Senator Rubio Opposes Pork-Laden Omnibus

◼ Washington, D.C. – Following his vote against H.R. 2055, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012, Senator Marco Rubio issued the following statement:

“This massive 1,200-plus page bill represents everything that is wrong with Washington. Our country faces major economic challenges, but Congress wasted the whole year stuck in partisan gridlock only to pass a funding bill that solves none of our problems, just to avoid a government shutdown. This plan spends too much, wastes precious taxpayer dollars to fund a menu of job-killing regulations, anti-life provisions and earmarks, and has been ushered through Congress in a highly secretive and non-transparent manner that didn’t allow for consideration of even a single amendment. I cannot support it.”

IS THE DEMOCRATS’ ATTEMPT TO RECALL SCOTT WALKER A MISTAKE?

◼ If they lose–as I think they will–the lesson will be that honest politicians can stand up to the union bullies, and win. - John Hinderaker/Powerline

NEWT'S DAUGTHER CAMPAIGNS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

◼ Newt's daugther, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, was in New Hampshire yesterday to campaign for her dad and meet with voters. - Newt.org from ◼ Facebook
In between campaign stops, she set the record straight about a vicious lie about Newt, shared stories about campaigning at a young age, and how being a grandfather has made Newt a different person.

Signs of a Covert War Between the U.S. and Iran

◼ There are unavoidable signs that the U.S. and Iran are engaged in significant covert actions against each other, including cyber war. - ABC News

‘When the Legend Becomes Fact, Print the Legend’

◼ Barack Obama is a myth, our modern version of Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan. What we were told is true, never had much basis in fact — a fact now increasingly clear as hype gives way to reality. - Victor Davis Hanson/PJM

Who was this Churchillian president so much smarter than the Renaissance man Thomas Jefferson, more astute than a John Adams or James Madison, with more insight than a Lincoln, brighter still than the polymath Teddy Roosevelt, more studious than the bookish Woodrow Wilson, better read than the autodidact Harry Truman?

...That his brilliance is a myth was not just revealed by the weekly lapses (whether phonetic [corpse-man], or cultural [Austria/Germany, the United Kingdom/England, Memorial Day/Veterans Day] or inane [57 states]), but in matters of common sense and basic history. The error-ridden Cairo speech was foolish; the serial appeasement of Iran revealed an ignorance of human nature; a two-minute glance at an etiquette book would have nixed the bowing or the cheap gifts to the UK.

In short, the myth of Obama’s brilliance was based on his teleprompted eloquence, the sort of fable that says we should listen to a clueless Sean Penn or Matt Damon on politics because they can sometimes act well.... READ THE WHOLE THING

North Dakota's energy lessons for California

◼ If California adopted similar approaches, perhaps the state's fiscal health would once again be the envy of the nation. - Brian Calle/Orange County Register

California's economic slide is one of choice and consequence, not of necessity. The state still possesses the resources for prosperity, even today, but policies advanced by ideologues and political zealots in the state capital have tarnished the Golden State.

North Dakota, by contrast, illustrates, as it rapidly becomes the economic envy of the nation, how a different approach to public policy bolsters economic activity and job creation.

North Dakota reaps the vast economic benefits of traditional energy procurement and production as well as agricultural spoils, while the Golden State reels from ideological obstinacy where its legislators kowtow to special interests and frolic in dream world where green jobs save the day. North Dakota's approach to energy policy has created a boon allowing the state to achieve notable economic accomplishments, especially as the rest of the nation, and world, lags....

The opposite is true of California, where people and businesses are fleeing the state en masse. Outward migration resulted in a net loss 129,193 residents in 2010, according to a recent Los Angeles Times analysis of United States Census data. More people want to get out than want to move in. The percentage of people born other states now living in California is the lowest it has been since 1900.... - read the rest.

GORGEOUS BOLLYWOOD ACTRESS VEENA MALIK MISSING UPDATE: Found

◼ There were fears today for the wellbeing of Bollywood actress Veena Malik after she was reported missing by her manager. - Atlas Shrugs

◼ The Pakistani model at the centre of the FHM India row who was reported missing on Friday has turned up safe in a hotel in India. - Daily Mail

The Keystone Pipeline

◼ Senate Passes Payroll Tax Cut & Unemployment Extension — Oh, and Something About a Pipeline - Michelle Malkin

The bill gives Obama 60 days to decide about the Keystone pipeline — which is not-so-coincidentally the same amount of time before Congress will have to extend the temporary bill again.

◼ GOP: Keystone oil will stay in tax bill - USA Today
◼ Dem Senate Approves - CNN
◼ FLASHBACK: Obama promises to reject - Real Clear Politics
◼ DEMS: Obama will kill pipeline
◼ Estimated to create thousands of jobs - KTVQ

The White House has delayed making a decision on the pipeline until after next year's election, but Republicans want to pass a bill that would require a State Department permit for the pipeline within 60 days, forcing President Obama to make a decision.

Republicans say the pipeline project would create jobs and increase the country's energy independence.
"What we do know is that if it were allowed to go forward, if the administration would simply get it out of the way and let it go forward, it would create jobs almost immediately," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "Lots of jobs."

Montana's Democrat Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester also like the potential job creation from the Keystone project.

"We need to put Montanans back to work and cannot afford further delays to the Keystone XL pipeline," Baucus said. "I strongly support the jobs and energy security presented by Keystone XL but am still reviewing this bill to make sure it's right for Montana."

"The Keystone pipeline will create Montana jobs and it should not have to wait 14 months for an up-or-down decision," said Democratic Senator Jon Tester. "I look forward to the project moving forward as long as TransCanada protects private property rights and as long as it is committed to the highest safety standards across rural America."

Republicans say there's no reason to delay approval.

◼ Fmr. top adviser says approval of Keystone a matter of national security

Former National Security Advisor Jim Jones called today for quick action on the Keystone XL pipeline construction, directly opposing the White House he worked for only a few months ago.

Jones, who rarely speaks in public and almost never contradicts his former boss President Barack Obama, lashed out against the administration in a press call and warned of grave consequences to U.S. national security if the project to build the pipeline doesn't move forward immediately. The call was sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute and Jones was joined on the call by API President and CEO Jack Gerard.

"In a tightly contested global economy, where securing energy resources is a national must, we should be able to act with speed and agility. And any threat to this project, by delay or otherwise, would constitute a significant setback," said Jones. "The failure to [move forward with the project] will prolong the risk to our economy and our energy security" and "send the wrong message to job creators."

◼ Green groups outraged at accelerated pipeline plan - Reuters

Why We Need the Gingrich-Obama Debates

◼ Whatever comes to pass in this election season — whatever scandals emerge, gaffes are gaffed, turns twisted, figures fudged, wars waged, etc. — what I would I most like to see, even if I don’t get to, is the Gingrich-Obama debates. - Roger L Simon/PJM

Conventional modern liberalism (leftism, Keynesian economics, etc.) is dead in our country, indeed in the world, and yet a sizable portion of the populace clings to it. Like a massive cargo cult waiting for John Frum, these people cleave to an ideology that has been useless for years and is self-destructive even to them, most of them anyway, undermining the lives of the rest of us in the process.

Newt Gingrich is the only person I can think of with the rhetorical skills to explain this in a manner in which at least some of these same people, perhaps even enough of them, would understand the situation and change. He could do so in debate with Barack Obama — those Lincoln-Douglas style debates he so assiduously seeks....

We are at a crisis point in our culture. We need a teaching moment as well as a new president. Newt Gingrich, at his best, is a superb professor — witty, erudite, and on point. And my guess is he would be at his best against Barack Obama. Bring it on.

1st Black Congressman

◼ (And they weren’t democrat) - I Own The World
◼ Emancipation Revelation Revolution 1 of 3 (YouTube) - errvideo.com
◼ GOP Accomplishments
◼ Republican Heroes

The National Review's anyone-but-Newt editorial - and the backlash

◼ One brave soul at National Review stands up for Newt - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

As I pointed out the other day, National Review demeaned itself and its many talented writers by going overboard in its attempt to demonize Newt Gingrich, including a cover which should live in conservative infamy.*

There was a reflexive reaction from some writers at National Review to defend, but Andrew McCarthy so far appears to be the only writer with the courage to stand up not so much for Newt, but for conservative journalistic integrity which was sorely lacking....

◼ Nephew of National Review's Founder Blasts Magazine Over Romney, Huntsman Praise - FOX
◼ Bozell Furious with National Review over Romney, Huntsman - Henry J. Reske/Newsmax
◼ Gingrich’s Virtues - It is too early to rule out candidates. - Andrew McCarthy at National Review
◼ The making of an anti-Romney - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion
◼ A Chorus of Scientologists Claim Jim Jones Runs A Cult - Eric Erickson at RedState
◼ Include Me Out - Mark Steyn at National Review
◼ Is Newt Like Churchill? - Steven Hayward at National Review
◼ The Gingrich Gamble - The real choice is: Gingrich/Romney vs. four more years of Obamian disaster - Victor Davis Hanson at National Review
◼ The Editorial — My Take - Jonah Goldberg at National Review
__________________
◼ * The Editorial in question: Winnowing the Field - National Review

Courting Conservatives - Michelle Malkin - Sean Hannity

◼ Sean Hannity Flummoxed By Michelle Malkin - The Other McCain

From the First Family to yours: Obamas release their first Christmas card in two years

◼ The First Family is all smiles in their Christmas card which was released today, continuing their recent string of holiday-related appearances. - Daily Mail

Brutal confrontation in Cairo's Tahrir Square (photos)

◼ Soldiers baton-charge Egyptian protesters in Tahrir Square after eight die and 300 are wounded in new clashes - Daily Mail (Scroll down for video. Beware graphic images)

All-American Muslim: Why Advertisers Are Right to Boycott

◼ Another advertiser pulled out of TLC’s All-American Muslim—but it’s not because the company is ‘Islamophobic.’ It’s simply a terrible program - Asra Q. Nomani/The Daily Beast

As a real-life American Muslim, I should have loved the new TLC reality show All-American Muslim. I agreed with CBS anchor Katie Couric when she said we need a "Cosby Show for Muslims." But after I eagerly watched the first episodes, I've got to say I think we ended up with something more like a Muslim Jersey Shore, the low-grade MTV series about Snooki's party life in New Jersey.

Forget political correctness. Lowe's, the national chain, did the right thing in pulling its advertising from the series. The company said it killed advertising from the show because it had become too controversial, but there is another legitimate reason the company could have given for yanking its advertising: it's bad TV.... Read The Rest

San Francisco’s ban on fast-food toys may seem like a very small matter. Yet it is another step down a long road towards even more control over people’s lives.

◼ A lesson in combating invasive government - Jeff O'Bryant/CatoosNews

Ronald found a clever way to protect McDonald’s from the tyrannical urges of the well meaning but misguided San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ so-called Healthy Food Incentive Ordinance. The clown’s answer to banning children’s meal toy giveaways? Sidestep the law completely and sell the toy for the insignificant sum of ten cents as opposed to merely giving it away with the meal. While this may simply seem like smart business, with the added pleasure of thumbing your nose at hyperactive government busybodies to make them froth with impotent rage, it also offers a sterling example to all Americans.

Our country is rapidly approaching, if indeed it has not already reached, a crossroads.

Eating Our Own & Providing Strategy for Obama

◼ (H)yper-critiquing and self-immolation also does two things that Conservatives and Republicans fall prey to each and every time the General Election cycle comes calling - Frank Salvato at Breitbart's Big Government

It deflects from addressing the differences between the GOP field and the opposition; and it provides the opposition with talking points, opponent research and the luxury of hiatus.

This election – the 2012 General Election – is arguably the most important election of our generation; of our lifetimes. The quintessential questions being decided are these:

◼ Do we want a leader who will affect limited government, or a nanny state?
◼ Do we want a fiscally responsible leader and a federal government that budgets successfully, or a spendthrift federal government, enabled by a partisan politician, that refuses to craft and pass budgets annually – even if mandated by law, while bleeding the productivity of our nation?
◼ Do we want a leader that oversees a federal government that protects equal opportunity for each and every American citizen, or a political operative and federal oligarchy that embraces crony Capitalism and special interest groups?
◼ Do we want to a leader, an administration and a federal government that is dedicated to preserving, protecting and defending our Republic and our Charters of Freedom, or a political ideologue who, with his crony activists, successfully completes the transformation of the United States from that of sovereign Republic to a kow-towing Socialist Democracy?

...That understood, the opposition, sirs and madam, is Barack Obama. Now, knock it off with attacking each other and put your country ahead of your egos. For if we are stupid enough, if we are short-sighted enough, to lose sight of who the real opposition is, you lose, the country loses and the world loses.

Newt Gingrich: We Deserve Solutions

House approves $1T omnibus spending bill in easy 296-121 vote

◼ Despite the frictions between the two parties throughout the week, the bill was approved in an overwhelming 296-121 vote. Thirty-five Democrats and 86 Republicans voted against it. More Democrats (149) voted for the package than Republicans (147) - The Hill

The bill, H.R. 2055, covers spending for Defense, Energy and Water, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor/Health and Human Services, Legislative Branch, Military Construction/VA, and State/Foreign Operations.

Broad support for the bill among Democrats in large part reflected the reality that without passage, the government would shut down at midnight Friday. Several Democrats grumbled about the process for considering the bill in early in floor debate, but House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) called on all his colleagues to support it, even though few, if any, have read it.

◼ Republican lawmaker calls the omnibus spending bill a 'crap sandwich' - The Hill

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who voted for the omnibus spending bill along with 146 other Republicans, called the measure a "crap sandwich" and said he wished it cut more.

"I have consistently said throughout my time in Washington that the American people deserve more from their government," he said. "This bill is a crap sandwich! You definitely do not want to bite into it, you cannot stand the taste, but you know you have to eat it."

◼ Dem Congressman On $1 Trillion Spending Bill: "Not One Of Us Has Read Every Page In This Bill" - Real Clear Politics

"I rise in strong support of this bill. I urge my colleagues to support this piece of legislation. None of them have read it. Not one of us has read every page in this bill," Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said on the House floor about the $1 trillion spending bill that would prevent a government shutdown.

Full Fox News Iowa GOP Debate, Sioux City

Obama ready to cave on veto threat over Keystone pipeline provision?

◼ His own party must have realized the cave was coming, though, because Emanuel Cleaver was backing off the threat just two days after The One made it. - HotAir

The politics were poisonous: Not only did it give the GOP an opening to seize the mantle of job creation, it pitted labor against Obama and the greens — and on top of all that, a veto would have meant torpedoing a tax break for the middle class, which he was never going to do with an election less than a year away. (That’s also why he caved on the millionaire surtax, natch.) Reminds me of the GOP’s predicament in the debt-ceiling standoff: O took a hostage he simply wasn’t prepared to shoot....

Senate Republicans think there are 14 Democrats willing to vote for the Keystone provision, which would be just enough to beat the filibuster. The White House must think so too or else Carney wouldn’t suddenly be conspicuously noncommittal. To be clear, the provision wouldn’t automatically approve the pipeline, it would merely force Obama to make a decision on it within the next 60 days. But that’s no help to O: Remember, his goal here isn’t necessarily to cancel the pipeline but merely to postpone a decision until after the election so that he’s not forced yet to choose between labor and the greens.

◼ White House silent on whether Obama would veto payroll tax cut over pipeline deal - AP/Washington Post

Democrats: Republicans Worse than Jim Crow

◼ In a fundraising letter sent out this afternoon by the Democratic National Committee, Will Crossley, counsel and voter protection director, asks folks to support his party because, he implies, Republican efforts to suppress voters are worse than Jim Crow-era laws. - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

“Why? Because in more than 40 states, including Tennessee, where Dorothy lives, Republicans are introducing and passing laws that make voting more difficult for everyone – especially for minorities, young voters, and seniors.”

◼ Eric Holder Targets Voter ID Laws Just in Time for 2012 Election - Martin Gould/NewsMax

Gaffe-prone Attorney General Eric Holder came under new Republican fire on Wednesday after calling for an end to state laws requiring voters to show identification at polling stations.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas immediately slammed Holder, saying: "Voter identification laws are constitutional and necessary to prevent fraud at the ballot box.

"Facing an election challenge next year, this administration has chosen to target efforts by the states to protect the democratic process," Cornyn said

◼ Eric Holder excuses voter fraud - Behind Holder’s war on voter-ID laws - Michael A. Walsh/NYPOST.com

Just this year, eight states have passed new photo-ID laws; more than half now have some form of ID requirement for voting. But Holder has already sicced Justice’s Civil Rights Division on new voter-ID laws in South Carolina and Texas to see if there’s any “disproportionate impact” on minorities. He’s also objecting to reforms in “early voting” in places like Florida, which recently tightened its electoral window.

And he went to Austin, Texas, on Tuesday to give a speech denouncing what his ally Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) calls “a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, minority and low-income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process.”

Iran-bound radioactive material seized at airport, Russia says

◼ NBC News reported that U.S. officials believe the type of radioactive material seized was typically used for medical diagnostics, pointing away from Iran's nuclear program. - MSNBC

It quoted an un-named U.S. intelligence official saying: "We don't know whether the receipient was a government agency. It's unclear why they would want to smuggle it in - we are still investigating - but it does not appear that this involves Iran's nuclear program."

It said the official was nonetheless "deeply concerned" by the incident and commended the Russian security services for seizing it.

Russia supports Canada's decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol, says its foreign ministry, reaffirming Friday that Moscow will not take on new commitments

◼ Russia Slams Kyoto Protocol - FOX

Canada on Monday pulled out of the agreement - initially adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, to cut carbon emissions contributing to global warming. Its move dealt a blow to the treaty, which has not been formally renounced by any other country.
"This is yet another example that the 1997 Kyoto Protocol has lost its effectiveness in the context of the social and economic situation of the 21st century," Lukashevich said, adding that the document does not ensure the participation of all key emitters.

California finally grabs school money from Race to the Top

◼ California shot and finally scored in the competition for more federal education dollars, as the state was one of nine winners named Friday in the Education Department's Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge grant program.
Sacramento Bee

But don't count on the funds to relieve California of K-12 cuts. The state will receive $52.6 million, largely to build a new child-care rating system that measures learning environment, teachers and parent involvement, according to the California Department of Education.

Rick Santorum TV Ad: Sing Sing Sing

◼ Video: Santorum’s first TV spot - HotAir

None of the three people mentioned — Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Mike Huckabee — have actually issued an endorsement in this race to Santorum, or anyone else, either. However, Santorum hopes that their praise for his commitment to social-conservative principles as well as his achievements in Congress will convince voters that he is truly a reliable alternative to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich — and also to Perry and Michele Bachmann, who will be spending more money and time in Iowa as Santorum makes his play.

◼ Rick Santorum is long on substance, short on support - Melinda Henneberger/Washington Post

Scott Walker, Wisconsin GOP sue state elections and ethics agency over recall effort

◼ The top GOP lawmaker in the Assembly also took a shot at the Government Accountability Board - which he voted to create - saying it had strayed from its nonpartisan mission and might need to be replaced. - Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel

The lawsuit filed Thursday in Waukesha County Circuit Court asks a judge to order the accountability board to look for and eliminate duplicate signatures, clearly fake names and illegible addresses.

◼ Gov. Walker sues to require the Government Accountability Board to check for fake/duplicate/illegible signatures on recall petitions. - Althouse

The GAB is putting the burden on Walker to challenge the signature, but its rules give Walker "only 10 days to examine, compare and then challenge more than 540,000 signatures – more than 50,000 signatures a day," which the complaint calls "a practical impossibility."

Flashback: TIME Magazine's Man of the Year 1995

◼ HOW ONE MAN CHANGED THE WAY WASHINGTON SEES REALITY - TIME

LEADERS MAKE THINGS POSSIBLE. EXCEPTIONAL LEADERS make them inevitable. Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional. All year--ruthlessly, brilliantly, obnoxiously--he worked at hammering together inevitabilities: a balanced federal budget, for one. Not so long ago, the idea of a balanced budget was a marginal, we'll-get-to-it-someday priority. Other urgent work needed doing: the Clintons' health-care program, for example, which would have installed elaborate new bureaucratic machinery. Today, because of Newt Gingrich, the question is not whether a balanced-budget plan will come to pass but when.

Gingrich has changed the center of gravity....

◼ NEWT GINGRICH; MASTER OF THE HOUSE

◼ NEWT GINGRICH: GOOD NEWT, BAD NEWT (Man Of The Year) - IS THE GINGRICH VISION OF A BRIGHTER FUTURE WORTH THE RISK OF A RADICALLY NEW DIRECTION IN AMERICAN GOVERNANCE?

◼ NEWT GINGRICH: TAKING HIS MEASURE (Man Of The Year) - FIVE HISTORIANS WEIGH NEWT ON THE SCALES OF TIME-- AND AGAINST OTHER LEADERS

California tech company to move most of its business, 135 jobs to Austin

◼ Superconductor Technologies Inc. of Santa Barbara, Calif., said it has leased a 94,000-square-foot building in Northeast Austin to house its headquarters along with its engineering and manufacturing operations. - Kirk Ladendorf/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

"This is a good win for Austin," said Dave Porter, senior vice president of economic development for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, which collaborated with the Austin office of real estate firm CBRE in recruiting the company to Austin. "It continues the momentum we have seen out of California, with companies looking for a less-costly business environment."

The company's proposed average wage will be $75,000, Porter said, and most of its jobs are expected to be filled with local employees.

Obama abandons demand for millionaire tax

◼ "So much for a really good talking point for Democrats in 2012," wrote progressive blogger Joan McCarter on Daily Kos, lamenting the impending death of the Senate Democrats' proposal for a surtax on millionaires. - Hayley Peterson/Washington Examiner

House Republicans have refused to raise taxes on the wealthy and only agreed to extend the payroll tax cut if the administration pays for it through budget cuts. The Republican proposal also mandates construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project that would run from Canada to Texas and which Obama recently put on hold.

With Republicans unwilling to budge, Senate Democrats met with Obama and then offered Thursday to rescind their proposed millionaire's surtax.

"I just heard that the Democrats have dropped the millionaire surtax for the payroll tax cuts," wrote liberal blogger John Cole. "I never knew the amount of depression and self-loathing that was involved in becoming a Democrat. I honestly think I hate Democrats more now that I am one than I did when I was a Republican."

In debate, Romney lets others do the attacking

◼ Romney decided not to attack Gingrich. He's already done a lot of damage; he didn't need to keep at it in a forum in which his attacks might backfire. - Byron York/Washington Examiner

After the debate, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond chose to make the best of things. Asked his views on why Romney went easy on Gingrich, Hammond responded, "You kill 'em with kindness and they return the favor." But Team Gingrich knows the truth is really nearly the opposite. In politics, if you try to kill 'em with kindness, they'll kill you with attack ads. That's Newt Gingrich's dilemma after the last Iowa debate.

◼ Gingrich defends credentials in GOP debate - Susan Ferrechio/Washington Examiner

◼ Newt sees Iowa as three-way race - Lynn Campbell/Washington Examiner

◼ Bachmann clearing the brush for Romney - Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR Runner Up: Paul Ryan

◼ Paul Ryan: The Prophet - David Von Drehle/TIME

Here's a curious fact: in a year of political gridlock, when Congress could get nothing done — not even pass a budget — the most influential American politician was House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan. Through a combination of hard work, good timing and possibly suicidal guts, the Wisconsin Republican managed to harness his party to a dramatic plan for dealing with America's rapidly rising public debt. He brought an ugly issue out of the foggy realm of think tanks and blue-ribbon panels and dropped it into the middle of the national debate in time to define the next presidential election. If 2012 turns out to be a clear choice between very different answers to a genuinely important question — instead of the usual vague contest between competing slogans and haircuts — give the credit to Ryan....Read the rest...

BREAKING: Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent from 7.7 percent in November.

◼ We Stand with Scott Walker on facebook

Congress suspends light bulb ban

◼ Breaking News from Watts Up With That?

◼ Spending bill blocks light bulb standards - Politico (Image Source/AP)

The shutdown-averting budget bill will block federal light bulb efficiency standards, giving a win to House Republicans fighting the so-called ban on incandescent light bulbs.

GOP and Democratic sources tell POLITICO the final omnibus bill includes a rider defunding the Energy Department’s standards for traditional incandescent light bulbs to be 30 percent more energy efficient.

◼ Are we so inculcated we can’t be outraged? - Protein Wisdom

The spending bill doesn’t actually amend the 2007 law, but does prohibit the administration from spending any money to carry out the light bulb standards — which amounts to at least a temporary reprieve....

A spending ban of a previous ban, in other words, both rendered into your daily life by unresponsive elected strangers wielding the increasing contempt an empowered and determined ruler has for the subject dependents in his sights....

I realize I’m stating the obvious and not without some emotion. But if this — if lightbulbs won back with opportunistic political sleight of hand — is how we take back liberty and pay just and proper allegiance to our individual sovereignty and with it our self respect in this, the age of client statism and what’s sold as patriotic reform and general pushback, I’m quite sure we’ve given up before we truly begin.

◼ Light bulb ban NOT repealed - Steve Milloy/Canada Free Press

We fell for it, too. There has been no repeal of the light bulb ban.

The Wages Of Appeasement: Contempt From Russia And Iran

◼ (T)he bin Laden case was no policy test. No serious person of either party ever suggested negotiation or concession - CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER at IBD

Obama imagined his silver tongue and exquisite sensitivity to Islam would persuade the mullahs to give up their weapons program. Amazingly, they resisted his charms, choosing instead to become a nuclear power. The talks did nothing but confer legitimacy on the regime at its point of maximum vulnerability — and savagery.

For his exertions, Obama earned (a) continued lethal Iranian assistance to guerrillas killing Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, (b) a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador by blowing up a Washington restaurant, (c) the announcement just this week by a member of parliament of Iranian naval exercises to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, (d) undoubted Chinese and Russian access to a captured U.S. drone for the copying and countering of its high-tech secrets.

How did Obama answer? He politely asked Monday for the drone back.

On Tuesday, with Putin-like contempt, Iran demanded that Obama apologize instead. "Obama begs Iran to give him back his toy plane," reveled the semiofficial Fars News Agency.

To win elections, politicians have promised practically endless government spending and covered up the cost, leaving generations of taxpayers obligated to pay off the debt. That's wrong, but neither the U.S. nor Europe has a plan to stop it. A first step would be to use more effective debt and deficit limits to force governments to spend less and end to the debt cycle.

◼ And the Crisis Winner Is? Government, From Greece to Washington to New York state, there's no effective mechanism to control spending. - David Malpass/Wall St. Journal

Across Europe and the United States, the fiscal crisis is setting up an epic battle among government services, pensioners, government employees, creditors and taxpayers. There is simply not enough money coming in to pay all the promises politicians have made. The shortfalls and fights are challenging our democracies and shifting wealth from the private sector to ever bigger government....

Governments on both sides of the Atlantic are trying to use the crisis to grow rather than shrink. News of Europe's fiscal incompetence abounds, but Washington had no budget at all in 2010 or 2011 and the federal deficit grew at record pace. President Obama sailed through 2011 without any significant spending cuts or government downsizing.

With year-end approaching, the federal budget horizon has contracted to two weeks. Common practice is for Congress and the president to spend as much as possible in December and then adjourn, hoping voters will forget about it after New Year's Eve....

The Keystone Ultimatum, Will Obama veto a tax holiday to stop a job-creating pipeline?

◼ If Republicans hang tough, they might even get a useful policy victory in return for giving President Obama his political fillip. - Wall St. Journal

Keep in mind that the payroll tax "cut" is nothing more than a tax holiday. All the political palaver is about extending it for one more year, through 2012, so Mr. Obama can claim he did something for middle-class voters before Election Day. Because it is temporary, the tax holiday will do little to change employer incentives to hire.

The best one can say for the payroll reprieve is that individuals will better spend the money than the government would. The problem is that government will keep spending anyway, borrowing the money instead. The one-year payroll extension will take something like $121 billion from Social Security revenues, which means about 10% to 15% of the entire federal budget deficit expected for this fiscal year.

Congress is now fighting over the details of how to "pay for" this lost revenue with spending cuts. But the only certainty is that most of those cuts will be either notional or pulled from the later years of the 10-year budget window and thus never happen. The real news in this end-of-year political rush is that total federal spending in fiscal 2012 will increase—notwithstanding all the posturing about a new era of spending restraint. Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats have blunted House GOP efforts this year and largely preserved the government they grew so rapidly in 2009-2010.

Sioux City Debate Recap

◼ Gingrich faces attacks at debate... - AP via Drudge
◼ Perry: 'I hope I'm Tim Tebow of caucuses'... - Politico
◼ Paul, Bachmann spar over Iran nuke threat... - AP
◼ Sparring Republicans turn guns on Obama... - Breitbart
◼ Winners and losers... - Washington Post

◼ Rick Perry compares himself to Tim Tebow at Iowa debate - LA Times
◼ Candidates Stake Iowa Debate on Electability, Leadership - FOX

RIP Christopher Hitchens

◼ Ever the atheist even in the foxhole, he cautioned his friends and fans to not “trouble deaf Heaven with prayers for me,” but most did, anyway. - Dana Loesch at Big Journalism
◼ In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011 - Vanity Fair

“My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends,” he wrote in the June 2011 issue. He died in their presence, too, at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. May his 62 years of living, well, so livingly console the many of us who will miss him dearly. (image source)

KUHNER: Obama’s Watergate

◼ Officials cover up culpability for gun smuggling and murder - Jeffrey T. Kuhner/Washington Times

A year ago this week, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered. He died protecting his country from brutal Mexican gangsters. Two AK-47 assault rifles were found at his death site. We now know the horrifying truth: Agent Terry was killed by weapons that were part of an illegal Obama administration operation to smuggle arms to the dangerous drug cartels. He was a victim of his own government. This is not only a major scandal; it is a high crime that potentially reaches all the way to the White House, implicating senior officials. It is President Obama’s Watergate.

Operation Fast and Furious was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and overseen by the Justice Department. It started under the leadership of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. Fast and Furious enabled straw gun purchases from licensed dealers in Arizona, in which more than 2,000 weapons were smuggled to Mexican drug kingpins. ATF claims it was seeking to track the weapons as part of a larger crackdown on the growing violence in the Southwest. Instead, ATF effectively has armed murderous gangs. About 300 Mexicans have been killed by Fast and Furious weapons. More than 1,400 guns remain lost. Agent Terry likely will not be the last U.S. casualty....

Fast and Furious is even worse than Watergate for one simple reason: No one died because of President Nixon’s political dirty tricks and abuse of government power. But Brian Terry is dead; and there are still 1,500 missing guns threatening still more lives.

What did Mr. Obama know? Massive gun-smuggling by the U.S. government into a foreign country does not happen without the explicit knowledge and approval of leading administration officials. It’s too big, too risky and too costly. Mr. Holder may not be protecting just himself and his cronies. Is he protecting the president?

Sioux City Debate - Live Blogs

◼ Watch it LIVE online at FOX.com

◼ Hillbuzz
◼ Legal Insurrection
◼ Dick Morris
◼ Althouse
◼ Ace of Spades
◼ HotAir: Open thread: Iowageddon
◼ WeaselZippers
◼ Maggie's Notebook
◼ The Blaze
◼ The Other McCain

RNC: Obama and Corzine

For good or ill, this year's record-breaking mass of debates has made the contest the most unpredictable, rapidly shifting, and often downright inexplicable primary race I've ever witnessed. And voting hasn't even begun.

◼ Donald Trump and Our Debate Mania - Why this presidential race has been the most unpredictable contest of my lifetime. - Karl Rove/Wall St. Journal

On the plus side, the debates have allowed every potentially serious candidate to be seen by large audiences (an average of 4.5 million people have tuned in to each one). They have helped candidates sharpen sound bites and flesh out images. And they've kept alive candidacies that might have otherwise died due to lack of interest.

For the most part, the debates have been helpful. Before them, the "generic Republican" never led President Barack Obama in any Gallup survey. Since early July, the generic GOPer has often been leading Mr. Obama. The debates likely contributed to this shift.

Still, there can be too much of a good thing. Debates have nearly crippled campaigns, chewing into the precious time each candidate has to organize, raise money, set themes, roll out policy and campaign.

Each debate kills at least three days: one day (and sometimes two) to prepare, the day of the debate, and the day after, spent dealing with the fallout from the night before. This late in the process—there are 19 days until Iowa and 26 days until New Hampshire, with the Christmas and New Year's holidays eliminating crucial campaign days—many candidates might want to chart their own schedules and set their own message priorities. But the debates won't allow for that.

The ObamaCare Bailout Fund Goes Belly Up

◼ It’s supposed to be a shocking surprise that ObamaCare is murdering private insurance plans, but in truth, its many legislative midwives always knew that would happen. They’re just surprised by the scale. - John Hayward/Human Events

Consider the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program, or ERRP. This was a program designed to subsidize 80% of the cost for insuring early retirees, whose benefits had been declining for many years, and were among the first items to be placed on corporate chopping blocks after ObamaCare was passed. The program was given $5 billion in funding, to tide it over until the full magic of the “public exchanges” kicked in, circa 2014.

Instead, it’s going bankrupt on December 31st of this year. Be sure to have your favorite national debt clock pulled up on your computer when those public exchanges go online, for even more spectacular evidence that the designers of ObamaCare were wrong about everything.

Payroll tax cut and spending bill stall in Senate, raising threat of government shutdown

◼ If there was any sign of progress, it was that Senate Democratic leaders met with President Obama on Wednesday at the White House to weigh whether to drop their demand that the $120 billion payroll tax cut be paid for with a new surtax on millionaires. - Washington Post

With a Friday deadline fast approaching, the threat of a shutdown grew more urgent as a separate omnibus spending bill remained stalled. House Republicans are pursuing a go-it-alone approach on the spending bill, essentially daring Democrats to vote against a deal — bringing closer the prospect of a shutdown at the end of the week, when a short-term funding measure expires.

Republicans also blocked Democratic efforts to vote on a payroll tax bill approved Tuesday by the GOP-led House that would link an extension to a series of Republican initiatives, including an attempt to accelerate the construction of a controversial oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast....

Republicans say bipartisan negotiators have reached a deal on the spending bill. But they say the White House and Reid will not allow a final vote on the measure, holding the bill hostage and threatening a shutdown to increase Democratic leverage on the payroll tax issue.

Once the spending bill passes, House members can go on their holiday break, leaving Senate Democrats with the unpleasant choice of accepting the House’s payroll tax bill, or rejecting it and taking the blame for allowing the tax break to expire.

House Republicans huddled for two hours late Wednesday to discuss whether to proceed with a vote on the spending bill, even without a Democratic sign-off.

High Stakes, High Drama for Final Debate Before Voting Begins

◼ It’s been 32 weeks since the first Republican presidential debate. Since then, a changing cast of contenders has faced off a dozen times across the country with millions watching at home. - FOX

Of the original combatants from that May 5 meeting in Greenville, S.C., only two, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, remain. There have been four lead changes in national polls, two candidates drop out, four candidates join the field and billions of pixels poured out by reporters and pundits trying to make sense of it all.

Tonight, that all culminates here on the western edge of Iowa with the 13th showdown -- the last chance for candidates to make their cases before voters start the process of picking a presidential nominee. Even in a cycle that has been shaped by televised debates like no other, the stakes for the candidates this evening are enormous.
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DEBATE TONIGHT:

Air Time: Thursday, December 15 at 6pm PT (9pm ET) on Fox News
Live Stream: FoxNews.com
Participants: Bachmann, Gingrich, Huntsman, Paul, Perry, Romney, Santorum
On Twitter: #iowadebate is the hashtag for the debate.

A VOTERS' GUIDE TO REPUBLICANS

Obama Panics as Ryan, Wyden Offer Bipartisan Medicare Reform, Thwarting 2012 ‘Mediscare’ Campaign Strategy

◼ Today, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) will formally introduce a new, bipartisan plan for Medicare reform. People 55 years of age or older would not be affected; everyone else, starting in 2022, will receive premium support that will allow them to choose between private insurance and traditional, fee-for-service public insurance. - Joel B. Pollak at Breitbart's Big Government

The Ryan-Wyden plan also disrupts the false mainstream media narrative that Republicans want to harm the economy in order to defeat President Obama next November. In fact, it exposes the reformist pretensions of the Obama White House, which is fully prepared to exacerbate America’s debt and entitlement crises to ensure the president’s re-election.

And as ◼ the Wall Street Journal suggests in an editorial today, the Ryan-Wyden plan sends a message to those Republicans too timid to offer serious and sweeping policy proposals. Real and meaningful political change is still possible, with the right ideas, and the requisite amount of courage, which both Rep. Ryan and Sen. Wyden have commendably displayed.

New Rick Perry ad: Problem/Solution

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Rick Perry

"I believe that history will judge this president’s leadership with the scorn and disdain it deserves.”

◼ Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain blasted President Barack Obama on the Senate floor yesterday for the commander in chief’s handling of Iraq. “All I will say is that, for three years, the president has been harvesting the successes of the very strategy that he consistently dismissed as a failure,” McCain said... - Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard

◼ FULL TEXT: FLOOR STATEMENT BY SENATOR JOHN McCAIN ON IRAQ - mccain.senate.gov
December 14, 2011

One Hundred Million Dollar Penny

Firearm Sales "off the charts" During Holiday Season

◼ “People are just coming in to protect themselves,” the employee said. “I think there’s just a lot of things going on in the world that are getting people thinking.” - CBS Sacramento

More women are buying guns than ever before as criminals get more desperate.

Post Office closures, consolidation decision held off until May; TONIGHT'S meeting to go forward despite delay

◼ According to a press release from the agency's headquarters, the decisions have been pushed back to May 15, “in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators.” - Times-Standard

U.S. Postal Service representatives are moving forward with the public process on possible local post office closures and a consolidation despite an announcement from Washington, D.C., that no final decision will be made before May.

Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel said the meeting scheduled for tonight regarding the possible consolidation of the Eureka processing plant with one in Medford, Ore., will go on as planned. Representatives will make a presentation to the public explaining the consolidation process and preliminary results of a study examining the cost savings of consolidation before taking questions and comments.

”We'll continue the public process,” Wigdel said on the phone while traveling to Eureka on Wednesday.

The delay, which the postal service announced Tuesday, applies to the closure decision as well.
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IF YOU GO:
WHAT: U.S. Postal Service consolidation meeting
WHERE: Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way, Eureka
WHEN: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today

House Approves Defense Bill After White House Drops Veto Threat

◼ The House passed a massive $662 billion defense bill Wednesday night after last-minute changes placated the White House and ensured President Barack Obama's ability to prosecute terrorist suspects in the civilian justice system. - FOX

The House passed a massive $662 billion defense bill Wednesday night after last-minute changes placated the White House and ensured President Barack Obama's ability to prosecute terrorist suspects in the civilian justice system.


The vote was 283-136 and reflected the strong support for annual legislation that authorizes money for the men and women of the military as well as weapons systems and the millions of jobs they generate in lawmakers' districts.

It was a rare instance of bipartisanship in a bitterly divided Congress. The Senate is expected to pass the measure on Thursday and send it to Obama.

Solyndra debacle goes global

◼ ‘Green’ strategies may undermine prosperity in developing countries - Ambassador Alan Oxley/ashington Times

For political junkies, critics of President Obama’s “green” energy initiatives and Republicans on Capitol Hill, the seemingly never-ending Solyndra scandal is the gift that keeps on giving. Every day, new information comes to light detailing the inherent failure of pouring hundreds of millions of U.S. tax dollars into an unsustainable energy company and the dozens of red flags that the Obama administration ignored along the way.

We might think Solyndra is a uniquely American scandal, yet it draws from the very same failed thinking that environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) employ around the globe. They involve two key features: applying “green” economics and squandering taxpayer funding.

The fundamental flaw of the Department of Energy loan program was its promotion of “green” energy that isn’t viable on the open market. Not only did the federal government offer specific loans to these companies, it also pushed for energy standards that only the industries they funded could meet. The result was to prop up a company, indeed an entire industry, that otherwise would be uncompetitive.

The Next Trillion Dollar Bubble

◼ One of the oldest economic maxims, “if you subsidize something, you get more of it” has created the next trillion dollar-plus bubble for which American taxpayers will be on the hook. - Front Page Mag

More money available for borrowing by students has led directly to massive increases in tuition. Those increases substantially exceed the actual costs of the education itself. The Cato Institute reveals that it costs roughly $8,000 to educate an undergraduate at an average residential college, even as a private four-year university averages $37,000 to attend and a public equivalent averages $16,000. The resulting profits allow colleges to expand their facilities, their bureaucracies and their amenities, leading to higher tuition charges.

Hence, a vicious cycle: as college tuition costs increase, the government makes more funding available to students to pay for them. The more funding available–guaranteed by the taxpayers, so that colleges never face the possibility of a loan default–the more they can raise their tuition costs without ever having to worry about getting stiffed.... The American taxpayer, on the other hand, is getting stiffed with increasing regularity.

Witness: Corzine knew that customer funds flew

◼ Last week, Jon Corzine testified before Congress that he had no idea that the company he ran into the ground, MF Global, had borrowed money from customer accounts. - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Corzine might end up wishing that he’d just taken the Fifth instead. A witness directly contradicted his claim in Senate testimony yesterday, saying that Corzine not only knew about the raids on customer accounts, he ordered at least one of them himself

◼ CME chief: Corzine was aware of customer funds transfer

In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Terrence A. Duffy, the chief executive of CME Group, said a senior female executive of MF Global told a CME auditor that Corzine — the former chief executive officer and chairman of the firm — was aware of a $175 million loan of customer money to a European affiliate of the now-bankrupt commodities brokerage.

“Mr. Corzine was aware because our employee had heard this, on the phone—‘Send back 175’ — and said he was aware of this loan,” Duffy told the Senate committee.

...Corzine has denied involvement in any illegal or improper movement of funds. In comments Thursday, he said his remarks could have led to a “misunderstanding” about the customer money. “I never directed anyone at MF Global to misuse customer funds. I never intended to, and as far as I’m concerned, I never gave instructions that anyone could misconstrue,” Corzine said Tuesday.

◼ Corzine's profiteering almost paid off - Timothy P. Carney/Washington Examiner @tpcarney

Controversy Drives Advertisers From ‘All-American Muslim’ — Or Does it?

◼ Advertisers pull spots from “All American Muslim” - HotAir

In the meantime, starting such a protest draws media attention, generates controversy, and pretty much acts as free advertising for the show on a broader scale than the network could ever afford through conventional marketing. It will be interesting over the next few weeks to see what happens with its ratings. It debuted with a modest 1.7M viewers (not a shockingly high or low number for a ten PM Sunday night slot) and in its third week had dropped nearly 50% to roughly one million.

◼ At least two advertisers have withdrawn commercials from “All-American Muslim,” a new series on the TLC cable channel, since an activist organization called the Florida Family Association condemned the show. But others cited by the organization as pulling out as sponsors are disputing the claim. - NY Times

The organization has attacked the series as propaganda that obscures “the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” The series, which has been on TLC at 10 p.m. Sunday since mid-November, follows the lives of five Muslim-American families in Dearborn, Mich., a Detroit suburb with a sizable Muslim population.

The organization says 65 companies have left the show since it began urging advertisers to withdraw their support. Among those that have were Kayak, the travel Web site, and Lowe’s, the home-improvement retailer.

◼ 'All-American Muslim': Kayak calls show terrible, apologizes to customers - LA Times

◼ Another company has pulled its ads from TLC’s controversial docu-series “All-American Muslim,” saying it did so because TLC “was not upfront with us about the nature of this show” and was deliberately “trying to pick a fight” over the series. The online travel company Kayak.com also says that its chief marketing officer watched a couple of episodes and thought they were lousy. - Washington Post

“When TLC pitched ‘All-American Muslim’ to advertisers, it was characterized as a fair-and-balanced look at the life of an American Muslim. However, what was not disclosed was the preexisting controversy surrounding race, religion and specifically the divide between the Muslim and Christian communities in Dearborn, Mich.,” Birge said in the statement e-mailed to The TV Column.

“Dearborn has been a center of controversy for right or wrong; however, that was omitted by TLC when it pitched the show.”

◼ The Shocking Truth about Lowe's and All American Muslim - Walid Shoebat and Ben Barrack/Jihad Watch

◼ ANOTHER SHOW PULLS ADS OFF "ALL AMERICAN MUSLIM" - Atlas Shrugs

Was it the media controversy? Or perhaps the boring story line? The coerced conversion to Islam? The banishment of the newly converted husband's dog? Or perhaps it was the Hezb'Allah supporting (the same Hezb'Allah killing our CIA agents in Lebanon and Iran) Husham Alhusayni – the main spiritual leader of the Karbala Center in Dearborn and featured in All American Muslim, which airs on The Learning Channel (TLC). In the program, Hezbo-linked Alhusayni is seen presiding over marriages within Muslim families in Dearborn, whose day-to-day lives are portrayed as they interact in English. ◼ (read the whole ugly thing here).

Whatever the case, Kayak has pulled its ads off the dead in the water show.

◼ Lowe's faces backlash over pulling ads from 'All-American Muslim' - LA Times

Politicians and activists slam Lowe's choice to stop advertising on a reality TV show about Muslim Americans. The home improvement chain says it did so only after the show became a 'lightning rod.'

Wisconsin governor recall: From CFRW Northern Division Legislative Issues Chair

I am writing today to inform our members about the Wisconsin recall effort of Republican Governor Scott Walker. Why should this matter to people in California? It matters because what is going on in Wisconsin is a template for what the left and many Union members and leaders want to achieve throughout the country. In speaking to a Republican Woman in Wisconsin who is active in the fight to stop the recall of the Governor, she stated that the legislation (which limited the powers of the unions) passed by the Governor and the Republican Legislature has made a big difference in many communities throughout the state. They are now actually solvent.

As you know the unions in the state and from around the country have descended on Wisconsin to gather the 700,000 signatures needed to place the recall on the ballot. Many of these signatures appear to be invalid.

Republicans have learned that the names presented to election officials have to be left on the signature lists even if the signature is Adolph Hitler or Mickey Mouse. The candidate will have to do the verification of the signatures. The Party thinks that it will have 31 days to verify the signatures. They are debating the best way to do this. The legislation that is turning Wisconsin around would be reversed with a Democrat Governor.

I believe that this is one of the battles that Republicans need to join from around the country. Obviously, money matters. The unions are flooding Wisconsin with money from all over the country. If you are so inclined and able a donation to Scott Walker’s campaign would be greatly appreciated. You can donate on line at ◼ www.ScottWalker.org. Go to contribute and fill out the form.

If you wish to send a check make it out to Friends of Scott Walker. P.O. Box 620437. Middleton, WI 53562. Make sure you list your employer and occupation.

As Republicans, we believe that an honest, legal legislative process is crucial to the protection of our system of government. This attack must be stopped before it takes hold around the country.

Thank you for all your work.

Edelweiss Geary
Legislative Issues Chair
California Federation of Republican Women, Northern Division
◼ www.cfrwnd.org

It has now been nearly 1,000 days since the Democrats last passed a federal budget. This unprecedented act of fiscal irresponsibility -- one that no other Congress in generations has committed -- allows the most profligate administration in American history to continue racking up more than a trillion dollars in deficit spending each year.

◼ The Horrifying Chart That Democrats and RINOs Don't Want You to See - Doug Ross

◼ GETTING AMERICA OUT OF DEEP DEBT - Tom Price and Paul Ryan, budget.house.gov ◼ Chicago Tribune

For three straight years, the U.S. government has run trillion-dollar deficits. In total, the nation has recently surpassed $15 trillion in debt — a number that continues to rise. For nearly 1,000 days, the Democrat-led Senate has refused to write a budget while Washington continues to careen from one budget crisis to another. This is a stark reality for a nation already facing tremendous economic challenges, and it is the strongest argument and impetus for the series of budget-process reforms recently introduced by members of the House Budget Committee.

Earlier this year, House Republicans presented a budget to the Congress that would cut nearly $6 trillion in spending, reform the tax code and improve and strengthen programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. We drafted, debated and passed a plan to put our nation on a path to prosperity. President Barack Obama, along with Democrat leaders on Capitol Hill, responded with demagoguery while offering no credible plan of their own — no plan to pay off the debt and no plan to save and strengthen health and retirement programs for seniors.

Elected leaders should not be able to avoid their responsibilities in such a cavalier manner. And yet, under the broken budget process in Washington, they have been able to get away with doing nothing as the debt piles even higher. Read the rest...

Reminder: No December Meeting

Our next meeting will be January 19th, at Baywood Golf and Country Club in Arcata.

Enjoy the holidays!

A grand jury has begun investigating Solyndra LLC, the failed California solar-panel maker that lost more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans, according to law-firm billing records.

◼ Grand jury begins probe of Solyndra - Washington Times

The formation of an investigative grand jury would mark a significant development in the criminal investigation into Solyndra, which saw its offices raided by the FBI within days of its bankruptcy filing in September.

“The subpoenas would be just the tip of the iceberg,” said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor and now a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The first things to happen in grand juries are subpoenas to collect every possible document you can.”

Port Whine: Big Labor’s Occu-punks

◼ It’s no coincidence that businesses using cutting-edge technology and automation are now being targeted and demonized while a man who blames ATMs (which have been around for four decades) and automation for his skyrocketing unemployment rate is sitting in the White House. - Michelle Malkin

Chaos is the progressive Luddites’ goal. Chaos is the reality — and enablers like left-wing Oakland Mayor Jean Quan are reaping what they sow...

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is concerned about how the protesters will affect the people of the city this holiday season. “People have to think about the consequences,” she said. People have to think about who they are hurting. They are saying, ‘We want to get the attention of the ruling class.’ Well I think the ruling class is probably laughing, and people in this city will be crying this Christmas. It’s really got to stop”…

They’re not getting the message. Neither are ◼ the clueless elites at Time Magazine, who celebrated ◼ “The Protester” as their “person of the year.” But it looks like more on the left side of the aisle are getting tired of the mob. ◼ The liberal Los Angeles Times editorial board pans Occupy’s second act:

“The shipping industry didn’t get America into this economic mess, and there is little it could do to get us out. In times of rising joblessness, it’s common to blame foreign competition for the losses at home. But blaming ports or shippers for the changes wrought by an increasingly global economy is sort of like fingering automakers for urban traffic congestion. In its search for a new direction, Occupy Wall Street would probably do better to occupy the National Mall than San Pedro.”

◼ Time's Person of the Year: 'The Protester'

See All Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus Polling Data

◼ RCP Average Gingrich +12.1, Insider Advantage Gingrich +10, PPP (D) Gingrich +1, Univ. of Iowa Gingrich +10, MUCH MORE at the link

NBC/WSJ poll: Gingrich hits 40 percent nationally

◼ The standard caveats apply — only state polls really matter, it’s a poll of registered voters instead of likelies, etc — but this is in fact a milestone. - HotAir

In a three-way race with Romney and Paul, Gingrich leads 53/31/13. One not-so-minor detail, though: Obama leads Romney by just two points head to head but leads Gingrich by 11 thanks to Newt’s weakness among women and independents. Romney’s already made electability an overt part of his campaign messaging...

In the name of protecting copyright, this bill bring about the end of the Internet as we know it.

◼ Internet piracy bill: A free speech ‘kill switch’

What began as an attempt to restrain foreign piracy on the Internet has morphed into a domestic “kill switch” on First Amendment freedom in the fastest-growing corner of the marketplace of ideas.

Proposed federal legislation purporting to protect online intellectual property would also impose sweeping new government mandates on internet service providers — a positively Orwellian power grab that would permit the U.S. Justice Department to shut down any internet site it doesn’t like (and cut off its sources of income) on nothing more than a whim.

Obama Campaign Collecting GOP Emails

◼ The Obama presidential campaign is launching an effort to collect Republican email addresses by inviting its supporters to submit information about their Republican associates to the Obama 2012 website. - White House Dossier

The effort could help the Obama campaign build a database that would enable it to target Republican voters during the general election campaign. But, more perniciously, it could also become part of an Democratic effort to influence Republican primary voters to select a candidate Democrats think Obama could most easily defeat....

The Obama information collection effort is cast under the mischievous guise of asking Obama supporters to “have a little fun at the expense of a Republican in your life” by signing them up to get an email from the Obama campaign ribbing them for having “inspired” the Obama supporter to donate.

The result, however, is that the Obama campaign gets a new trove of Republican email addresses that it could never have collected through voluntary submissions....

One message, from Deputy Campaign Manager Julianna Smoot, also invites donors to buy something from the Obama 2012 store for their Republican friend.

Really want to fire up your GOP friends? Buy them a gift from the 2012 store. I recommend the birther mugs — they get the message across pretty well.

The email was sent Tuesday. If the Obama supporter sends the gift directly to their Republican friend, then the campaign has a new personal address for its database.

House Republicans Pass Payroll Tax Cut & Unemployment Extension President Obama Wanted

◼ Well, except for one little item: the bill also includes a requirement for construction of an oil pipeline that has drawn a veto threat. - Michelle Malkin

The pipeline would create between 6,000 and 20,000 US jobs, depending on whose estimate you use. Obama claimed that the payroll tax break and unemployment extension would create more jobs than the pipeline (pause for laughter).

The bill will have trouble getting through a Dem-controlled Senate that claims to need more time for careful analysis.... Reid and other Democrats argue the pipeline project requires more study and should not be fast-tracked as part of a political calculation by Republicans.

An oil pipeline should be studied meticulously over the course of years before being built, but more trivial bills like ones that take control of the entire country’s health care system qualify for fast-tracking and hasty implementation? That sounds about right.

Mickey Mouse, Adolf Hitler Allowed On Wisconsin Recall Petition

◼ Suspicious signatures will be noted when the Government Accountability Board reviews the petitions, but reviewers will look to see that signatures are accompanied by a Wisconsin address and are dated as having been signed during the circulation period, board elections specialist David Buerger said. - WISN.com

"We will flag them, but we will not strike them without challenge," Buerger said after being asked whether Mickey Mouse's signature would be counted. He noted that in previous recall petitions, Adolf Hitler's name was struck because the address given was in Germany, not because of the name itself....

The effort to recall Walker, Kleefisch and four Republican state senators is fueled by anger over the proposal passed this year that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for public workers. Recall elections targeting six senators this summer resulted in two Republican incumbents losing their seats....

The Republican Party and Walker's campaign have started their own website asking for people to submit information about signatures that ought to be disqualified, including multiple signatures.

Walker and those targeted are at a disadvantage since they can't see the signatures collected until after they are submitted, while circulators can weed out problems before they are submitted.

"A majority of citizens have grown increasingly frustrated with the recall process, and this effort allows these people to get involved and protect their state from repeated fraudulent activity," said Republican Party executive director Stephan Thompson in announcing the launch of the website Tuesday.

◼ The impossible task of verifying signatures on the Walker recall petitions. - Althouse

What a mess! I hope they are planning to get the signatures quickly typed up and presented on a webpage so that everyone who wants to check names can do so. I am especially concerned about the appropriation of names of people (like me) who did not sign. I am genuinely afraid of fraud and don't think we have anything close to decent safeguard in place.

Rick Perry: Momentum

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Rick Perry

House Passes Obama's Tax Cut, Democrats Threaten to Kill It

◼ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.–Nev.) has vowed to kill the bill and President Barack Obama issued a veto threat just hours before the House vote. - Audrey Hudson/Human Events

If Congress fails to act on the tax cut before leaving Washington this week, most Americans will see $20 missing from their weekly paycheck, and unemployed workers face a loss of some benefits.

President Obama is demanding Congress forgo their Christmas holiday and stay in town to pass a tax cut measure he will support, and White House officials are threatening a veto on the separate government spending bill needed to keep federal agencies operating past Friday until the tax cut is passed.

The controversial measure includes a demand on Obama to make a yes or no decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, an issue that has divided Democrat supporters in the green community who claim it will hurt the environment, and unions who want the 20,000 jobs created by the project.

“The president is going to have to decide, can he wait to create American jobs or can he not wait to run against us?” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.–Texas), chairman of the Republican Conference. “It’s Christmas time, let’s deliver to the American people a jobs bill.”

◼ Republicans push payroll tax cut bill through House, despite White House veto threat - AP/Washington Post

Ron Paul calls for criminal charges against Eric Holder.

◼ Today, Texas Congressman Ron Paul became the first GOP president candidate to call for criminal charges against Eric Holder. - examiner.com

Speaking to syndicated radio talk show host Alex Jones, Paul called for Holder to be "immediately fired." Paul went on to say "I think it was criminal," and called the operation a "false flag." He said that there needs to be an immediate investigation into Holder himself, and said Holder "deserves charges."

Paul went on to discuss a now infamous memo from White House lawyers who claim Obama has the right to assassinate American citizens anywhere in the world. Paul stated that Obama is trying to "legalize Martial law."

Paul also mocked the FBI's claim of uncovering an Iranian assignation plot against the Saudi ambassador. He said the man arrested "may never be tried because they don't want the truth to come out."

Ed Koch: "The country is looking for a leader, unafraid to tell the truth, and many think that Newt Gingrich is that person."

◼ Newt Gingrich: Liberals’ Nightmare - Ed Koch at Newsmax

I have watched about a half-dozen events involving the Republican presidential candidates, including their appearance this week before both the Republican National Jewish Coalition and the Iowa debate moderated by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos.

In the beginning of the early debates, I was not very impressed with any of the candidates’ grasp of the issues being discussed. Either my standards have lowered over the passing months — I was not really listening — or they have increased their comprehension of the issues. I believe it is the latter.

I intend to vote for the re-election of President Barack Obama. In the past I have said the only credible Republican candidate running for president was Mitt Romney. I now believe that Newt Gingrich is very credible and the Republican ticket will end up as Gingrich/Romney.

Gingrich is perceived by all as the smartest of the eight Republican candidates vying for the presidency. He is also the whipping boy of all the commentators on the left, and his philosophical positions and character are attacked with a glee and a fierceness rarely seen.

But my belief is that Gingrich is not suffering from the attacks. Rather than injuring him, he seems to be gaining new supporters and widening his lead. A recent Gallup poll shows Gingrich leading Romney 37 percent to 22 percent among Republican registered voters....

POLLS and more POLLS: In Iowa, Paul closes to within one point of front-runner Gingrich

◼ IOWA: GINGRICH 22% PAUL 21% ROMNEY 16% - Daily Caller
◼ New Hampshire: Romney 33% Gingrich 22% Paul 18%... - Rasmussen
◼ Voters See Gingrich, Romney As Strongest GOP Opponents for Obama - Rasmussen
◼ Voters Like Romney Best, But GOP Voters Give Edge to Gingrich - Rasmussen
◼ 42% Say GOP Candidates Paying Too Much Attention to Trump - Rasmussen
◼ Election 2012: Obama 43%, Paul 35% - Rasmussen
◼ Gallup: Romney, Gingrich Beat Obama in 12 Swing States - Newsmax
◼ Rush: Gallup Poll Must Have White House 'Panicking' - Newsmax
◼ Surprise! Poll with ties to SEIU and Daily Kos says... Ron Paul getting close to leaders in Iowa - Doug Ross
◼ Gingrich Up 10 in Iowa; Perry Moves Into Third - Real Clear Politics
◼ InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research, conducted for Newsmax
◼ Romney, Gingrich Beat Obama in 12 Swing States - Newsmax

New USA Today/Gallup poll.... Former Massachusetts Gov. Romney leads Obama among registered voters, 48 percent to 43 percent, in the 12 states the survey covers. And former House Speaker Gingrich leads the president, 48 percent to 45 percent. Nationwide, Obama leads Gingrich, 50 percent to 44 percent, and Romney, 47 percent to 46 percent, according to the poll.

The 12 states are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Obama won all of them in 2008. Each could go either way next year, and Obama needs to win half of their electoral votes to gain a second term, according to USA Today.

The portion of voters in those states who identify themselves as Democratic or Democratic-leaning has dropped 4 percentage points since 2008, while the portion of Republicans has risen 5 points.

◼ Rush Limbaugh: WH 'Must Be Panicking' About Gallup Poll - Newsmax