Tuesday's Daily Brief

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Hurricane Irene Marks First Big U.S. Threat In Years WORLD Libya On The Brink BUSINESS Fed's $1.2 Trillion In Loans 'A Classic Case Of Moral Hazard' BUSINESS Head Of S&P To Step Down MEDIA Eliot Spitzer SUED POLITICS Paul Ryan Tries To Create Tax Loopholes For Biggest Donors BLOG POSTS Stephen Kaus: Let These "Independents" Reelect Obama, I Think I Will Sit This One Out Liberals understand that Obama is not going to enact an economic policy by fiat; that something has to actually pass. But all his kowtowing to deficit reduction has made the president not only look like he has per-settled, but that he has been pre-rolled. Dean Baker: Why Is President Obama So Anxious to Cut Social Security? The determination to cut Social Security is especially strange given the finances of the program. Under the law, Social Security is financed by the designated Social Security tax. It does not contribute to the deficit. Erica Heller: When Fame And My Father Met: Joseph Heller's Own Catch-22 I witnessed the spectacular transformation of my father, Joseph Heller, as he started to become a celebrity and a charmless believer in his own schtick. T Bone Burnett: O Brother, Where Art Thou? For many of us, O Brother was part of a musical education. It helped extend an important Twentieth Century musical legacy into the Twenty-First Century. Mary Pauline Lowry: A Diamond Is Forever: One Woman Questions the Most Successful Ad Slogan of All Time lt's important to be aware of the way the A Diamond is Forever ad campaign -- the most successful ad campaign in history -- has shaped our thinking about this symbol of romantic love.

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