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Monday, January 30, 2012

First Thoughts: Writing on the wall



By NBC’s Chuck Todd, Domenico Montanaro, Carrie Dann, Natalie Cucchiara, Brooke Brower
Romney up big in Florida – is the fat lady warming up? … Where does Gingrich go from here – “all the way to the convention”? … Does the Anti Establishment have any juice left? Three questions for Gingrich on his way forward … Four reasons why Romney’s winning. … If Santorum weren’t in the race, Romney’s lead would be even bigger … And ad spending tops $24 million. … And the five closest counties in Florida. … Gingrich and Romney in Florida, Santorum, back on the trail heads to Missouri, which holds its contest Feb. 7.

*** Writing on the wall: It appears Mitt Romney’s on his way to victory in Florida – a slew of polls are out showing him with a double-digit lead over Gingrich, including the NBC-Marist poll, which shows the widest spread, 15 points (42%-27%). What makes Romney’s lead even more insulated is early voting. About half a million people have already voted, about a quarter of the total turnout in 2008. And, in our poll, Romney leads among early voters, 49%-27%, which could account for about a 5-point edge, if all things are equal on Election Day, Marist polling Director Lee Miringoff said. Even if Sarah Palin endorsed Gingrich and showed up at a rally for him today, the best she could likely do would be to get Gingrich to single digits. It’s now just a question of how Gingrich reacts to his defeat and, frankly, how large or small it is.

*** ‘All the way to the convention’: A decisive Romney victory tomorrow means many folks will believe they know where this is headed. But the big question is does Gingrich fall into that camp? In the run up to Iowa, there was a slow Establishment rally around Romney, check that, a slow Establishment takedown of Gingrich. It led to Romney (almost) winning Iowa, then convincingly taking New Hampshire. But then the Anti-Establishment crowd rallied, and Gingrich won South Carolina. With the prospect of a Gingrich win in Florida looking very real seven days ago, the Establishment struck back and Romney now looks assured of victory tomorrow. Gingrich -- perhaps emboldened by the backing of Herman Cain and heavy air cover from Palin -- pledged on Saturday to take the nomination fight with Romney “all the way to the convention.”


*** Three questions for Gingrich: But there are three more questions going forward: (1) Is there any more Anti-Establishment juice left out there; (2) Is Sheldon Adelson going to kick in another check to Gingrich; and (3) How does Gingrich himself get his mojo back? He has a February problem. For the next three weeks, there are four caucuses and no debates. So where does he make his move? Can he make a stand in Adelson’s Nevada (not likely because the GOP primary was more than a quarter Mormon), Arizona, or Minnesota? Hillary Clinton ran into this after Super Tuesday when she was essentially tied with Obama on delegates and then he went on to rattle off a series of small-state victories in February. Clinton willed herself to Ohio, but, by then, in hindsight, the delegate match actually pointed to the fact it was closer to being over than maybe we all realized at the time. Gingrich desperately wants to get to March because there are a slew of Southern primaries that could give him some much-needed victories. That said, don’t expect the Romney campaign to make the same mistake they made after Iowa. Expect it not to let up on Gingrich this time like they did then.
Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich make their final push for Floridians' votes a day ahead of the state's crucial primary. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
*** Four reasons Romney’s winning: How did we get to the point that in less than seven days, Gingrich went from looking like he had the momentum in Florida to Romney looking like a sure thing. Here are four reasons: (1) Debates: Gingrich wasn't able to dominate at the debates last week like he had before South Carolina. (2) Ads: Perhaps most importantly, with Florida as large as it is, TV matters big time. Gingrich got eviscerated on TV -- outspent 4-to-1 ($16 million to $4 million) when you factor in outside groups. (3) The Establishment struck back: From Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio sticking up for Romney (though not endorsing) to Bob Dole's scathing letter about Gingrich’s time as speaker. And (4) Romney’s strategic shift: Romney re-trained his focus away from President Obama and onto Gingrich, not letting up with attack after attack, whether it was at debates or on the trail. The New York Times detailed that shift Sunday (though we’re not completely sure why the advisers would go on the record about this NOW and not wait until, say, after Tuesday, or even wait until after Gingrich got out). On TODAY, Romney defended the changed strategy, saying, “There’s no question that politics ain’t bean bag.” He added that Gingrich’s attacks have been “painful to watch.” By the way, was Romney annoyed by the story about his advisers? “I think you can expect advisers to think that the work of advisers is very, very important,” Romney said on TODAY. Then Romney went on to tout his OWN debate performances.

*** What if Santorum wasn’t in the race? Perhaps the most important number in the NBC-Marist poll was what happens when Santorum is removed from the race. Santorum’s vote splits off evenly if he’s removed, and Romney has an even WIDER lead over Gingrich, 49%-33%. So, Gingrich can’t make the argument that if conservatives weren’t divided he would win. The numbers just don’t bear that out. What’s really interesting -- Santorum probably could argue that if GINGRICH weren’t in the race, he’d have a better chance against Romney. Santorum’s image is as good as it’s been since the campaign began.

*** Santorum resumes campaign: Speaking from the hospital room where he said his ailing 3-year-old daughter is making a "miraculous turnaround," Rick Santorum said that he would resume his campaign on Monday with stops in western caucus states, NBC’s Andrew Rafferty reports.

*** Ad spending tops $24 million: The grand total spent in Florida during the Republican primary is $24.4 million with $19.9 million spent between the campaigns and outside-group supporters of Romney and Gingrich, according to NBC/Smart Media Group Delta. (*Winning Our Future promised to spend another $3.2 million statewide, but so far that hasn’t materialized):
- Total Pro-Romney: $15.9 million (Restore Our Future: $8.9 million, Romney $7 million)
- Total Pro-Gingrich: $4 million (Winning Our Future $2.8 million, Gingrich $1.2 million)

*** Elsewhere on your Sunday dial: Appearing on FOX News Sunday, Gingrich accused Romney of "carpetbombing" his opponents and called the former governor "a Massachusetts liberal" - sharpening that attack from his earlier "moderate" message. Obama strategist David Axelrod took aim at Romney's big bucks, saying, "If we’re going to solve this deficit, then everyone is going to have to give a little. And that includes people at the top." And your Sunday show shiny-object alert: Donald Trump to CBS's Bob Schieffer on whether or not he will eventually jump into the 2012 contest: "I hope I don’t have to. But I may -- absolutely."

*** What to watch tomorrow -- The five closest counties with more than 10,000 votes: NBC’s John Bailey reports that last cycle, Romney’s strongest counties geographically were in the state’s Northeast corner in and around Jacksonville. But an interesting indicator from last cycle could be large Florida counties that were close. Of the five closest counties with more than 10,000 voters in 2008, Romney won four: Romney won Indian River County by 22 votes (0.1%), Highlands County by 16 votes (0.2%), Lake County by 148 votes (0.3%), and Bay County by 241 votes (0.9%). The only exception was Orange County, which John McCain won by 447 votes (0.5%). Note the geographic diversity of these counties. None other than Lake County comes from the strong Romney counties in and around Jacksonville or northwest of Orlando. But just as important they also are not the GOP goldmine counties surrounding Tampa, which accounted for a large share of the Republican vote in 2008.

***On the trail: Gingrich holds five events, including a rally with Herman Cain in Tampa at 1:00 pm ET. … Romney holds three rallies … Santorum holds two events – in MISSOURI (!), including making a “major speech” on job and manufacturing at 3:30 pm ET and then a town hall at 8:30 pm ET.


Countdown to Florida primary: 1 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 5 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 36 days
Countdown to Election Day: 281 days
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Economist who foresaw '08 crash warns conflict with Iran could cause global recession

Professor known as 'Dr. Doom' also predicts joblessness in US will remain high in 2012 


Economist Nouriel Roubini speaks during a
panel session on the first day of the the
World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday.

 

msnbc.com news services
updated 1/28/2012 5:43:51 AM ET
    DAVOS, Switzerland — Economist Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed "Dr. Doom" for his gloomy predictions in the run-up to the financial meltdown four years ago, says the fallout from that crisis could last the rest of this decade.
    Roubini, widely acknowledged to have predicted the crash of 2008, sees tough times ahead for the

    global economy and is warning that without major policy changes things can still get much worse.
    He also warned that a conflict with Iran over its controversial nuclear program could lead to a global recession.
    Until Europe radically reforms itself and the U.S. gets serious about its own debt mountain, Roubini said, the world economy will continue to stumble along to the detriment of large chunks of the world's population who will continue to see their living standards under pressure, even if they have a job.
    Meanwhile, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde — speaking Saturday at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland — said Europe was making progress to overcome the euro zone crisis, but need to do more to boost its financial firewall to contain the contagion of the debt crisis and restore trust.
    "There is work under way. There is progress as we see it," Lagarde told a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum.
    "But it is critical that the euro zone members actually develop a clear, simple, firewall that can operate both to limit the contagion and to provide this sort of act of trust in the euro zone so that the financing needs of that zone can actually be met," she said.
    She added that there would be need for IMF funds to help the euro zone.
    US economy ended 2011 at a healthy pace
    Roubini, a professor of economics and international business at New York University, spoke in an interview this week with The Associated Press at a dinner on the sidelines of the meeting, where he is one of the hotly pursued stars.
    Looking at economic prospects this year, he agreed with the International Monetary Fund's latest forecast that the global economy is weakening and said he might be "even slightly more bearish" on its prediction of 3.3 percent growth in 2012.
    Video: Haass from Davos: We're looking at little growth in half the world (on this page) He painted a grim picture of the eurozone in recession and key emerging markets in China, India, Brazil and South Africa slowing down, partly related to weakness in the eurozone.
    Roubini predicted that the U.S. economy, the world's largest, will grow by just 1.7-1.8 percent this year, with unemployment remaining high. The government, he added, was "kicking the can down the road" and not taking measures to increase productivity and competitiveness.
    "We live in a world where there is still a huge amount of economic and financial fragility," he said. "There is a huge amount of uncertainty — macro, financial, fiscal, sovereign, banking, regulatory, taxation — and there is also geopolitical and political and policy uncertainty."
    Too little, too late? Factory jobs making a comeback
    "There are lots of sources of uncertainty from the eurozone, from the Middle East, from the fact that the U.S. is not tackling its own fiscal problem, from the fact that Chinese growth is unbalanced and unsustainable, relying too much on exports and fixed investments and high savings, and not enough on consumption. So it's a very delicate global economy," Roubini said.
    He said the biggest uncertainty is the possibility of a conflict with Iran over its nuclear program that involves Israel, the United States, or both. That could lead oil prices now hovering around $100 a barrel to spike to $150 per barrel, he said, and lead to a global recession.
    Almost half of young Spaniards unemployed
    Unemployment and economic insecurity have become big issues from the Mideast to the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S., and protests from Israel and India to Chile and Russia — and at the same time there is rising inequality between rich and poor.
    "All these things lead to political and social instability," he said. "So we have to reduce inequality. We have to give growth to jobs, skills, education, and increase human capital so workers can compete."
    Video: Protesters build igloos at 'Occupy Davos'  (on this page) Roubini called for a major change in policy priorities."We have to shift our investment from things that are less productive like the financial sector and housing and real estate to things that are more productive like our people, our human capital, our structure, our technology, our innovation," he said.
    Roubini said slow growth in advanced economies will likely lead to "a U-shaped recovery rather than a typical V," and it may last for another three to five years because of high debt.
    "Once you have too much debt in the public and private sector, the painful process could last up to a decade, where economic growth remains weak and anemic and sub-par until we have cleaned up the balance sheet and invested in the things that make us more productive for the future," he said.
    Iran warns Europe On Friday, Iran warned that it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies.
    The Tehran government — grappling with its own economic crisis under Western trade and banking embargoes — will host a rare visit on Sunday by U.N. nuclear inspectors for talks that the ruling clergy may hope can relieve diplomatic pressure as they struggle to bolster public support.
    Since the U.N. watchdog lent independent weight in November to the suspicions of Western powers that Iran is using a nuclear energy program to give itself the ability to build atomic bombs, U.S. and EU sanctions and Iranian threats of reprisal against Gulf shipping lanes have disrupted world oil markets and pushed up prices.
    Amid forecasts Iran might be able to build a bomb next year, and with President Barack Obama facing re-election campaign questions on how he can make good on promises — to Americans and to Israel — not to tolerate a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic, a decade of dispute risks accelerating towards the brink of war.
    The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it would send its undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen, to Britain, Germany and Switzerland next week to talk about how to enforce sanctions against Iran's central bank.
    Those sanctions aim to starve Iran of funds for developing nuclear weapons.
    Western diplomats see little immediate prospect that renewed talks between Iran and the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency, scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday in Tehran, would result much in the way of concessions to Western demands.
    EU states have given themselves until July to enforce an oil import embargo on Iran.
    The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. But China, India and others have made clear that they are keen to soak up any spare Iranian oil, even as U.S. Treasury measures to choke Tehran's dollar trade make it harder to pay for supplies.
    Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of the energy committee in the legislature, said there would be no delay of the kind the EU allowed to its members.
    "If the deputies arrive at the conclusion that the Iranian oil exports to Europe must be halted, parliament will not delay a moment," Hosseini-Sadr said. "The Europeans will surely be taken by surprise and will understand the power of Iran."
    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.


    3he Council on Foreign Relations' Richard Haass joins Morning Joe from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss what's happening and why all eyes are on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.


    As world leaders and company CEO's ready for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 'Occupy' protesters are building igloos so they can camp out for the week. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
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    Banks square in mortgage fraud crosshairs again


    By John W. Schoen, Senior Producer
    In the Wild West of the ongoing mortgage mess, there’s a new sheriff in town. And he’s not handing "Get Out of Jail Free" cards in return for a $25 billion check.
    The appointment of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to head a special task force that will investigate mortgage fraud marks a turning point in a year-long effort to resolve a wave of legal challenges to abusive and illegal foreclosure practices.
    After a year of talks aimed at a settlement with five big banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC) — attorneys general in all 50 states this week have been are poring over the 100-page draft of a the $25 billion deal requiring bankers to commit to modify problem loans that they have been slow to do until now. Under the proposed terms, the banks would also agree to follow strict foreclosure guidelines and procedures and contribute as much as $5 billion to foreclosure relief programs.
    On Wednesday, President Barack Obama tapped Schneiderman to co-chair a joint federal-state task force to pursue criminal charges related to abusive mortgages and the bundling of those loans into investments. Some observers suggested the appointment was intended to blunt Schneiderman’s opposition to the multistate settlement.  Schneiderman has said he's not about to let bankers off the hook.
    "My concern ... has always been to make sure that we're not releasing claims that obviously now are even more important to me because I'm investigating them," he told reporters Wednesday.
    From the beginning of the settlement talks, the five big banks have been holding out for a blanket waiver of legal liability to protect them from future lawsuits or prosecution. The creation of Schneiderman’s task force makes that blanket waiver extremely unlikely. It may even collapse the deal, JP Morgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, told CNBC.
    “My own read is (the creation of the new task force) has a pretty good chance of derailing it,” said Dimon.
    The proposed settlement was also dealt a major blow Wednesday when California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said its terms would limit her ability to bring civil charges against mortgage lenders that wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners.
    "We've reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California," said Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris
    As ground zero for the mortgage meltdown, California is critical to the approval of any settlement. Roughly one in four of all foreclosures are happening in the state and ten of the top 20 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in 2011 are there according to RealtyTrac.
    From the early stages of the talks, Schneiderman and a handful of other state AGs have resisted any deal that would let banks off the hook for a variety of claims by homeowners and investors who bought bonds backed by home mortgages. In August, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading the state group, booted Schneiderman from the executive committee of federal and state officials because he steadfastly opposed any deals that would end investigations into mortgage fraud.
    Schneiderman holds several powerful legal cards that the other 49 AGs don’t. New York’s anti-fraud Martin Act gives him broad subpoena powers other state prosecutors lack. Some New York state securities laws apply to Wall Street firms based in the state. Many of the pools of mortgages that were chopped up into bonds are held in trusts registered in New York.
    Delaware, another AG holdout, has securities laws that apply to the corporate registrations of many of entities involved the mortgage mess. Massachusetts has successfully sued other smaller players in the mortgage mess. In September, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley broke with the talks to file her own lawsuit against the five banks.
    From the beginning, critics have argued that the White House has been too eager to see a settlement and too willing to help the five big banks get the immunity they’re seeking.
    “The Obama administration has been more concerned with settling quickly than with settling in a way that moves the ball forward for homeowners,” said Diane Thomsen, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center.
    It remains to be seen whether the new mortgage fraud task force will produce results. The Obama administration already created a Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November of 2009 that tapped 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. Attorneys offices and state and local partners. Though the group has won a number of cases against smaller players, it has yet to win any high-profile convictions.
    In June, Sen. Charles Greassley (D- Iowa) described the task force as “a press release collection agency utilized by the Justice Department to collect examples of investigations of prosecutions that would otherwise have been brought.”
    Neil Barofsky, a former federal prosecutor who served as the special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and worked with the 2009 task force, shared those doubts.
    “I'm a little puzzled by it," he told Reuters. "Here we are three years later, launching what seems like a very similar effort, except now co-headed by a state attorney general."
    "Does it mean they haven't really been working on investigating the causes of the financial crisis for the last three years?" he said. "Or is it a statement that the last three years of investigating done by the Department of Justice has been ineffectual and needs to be reworked?"
    Related:
    Proposed mortgage settlement offers little relief for homeowners  
    Obama: New push to aid homeowners



    James Dimon, chairman, president & CEO, JPMorgan Chase, discusses the world economy, muddling through in Europe, and the President's prerogative when it comes to naming a successor for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Bernanke, he says, has been an...
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    Santorum resumes campaign as daughter's condition improves in hospital


    Tired and broke, Santorum heads home to do taxes


    By The Associated Press
    Rick Santorum is tired, almost broke — and going home.
    The former Pennsylvania senator is leaving Florida just days before the Tuesday primary that even he expects to deal him a third consecutive loss.

    Paul Sancya / AP
    Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum listens to a question at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012.
    Santorum says he would rather spend his Saturday sitting at his kitchen table to do his taxes than campaigning in a state where the race for the Republican presidential nomination has become a two-man fight between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
    The cash-strapped candidate acknowledges that he simply can't keep up with the GOP front-runners in Florida.
    "We're going to talk about the Constitution and talk about being a strong conservative," Santorum said at an event here this week. "And that's all we can do."
    Outside advisers are urging him to pack up in Florida completely and not spend another minute in a state where he is cruising toward a loss.
    Santorum seems to be listening. He has yet to announce his primary day schedule but says it was a mistake for him to remain in South Carolina on its primary day.
    "We can't let grass grow," he told reporters Thursday. "South Carolina Election Day was sort of a wasted day for us."
    But he pledged to continue his campaign regardless of the Florida outcome.
    It's a grim period for Santorum, who just three weeks ago was riding high after narrowly winning the Iowa caucuses. The victory was short-lived. He lost big in both New Hampshire and South Carolina.
    He faced an uphill battle even before the race turned to Florida. He doesn't have the money to spend on television ads in Florida's expensive media markets. He couldn't compete with the thousands-strong crowds his rivals have been drawing. And he wasn't able to find a moment here that crystalized the rationale for his candidacy.
    "Other candidates tell you they need your help," Santorum told Florida Republicans this week — almost pleaded really. "They're lying. I really need your help."
    But help didn't come — at least in this state — for a candidate who is visibly exhausted and running on, at most, four hours of sleep each night.
    So Santorum is going home to Pennsylvania, which he represented in the Senate, and Virginia, where he lives with his wife and seven children, to get some rest and, he says, prepare his own taxes. He also plans fundraisers in both states as he works to rebuild his campaign account to pay for upcoming contests in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.
    Santorum also is looking at Arizona and Michigan, which vote at the end of February — if he makes it that far.
    His inner circle of advisers is looking at the campaign checkbook. They say they can keep a lean campaign rolling in case Gingrich or Romney implode.
    "This race is just starting. It's a three-man race," Santorum insists. "We're going to be in this race for the long term."
    For now, at least, polls show Santorum dramatically trailing in Florida, the largest and most diverse state in the early nominating schedule. And he seems to be coming up short as he tries to win over voters with his everyman persona.
    "I wish he had a little more passion in the belly," said Don Waldt, a Punta Gorda retiree who attended a Santorum rally at dusk this week. "He is conservative and authentic. But he isn't on top and doesn't seem to have a clear path to the top."
    © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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    Saturday, January 28, 2012

    From S. Korea with love: Warm socks sent to North by balloon

    Each pair could be traded for a month's supply of food, activists say

     msnbc.com staff and news service reports
    updated 1/28/2012 2:24:37 AM ET
    1. Slideshow (7) Daily life in North Korea
    2. Image:      
      Above: Slideshow (53) Journey into North Korea


    South Korean activists sent warm socks and messages attached to balloons toward North Korea Saturday, according to the AFP news agency.
    About 1,000 pairs were attached to the five large gas-filled balloons, which were launched in the northern South Korean city of Paju, the AFP reported.
    The Seoul-based group North Korea Peace said the messages sent with each pair of socks were "politically innocuous."
    "We're not interested in sending political messages or sparking any troubles there. All we want is that people in the North wear warm socks over their frozen feet," Sunny Kim, a spokeswoman for the activists, told AFP.
    Slideshow: Daily life in North Korea (on this page) "Warm socks are so rare and they can easily be traded for cash in the North. One pair of socks fetches about 22 pounds  of corn, which is enough to sustain a person for a month," Kim added.

    Balloon food, propaganda
    Earlier this month, defectors from the North sent packages of food by balloon to their former country ahead of the Lunar New Year.
    In December, following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong il, defectors from the North and southern activists sent giant balloons containing tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets across the border.
    Video: Defectors send food by balloon to North Korea (on this page) The leaflets contained messages opposing another hereditary power transfer in North Korea, as well as portraits of Kim Jong Il and heir Kim Jong Un.
    Slideshow: Journey into North Korea (on this page) North Korea has warned in the past that it would fire at South Korea in response to such actions.
    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Packages containing food were sent from South Korea to North Korea ahead of the Lunar New Year. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
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    Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Budget

    updated Monday January 30, 2012


    Jan 26, 2012

    Department of Defense
    Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey outlined the military's fiscal 2013 budget request. The $525 billion package, with an additional request for $88.4 billion for overseas operations, mostly in Afghanistan was significantly lower than the previous year. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dempsey said the cuts were difficult but the budget reflected fiscal responsibility




    Panetta: Military cuts to hit 'all 50 states'



    The Pentagon announced a new plan that will streamline U.S. forces, look at possible base closures and expand cyber warfare capability in order to meet tough budget constraints. NBC's Chris Clackum reports.




    By NBC News and news services

    The Pentagon proposed budget cuts on Thursday that would slash the size of the U.S. military by eliminating thousands of jobs, mothballing ships and trimming air squadrons in an effort to shift strategic direction and reduce spending by $487 billion over a decade.
    The funding request, which includes painful cuts for many states, sets the stage for a new struggle between President Barack Obama's administration and Congress over how much the Pentagon should spend on national security as the country tries to curb trillion-dollar budget deficits.
    US Army chief 'comfortable' with smaller force as Pentagon prepares cuts
    "Make no mistake, the savings we are proposing will impact all 50 states and many districts across America," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told a news conference at the Pentagon. "This will be a test of whether reducing the deficit is about talk or action." Obama will also ask Congress to approve a new round of domestic base closures, although the timing of this was left vague and there is little chance that lawmakers would agree to this in a presidential election year.
    Panetta, previewing plans that will be formally announced next month, said he would ask for a $525 billion base budget for the 2013 fiscal year, the first time since Sept. 11, 2001, that the Pentagon has asked for less than the previous year.


    Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, left, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, outlines the main areas of proposed spending cuts during a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday.


    Panetta said he would seek $88.4 billion to support combat operations in Afghanistan, down from $115 billion in 2012 largely due to the end of the war in Iraq and the withdrawal of U.S. forces there at the end of last year.
    Congress requires that the Pentagon cut $487 billion from the defense budget over the next 10 years -- $259 billion will be cut in the first five years (2013 to 2018).
    No, Obama isn't actually proposing to cut defense spending
    "We believe this is a balanced and complete package," Panetta said, with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side.
    Some lawmakers were quick to dispute him.
    "Taking us back to a pre-9/11 military force structure places our country in grave danger," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will hold hearings on the Pentagon budget plan.
    Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the Panetta plan "ignores the lessons of history." He said it provides for a military that is "too small to respond effectively to events that may unfold over the next few years."
    Dempsey, however, said the military is united in its support for the new approach.
    "This budget is a first step — it's a down payment — as we transition from an emphasis on today's wars to preparing for future challenges," he said, adding, "This budget does not lead to a military in decline."
    While the timelines for each of these cuts vary, NBC News reports where the biggest cuts are coming from for now:
    Benefits
    Members of the military will receive full pay raises in 2013 and 2014, but their raises will be "limited" beginning in 2015. Health care fees for retirees will increase, including co-pays and deductibles.

    ArmyActive duty force will decrease by about 75,000 soldiers to 490,000. (For perspective, there are about 565,000 soldiers on active duty today and there were about 480,000 soldiers on active duty on 9/11/01.)

    Marine CorpsActive duty force will decrease by about 20,000 Marines to 182,000 total. (For perspective, there are about 202,000 Marines on active duty today, and there were about 173,000 on 9/11/01.)

    Air ForceEliminate six of the 60 Air Force tactical air squadrons, as well as one training squadron.
    The Pentagon will eliminate:  27 aging C-5As (leaving behind 52 C-5Ms and 222 C-17s); 65 oldest C-130s (leaving behind 318 C-130s) and they will divest 38 C-27s.

    NavyRetire seven cruisers that have not been updated with ballistic missile defense capabilities or that are in need of significant maintenance. Some fleet support ships will also be retired, and the building of several ships (1 large deck, 1 sub, 2 littoral combat ships, and 8 joint high speed vessels) will all delayed by one year or more.

    The defense spending plan is scheduled to be submitted to Congress as part of the administration's full 2013 budget on Feb. 13.
    Prominent in the Obama plan is a renewed focus on Asia, where China's rapid military modernization has raised worry in Washington and rattled U.S. allies.
    NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube as well as Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced his plan for cutting $487 billion from the defense budget over the next 10 years. NBC's Brian Williams reports. 
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    Hello Cool World

    New e'Zine & Vlog Hot Off The Presses

    By Sandy Haksi On January 20, 2012

    We've (finally!) released another issue of our News of the Cool e'Zine. The release is timed to coincide with today's Occupy the Courts national day of protest, and includes articles on Joel Bakan's new book — Childhood Under Siege — with a review by Occupy Parenting's Eric Curren, as well as pieces on tackling corporate giants and social branding. We also did a short Occupy-themed vlog that ties it all together. Check it out below and please share it!

    Occupy The Courts Vlog from Hello Cool World on Vimeo.

    In the vlog, Joel Bakan talks about corporate personhood and how the Occupy movement is really a call to be a citizen, with all the rights and duties that entails. Hello Cool World founder Katherine Dodds discusses how branding can be used for social good and not just to maximize profits, and Move to Amend's Steve Justino gives us some background on Occupy The Courts. 


    Occupy Your Future

    Watch & Share our Occupy-themed Video Blog (Vlog)! It's like a mini-edition of this e'Zine


    As the grassroots organizers behind the hit film, The Corporation, we are embarking on an exciting new phase to reign in the corporate "psychopath." We're in the midst of launching an "Occupy Your Future" campaign to build on — and pay tribute to — the Occupy movement that has energized and activated people on the ground, the world over.
    Since the explosion of #Occupy this past fall, we've seen renewed interest in the film, and it's been cited as essential viewing for those want to understand how we got to this point. Now more than ever, weaknesses in the corporate globalization model have been exposed, and momentum is building to keep corporations accountable and reduce the harm they cause. Talk about a teachable moment! And it's great timing because we're about to release a new educational version.

    Our hope for this new 3-part version for high schools is that, not only will it be a valuable educational tool, but it will also be an engagement platform for students and teachers alike, spawning Corporation clubs in schools across North America. Imagine teenagers and adults huddled together in classrooms strategizing solutions to corporate misrule! As Joel Bakan, author of the bestselling book behind the film (and has a new one hot off the presses — Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children) says, "schools are probably the most important site of social struggle that we have."
    This new high school version will be packaged with some exciting extras such as the Story of Stuff videos, our own short film, The Corporation in the Grade 8 Classroom, and an interview with Hello Cool World's founder, Katherine Dodds discussing how branding can be 'occupied' for good. It was a conclusion she came to during her early days at Adbusters magazine, the training ground for a few of our Hello Cool Worlders, which is itself enjoying a boost in notoriety for being the original brains behind #OccupyWallStreet.
    Hello Cool World will be acting as the Canadian Educational distributors for the film, and we are trying to create a new kind of model that builds on the notion of "fairer trade." We offer a higher return to filmmakers and use our profits to fund the campaign. It will allow us to produce more e'Zines and connect our network with current initiatives to take on the corporate giants, such as Move To Amend's Occupy The Courts day of protest in the USA. Actions like these seem intimidating to us as individuals but, if Occupy has shown us anything, it's that working together we can challenge the 1% and make our voices heard.
    —Hello Cool World  & The Corporation



    January 09, 2012

    Happy 2012 from Hello Cool World!

    By Michelle Reid Vision BoardHappy New Year!
    We are starting off 2012 with a bang and moving in a dozen directions at once on our many, many projects. If work is a buffet, then everyone at Hello Cool World is carrying two full plates and stuffing extra projects wrapped in napkins in their purses for later. Check out the photo of our crazy vision board! Here's a little preview of what we're working on now...
    We're getting close to announcing the OWN premiere date for 65_RedRoses, which will be sometime in Spring 2012! We also just launched a beautiful new site design for 65_RedRoses- check it out!
    We're also busy working with ImmunizeBC on the I Have Immunity campaign to promote immunizations through storytelling. We heard some amazing stories from health care providers and administrators in December, and we're looking forward to a year filled with collecting and sharing stories. If you have a story to share, talk to us on the Facebook Page, or tweet at @IHaveImmunity!
    For sexual health advocates who've been looking for action since Pap Awareness Week wrapped up, get involved in Dating Confidential! A research study from UBC by STI nurse Cindy Masaro, Dating Confidential is looking for women over 25 who are dating or in new relationships, in order to improve sexual health education and services. Visit the website to take the survey, send it to friends, and chat about sexual health with us over on the Dating Confidential Facebook Page.


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