Happy New Year

In the latest installment of The Perils of Pauline our heroes avoid the fiscal cliff... for now.

Obama got higher taxes on "the rich" in part by moving his difinition of "the rich" from $250,000 to $450,000. Republicans also got concessions on dividends and the estate tax.

But the current bill punted the question of spending cuts so a new Congress can calmly take it up in the shadow of a debt ceiling fight. Ezra Klein is interesting on this point - Republican leaders are selling this deal as tax hikes today and spending cuts to follow; Obama is now selling it as a tax hike down payment, with more tax hikes to come along with any spending cuts. Both sides can't be right.

That’s really why Obama’s comments posed a threat to a deal. The GOP’s congressional leaders want to tell their members that if they just vote for this modest tax increase now, then they can move onto the debt ceiling, where their enhanced leverage will let them force a deal that’s all spending cuts. Obama, in effect, said that’s not true. He said if Republicans raise taxes now, he’s going to pocket that tax increase and demand tax increases in the next deal, too.

Obama likely needed to say that. Republicans have had so much trouble wrangling their members in recent years that we forget that congressional Democrats can stage revolts, too. Earlier Monday, it seemed plausible that angry Senate Democrats would oppose the McConnell-Biden deal. Obama’s public explanation of his strategy was meant to persuade them that he really means it when he says he won’t permit further spending cuts without more revenues. By committing to that principle in front of the cameras, he made it much likelier that he’d stick to it in future negotiations.

But Obama’s remarks exposed the inconvenient truth that the two sides are selling the deal to their members by making mutually exclusive arguments about what will happen next.

Part of the problem is that Obama just is not very good at these negotiations, which is odd for a guy whose resume suggests he might actually be a watchable talk show host or effective group facilitator. Taking a victory lap before the deal was signed was arrogant and foolish. Or (dare we say it?) Obamian.

SO WHO IS HAPPY? Liberals Progressives are lining window ledges, and I think Paul Krugman is right about this:

OK, now for the really bad news. Anyone looking at these negotiations, especially given Obama’s previous behavior, can’t help but reach one main conclusion: whenever the president says that there’s an issue on which he absolutely, positively won’t give ground, you can count on him, you know, giving way — and soon, too. The idea that you should only make promises and threats you intend to make good on doesn’t seem to be one that this particular president can grasp.

And that means that Republicans will go right from this negotiation into the debt ceiling in the firm belief that Obama can be rolled.

At that point he can redeem himself by holding firm — but because the Republicans don’t think he will, they will play tough, almost surely forcing him to actually hit the ceiling with all the costs that entails. And look, if I were a Republican I would also be betting that he’ll cave.

So Obama has set himself and the nation up for a much uglier confrontation than we would have had if he had set a negotiating position and held to it.

 And somewhere in here we need to find time in January for the Biden effort on gun control to be met with derision and disdain.

Comments

[sbw]

Oh, no! We are headed for the fiscal tiff.

[narciso]

You know the part in Temple of Doom, when they're on the raft, down the ganges, and they think they're safe, that's where we are;

[Jim Eagle]

I am going to beat MarkO to it: He is not very smart and is a nasty little man.

[narciso]

They are caught in their own feedback loop of stupid,

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/01/01/did_obama_cave_to_republicans_again.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PoliticalWire+%28Political+Wire%29

[Jane: Mock the Media]

Could someone explain to me why the House doesn't simply refuse to raise the debt ceiling?

Obama loves taunting his enemies. OTOH he would never do that to Iran or other terrorists, which tells you everything he needs to know.

Clinton was the first guy to take dignity out of the presidency. Obama has decimated any hope of getting it back.

[Danube of Thought]

"Clinton was the first guy to take dignity out of the presidency."

LBJ gave it his very best shot.

[Jane: Mock the Media]

How so DOT? That was before I was paying attention.

[narciso]

We're in good hands, yes I know it's a typo, although unlike us, he really believes it;

http://twitchy.com/2012/12/28/russell-simmons-democracy-wont-become-a-dictatorship-its-already-owned-by-cooperations/

[Captain Hate]

Obama loves taunting his enemies.

He's a community organizing punk who can never escape acting that way; particularly because the MFM won't call him out on it. That's why the optics are so bad on having a slack-jawed hang-dog rummy like Boehner going on tv to argue against him. A no-nonsense hard-ass like Allen West saying "We need the President to get serious and stop lying" would rock the JEF on his heels so badly that he's never recover.

[Captain Hate]

he's == he'd

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--How so DOT?--

[Melinda Romanoff]

Jane-

Default is the next WMD.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

How so DoT?--

[bgates]

Obama likely needed to say that

On account of him being a gigantic ass.

I like this from the press coverage (CBS via Legal Insurrection):
The measure...would raise an additional $620 billion over the coming decade

I'd like for the rest of the news to provide this degree of assurance.
With their second pick in the draft, the San Diego Chargers selected Ryan Leaf, who will win 53 games over his first five seasons.
...
...announced they have begun filming 'The Adventures of Pluto Nash', which will make $310 million and win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
...
...the engagement of their daughter Cassandra to Salvatore D'Angelo of Poughkeepsie. The couple will live in Schenectady where Mr D'Angelo will start a legal practice, before moving in eight years to Queens when they decide to open a restaurant with his brother. They will have one child, a boy, who will grow to be six foot three and become a podiatrist.

Wouldn't it be nice if they'd tell us how everything will turn out, the way they do now with tax increases?

[MG]

Close to best possible deal, given all the leverage on their side. Thanks go to Biden for his inept negotiation skills. Obama knew this and explains why he was out there yesterday still promising more revenue. Although leverage shifts 180 degrees for next round, not confident House Republicans will use it effectively. If they do the composite will be a good deal.

[Jim Eagle]

So far the only guys calling him out are Rand Paul and Marco Rubio and both of these still don't have the "hard ass" cache of LC Alan West. They're not wimps but they are too damn polite and cerebral with the JEF.

Noticed that today Lucky Lindy Graham called him out on F&F's but he still voted for the White Turd they sent to the house. BTW, can someone explain how a bill raising revenue can originate in the Senate. Article 1, Section 7 gives the Senate amendment authority. Did the Senate bill originate in the house and now it is amended?

[bgates]

By committing to that principle in front of the cameras, he made it much likelier that he’d stick to it in future negotiations.

Funny, funny stuff.

[narciso]

Well you captured the absurdity of the whole enterprise, bgates, as for Graham, can't we sent him to Ft, Sumter, then fire upon him, for old time's sake;

Now this fellow, has learned the 'lesson of not being seen;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2255394/Ibrahim-Magag-Police-launch-manhunt-terror-suspect-went-missing-Boxing-Day--close-surveillance.html

[narciso]

Reminds me of a line from Futurama, a riff on Heisenberg, after the professor loses a bet,
'not fair, you changed the outcome by measuring it'

[narciso]

In more news of the absurd;

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/when_oompa_loompas_attack/

[bgates]

Did the Senate bill originate in the house and now it is amended?

Yup. Looks like a pretty significant amendment, since the Senate passed 157 pages and what they "amended" originally had five.

As the Senate bill helpfully explains, the amendment is "in the nature of a substitute".

[narciso]

Another Tim Blair link concerned this silly person, who hoped 'thanks to the low carbon economy, flying would be a thing of the past'

http://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinearmitage

[Threadkiller]

How so DoT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR_myjOr0OU

[Janet]

Interesting post at Patriot's Corner - The Fate Of Our Nation

"Multiculturalists claim that all cultures are equal, but in order to make that claim one needs a yardstick to measure different cultures, and that entails a belief in the very thing that multiculturalists deny: a set of ultimate values."

[Rocco]

Happy New Year all

[narciso]

Of course, Richard Cohen, forgets you eventually have to put down the bottle, then again this might be him sober.

[Danube of Thought]

I am hoping more and more fervently that "by committing to this principle in front of the camera" the arrogant bastard blew the whole deal, and we go over the cliff.

[Threadkiller]

bgates, your "157 page" link goes to the "5 page" address.

[Danube of Thought]

How so, DoT?

"A favoured device to embarrass subordinates was obliging them to take his orders while he defecated. He liked to pee in the washbasin in his office in front of female secretaries and then wave his member about. Inordinately proud of his sexual apparatus, Johnson was given to bragging: 'Jumbo had a real workout tonight.'"

[jimmyk]

Can anyone explain this, from the NYT link: "The estate tax will be set at 40 percent for those at the $450,000/$400,000 threshold, with a $5 million exemption."

How can an income level affect the estate tax rate?

[Threadkiller]

I can't argue with giving orders from the shithouse. It is very empowering.

As to the rest, yuck.

[narciso]

Apparently, the payroll deduction expired with this bill, it's like the whole Whizzo Chocolate assortment.

[Clarice]

bgates, Have I thanked you lately for all the mirth you engender?

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Oh Gawd Dot - and here I was trying to imagine what could be more undignified than a President getting a blow job in the oval office from an intern. Yuk.

A no-nonsense hard-ass like Allen West saying "We need the President to get serious and stop lying" would rock the JEF on his heels so badly that he's never recover.

Clarice, could you please give him a call?

[Captain Hate]

Inordinately proud of his sexual apparatus, Johnson was given to bragging: 'Jumbo had a real workout tonight.'"

Such a classless lowlife; I wouldn't have put it past him having incest with his ugly daughters whom he shackled with the LBJ moniker.

[Danube of Thought]

Good question, jimmyk. Doesn't make sense.

[peter]

And dare we forget, forcing his secretary to take dictation while he was sitting on the can defecating.

[narciso]

And yet Nixon, who's great public sin, was being awkward, but he didn't accrue any great public fortune, is painted as the evil one, whereas Johnson committed us, to a war he didn't even believe it, that grated on my late Philly cop friend,

[Captain Hate]

I doubt there will be any better advice than this for the rest of the year: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/336665/republicans-deserved-lose-thomas-sowell#

[boatbuilder]

It's the NYT. Why should it make sense?

[narciso]

Well I agree, up to a point, Captain, one feels that 'Duke and Duke' made another wager, and paid Beeks the balance, however the consequences of such a decision are long lasting;

http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-in-the-fiscal-cliff-bill-2013-1#ixzz2GkL7oJjl

[Threadkiller]

Peter, google "mike tyson dictate joke"

[Clarice]

Jane, I don't have his number right now and I don't know if his email addy is current since he's transitioning to civilian life, but I believe he's on FB and anyone can leave him a message there.

[narciso]

Well presumably, they are reading from the text,
which might as well been conjured up by Ctluthu;

What we see here, is that Syrian's Baathist shell, masked a hollowness that Salafism soon filled, much like Iraq in the late 90s;

http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9348/all-armies_-the-syrian-regime-the-fsa-and-islamist

[boatbuilder]

"Ad hoc moderates." Sowell is the best. Unfortunately he is absolutely correct, as usual.

[narciso]

I know the above link is also chock full of the nationalist idiocy, that kept the people in check
for 40 years,

[bgates]

TK - Oops.

Clarice - no. :)

[narciso]

'but for a lack of a nail'

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/12/31/GOP-May-Lose-a-Lot-More-Than-Cliff-Tax-War.aspx#page1

[narciso]

From Iowahawk;

Congress has agreed to cut spending $1.5 B per year. The White House family expenses are $1.4 B per year.

[Clarice]

well, bgates, then let me begin the year right: THANKS!! You keep me laughing.

[matt]

From the NYT: "View from the Left. Obama kept on giving stuff away"

Only the Leftist media would have the chutzpah to same something so absurd.

[narciso]

OTOH, he's sort of right, but not in the way he intends, and the choice of venue is absurd;

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/29/Oliver-Stone-to-Russian-TV-US-has-become-an-Orwellian-State

[daddy]

Still no Citroen numbers, but this story is good enough to post on a live thread:

Speaking of Immigrants and Real Estate Developers:

Builders demolish 18th century French château ‘by mistake’

The Russian owner of the Château Bellevue in Yvrac in southwestern France says the 18th century treasure was destroyed “in error” by a team of Polish builders after a misunderstanding.

the firm of builders he had hired simply razed the whole chateau to the ground, to the amazement of everyone,

Mme Mattiazzo says Stroskin told her that the Polish company “had completely misunderstood” and that he had asked them simply to destroy the small guest house adjacent to the chateau.

Merde' happens!

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

I think Soylent Red will be very happy about the Huskers performance in the first half. Huskers 24, Bulldogs 23. Anybody's game.

[narciso]

Well it's nice to know their priorities are in order

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/world_largest_ferris_wheel_plans_l427QWrkDjOW5dKD7YqcNM

[daddy]

"Clinton was the first guy to take dignity out of the presidency."

Close but no cigar.

From Mimi Alford, teenaged Intern to JFK's Camelot:

Her fourth day on the job she was invited upstairs to the private residence. Kennedy led Mimi into his wife's bedroom (the First Lady was away), unbuttoned her blouse, touched her breast, pulled down her underwear, dropped his pants, climbed on top of her, and ****ed her. When she told him she was a virgin he became a bit more compassionate, but neither in that sexual encounter nor in any other did he ever kiss her on the lips."

---Dave Powers was sitting poolside while the President and I swam lazy circles around each other, splashing playfully. Dave had removed his jacket and loosened his tie in the warm air of the pool, but he was otherwise fully clothed. He was sitting on a towel, with his pants leg rolled up, and his bare feet dangling in the water.
The President swam over and whispered in my ear. "Mr. Powers looks a little tense," he said. "Would you take care of it?"
It was a dare, but I knew exactly what he meant. This was a challenge to give Dave Powers oral sex. I don't think the President thought I'd do it, but I'm ashamed to say that I did. It was a pathetic, sordid, scene, and is very hard for me to think about today. Dave was jolly and obedient as I stood in the shallow end of the pool and performed my duties. The President silently watched.

Sorry to be so sordid this New Years Day, but the Kennedy's deserve being called undignified POS's when it fits.

[bgates]

The idea...doesn’t seem to be one that this particular president can grasp.

[narciso]

Speaking of a wet behind the ears punk, with no clue;

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/ex-conservative-jonathan-krohn-gop-memo

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

BTW, Maine, Ohio, CA, NM, Miss, AL, IL, Kentucky, SC Hawaii and NY all have more people on welfare than are working.

[narciso]

They find even that single farthing, too much of a sacrifice;

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/part-1-fiscal-cliff-over

[Janet]

daddy's Kennedy post ties into the CNN New Years spectacle of Anderson Cooper & that Griffin woman.
One of the things that is so sad is Cooper standing there smiling & chuckling while being part of such a degrading show. He should have walked away.

Reminds me of that panel on the Maher show with Savage & some other guy talking about raping Santorum & Bachmann...there sat the others...smiling & nodding....it was so sad & disgusting to look at people so weak as to let that go without saying something.

I pray I am never that weak that I wouldn't at least say something. Very sad.

[Jim Eagle]

Jane,

The only reason Florida is not on that list is lawns and swimming pools.

BTW, one of the worst calls ever by a referree in college football was in the South Carolina v. Michigan game. But the 'Cocks came back with a dazzling catch in the end zone to go up on Big Blue. Exciting game.

[narciso]

Well I thankfully missed that, the 'baby daddy', went to Dalton, the same school as Anderson Vanderbilt, Griffin has long shown her talent as a Gorgon,

[AliceH]

Way OT...although it ends with Happy New Year.

The Gun Cleaning Song

It's catchy!

[Threadkiller]

"OFFICIAL NOTICE TO CONGRESS TO STOP ELECTION FRAUD OF 2012

NOTICE delivered to members of the US Congress demanding a STOP to the fraudulent election of 2012

By U.S. Patriots Union and The North American Law Center

CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE AND DEMAND TO HALT THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION

CERTIFICATION PROCESS DUE TO EVIDENCE OF SUBSTANTIVE FRAUD

BE ADVISED, your Oath of office requires you to act in a manner which upholds the United States Constitution, our State Constitutions, and the Rule of Law. This shall serve as Notice to you of the massive fraud which has occurred in the 2012 election. As a public servant, your highest duty is to the people of the United States. Failing to do your duty, after having been so noticed, will be a direct violation of your Oath, with malice aforethought.

The evidence is overwhelming that the 2012 President elect Barack Hussein Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States, as defined by The Law of Nations - Book 1 - Chapter 19 - Sections 212, 213, 214 and 215 – or the United States Supreme Court in Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874) and U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649(1898). Since the Supreme Court in Minor directly construed in the Article 2, Section 1,natural-born citizen clause to determine the citizenship status of the petitioner, the Court’s definition of the natural-born citizen class is binding precedent."

http://obamareleaseyourrecords.blogspot.com/2013/01/official-notice-to-congress-obama-election-fraud.html

I hope for the best, but I am prepared for the ridicule.

[Captain Hate]

BTW, one of the worst calls ever by a referree in college football was in the South Carolina v. Michigan game.

My fellow online Terps were going crazy over how bad that call was. Even that it was against Squirrelier didn't lessen the ridicule.

[Captain Hate]

I forget; does the ol' ball coach make DoT's skin crawl?

[Threadkiller]

"Barack Hussein Obama is “eligible” for only one thing: to deceive the American people and the world community into believing he is a legitimate president of the United States. In practice, that is according to all of the judges who thus far have ruled in lawsuits concerning his lack of legal status under the U.S. Constitution as a “natural born citizen.”

As you know, to qualify for the office of president, the law, plain and simple, requires that a person be born in the United States or one of its territories, to two American citizen parents. In watching the HBO miniseries “John Adams” on DVD over the holidays, after many years since it was first shown on television, I was starkly reminded why the framers of the U.S. Constitution inserted this special requirement for the highest offices in the land – president and vice president – into our body politic. This was because there were those persons around them, such as John Dickinson, the colonial delegate and a Tory from Pennsylvania, who to the end advocated against independence from King George III and had remained loyal to the British crown, even when it was clear that the crown was no longer “loyal” to the colonies. These types of individuals clearly were a risk to the new nation. Thus, all foreign influences were designed to be removed in the future from even getting close to the presidency."

http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/obama-eligible-only-to-defraud/print

Ok... I'm done.

[Extraneus]

Those touching Kennedy stories never get old, daddy. Every schoolchild should memorize them.

[Thomas Collins]

The $250,000 "rich" standard actually was preserved for the phaseout of personal exemptions and itemized deductions ($300,000 for joint filers). The $400,000 ($450,000 for joint filers) threshhold is for tax rates. Only in DC and Wonderland would a deduction phaseout not be classified as a tax hit.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Well at least we didn't find out about Kennedy until later - altho the rumors were rampant.

How did we find out about Clinton? For some reason I can't recall. I do remember Andrea Mitchell racing back from Cuba to cover it.

[Janet]

Andrea Mitchell racing back from Cuba

Good Lord.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

My biggest concern about going over the cliff is that the Bush tax cuts will become known as the Obama tax cuts.

[Captain Hate]

How did we find out about Clinton?

Which time? Slick's cooter addiction was pretty well known by the time he ran for President and the MFM was still vetting donks somewhat. Of course he only made allusions to it and Rodham stood by her predator.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Yeah but how did the Lewinsky news break? It had to come from Lewinsky I assume.

[Captain Hate]

Yeah but how did the Lewinsky news break?

Somehow Starr found out about Slick urging Monica to commit perjury in the Paula Jones case. He took it to Mr Reno who told him to include it in his investigation.

[Captain Hate]

Linda Tripp was the source of the info to Starr, which got all the Clinton-bots hating her and made them total hypocrites when it comes to speaking truth to power. It included leaking her personnel file from (iirc) the DoD, for which I don't believe anybody was punished.

[Extraneus]

The $250,000 "rich" standard actually was preserved for the phaseout of personal exemptions and itemized deductions

I was going to ask TC to explain, but here it is:

Exemption Phase-Out - Each taxpayer is entitled to a $3,800 (2012) tax exemption (deduction) for him or herself, his or her spouse, and each dependent. Beginning in 2013, a phase-out (reduction) of the exemptions will return for higher income taxpayers. The otherwise allowable exemption amounts will be reduced by 2% for each $2,500 or part of $2,500 ($1,250 for married filing separately) that the taxpayer's AGI exceeds the AGI threshold for the year based on the taxpayer's filing status. The threshold amounts for 2013 have not been announced yet but will be inflation-adjusted amounts from 2009 (the last year when this rule applied). These amounts were $372,700 for married taxpayers filing jointly, $186,350 for married taxpayers filing separately, $331,000 for head of household filers, and $289,300 for single filers. Impact: Higher income families.

Itemized Deduction Phase-Out - Beginning in 2013, higher income taxpayers will again be subject to the phase-out of itemized deductions. Not all itemized deductions are subject to phase-out. The following are the ones subject to phase-out: taxes, interest (except investment interest), charitable contributions, employee job expenses and other miscellaneous itemized deductions (excluding gambling and casualty or theft losses). If the itemized deductions are subject to the limit, the total of all itemized deductions is reduced by the smaller of: 1) 3% of the amount by which the AGI exceeds the annual limit, or 2) 80% of the itemized deductions that are affected by the limit. The threshold amounts for 2013 have not been announced yet but will be inflation-adjusted amounts from 2009, which were $83,400 for married taxpayers filing separately and $166,800 for all others. Impact: Higher income families who itemize their deductions.

[Jim Eagle]

Tripp taped her phone conversations with Lewinsky and somehow Drudge found out and broke the story while Isikoff at Newsweek had spiked it or his editors did.

BTW, poor Wisconsin!

[Extraneus]

It included leaking her personnel file from (iirc) the DoD, for which I don't believe anybody was punished.

They should have been severely censured. (h/t Janet)

[narciso]

Yes,that was the gist of the story;

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/01/01/hollywood-loophole-fiscal-cliff

[narciso]

The Pope was visiting Cuba, at the time,

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Linda Tripp was the source of the info to Starr

That's right. I had forgotten that.

I think we should start a death pool on when Hugo Chavez will bite the dust - assuming it hasn't already happened.

Fascinating things going on in the House right now.

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

The BadGers have come back. After falling behind 14-0, they came back with 2 TD's, one with seconds left in the half. Score is 17-14 Stanford.

[narciso]

No, most of the usual;

https://twitter.com/robertcostaNRO/statuses/286262342944190464

[Porchlight]

FWIW, Isikoff has insisted that Newsweek didn't spike it (decide not to run it at all) but instead was sitting on the story and deciding over the weekend whether it was credible enough to run. Drudge scooped them while they were deciding.

[narciso]

Yet he didn't sit on the Koran rumor at Gitmo, did he, now he's had some occasional scoops like revealing that Quahtani was one of the sources for the Courier, but one could get that from reviewing the Wikileaks file, which had been released the previous week,

[Thomas Collins]

Extraneus, the threshhold amounts mentioned in the quote in your 6:03 PM post are the starting point for calculating of the ones that will apply if no legislation passes. To those number, an inflation adjustment factor would be added. If the bill the Senate passed yesterday goes into effect, the new threshholds are the following:

"`(b) Applicable Amount-

`(1) IN GENERAL- For purposes of this section, the term `applicable amount' means--

`(A) $300,000 in the case of a joint return or a surviving spouse (as defined in section 2(a)),

`(B) $275,000 in the case of a head of household (as defined in section 2(b)),

`(C) $250,000 in the case of an individual who is not married and who is not a surviving spouse or head of household, and

`(D) 1/2 the amount applicable under subparagraph (A) (after adjustment, if any, under paragraph (2)) in the case of a married individual filing a separate return.

For purposes of this paragraph, marital status shall be determined under section 7703."

These new threshholds themselves would be subject to inflation adjustments.

Phaseouts are among the most cowardly ways of raising taxes. Keep the marginal rates the same, impose deduction phaseouts, and then claim you are not raising taxes.

[Mike Myers]

You know when you look at Obama's track record in these negotiations--this time around and in the summer of 2011, you have to think that he really, really, likes to step on his putz with golf shoes. Snatch disaster from the jaws of an acceptable compromise? That's our little Bamster.

[Porchlight]

Yet he didn't sit on the Koran rumor at Gitmo, did he

Exactly - although I suppose he could claim he learned his lesson after Lewinsky.

[narciso]

We never did find out who gave him that 'tip',
which incited a riot in Pakistan, my guess was that translator, Saar, that Viveka Novak ghosted,

[narciso]

It's like they've forgotten the lesson of the last 20 years;

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/9773883/Japan-plans-nationalisation-of-factories-to-save-industry.html

[Jim Eagle]

Coming to a port, factory and assembly plant near you, narciso. With the new Miami Port tunnel is makes it easier to move in the heavy artillery.

[Jim Eagle]

Nytol. Need to get my beauty sleep for the great adventure into the Apple tomorow.

[Danube of Thought]

Actually, CH, my two favorite reptiles are Saban and the Ol' Ball Coach, and the Ol' Ball Coach is a lot funnier to listen to.

But the minute he said he wasn't going to let an NFL coaching job affect his golf game I knew he was toast at that level. He's great at recruiting talented young kids, coaching 'em up for a few hours a week, antdturning 'em loose on Saturday. Against driven madmen like Belichick, Harbaugh, Coughlin or Shanahan he is mincemeat.

I'm watching the Orange Bowl delayed, but early in the second quarter it looks to me like N. Illinois is horribly overmatched, which is a bit sad.

[Danube of Thought]

On this New Year's Day, let me offer as a prayer for the coming year that no American be assassinated in 2013 by being shot in the stomach and doomed to die an extraordinarily painful, lingering death over a protracted period.

Now, if the First Testament God were to demand that I designate one exception, in order that my prayer be granted for all other Americans, I surely can't be faulted for telling Him that the exception is Michael Moore. Can I?

[Danube of Thought]

*Old* Testament