Monday morning headlines

Stocks off sharply: More worries about Greece and the U.S. economy - plus, some profit taking after last week's gains. Dow is down 210 points.

Obama's deficit reduction plan: So much for making nice with Congressional Republicans. The president proposes $1.5 trillion in tax increases over the next decade - mostly targeting the wealthy - as part of a plan to cut the deficit by $3 trillion. From Bloomberg:

Obama will seek $248 billion in Medicare cuts, including reductions in payments to health-care providers and $72 billion in savings from the Medicaid state-federal health program for the poor, the officials said. The president won't propose changes to Social Security, White House officials said. Before negotiations with Boehner fell apart during the summer, Obama accepted altering Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment formula, which would have lowered annual benefit increases.

Grocery talks continue: Some progress appears to have been made. From AP:

Ellen Anreder, a spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers, said talks have continued after a three-day notice period required before calling a strike elapsed early Sunday night. The union has told its members to return to work, she said. "As long as there are negotiations ongoing, we will stay at the table," Anreder said. "Being at the table is better than being on the street."

Netflix splits off businesses: Subscribers to the DVD-by-mail service will be using a separate website called Qwikster. The streaming side will be called Netflix. From AP:

It's a risky bet. The amount of streaming content the company offers is still far less than the number of DVDs in its catalog. And competition, from Hulu, Amazon, Coinstar's Redbox kiosks and other services, is growing. Netflix could even alienate customers further by asking them to now deal with two separate websites and accounts instead of just one. The changes come as the company faces increasing scrutiny from customers and shareholders over the decision announced in July to separate its mail order and Internet streaming services into two separate plans. The change raised the prices for users who want both services, by as much as 60 percent for some.

Emmy roundup: A few surprises last night. (THR)

Court sets aside Costco class action: The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that more than 700 women workers at the discount chain failed to show that the company was unfair in pay and promotions. (SF Chronicle)

McCourt wants to improve image: The Dodgers owner asked a bankruptcy judge to approve a contract with crisis PR firm Kekst and Company - at $750 an hour. From The Weekly:

Here's the most hilarious portion of this document: "Much of the media reporting on off-field issues has been inaccurate or misleading, and LAD requires a seasoned communications firm such as Kekst to better insure that media coverage of LAD is more evenhanded and accurate going forward." It's a little late to be spinning the media. Opinions have hardened, and fans want Frank gone. Maybe this would have helped 18 months ago, but -- Wait, what's that? Kekst has already been working for the Dodgers for 18 months???