Taking aim at trickle down fiscal policies and warning legislators not to hold the American economy "hostage," President Barack Obama demanded today that Congress extend Bush-era middle class tax cuts for a year.

Addressing the nation from the White House's East Room, Obama implored Congress to "do the right thing" and immediately pass extension legislation, which he would instantly ink.

"I will sign it tomorrow," he said.

In a politically risky move, Obama also recognized that the economy has been disappointing under his watch, but used that to bolster his argument for the extension.

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Well, that's that.

The Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have would required that employers explain pay disparities between men and women, so that said staffers would know whether the differences are sex-based or not, failed 52-47 in the Senate, according to Politico. The proposed law -- which would have prohibited employers "from retaliating against employees who discuss or disclose salary information with their co-workers" needed 60 votes to advance to debate.

But is anyone that surprised?

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New York has supposedly stepped into the future with high-tech taxis which, sadly, are nothing like the vehicles in The Fifth Element.

Anyway, the City will soon have a new official fleet of Nissan NV200 cabs, which will feature amenities such as sliding doors, skylights, USB cell phone chargers, GPS, and odor-resistant(?) upholstery.

While some herald the end of the Crown Vic era as a step in the right direction, there's clearly lots of room for improvement -- aside from making these cabs more Korben Dallas-like. Runnin' Scared's expert team has come up with a list of features that must be added to these Nissans immediately.

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Bad news if you don't like getting dehumanized: The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled 5-4 to OK strip searches for any offense.

What this means: if you get booked for an offense as minor as an unpaid parking ticket, you might have to bare all for corrections officers before being admitted to jail.

Yep, you read that right. Something as minor as an unpaid parking ticket can require that you suffer an immense indignity -- including cavity searches -- without having been convicted of any crime.

And jail officials don't even have to suspect that you're carrying contraband.

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Rick Santorum, who earlier this week told Puerto Ricans to speak English if they wanted to become a state, has continued his tradition of saying wacky shit.

Now, not-so-slick Rick is calling for a war on pornography!

Apparently, vids of naked, consenting adults threaten the very fabric of American society, and the social conservative will not take that lying down.

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In what looks like an attempt to win "cool" points with many of the young, tech-savvy voters he has pissed off during his presidency, Barack Obama is hosting a Google+ Hangout this afternoon, where he'll answer a few not-at-all cherry-picked questions via live video stream. (We hope a lot of questions turn out to be about weed, like they have been at YouTube-based Town Hall events.)

Runnin' Scared has decided to live blog the "first completely-virtual interview," which has basically been interpreted by the press corps as a giant "fuck you" from the White House.

So . . . enjoy!

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Mitt Romney, who routinely gets shit from other conservatives for being too rich, too Mormon, and too willing to help people get healthcare, is crushing top rival Newt Gingrich in Florida a day before the Jan. 31 primary -- a just-released Suffolk University/7 News poll puts the former Massachusetts gov at a comfy, 20-point lead over the candidate who shares a name with an amphibian.

The reason: even deep-pocketed neo-cons feel the hurt of a bad economy, and Romney is seen as the candidate most likely to fix country's financial troubles, Suffolk says.

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Brooklyn plus bun.

As they gear up for their big Meet the Breeds event on November 19th and 20th at the Javits Center, the American Kennel Club and the International Cat Association have been doing some thinking about what breeds "match" which of New York City's neighborhoods. Jessica Rice of the AKC tells us they "went through all of our breeds' personalities and characteristics to match a dog and cat up best with the neighborhoods." Sooooo, what cat or dog are you? If you're an Upper East Sider, they dub you a poodle (or an American Curl cat). Upper West Siders are English Springer Spaniels or Oriental cats. Folks who live in Little Italy are, obviously, Italian Greyhounds, or possibly a cat breed known as the Singapura. Most relevant to our personal interests, people who live in the Village are Brussels Griffons -- "highly intelligent and sensitive, with a very expressive face," yesiree -- and those in Brooklyn are dachshunds, you know, for hot dogs, a/k/a, Nathan's.

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Those photos are the single best group of mugshots in the history of the world. They're also as perfect an illustration as you could ask for of what can go wrong when the Amish lifestyle bumps up against that of the modern world; these men were arrested for refusing to pay fines after for not putting orange safety triangles on their buggies. They consider them too modern.

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New York has become the fifth state to be put under a state of emergency due to the imminent landfall of Hurricane Irene. Governor Cuomo announced today that New York would be the latest to declare a state of emergency after Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey. The hurricane has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm, with winds clocking in at 115 miles per hour, and is expected to hit the east coast this weekend; the National Hurricane Center predicts that Irene will likely become a Category 4 storm within the next 48 hours.

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