Story of the Day:

Winners and losers emerge from supercommittee's partisan stalemate
Bob Cusack
From The Hill

The supercommittee’s failure is being viewed widely as a debacle — yet another sign that Washington cannot overcome partisan politics to deal with the nation’s record deficit.

But the stalemate hasn’t been a political nightmare for everyone in Washington. Politically, the deadlocked talks have yielded both winners and losers, from lawmakers who openly rooted against a deal to those who said failure was not an option.

The arrest of a Mercedes manager under the immigration law shows the danger that exists for international companies looking to expand into Alabama
From Birmingham News editorial board

Imagine you are the chief executive of an international company looking to expand to the United States. You like states like Alabama, especially, because of their right-to-work laws, available sites for new industry and, most of all, the tax and other incentives they offer.

After months of courtship, the search narrows to two states, one of which is Alabama. Both have landed huge international companies. All in all, they are about even in incentives offered, available locations and trainable work force.

Michael Tomasky: How Obama Can Get to 270 Electoral Votes
A new study shows how Obama might be able to use demographics to win reelection, says Michael Tomasky.
From The Daily Beat

Well, now that it’s official that bipartisan compromise has no future in Washington, it’s time for President Obama to put aside once and for all the idea of playing patty-cake with these people and instead focus ruthlessly on getting to 270 electoral votes. The recent debate among pundits has been over the question of whether the path to 270 for Obama runs through Virginia and North Carolina and Colorado (and appeals to “new-economy voters”) or through Ohio and the Rust Belt (and more class-based appeals). It’s a silly debate. The answer is both. An important new paper by two leading electoral demographers on the progressive side of the fence makes the case and is well worth your time (it’s 68 pages), as it’s chockablock with fascinating information about changes in the electorate, both nationwide and in several key states—changes that may well decide the outcome next November.