Elections are important, maybe even the cornerstone of a democracy; but sometimes voters are just too busy to listen to everything being said by the Obama or Romney camps. Thank heaven sound bites can sum up everything we think we need to know.

Here are some recent tidbits from Capitol Hill:

The U.S. Department of Labor recently said that unemployment plummeted in September to 7.8%—the first time the rate dropped below eight percent since February 2009. (Source: “Employment Situation Summary,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, October 5, 2012.)

More than 200,000 long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment checks this week, when eight states roll off the federal extended benefits program. Nearly half of them live in California, and the rest reside in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Spanish bond yields gains prominence as it could potentially be the next Greece in the making. The 4th largest economy in Europe, Spanish default can significantly impact the markets

The GOP-controlled House has passed a bill renewing a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for millions more, backing the main items on President Barack Obama's jobs agenda in a rare burst of bipartisanship.

The bill passed Friday, 293-132. The Senate is expected to quickly follow and send the measure to Obama to sign.

The S&P 500 must have taken notice of the multitude of headlines coming at market participants and proceeded on a path of pure chaos. Since October 4th, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) managed to trade in a range that spanned from 1,074 to as high as 1,171 in 4 days.