Notations On Our World: On the US Political Scene (On @GOP Debate & Government @ Work)

The Third GOP Debate on CNBC is now history.   As we noted the latest in our "Notations" yesterday, candidates were busy as the Democrats were also quite busy yesterday as well.  Hillary Rodham Clinton was also quite busy with her obsevations on it while on the road in New Hampshire and sent out a call to action to her suppoters.

The debate itself saw apparently two "winners" that Media outltes like Politico and FT.com crowned;  Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.   Marco Rubio's "punchline" was that the Democrats have the biggest SuperPac:  The mainstream media.   This was as he was reminded of the editorial in the largest newspaper in Florida calling on him to resign.     This was the same newspaper that endorsed him.  Ted Cruz also went on a rampage against the media--while Vox came out with one simple yet profound fact:  the tables were turned to avoid the substance of discussing their plans which unfortunately does not add up.

Beyond the debate stage, though, the business of Government continued.   The 2-Year Budget deal seems certain to pass although Rand Paul has said he would fillibuster it.   The National Proirities project released this earlier:

The White House and congressional lawmakers reached a critical mass Monday night when they unveiled a budget deal that would both relieve harsh spending caps set to return in 2016 and avoid potential economic disaster by suspending the debt ceiling.  The deal would provide temporary and partial relief from spending caps set to return in 2016 and beyond. But the deal also provides the Pentagon's slush fund with $59 billion over and above legislated spending caps in 2016. What would happen if we rearranged our priorities?

Don't forget to visit our new and improved trade-offs tool where you can choose for yourself how to reallocate the Pentagon slush fund. What You Need to Know About the Debt CeilingCurrently, the debt ceiling, or the amount the U.S. Treasury can borrow, expires next week - onNovember 3. If Congress does not pass the budget agreement before then, the country could face serious long-term consequences. Learn what  you need to know about the debt ceiling.   Putting Out the Syrian Fire Diplomacy may be our only hope in Syria. NPP Senior Advisors Jo Comerford and Mattea Kramer explain why.

  The United States is aso about to get a new speaker as well.     It also seems that all the disputes with Israel are in the past as the Israeli Defense Minister on a Washington visit noted that "...all is well" as a  prelude to the Israei Prime Minister's Visit to Washington Post.

As We went to press, the US Labor Department came out with weekly unemployment numbers noting that, "....In the week ending October 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 260,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 259,000. The 4-week moving average was 259,250, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 263,250. This is the lowest level for this average since December 15, 1973 when it was 256,750.....".