Dems & Left Now Embrace Bush Tax Cuts; Unemployment Falls to 7.7% But...; 3 Months After Attack in Benghazi + Still No Answers; Remembering Pearl Harbor

Pres. Obama met with leaders met with leaders of American Indian tribes, and they honored the president by giving him the name, "Running Deficit."...Leno

• George W. Bush was hammered by the Dems and the Left for his tax cuts. Yet, the same people now embrace those same tax cuts for 98% of taxpayers (they want to raise taxes on those making over $200k/year).
• 7.7% unemployment is better than 7.9% but not by much. There are two main reasons why the rate fell: about 1/2 million people have fallen off  the unemployment rolls (in other words, they are still out of work). And unemployment among government workers fell from 4.2%  to 3.8% . In addition, Investment Watch this morning is reporting the U.S. has the highest percentage of workers doing LOW wage work than any other industrialized nation. On top of that, the labor participation rate dropped yet again to 63.6%
• USA Today Money Headline: "More U.S. Service Jobs Go Overseas." Just how many? In the last ten years alone almost 700,000. By 2016, almost 400,000 more will move overseas.
• Another disturbing trend: there are now over 20 million government workers in the U.S (local, state and federal). Of the 146,000 jobs added last month, 35,000 were government jobs.
• Do you realize we're just a few days short of 3 months since the attack in Benghazi, and we still have no answers from the Obama administration? For shame!!!
• And when will Hillary Clinton testify?

Pres. Obama: Master of the "Plausible Lie."; You Make It-They Take it; Will Unemployment Rate Go UP?; Steelers Harrison on Belcher Shooting

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show A Hit Among People Who Don't Know Pornography Exists...The Onion

• If the most recent Quinnipiac Poll is to be believed, Obama and Republicans are winning the PR on the fiscal cliff negotiations. By a margin of 2-1, those polled agreed with the president to let tax cuts expire for the wealthy. This does not surprise me in the least considering Obama was re-elected with one of the worst records of any president in modern history. To paraphrase Sen. Marco Rubio, you can't improve a country by making the rich poorer.
• History also proves Pres. Obama and Democrats wrong. As Thomas Sowell and the Investor's Business Daily correctly pointed out:  Tax revenue to the Treasury went UP when tax rates were CUT during the Bush administration. It's one of the reasons why Sowell said of Pres. Obama: he's the master of the plausible lie.
• If the Bush tax cuts do expire, the wealthy in California will be paying 52% of their income in taxes. They have a double whammy since Proposition 30 added 3 percentage points to the marginal state income tax rate.

• So it comes down to this really and not difficult to understand (unless you're an Obama voter): You make it. They take it (common practice under Socialism and Communism).  You've probably heard of this definition of Socialism: It's a great system until you run out of other people's money.

Is The Recovery An Illusion?; The Myth of Arab Spring Continues; False Perceptions of Republicans Hinder Their Economic Plans; When Will Hillary Testify RE: Benghazi?

When President Obama and President Obama played golf recently, Clinton asked Obama what his handicap was and Obama said, Joe Biden...Leno

• Let's be very clear (to paraphrase Pres. Obama), for many Americans the recovery is an illusion. For example, in Miami County, Ohio, the unemployment rate is 16%. The number of children in poverty in 2008 was 1,900. Today, the number stands at 6,000. Sadly, while there are some counties in the country that are doing relatively well, there are a countless number similar to Miami County in Ohio. Currently, the overall poverty rate in America is 15% with over 46 million on food stamps. USA Today
• Detroiters are telling Pres. Obama: we voted for you; it's time you bail us out. In other words, Detroit, a city that have never handled its own finances well, wants taxpayers to bail them out. If a precedent is set with Detroit, there are many other cities that will line up right behind them.
• Occasionally, pigs do fly. In USA Today's editorial they actually had to admit the Republicans counter offer to the Dems (regarding the fiscal cliff) is "superior to the Obama offer."
• The "Myth" of the Arab Spring continues. Pres. Obama's buddy, Pres. Morsi of Egypt, appears to be a trouble. While the Muslim Brotherhood called for a rally in support of Morsi, political leftists are counter demonstrating with over 100,000 demonstrators on the streets.  It got so bad yesterday, Morsi fled his palace in Cairo (It's not good in the Arab world to be perceived as having "fled"). Whatever happens, I suspect the Muslim Brotherhood will still win this battle. They have all the money.

Fiscal Cliff: Pres. Obama's Arrogance On Full Display; The Other Fiscal Cliff: ObamaCare; American Media's Delusional View of Egyptian Turmoil; Will Michelle Obama Run For President?

UPS Reports Troubling Drop In Residents Answering Doors In Lingerie...The Onion

• After seeing the offensive offer the Obama administration made to the Republicans regarding averting the fiscal cliff, one has to wonder if this president actually enjoys alienating Republicans. He alienated the Republicans on first stimulus program (in the current fiscal talks, he wants yet another $50B in stimulus). He alienated Republicans with ObamaCare. And then he sends out little, tax-evader Timmy Geithner, Sect of Treasury, to meet with leading Republicans. And what does little Timmy do? He presented a fantasy proposal to avert an economic meltdown.
• The Republicans made a counter-offer yesterday that was also not well received by the administration and the Democrats (as, I am sure, Democrats fully expected). In short, Republicans want to drop the top income-tax rate below the current 35% (Obama wants it raised to 39.6%). Republicans also presented $800B in added tax revenue by closing loopholes and ending deductions for special interests.  They proposed $600B spending cuts in government health care programs including Medicare and $300M in government agency cuts. Their proposal continues the Bush tax cuts including on the wealthy. The Hill + NY Post
• With Pres. Obama's arrogance on full display, even if he wins this fiscal cliff battle, he will have created more bitterness, hostility and rancor.
• If we do go over this cliff, keep in mind, it's not the only cliff we will be encountering. ObamaCare related tax hikes go into effect in January especially higher tax rates on investments.

Obama Administration's Plan On Fiscal Cliff: Offensive; Pension Fiscal Cliff; The Death Of Free Speech in America's Colleges & Universities; EPA Nitwits Strike Again

Powerball Winners Already Divorced, Bankrupt...The Onion

• Any reasonable observer of the negotiations involving the country's financial crisis has to be left wondering: What the f%#k is the Obama administration doing?  Last Thursday, the nation's tax evader-in-chief and Treasury Secretary---Little Tim Geithner, proposed the following package to the Republicans: $1.6T in tax INCREASES, $50B in new stimulus spending (you do recall how well the first $800B worked, don't you? Nearly a quarter of that stimulus went to states and local governments), a permanent raising of the debt limit (Oh yeah, it's a great idea to give the government that kind of power) and---a one-year deferral on spending cuts including $499B in future cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. Also, no entitlements were placed on the table. Since when has Congress ever kept any promises regarding cuts in spending? Not lately. No wonder Republicans laughed in little Timmy's face after he proposed this absolutely offensive and reckless plan.
• Think about this for a moment. In the last 4 years, the Obama administration and Congress have damaged the economy, the overall medical and health insurance system and history's best military. In other words, they've weakened the country. And Republicans are suppose to trust these people?
• There's yet another fiscal cliff that will affect millions of Americans who have pensions.  The Congressional Joint Economic Committee reported that the debt of state-run retirement systems is $3.5 trillion. That's one-quarter of our national debt. For example, the state of Illinois has less than 30% of the money needed to fund its pension obligations. California is in a similar situation.

Fiscal Cliff Negotiations: Huffing and Puffing; U.N.'s Shame; On Palestine Vote; Even Leno is Sick Over Benghazi Stonewalling; Socialism's Failed Track Record Continues: Eurozone's Unemployment Almost 12%

When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to grow up and be an adult.  This sh!t is not what I expected.

• "Robert E. Lee was offered easier terms at Appomattox, and he lost the Civil War, " Charles Krauthammer on the terms offered by the Democrats regarding "fiscal cliff" negotiations. And he's right. 
• The White House is still seeking $1.6T in new taxes. In addition, one of their key provisions, is a $50 billion stimulus package. Yo! If $800 million in stimulus didn't work, what makes anyone think another $50B will work? Also, the White House is offering spending cuts---but down the road. In other words, they want us to believe in yet another promise.
• Having said this, all parties are to blame for this mess we're in. Obama and Congress created this fiscal cliff when they were both unable to come up with a plan to take on the $16T debt in 2011 (Recall all the rhetoric then about, "kicking the can down the road." Well, at the end of that road is a big, friggin cliff).
• So what happens if we go over that cliff?Bush tax cuts expire. Payroll tax holidays end. More Americans will be hit with the alternative minimum tax. And a number of corporate tax breaks expire. Spending cuts will be felt largely by Defense. Moreover, there will be lower payment to Medicare providers and expanded unemployment insurance will end (no more 99 weeks).
• Add ObamaCare costs and uncertainty to this mix, and you see why companies are nervous.
• Quite frankly, if both parties were serious about avoiding the fiscal cliff, they would admit the truth and it's this (lean in, I'll have to whisper this in your ear): everyone should be taxed not only the rich. Right now, half the country does not pay any taxes. The administration's plan of taxing the rich will not significantly increase revenues. The taxes raised by taxing the rich will help run the government perhaps a few weeks. That's why both parties are hypocrites.
• Leno regarding Benghazi: "Very dangerous to White House if journalists start asking real questions."

Is Amb. Susan Rice Toast?; Benghazi: Many Abdicated Their Duty To Protect Americans; Democrats Support Wealth Destruction; More Democrat Controlled Cities Are in Trouble

"This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." Pres. Obama

• As many of my readers know, I like to begin my posts with some type of Late-Night joke or a headline from The Onion. I decided to use the megalomaniacal line from a speech   Pres. Obama gave in 2008. To this day, it still makes me laugh my ass off.
• Is Amb. Susan Rice toast? I ask that question because moderate Republican (and I "Republican" use that loosely) Senator Susan Collins of Maine suggested support for Amb. Rice is eroding. Moderate Republicans like Collins and McCain are often darlings of the lefty presstitute media until the moderate Republican goes head to head with a liberal Democrat. McCain learned that very quickly in 2008. As a moderate Republican, he was the darling of the left-leaning media until he ran against Obama. For example, in 2008,  the NY Times ran a piece that suggested McCain had an affair with a lobbyist. He didn't.