10 Things You Need To Know For Thursday

A YouTube clip mocking the recent celebrity gun control PSA is making the rounds on the net. The creators showed the celebrities using guns themselves in scenes from their movies and TV shows.

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News in Photos: The 10 topics you should be ready to talk about today.

10 Things You Need To Know For Tuesday

Nine young girls were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan Monday, local officials told the Washington Post. Three others were wounded in the blast, and all victims were schoolchildren between the ages of 9 and 11, who were collecting firewood when the landmine exploded. It’s not yet clear whether the mine had been planted by the Taliban or was left over from Afghanistan’s war with Soviet invaders. In a separate, nearby incident in Kabul, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives outside the offices of a military base used by foreign forces in the country’s capital, killing at least one person and injuring at least 15 others.

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News in Photos: The 10 topics you should be ready to talk about today.

10 Things You Need To Know For Tuesday

A fourth man has accused former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of sexual abuse, filing a lawsuit in Miami. The latest accuser, identified in court papers as John Doe, charges Clash befriended him in the mid-1990s, when he was 16 or 17, and that Clash paid for him to fly from Miami to New York “for the purpose of satisfying his sexual interests.” The lawyer of the latest accuser also represents Clash’s second accuser, Cecil Singleton, and his third accuser, another “John Doe.” Clash’s reps have not commented on this latest sexual harassment suit. Though Clash resigned from Sesame Street roughly a month ago, his voice as Elmo will still be around for another two years, as Clash had already taped episodes to air through 2014.

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News in Photos: The 10 topics you should be ready to talk about today.

10 Things You Need To Know For Wednesday

President Barack Obama is apparently sticking to his guns. He's reiterating that any deal made to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff must include tax increases on the wealthiest Americans. "What I'm going to need...is an acknowledgment that folks like me can pay a little bit higher rate," the president said, adding that he’s also willing to entertain entitlement reforms. The White House and House Republicans have presented competing plans to bring down the debt, with GOP lawmakers arguing that government must close loopholes to raise revenue, not raise taxes on the country’s top earners.

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Back to Business

With fiscal cliff looming, we can't sit back now that Obama's been reelected

The views expressed in this Op-Ed do not necessarily reflect those of Loop 21.

History was made yet again 10 days ago when Barack Obama became the first black president to win re-election. Since then, there has been lots of soul searching within the Republican Party, lots of commiserating, well, maybe not that much, but there has also been lots speculation about what is next for the president. 

I recently attended a leadership development program, America’s Leaders of Change, and during the educational component of examining leadership, we focused on Barack Obama.  At the time that the readings were assigned, the president had not yet won, the second debate hadn’t even happened, and if you listened to many people in the media, the president had a tough road ahead of him to get to the 270 electoral votes he’d need to win.  Yet, there we were, discussing what the president should do next, and what his legacy would be. 

While that might seem odd to some people, it made complete sense to me. 

Two days after the election, the White House was back in business.  Guaranteed to have their jobs for another four years, the staff was refocused, ensuring that the president’s vision and campaign promises would be realized.  With a looming “fiscal cliff” and a Congress with questionable brakes, we’ve buckled up for what might still prove to be a bumpy ride. 

The fiscal cliff is eminent on Jan. 2, 2013, unless legislators reach an agreement before then.  It means that there will be cuts across the board, totaling approximately $109 billion per year.  This includes discretionary programs, both defense and non-defense related, and could mean another recession and increased unemployment.  It has been one of the president’s priorities since before the election and his staff continues to work diligently on it.