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December 02, 2011 | | ECONOMY The U.S. jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent in November—the lowest rate in two and a half years. While it’s a sizable reduction, it’s still not low enough for the president to get some credit, writes Daniel Stone. NAIL-BITER Could this be the end? Sources close to Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain said Friday that he will gather his top supporters Saturday with an announcement about whether he will stay in the race. One supporter said he believes Cain will be announcing that he will dropping out of the race, while another said no decision has been made and the candidate just wants to thank supporters. Cain is expected to announce his decision publicly after the meeting. Earlier Friday, Cain announced the creation of "Women for Cain," an initiative where his female supporters attack the "vindictive" accusers—but his wife, Gloria, is absent from it. COMPROMISE House Speaker John Boehner said he will pass President Obama’s payroll tax cut, but only if the Democrats give a little on other GOP policies. In a closed-door meeting Friday morning, Boehner referred to the package he’s putting forward as turning “chicken shit into chicken salad,” according to people in attendance. His proposal will include an easing of environmental regulations on boilers as a precedent to building the controversial Keystone pipeline. Boehner will have some persuading to do, since there’s a lot of internal division among the GOP on whether to greenlight major Democratic policies, but the Speaker will try to couple them with measures that the Republicans want passed. Yesterday, a minority of the Senate voted to kill Obama’s payroll tax holiday. Obama demanded that Congress pass the bill before the holiday break, or “we can all spend Christmas here together.” ROCK THE VOTE Hope it lasts the month. Turnout in the first round of parliamentary elections in Egypt reached 62 percent, though there’ll be two more rounds, lasting until the beginning of January. “This is the highest turnout in Egypt’s history since the time of the pharaohs,” said Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the Elections High Commission. More than 13 million people voted Monday and Tuesday. Officials need more time to count the ballots, delaying formal results. But the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is expected to haul in 40 percent of the vote, according to preliminary numbers, though it has turned down forming a majority with the ultraconservative Salafis, who took a surprising 25 percent. INVESTIGATION It's unusual for a former member of Congress to testify on an issue under federal investigation, but a congressional panel is making an exception with former senator Jon Corzine. Corzine has been asked to speak about his role as chairman and CEO of MF Global, the brokerage firm that folded this fall and subsequently went bankrupt. The House Agriculture Committee called for Corzine's subpoena, saying it's "essential to fulfill our objectives," since Corzine didn't respond to an informal request for testimony. Federal regulators are investigating whether MF Global attempted to use customers' money to support its own trades. | | 
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