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November 27, 2012 CONNECT WITH SMARTBRIEF Share | Sign up | Archive | Advertise National Pulse  Obama presses GOP on tax rates as fiscal talks continue    Obama/Reuters President Barack Obama is pushing congressional Republicans to act quickly to freeze tax rates for most Americans while allowing Bush-era rate cuts for the wealthiest taxpayers to expire on schedule. The president will meet with small-business owners, major-company executives and wealthy supporters in a bid to build pressure on the GOP. Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing back by threatening a replay of last year's debt-ceiling showdown. The Washington Post (11/27) , The Hill (11/26) , Politico (Washington, D.C.) (11/27)      Agenda Items  Filibuster reform would "poison" Senate, McConnell warns    McConnell/Reuters Democrats' efforts to reform the Senate's filibuster rules could "poison" interparty relations, warns Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Calling the reform proposals a "naked power grab," McConnell warned that attempts to change the filibuster rulebook would spark a showdown that would make other recent clashes "look like mere pillow fights." Politico (Washington, D.C.) (11/26)      Elisse Walter to succeed Mary Schapiro as SEC chief The Wall Street Journal (11/26)      Dimon would be a strong pick for Treasury chief, Buffett says Bloomberg Businessweek (11/27)      Carbon tax could play role in post-"fiscal cliff" tax reforms The Hill/Congress Blog (11/26)      Rick Santorum is "open" to 2016 run, says conservatism won't go away The Weekly Standard/The Blog (11/26)      Data Points  Tax "bubble" could hit some well-off Americans    Reuters One fiscal fix being considered by congressional negotiators would see top tax rates applied to wealthy Americans' entire income, rather than only to the portion of their income above the top-rate tax threshold. Depending on how such a plan was implemented, that could have the "perverse" effect of creating a tax bubble, in which earnings between $250,000 and $400,000 would be taxed at a markedly higher rate than earnings of greater than $400,000, writes Nate Silver. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/FiveThirtyEight blog (11/26)      The Conversation  Editorial: Don't blame Grover Norquist for the GOP's troubles The Wall Street Journal (11/26)      Columnist Matt Miller: Warren Buffett's fiscal plan doesn't aim high enough The Washington Post (11/27)      AEI fellow James Capretta: Health care reform is fair game in fiscal negotiations National Review (11/27)      Daily Chuckle  The biblical roots of Black Friday    Reuters Black Friday has biblical roots, claims Stephen Colbert, and has grown into a holy day when Americans come together to piously trample each other in pursuit of discounted Dirt Devils. Still, it's not all good. "I am worried that Black Friday is being ruined by commercialism," Colbert admits. Comedy Central (11/26)      SmartQuote  Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time." --E.B. White, American writer        SmartBrief delivers need-to-know news in over 100 targeted email newsletters to over 3 million readers. All our industry briefings are FREE and open to everyone—sign up today! Accounting Advertising Automotive Aviation & Aerospace Biotechnology Business Chemicals Construction & Real Estate Consumer Packaged Goods Distribution Education Energy Finance Food Service Health Care Insurance Legal Manufacturing Media & Entertainment Nonprofit Retail Technology Telecommunications Travel & Hospitality   Subscriber Tools SIGNUP   SEND FEEDBACK   E-MAIL THIS BRIEF Today's Brief - Permalink  | Print friendly format  | Web version  | Privacy policy Advertise Sr. National Account Director:   Jim Pataki 212-450-1682   SmartBrief Community: Most Clicked Facebook LinkedIn Get this RSS Feed Search Archive About Download a SmartBrief Mobile app today     Recent SmartBrief on Business & Politics Issues: Monday, November 26, 2012 Wednesday, November 21, 2012 Tuesday, November 20, 2012 Monday, November 19, 2012 Friday, November 16, 2012     Lead Editor: Jim Berard     Mailing Address: SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004     © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information