the one hand, you could easily become very cynical about the youth of America today. Or you could try to do something about it, and that is exactly what my colleague Lorrie Byrom and I decided to do here at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts back in the spring of 1988.

After teaching a particularly ineffective and apparently uninspiring lesson on the Electoral College and how the president is chosen in the United States today (teenagers never hold anything back!), I felt the need to find a more creative and fun way to generate interest and enthusiasm among my students for this crucial aspect of American democracy. That day over 24 years ago marked the genesis of what was to become the V.O.T.E.S. Project, a nation-wide high school mock election involving more than 100 high schools and upwards of 60,000 students. We have held seven mock presidential elections to date.

The idea behind V.O.T.E.S., which stands for Voting Opportunities for Teenagers in Every State, was to find a way to engage students across the country in a more hands-on and experiential way in the actual political process. I have always been a firm believer that students learn best when they are actively engaged in their own learning and not merely passive recipients of knowledge from a teacher or a book. And teaching students about the importance of voting and active citizenship in our democracy is so crucial that it demands our most engaging and effective teaching techniques. These students, after all, are our future and to write them off merely because they are not yet old enough to vote or even worse, to turn them off of politics because they can't relate to our traditional methods of teaching, could have serious repercussions for our country down the road.

So we decided to invite two high schools (one public and one private) from every state and the District of Columbia to hold a mock election in their school the week before the national election and to send their results to us here at Northfield Mount Hermon. We would then compile the results from the 100+ schools across the country and simulate the way that the Electoral College actually works by adding together the "popular vote" total from the two schools in the state to determine which candidate won that states' electoral votes. Unlike most other mock elections I know of, the V.O.T.E.S. Project teaches students about how the Electoral College actually works in real life by using that as the way we determine our V.O.T.E.S. election winner.

Meanwhile, here at Northfield Mount Hermon, all fall long students have been actively "doing" politics. Students have served as campaign managers and staff workers on campus for four of the political parties on our V.O.T.E.S. ballot (Democratic, Republican, Green and Libertarian), while others have each represented one of the candidates and debated in front of the entire student body of their peers. "Get-out-the-vote" workers have been educating students about the importance of voting in a democracy and generating interest and excitement for our mock election on campus.

Most recently, on Sunday evening, November 4, we set up our gymnasium to simulate a television studio. Students served as political analysts, interviewers, and political "features correspondents" as the evening's events were videotaped and the audio was broadcast live over the Internet. Student "anchorpeople" announced the results from the nation-wide V.O.T.E.S. mock election state by state until at about 9:00 pm when the state of Ohio put President Obama over the top with the requisite 270 electoral votes needed to win.

While the true goal of the V.O.T.E.S. Project is to educate and excite students about the electoral process, an interesting side note is that we have been accurate in choosing the actual national winner in five of the six elections since the project was created (as of this writing we don't yet know the outcome of this year's actual election).

One great addition to the long-standing tradition of the V.O.T.E.S. Project was our involvement this year with a company called StudySync, a company whose goal it is to help teachers inspire higher levels of critical thinking and academic collaboration in the classroom.

For several years now, we here at Northfield Mount Hermon wanted to enhance the technology component of our mock election project by finding a way for students across the country to discuss and debate important issues with each other in a fun and exciting way. We know teenagers are so focused on Facebook and Twitter and technology that we wanted to meet them in the world where they live and feel so comfortable in. So StudySync created a series of online issue poll questions called "blasts" that were sent out every Monday this fall to start the school week. Students here at NMH and at many of the other V.O.T.E.S. schools across the country could then log on to the StudySync web site and engage each other in a national conversation about many of the critical political issues of the day. And my students absolutely loved this fun exchange of ideas with students from across the country. Whenever I told my class to bring their computers to class because it was a "StudySync Day," there was an audible cheer. One of the things they most enjoyed about these "blasts" was that not only were they interacting with their peers across the country in a meaningful way through these online discussions but the students were also allowed to grade other student responses to these poll questions. This created some really fun intellectual competition between students in my classes and around the country as they all wanted to post a response that received the highest grades. Again, students seem to learn best when they are actively involved in their own learning and StudySync helped many students involved in V.O.T.E.S. do exactly that.

Never has it been more critical for teachers to find creative ways to demonstrate to students the importance of active citizenry and voting, for they are the lifeblood of our democracy. If we teachers can educate our students about the electoral process and, even more important, generate in them a genuine love and enthusiasm for politics our country will be better off for many years to come. Over the years, the V.O.T.E.S. Project has been just one small effort to try to harness the natural energy and idealism of our students to create an interest in politics that will last a lifetime.

For more information about the V.O.T.E.S. Project check out our web page at www.votes2012.org.

College student's parents killed by Hurricane Sandy

Nov. 8, 2012

Location: Undisclosed, New Jersey

On Wednesday November 7th, a person who works in the same building as Wish Upon A Hero asked if us if we could help his friend's girlfriend, Zoe. Both of Zoe's parents were killed by Hurricane Sandy. Upon hearing the story, Wish Upon A Hero team instantly agreed to help. The wish verified by our team and posted towww.wishuponahero.com and in less than 24 hours over $56,000 was raise to help Zoe and her family. Below is Zoe's wish and her thank you to everyone who helped. Zoe would like other Hurricane Wishes to be help as well. www.hurricanewishes.com

Zoe's Wish

The Foundation will be assisting Zoe and her siblings. We are posting a wish on her behalf.

"My name is Zoe. Before Hurricane Sandy I was a typical 19-year-old student at Rutgers. But then came October 29th. I was studying for an exam, waiting out Hurricane Sandy and then I received a phone call. At 11pm on October 29th, I found out both of my parents had been killed. They were driving the pickup truck home with my two little brothers sleeping in the back seat. A Hurricane Sandy gust blew a 100-foot tree on the cab of the truck killing both of my parents. My brothers made it out alive but with some bumps and bruises. I needed to get back home to take care of my 3 younger siblings (ages 17, 14 and 11). I finally made it to the hospital in the morning after battling with Hurricane Sandy all night. I was no longer your typical 19-year-old. A moment in time, a second of bad luck, changed my life and my sibling's lives forever.

I now have two goals: caring for and being guardian of my three younger siblings and keeping my family in the house we grew up in. It is challenging realizing what a lengthy process everything and anything seems to be. Money is stuck in limbo and I'm doing everything I can to keep my family's stability in place. School is no longer a priority, but still a goal I am determined to achieve, but my family, my siblings, come first. I love them more than they could ever fathom and I am ready and willing to put any amount of weight on my shoulders to lessen the load on theirs. They are children who deserve to be kids and enjoy the life they have lying before them. I am going to be strong for them. I am going to be wise. I am going to be patient. But I won't be naive, and I won't say that I don't need help. Our immediate needs are to pay for groceries and bills in the upcoming months. Every donation is vital to the health and comfort of my siblings I care for and love."

THANK YOU MESSAGE TO ALL OF THOSE WHO HELPED
"On behalf of my siblings and myself, I would like to express our sincerest thanks for the overwhelming support and generosity shown to us. Wish Upon a Hero has raised funds for my family that have exceeded our wildest dreams. The donations have ensured our well-being for the next few months and will hold us over until we are able to access our own funds. If there is something we strive for, it is to be as benevolent and giving as our parents were. They had the ability to see the good in everyone they encountered, and they trusted in the good hearts of humanity. It has been a blessing to witness these qualities in action, as a community and a country pull together for a cause. At this point, my family’s needs have been met. We would like to draw attention and further donations to other individuals whose needs have not yet been met. My family has been so blessed, and we would like to be able to do the same for others who have suffered the misfortune of Hurricane Sandy." - Zoe

These comments contained personal information of the commenters that I did not post, they were for Zoe and not for the public.  Also I did not put all comments because there were 2 many. They talk about how brave and heroic and unselfish her action was, but they are also heroic and unselfish in their actions to this family

Paul 2 hours agoI had made an earlier post but seems to have gone into the ether! My wife and I would like to offer up our home in Bergen County, NJ to you and your sister and brothers until you get your feet on the ground. I think it's important for you to stay in school both in order to fulfill your own dreams and to be able to provide support way forward. That being said, I think it's EXTREMELY noble that you would like to raise your family in the house you grew up in and the sense of home that your parents built for each of you.
I have two kids myself, my son 16 and my daughter 20 who is a sophomore at Miami University.
If we can help, please feel free to reach out to us at:
Thanks

Kmlynarski 12 hours agoIf you need anything please let me know. My heart goes out to you and your siblings and your well-beings is the most important thing right now. Keep your family together and continue to be the responsible woman you are right now.

 
rosscambe 17 hours ago
yes can I still send a check? Listen, I am sorry for your loss and your family is in my prayers. If you need help or anything at all, please contact me. I got your back. Stay strong. I am not sure if you have listened to the song Home, (Philip Phillips version) but I think this song shows my support along with many others for you. Remember WE HAVE YOUR BACK.

ExtremeChevy98 19 hours ago
Zoe, I'm so sorry abt ur parents & im going to helping you with donations if u need
corcorac 19 hours ago


Zoe, I used to work for your mom at Organon a few years ago. I remember meeting you at a Christmas party at your house. I'm so so sorry for your loss. You are an amazing young woman and I will pray for you and your brothers and sister. God bless you all.
mommie817 19 hours ago

I am a retired navy SEAL, and can simply offer a safe & comfortable environment for your siblings & remaining family members in California. I salute your ability to survive this ordeal, and am willing to help in any way that I can.
Sincerely,
Pete Carolan, U.S. Navy SEAL (Ret.)

Zoe ~
You are a courageous and selfless girl who has a lesson to teach the younger generation of our society. Out of bad will come good.
You and your siblings will make it through this. It will be rough but with your guidance and love you will all be OK. Clearly your Mom and Dad did a tremendous job raising you to be the fine young woman you are today.
My heart brakes for you that you and your siblings will now have to attend High School and College graduations without your parents sitting in the audience, and that someday you will each walk down the aisle feeling that void by your side. But know that your Mom and Dad will walk with you through each of your lives right there next to you in spirit, never missing one milestone while always holding you up so you won't ever fall.
I am a 43-year old single mother of four who has lots of love in her heart to share. If ever you need a shoulder to cry on or a friend to listen, please don't for a second ever hesitate reaching out to me.
God bless you and your family today and always.
Elizabeth Aprile
Elmsford, NY (Westchester County)

Zoe: my heart goes out to you, but please, please, please don't quit school! I think you may be underestimating what it will take to raise your brothers and sisters, although its very admirable that you believe you can.
My family and I live in Bergen County and I am willing to offer you and your brothers and sister to stay in our home until you get your feet on the ground a bit. I have two kids myself, my son age 16 and my daughter the same age as you and a sophomore at Miami University.
If my wife and I can help in any way, feel free to contact me directly at
Be strong,
Paul
Zoe,
My heart brakes hearing this. I am a 17 year old guy, and me thinking about caring for and raising my siblings makes me wonder if I would be capable. Listen Zoe, you are admired and respected in my eyes, you are a courageous young lady and I know that the Lord will be with you. As you begin this journy look to Him for your needs, He WILL supply all your needs if you have the faith for Him. I know what it is like to some extent to grow up to early, its not fun and to no degree is it fun. But lt will make you into something so great! Its going to be hard on you, but if you have faith you will make it through hun. I struggled with feelings of being alone my whole life. i know the pain of having people leave you and having the feelings of thinking your the only person on the earth. Listen Zeo, if you want to simply talk to someone just email me at: Please dont hesitate.
Best regards..
Stephen A

Zoe, I am a custom dessert baker who got started baking cakes and cookies for my kids. I wanted them to always have the joy of homemade dessert. I know it's a small thing at this incredibly difficult time for your family, but I would love to send you all a big container of cookies - at no cost of course. I don't know if your mom was a baker, or if homemade baked goods were a tradition in your family, but if I can fill a small gap, I would be honored to do so. You speak eloquently of protecting your younger siblings chance to be kids, and part of that experience is someone baking you a birthday cake or holiday cookies.
You can reach me by e-mail at
I have three sons, the youngest of whom is 19 like you. It breaks my heart to think of you facing adult life so suddenly and horribly, without your parents to support and guide you. I know too, however, that you and your siblings will help each other. Remember to take care of yourself too - it's one of the hardest lessons to learn about parenting and adult life in general, but oh so important.
Audrey Simon

November 9, 2012

Obama Elected By American High Schoolers In Nationwide Mock Election

Posted: 11/05/2012 5:16 pm EST Updated: 11/05/2012 5:28 pm EST



America's high school students have spoken to re-elect President Barack Obama for a second term.

According to a nationwide mock election for 54,000 high schoolers across 130 schools, Obama won the popular vote with 52.2 percent and Republican candidate Mitt Romney received 41.2 percent of the vote. That translates to 316 electoral votes for Obama and 208 for Romney. Five schools in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania were unable to hold elections because of Superstorm Sandy, so 14 electoral votes went undistributed.

The election is part of the VOTES (Voting Opportunities for Teenagers in Every State) Project that was started in 1988 by two Northfield Mount Hermon high school history teachers in Massachusetts. The mock election is considered the largest nationwide of high school students and has correctly predicted the winner in five of the last six presidential elections: students incorrectly elected Sen. John Kerry over incumbent President George W. Bush in 2004.

Organizers say the project has been so accurate because students tend to reflect their parents' political preferences. At least two schools, both public and private, from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia take part in the mock election.

n

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

Eighth-grader Martell Herriot puts his vote into the ballot box. Martell was taking part in the mock election held in Kerin Sorby's eighth-grade social studies class at Sto-Rox Middle School.

The VOTES election is in line with polling predictions, as polls from battleground states like Virginia are indicating an Obama victory that pushes electoral college votes over 300.
Jim Shea, Northfield Mount Hermon teacher and VOTES Project co-founder, told the Denver Post that while some schools were picked at random, others were selected for various reasons -- like Wyoming's Tongue River High School that was invited to take part simply because Shea liked the name.

"The purpose is not to predict the outcome and guess who's going to win. It's really educational to generate interest within each of the schools, to let them feel bigger than their own popular vote in a mock election," Shea told the Post. "It's not scientific, and we don't pretend it is. But I do think the kids are pretty savvy. They vote based on t he way things are going on a national level. They mirror society as a whole."

As part of the project, students at participating high schools campaigned on behalf of Obama and Romney, as well as third-party candidates. Libertarian Gary Johnson received 4.1 percent of the popular vote. Students also held rallies, debates and campaign events in the weeks leading up to the mock election.

Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette

Madison Zimmer, a sophomore at Chartiers Valley High School, casts her vote in the school's mock presidential election. David Harhai's Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics class organized the election.

The VOTES project also encourages political activism among students, organizers say, who will be key youth voters in 2016. This is evidenced by the 80 percent voter turnout among students from participating schools, nearly twice the average turnout in national elections.
"The level of engagement has never been greater, affirming VOTES as not only a powerful learning experience for high school kids but as an opportunity to create a deeper understanding and respect for the democratic process," Shea said in a statement Monday. "We value everyone's participation and look to VOTES as a model of how the classroom truly can be a showcase for our highest ideals as a nation."

The active participation is seen in schools like James Clemens High School in Alabama, where students voted during the lunch hour and earned voting stickers for casting a mock ballot. Students also dressed as Obama and Romney for the big day.

The Scholastic Student Vote in October also predicted an Obama win with 51 percent of the vote, over 45 percent for Romney. The Scholastic poll, which includes votes from 150,000 students nationwide, has correctly predicted the outcome of the election every time since 1940, with the exception of 1948, when students selected Thomas Dewey over Harry Truman, and 1960, when students chose Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy.

-

College student's parents killed by Hurricane Sandy

Date Granted:

November 8, 2012

Location:

Undisclosed, New Jersey

On Wednesday November 7th, a person who works in the same building as Wish Upon A Hero asked if us if we could help his friend's girlfriend, Zoe. Both of Zoe's parents were killed by Hurricane Sandy. Upon hearing the story, Wish Upon A Hero team instantly agreed to help. The wish verified by our team and posted towww.wishuponahero.com and in less than 24 hours over $56,000 was raise to help Zoe and her family. Below is Zoe's wish and her thank you to everyone who helped. Zoe would like other Hurricane Wishes to be help as well. www.hurricanewishes.com

Zoe's Wish

The Foundation will be assisting Zoe and her siblings. We are posting a wish on her behalf.

"My name is Zoe. Before Hurricane Sandy I was a typical 19-year-old student at Rutgers. But then came October 29th. I was studying for an exam, waiting out Hurricane Sandy and then I received a phone call. At 11pm on October 29th, I found out both of my parents had been killed. They were driving the pickup truck home with my two little brothers sleeping in the back seat. A Hurricane Sandy gust blew a 100-foot tree on the cab of the truck killing both of my parents. My brothers made it out alive but with some bumps and bruises. I needed to get back home to take care of my 3 younger siblings (ages 17, 14 and 11). I finally made it to the hospital in the morning after battling with Hurricane Sandy all night. I was no longer your typical 19-year-old. A moment in time, a second of bad luck, changed my life and my sibling's lives forever.

I now have two goals: caring for and being guardian of my three younger siblings and keeping my family in the house we grew up in. It is challenging realizing what a lengthy process everything and anything seems to be. Money is stuck in limbo and I'm doing everything I can to keep my family's stability in place. School is no longer a priority, but still a goal I am determined to achieve, but my family, my siblings, come first. I love them more than they could ever fathom and I am ready and willing to put any amount of weight on my shoulders to lessen the load on theirs. They are children who deserve to be kids and enjoy the life they have lying before them. I am going to be strong for them. I am going to be wise. I am going to be patient. But I won't be naive, and I won't say that I don't need help. Our immediate needs are to pay for groceries and bills in the upcoming months. Every donation is vital to the health and comfort of my siblings I care for and love."

THANK YOU MESSAGE TO ALL OF THOSE WHO HELPED

"On behalf of my siblings and myself, I would like to express our sincerest thanks for the overwhelming support and generosity shown to us. Wish Upon a Hero has raised funds for my family that have exceeded our wildest dreams. The donations have ensured our well-being for the next few months and will hold us over until we are able to access our own funds. If there is something we strive for, it is to be as benevolent and giving as our parents were. They had the ability to see the good in everyone they encountered, and they trusted in the good hearts of humanity. It has been a blessing to witness these qualities in action, as a community and a country pull together for a cause. At this point, my family’s needs have been met. We would like to draw attention and further donations to other individuals whose needs have not yet been met. My family has been so blessed, and we would like to be able to do the same for others who have suffered the misfortune of Hurricane Sandy." - Zoe

OBAMA APPROACHES 'FISCAL CLIFF'
DAYS AFTER VICTORY

BY ANDREW TAYLOR AND NEDRA PICKLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS




WASHINGTON (AP) -- With tough decisions looming to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, House Speaker John Boehner made it clear Friday that he's leaving it to President Barack Obama to make the first move.Obama has been adamant that taxes have to be raised on wealthy Americans - a sticking point with Republicans who say it would hurt job creation.

Boehner declined to provide specific proposals to avert the set of tax increases and automatic spending cuts due to hit in January that economists warn could cripple the economy. The Ohio Republican said he's unwilling to raise tax rates on upper-income earners and any deal should revise the tax code to lower rates and eliminate some tax breaks.

"I'm proposing that we avert the fiscal cliff together in a manner that ensures that 2013 is finally the year that our government comes to grips with the major problems that are facing us," Boehner said in a news conference Friday at the Capitol. He said cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps, known as entitlement programs in Washington-speak, have to be part of the equation.

Boehner also indicated that raising the debt limit, which the government will reach sometime in the spring, should be part of any negotiations. But pressed or more details beyond that framework, he said he didn't want to limit ideas to address the problem. He punted to Obama.

"This is an opportunity for the president to lead," Boehner said as he opened his appearance. He repeated a version of that phrase four times during the 11 minutes he spoke. "This is his moment to engage the Congress and work toward a solution that can pass both chambers."

Boehner said he and Obama had a brief and cordial conversation earlier this week on the need to avert the fiscal cliff. The president planned to address the matter Friday afternoon in a statement from the White House.

Obama faces a tough, core decision: Does he pick a fight and risk a prolonged impasse with Republicans or does he rush to compromise and risk alienating Democrats still celebrating his victory?

Many of his Democratic allies hope Obama will take a hard line. Republicans warn that a fight could poison efforts for a rapprochement in a bitterly divided Capitol and threaten his second-term agenda.

Obama has been silent since his victory speech early Wednesday morning, but Capitol Hill Republicans have filled the vacuum with vows to stand resolutely against any effort by the president to fulfill a campaign promise to raise rates on family income over $250,000 to Clinton-era levels.

"The problem with raising tax rates on the wealthiest Americans is that more than half of them are small business owners," Boehner said. "We know from Ernst & Young, 700,000 jobs would be destroyed. We also know that it would slow down our economy."

A lot is at stake. A new Congressional Budget Office report on Thursday predicted that the economy would fall into recession if there is a protracted impasse in Washington and the government falls off the fiscal cliff for the entire year. Though most Capitol-watchers think that a long deadlock is unlikely, the analysts say such a scenario would cause a spike in the jobless rate to 9.1 percent by next fall.

Some analysts believe that the fiscal cliff is more like a fiscal slope and that the economy could weather a short-term expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts and that the government could manage a wave of automatic spending cuts for a few weeks. But at a minimum, going over the fiscal cliff would mean delays in filing taxes and obtaining refunds and would rattle financial markets as the economy struggles to recover.

The CBO analysis says that the cliff - a combination of automatic tax increases and spending cuts - would cut the deficit by $503 billion through next September, but that the fiscal austerity would cause the economy to shrink by 0.5 percent next year and cost millions of jobs.

The new study estimates that the nation's gross domestic product would grow by 2.2 percent next year if all Bush-era tax rates were extended and would expand by almost 3 percent if Obama's 2 percentage point payroll tax cut and current jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed were extended as well.

All sides say that they want a deal and that now that the election is over everyone can show more flexibility than in the heat of the campaign.

On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hinted Democrats might show some flexibility on demands to increase the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for upper-income earners - provided the middle class doesn't bear the burden by curbing tax breaks to pay for it.

"If you kept them at 35 it's still much harder to do, but obviously there is push and pull and there are going to be compromises," Schumer said. "The president's view, my view and the overwhelming view that we ran on, and succeeded on, and the exit polls show that the American people agreed with us on is let the rate go to 39.6 for the highest-end people."

The current assumption is that any agreement would be a multistep process that would begin this year with a down payment on the deficit and on action to stave off more than the tax increases and $109 billion in across-the-board cuts to the Pentagon budget and a variety of domestic programs next year.

The initial round is likely to set binding targets on revenue levels and spending cuts, but the details would probably be enacted next year.

While some of that heavy work would be left for next year, a raft of tough decisions would have to be made in the next six weeks. They could include the overall amount of deficit savings and achieving agreement on how much would come from revenue increases and how much would be cut from costly health care programs, the Pentagon and the day-to-day operating budgets of domestic Cabinet agencies.

Democrats are sure to press for a guarantee that tax reform doesn't end up hurting middle-income taxpayers at the expense of upper-bracket earners. Republicans want to press for corporate tax reform and a guarantee that the top rate paid by individuals and small businesses goes down along the way.

James Bond lied to us: Death by gold paint unlikely

By Randee Dawn, NBC News contributor

If 50 years of James Bond movies have taught us anything, it's that virtually any gizmo will work, any super-villain will have a super-crazy quirk, and there's pretty much no situation our Double-Oh hero can't escape, often with a quippy double entendre to toss over his shoulder.

Matthew Lloyd / Getty Images


Can you die from being covered in gold paint?

But what's the real scoop behind what the films show us? Just in time for the release of the latest Bond film "Skyfall," we tracked down experts in four fields: Dermatology, dentistry, drinks and death (the 007 variety) to suss out the truth behind the myth.

Does a "license to kill" actually exist?
Answer: Yes.

While real-life British MI6 agents may not live anything like the lifestyle of James Bond, the secret service's elite intelligence officers were permitted to kill enemies abroad, said Michael Smith, author of "SIX: The Real James Bonds." The practice goes as far back as the early 20th century; one agent was involved in the 1916 murder of the Russian Grigori Rasputin, and an attempt was made on the life of Egyptian President Abdel Gamel Nasser.

MI6 officers continue to operate around the world, and while there is no actual "license to kill," the 1994 Intelligence Services Act -- which Smith said was designed to formalize MI6's practices -- "gave intelligence officers the right to do anything that would otherwise be considered a criminal act in the UK, from murder to bigamy, so long as the mission is signed off by the Foreign Secretary," he wrote in an email

Columbia Pictures

Daniel Craig as James Bond.

As for that "00" designation -- there was such a system in place. An MI6 station chief would be designated with 5 figures, the two-digit designator of the country he was based in, followed by 000. (Germany would be 12000, then; his first agent would be 12001, the seventh, 12007.)

But lest anyone think Britain is alone in sanctioning intelligence officers to kill if necessary, so did other countries. Smith noted that the Russian KGB had a name for assassinations: a "wet job."

Can you die if you're covered in paint?
Answer: Not as portrayed in 'Goldfinger'

In "Goldfinger," Jill Masterson is smothered in gold paint, which either created or reinforced the apocryphal belief that being covered from head to toe in any substance would induce suffocation, since the skin is an organ. Nonsense, said David E. Bank, a dermatologist in Mount Kisco, N.Y.


Humans, he said, take in oxygen through the nose and mouth. "We don't breathe through our skin," he said. "A person is not going to suffocate."

Of course, if you dipped someone in molten gold, that would be a different story. "Then she would have burned to a crisp," he said. "To get gold to the point where it's a liquid you can plate on something, you'd burn the body to being unrecognizable."

Now, if the paint had toxic elements in it -- mercury or lead -- then someone covered in it could be poisoned. But that wouldn't be instantaneous, as it would have to penetrate into the individual's bloodstream.

"Mythbusters" looked into this phenomenon in 2009, and learned that while death didn't result, a painted person did undergo shifts in his blood pressure and body temperature.

Can someone have super-strength in their jaws thanks to wearing metal teeth?
Answer: No.

One of the most beloved villains in the Bond universe is Richard Kiel's Jaws, the tall, imposing henchman who appears in "The Spy Who Loved Me" and, later "Moonraker." He's got incredible steel teeth (predating rappers and their love for "grills") and apparently a very strong jaw -- at one point he's shown tearing through a steel cable with his teeth.

And while steel-covered teeth are a possibility, Matthew Messina, a dentist who practices in Ohio, said they wouldn't have that kind of tearing force. "We're still bounded by muscles and bone," he noted. "There's only so much power we can generate. He'd have an easier time with those plastic security devices they put on clothes in the store." ("Mythbusters" also came to a similar conclusion.)


"Moonraker."

He would also be at risk for magnets -- in "Spy," Jaws is lifted by a powerful magnet and carried into the air once it attaches to his teeth, something that could in fact happen, said Messina.

But in the long run, steel-coated teeth would have a different kind of deadly effect: They would irritate the gums almost immediately, food could get trapped between them and the actual teeth, and cause tooth decay. It's some of the same issues Messina said he sees in non-precious-metal grills some people wear today: The gums get irritated and the cheaper metals contain nickel, which is poisonous if it gets in the bloodstream. And then, there's the tooth decay issue.

"Even the actor would have had some very sore gums from wearing those prosthetics in the movie," he said. "He would also not be the guy you wanted to sit next to at lunch, owing to his bad breath."

Are martinis better shaken, or stirred?
Answer: Experts disagree.

Traditionally, James Bond asks for his martini to be "shaken, not stirred." So is this the way to drink your concoction? The answer is as mixed as the drink.

Old-timers say never shake a pure spirit drink, said Tim Keller, director of beverage for TAO Group in Las Vegas. By shaking it (with ice), the alcohol gets diluted and murky, and the taste changes. "Vodka tastes as close to nothing as possible, so traditionalists say always stir it," he said. But others say shaking the drink releases antioxidants and it has a better health benefit -- not that most people are quaffing alcohol for the health properties.

Keller says it's possible that when Ian Fleming wrote his books and the Bond films were first starting, shaking actually made more sense than it does today: Back then, vodkas were largely made with potatoes, and had an oilier taste that could be broken up by adding ice and water. But that's changed; vodkas today are made with a wide variety of vegetables and grains.

So what if you prefer a gin martini? That's a slightly different animal, said Keller. "People who drink gin are more particular in how they like their martinis made -- some like the ice cubes to be rinsed in it, for example. From my research in the first book Fleming wrote, Bond had a Gordon's gin martini."

But watch out: Asking for shaken not stirred may get you your drink, but probably won't earn you the respect of the bartender. "It's a little cheesy," said Keller.