Power Players: Using Obama’s words against him

A few weeks ago Spinners and Winners went through the top five things Mitt Romney has said that Democrats would use against him if he wins the Republican nomination. Now the flip side: The top five things from Barack Obama you can be sure Republicans will use over and over again in the fall campaign.

The president's opponents will hammer some of the wildly optimistic predictions the White House made about the stimulus program, and some economic promises that Obama has failed to deliver.

"Fourteen days after I signed our Recovery Act into law, we are seeing shovels hit the ground," Obama said in March of 2009. Last year, when it was clear the stimulus did not create the 4 million jobs analysts had predicted it would, the president back-tracked, joking at an economic forum, "Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected."

In February 2009 Obama said, "I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office." After Obama uttered those words, the deficit actually shot up to $1.4 trillion dollars in 2009. It then came down to $1.3 trillion in 2010, then stayed flat for 2011. The Congressional Budget office estimates 2012's deficit will be $1.1 trillion dollars -- a far cry from cutting the deficit in half.

Republicans will attack not just his words, but also his actions, making hay out of the president bowing to foreign dignitaries.

The number one quote that Republicans will likely play over and over again was said nearly three years ago, in an interview the newly-inaugurated president gave to NBC's Today Show.

"If I don't have this done in three years, then there is going to be a one-term proposition," Obama said.

Mitt Romney already talks about this all the time.

"He said if he could turn the economy around in 3 years he would be looking at a one term proposition, well we're here to collect," Romney told a crowd in Grand Rapids, Mich., in mid February. "We're here to collect."

Watch the full show for the full top five.

View the original article here

India workers in general strike

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
28 February 2012 Last updated at 06:05 GMT Unions want universal social security cover for workers in India's vast unorganised labour sector Indian workers have begun a strike against high inflation and to demand better working conditions and an end to selling off state firms.

The strike has the support of most of India's major trade unions and thousands of smaller unions from across the political spectrum.

Banks, transport, post offices and ports are thought most likely to be affected by the industrial action.

But services on India's rail network are not expected to be disrupted.

States such as West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, where the communist parties have greater influence, had been expected to be most affected by the strike.

Most roads in Calcutta, the capital of West Bengal, are deserted with very little traffic, says the BBC's Amitabha Bhattashali.

Public transport is thin and most shops are closed, our correspondent says. Many people stayed back in their offices on Monday to make sure that they could attend work on Tuesday.

However, the city's metro railway network was running normally and flight operations from the domestic and international airports were on schedule, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

"Everything has been normal so far. Things are going on well. Tight security arrangements are in place with 400 police pickets set up in various parts of the city," police commissioner RK Pachnanda said.

TV channels reported that the strike was having little impact in Delhi and Mumbai.

Although India's inflation rate dropped from 9.1% in December, it remains stubbornly high at 7.5%.

Growth for the financial year ending in March is also expected to be around 7%, lower than the previous forecasts of about 9%.

The government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is trying to cut its budget deficit by selling stakes in state-run companies - something the unions object to.

Other demands include measures to curb inflation, universal social security cover for non-unionised workers and enforcement of labour laws.

View the original article here

Gunmen open fire on bus in Pakistan, 18 killed

In 2012, Yahoo! News will tell the nation’s story through the experiences and views of real Americans like you. Watch the first Remake America video »

View the original article here

Tony Award-winning producer, director Theodore Mann dies

NEW YORK (AP) — Theodore Mann, a Tony Award-winning director and producer who championed Eugene O'Neill and was a driving force behind Circle in the Square Theatre and its school, has died. He was 87.

Paul Libin, president of Circle in the Square Theatre and former chairman of The Broadway League, said Mann died Friday in New York of complications from pneumonia.

"His contributions to Broadway and off-Broadway are immeasurable both in the productions he created, and the talent that he nurtured," said Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of The Broadway League. "He will be missed by many in our community, and our hearts go out to his friends, family, and students."

A co-founder of Circle in the Square Theatre in 1951, Mann spearheaded in 1956 the acclaimed revival of O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" and the American premiere of O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night." According to the League, those two productions led to a reevaluation of O'Neill, now recognized to be America's greatest playwright.

Mann produced or directed more than 175 plays at Circle, which in 1972 moved from Greenwich Village to its current in-the-round stage on Broadway. In 1963, he founded Circle in the Square Theatre School, a program for training young actors.

Some of the school's alumni include Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Bacon, Lady Gaga, Benicio del Toro, Idina Menzel, Felicity Huffman and Molly Shannon.

Mann received the 1957 Tony Award for Best Play for "Long Day's Journey Into Night," a 1976 Special Tony Award acknowledging 25 continuous years of quality productions at Circle in the Square, as well as 12 additional Tony Award nominations.

Together with Libin, Mann presented new and classic works at his theater, including works by Sam Shepard, Thornton Wilder, Horton Foote, Yazmin Reza, Truman Capote, Arthur Miller, Athol Fugard and Terrence McNally.

Some noted Circle productions include "Uncle Vanya" with George C. Scott; "The Lady from the Sea" with Vanessa Redgrave making her Broadway debut; "Salome and Hughie" with Al Pacino; "The Iceman Cometh" with James Earl Jones, which Mann directed; "Candida" with Joanne Woodward; and "Death of a Salesman," also with Scott.

The Circle lately has been home to the Broadway premiere of Sam Shepard's "True West," the revival of "The Rocky Horror Show," ''Sweeney Todd," ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," Alan Ayckbourn's "The Norman Conquests," ''Lombardi," and the current revival of "Godspell."

"I first met Ted on my initial site visit of Circle in the Square, when 'Godspell' in the round was just a concept. There he was, to say hello, to shake my hand, and to welcome me to his house," ''Godspell" producer Ken Davenport wrote in his blog Monday. "His fingerprints are on a lot of resumes of some of our industry's finest actors and finest artists."

Mann also directed operas, including Benjamin Britten's "Turn of the Screw" for the New York City Opera, "La Boheme" for the Juilliard School, and "The Night of the Iguana" for Moscow's Maly Theater.

He was married to the late Patricia Brooks, a leading lyric coloratura soprano, who died in 1993. He is survived by his two sons, Andrew and Jonathan, and five grandchildren.

View the original article here

Israel probably won't tell the U.S. if it's going to attack Iran

Israeli officials have reportedly let it be known that they won't give their United States counterparts a heads up if the country decides to launch an airstrike against Iran. According to the Associated Press, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told this fact to every American official coming to Israeli hoping to talk them out of a pre-emptive strike of Iranian nuclear facilities. Officials say it's for the U.S.'s own good, since if they don't know about the strike in advance, they can't be blamed for failing to stop it. Never mind that most of Israel's enemies don't trust anything they say and would likely assume that the Americans were behind it anyway. 

RELATED: Did Israel Blow Up an Iranian Missile Base?

Israeli leaders likely also assume (rightly) that the United States doesn't want to help, so they will make any decision on a possible attack without American input. Netanyahu will be in Washington next week to meet with President Barack Obama and top Congressional and diplomatic officials. This news won't get those talks off on the right foot. 

View the original article here

In Michigan, Mitt Romney faces day of reckoning

SOUTHFIELD, Michigan (Reuters) - Mitt Romney faces a day of reckoning on Tuesday when Michigan votes to either grant him a big victory in the Republican presidential nomination battle or hand him a humiliating defeat.

Romney was born and raised in Michigan and his father was a popular governor, but conservatives are threatening to deliver the state to Rick Santorum, who is running neck-and-neck with Romney in the polls in the final hours before voting begins.

Most Michigan polls close at 8 p.m. EST (midnight GMT).

Arizona votes as well on Tuesday and Romney has a comfortable lead there, aided by the man who beat him in the 2008 Republican presidential campaign, Arizona Senator John McCain.

All eyes are on Michigan because a victory for Santorum on what is essentially Romney's home turf would raise questions about Romney's candidacy a week before a defining day of the 2012 campaign, March 6, the "Super Tuesday" when 10 states hold contests.

"I am going to win in Michigan and I'm going to win across the country," Romney said on Monday.

His aides, contemplating the possibility of a defeat, believe Romney could survive a loss in Michigan should it occur because of this year's elongated nomination process.

"The bottom line is you want to win it but it is not as devastating as you guys want to make it out to be if we don't," said a senior Romney strategist.

Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, has made himself competitive in Michigan by pressing his conservative views on social issues and by spreading a blue-collar message about the need to rebuild the manufacturing base in the hard-hit Midwestern state.

"We've been traveling all over the state, and I'm really excited about the response. I think we're going to surprise a few people tomorrow night," Santorum said on Monday.

A Santorum win could upend the race and prompt the Republican establishment - concerned that Santorum's strong religious conservatism could make him unelectable - to search for a new candidate to join the race.

An unpredictable factor in Michigan was the ability of Democrats to vote in the Republican primary and try to thwart Romney by voting for Santorum, who many see as having little chance of defeating Democratic President Barack Obama in the November 6 election should he become the Republican nominee.

AUTO BAILOUTS

The Santorum campaign tried to encourage the crossover vote with a robocall urging Democrats to send a message to Romney because of his opposition to 2009 auto bailouts that kept thousands of Michigan workers employed.

The effort was quickly condemned by the Romney campaign as a sign that Santorum "is now willing to wear the other team's jersey if he thinks it will get him more votes."

Romney has come back from a deficit in the Michigan polls to creep ahead in some surveys, and his aides believed his campaign has the organizational strength for a good turnout.

Other Republican candidates, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, are running far behind the two leaders and have not competed heavily, making the state a Romney-or-Santorum contest.

Romney has been hammering home his view that his experience as a private equity executive and former Massachusetts governor makes him the best candidate to defeat Obama and lead the U.S. economy back to strong job growth.

He has also been sharply critical of Santorum.

"I've spent 25 years in business," Romney said. "I understand why jobs go, why they come. I understand what happens to corporate profit, where it goes if the government takes it. This is what I've done for all my life. Senator Santorum is a nice guy, but he's never had a job in the private sector."

This kind of message is resonating among many Michigan Republicans.

"He could be more charismatic but a steady, good businessman is what we need," said John Bas of Berkeley. "Is he a rock star? No. But rock stars probably don't make good presidents."

Romney may not be a rock star, but he had one campaign for him on Monday. Kid Rock and his band joined Romney at a theatre in Royal Oak to play a song that is the signature anthem of Romney's campaign events, "Born Free."

Romney and his wife Ann watched the brief concert from the front row and clapped to the beat.

Romney persuaded Kid Rock to perform at the rally during an hour-long meeting last Thursday at the rocker's Michigan home. Kid Rock got Romney's commitment that if elected he would help the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and U.S. troops, a Romney campaign spokesman said.

(Additional reporting by Sam Youngman; editing by Christopher Wilson)

View the original article here

Well-Off, Educated and Tech Savvy: The New Couponer

Constance Atkinson, a 20-year veteran of couponing, estimates that she saves more than $1,000 per year by scouring the newspaper for deals.

Select Stock | Agency Collection | Getty ImagesConsumers redeemed 63 percent more coupons in 2011 as they increasingly looked online and used their smartphones to scour for deals, according to Coupons.org.Atkinson, a Brooklyn resident, and other bargain-seeking consumers fueled a 63-percent surge in coupon redemption last year, according to new data from Coupons.org.

But the changing face of the coupon user may surprise you.

Households with incomes of $100,000 or more are twice as likely to coupon as those who earn less than $35,000. College-degree holders are also twice as likely to use coupons as those who did not graduate from high school.

Atkinson, who made a beeline for the CVS [CVS  Loading...      ()   ] coupon dispenser during a recent trip to the drugstore in New York City, has grown so accustomed to using coupons that she has a hard time imagining paying retail at Macy's [M  Loading...      ()   ] , a department store that she frequents.

“It would be very difficult for me to do that unless I had to buy a gift,” she said. “I would say nine out of 10 times, I would have a coupon.”

Although coupon redemption is increasing, distribution by marketers is not. After two years of increased distribution, marketers of consumer packaged goods reduced coupon distribution by 7.5 percent last year, according to a report about the industry by Inmar.

Still, consumers are clipping their way to savings with renewed enthusiasm compared to before the recession .

“Shoppers continue to love coupons,” said Bob Carter, president of Inmar Promotion Services. “With consumer confidence flat, unemployment rates still a challenge and prices for most consumables on the rise, it’s now cool to be frugal — to shop smartly. And, coupons are the vehicle consumers are using to do just that.”

Online and mobile access to coupons is helping to fuel this growth. Since before the recession, online coupon use has increased by 360 percent. One in five smartphone users used mobile coupons in 2011 — more than twice the percentage the year before.

Although smartphone and online coupon use is on the rise, Crystal Paine, who pens the blog MoneySavingMom.com, said her readers are often hesitant to download coupons and often do not own smartphones. Still, she is seeing mobile growth in the industry.

“Smartphone coupons are becoming more and more prevalent,” she said. “I still feel like they have a lot of kinks to be worked out. A lot of the time, there are so many steps. A lot of people are hesitant because of all the steps involved — they would rather just clip a coupon or sign up for an e-mail newsletter.”

First introduced to coupons by her mother, Paine began to rely on them more while her husband was in law school and their budget dropped to around $800 to $1,000 per month.

She began her blog in 2007 shortly before the recession began and interest in bargains began to take off. Although the economy has improved, Paine has noticed a shift in her readers’ interests to applying frugality to all areas of their life and away from merely finding cents-off deals.

“There’s still very much of an interest,” she said about couponing. “There are a lot of people who are still struggling — who are still unemployed or underemployed.”

Paine added that many consumers have experienced difficulty redeeming as many coupons as they did in the past due to the increased media spotlight around extreme deal seekers.

She said that shows such as TLC’s Extreme Couponing, which profiled bargain hunters who can save hundreds of dollars during a single shopping trip, have caused some stores to crack down and change their policies.

For those consumers who choose to tighten their budgets with coupons, Paine recommends starting slow.

“Don’t go out there and try to save 95 percent off your grocery bill,” she said. “It’s better to shave 1 to 2 percent off your budget every month than to go gung-ho with it and burnout.”

Questions? Comments? Email us at document.write("");document.write("consumernation"+"@"+"cnbc.com");document.write('');. Follow Katie Little on Twitter @katie_little_.

View the original article here