Obama Brings Bill Clinton In To Talk Tax Plan…And Then Leaves To Go To A Christmas Party

Amateur hour in the White House continues:

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said MSNBC’s Cenk Uygur after cutting back following a press conference on the tax plan. It had begun with a surprise appearance by President Obama who then brought in a further surprise, none other than Bill Clinton, to help him explain the deal. However, after introducing Clinton and letting him begin to talk, Obama suddenly announced that he was leaving for a Christmas party and vanished, letting Clinton talk for 25 more minutes as if it was 1996! I guess it could have been worse. Obama could have left to go play hoops.


Seriously, what was the thinking here? This has to be one of the worst PR moves in the entirety of the administration. Obviously, Clinton is probably a more popular Democratic figure right now, but they had to imagine this would hurt Obama. I mean, letting a former president explain your tax bill while you head to a Christmas party? A Christmas party?

Chris Matthews Shows It Wouldn't Matter How Sarah Palin Answered Couric's Reading Question

Newsbusters.org:

For well over two years, the liberal media have made fun of how Sarah Palin answered Katie Couric's ridiculous question concerning what she reads.


On Thursday, Chris Matthews, along with MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe, made it clear that no matter how the former Alaska governor answered that question, she was going to be ridiculed


CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Here she is telling Barbara Walters what she reads, a dangerous area. Let’s listen.


(LAUGHTER)


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)


SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: I read a lot of C.S. Lewis when I want some divine inspiration. I read Newsmax and "Wall Street Journal." I read all of our local papers, of course, in Alaska, because that’s where my heart is. I read anything and everything that I can get my hands on, as I have since I was a little girl.


MATTHEWS: I just love Barbara Walter’s face, that discerning look: I have seen you people come and go. What is this number all about?


I could just see her looking at this candidate.


Your thoughts?


NEWTON-SMALL: Well, I mean, if you read "America By Heart," I think this book is actually a giant sort of tribute to Katie Couric. And, essentially, it’s like, here, Katie. You asked what I read. Here is a giant list of everything that I have read. And it’s just excerpts of every single thing that she’s read in the last two years.


MATTHEWS: But Newsmax. Explain Newsmax, why she would say something like that. That’s a digest of conservative to right-wing thinking. You don’t have to read. They just tell you the little items you’re supposed to know.


NEWTON-SMALL: I mean, that’s her base. That’s exactly her base, is Newsmax, people who read Newsmax, people who watch Newsmax.


MATTHEWS: Well, why would you say that’s among your reading every day?


Your thoughts about that? Why would you say something like that? It’s like I’m getting ingested. I don’t read.


WOLFFE: It’s not reading it for the news in Newsmax, is it?

Liberal Democrat Drops F-bomb On Obama At Caucus Meeting On Tax Cuts

Rollcall.com:

The frustration with President Barack Obama over his tax cut compromise was palpable and even profane at Thursday’s House Democratic Caucus meeting.


One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f--- the president” while Rep. Shelley Berkley was defending the package the president negotiated with Republicans. Berkley confirmed the incident, although she declined to name the specific lawmaker.


“It wasn’t loud,” the Nevada Democrat said. “It was just expressing frustration from a very frustrated Member.”


Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) was also overheard saying that “we can’t trust him” not to cave to Republicans and extend the tax cuts again in two years, according to a Democratic source.


The anger aimed at the bill was widespread. As Democrats moved to block the bill from coming up on the floor, chants of “Just say no!” could be heard by reporters outside the room.


Berkley is one of the few Democrats publicly supporting the package. While she said it wasn’t necessarily how she would have written it, the bill should go forward in her estimation because it is “chock full” of tax cuts that will help the working class in her state.


“I’m not willing to play Russian roulette to see who blinks first,” Berkley said.

Extremist hatemongering incivility. To think, Barry finally had the balls to call 'em "sanctimonious".

Oprah Winfrey: 'I'm Not a Lesbian'

People.com:

The rumors have been around for years. She even made light about them recently. But Oprah Winfrey has once again stated flatly: "I'm not a lesbian."


"I'm not even kind of a lesbian," the talk-show queen, 56, tells Barbara Walters in an upcoming interview on ABC. "And the reason why [the rumor] irritates me is because it means that somebody must think I'm lying. That's number one. Number two ... why would you want to hide it? That is not the way I run my life."


The rumors have focused on Winfrey's friend Gayle King. But Winfrey says that relationship is extremely close in a whole different way.

What's ironic is that the same white liberals. that Oprah often courts and caters to, who control the pop culture media are always the ones behind these baseless kind of rumors.

Elizabeth Edwards Passes Away

Seemingly a good woman. but she crossed the line when she followed her scumbag of a husband in screwing over the American people:

Today CBS News learned new details about the last days of Elizabeth Edwards' life. In her final hours, she was surrounded by the people she loved most: her son, Jack, just 10-years-old, daughters Emma Claire, 12, and Cate, 28. Also there, her estranged husband, John, and a handful of close friends, including Jennifer Palmieri, who spoke about Edwards' children, reports CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano.


"To say that she prepared them for her death, I don't think that is correct," said friend Jennifer Palmieri. "What she wanted to do was prepare them to live a good life."


Edwards was determined that her last days with her children be joyful.


"She was able to have you know, normal, good night mom, give them a kiss and go to school, and so it was a very nurturing and warm environment," said Palmieri. "It was not a sad place if you can imagine that. It was a very warm and nurturing home."


Elizabeth Edwards knew she would only have a few years with her young children, as she told Katie Couric in 2007, right after Edwards learned her cancer had returned.


"I've often said that the most important thing you can give your children are wings - cause you're not always going to be able to bring food to the nest," Edwards told Couric. "Sometimes they're going to have to be able to fly by themselves."

Joe Lieberman: New York Times Publishing Of Leaks Criminal

Newsmax.com:

U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman says The New York Times may have committed a crime by publishing government documents from WikiLeaks, and he has asked that the Justice Department investigate, according to a report by The Hill.


"To me, New York Times has committed at least an act of bad citizenship. And whether they've committed a crime, I think that bears very intensive inquiry by the Justice Department," said Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with the Democrats.


The lawmaker told Fox News that he wonders why WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has not been charged with treason.


“I don’t understand why that hasn’t happened yet. It sure looks to me on the facts that Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks have. He ought to be indicted and then we can ask the authorities in England to extradite him to the United States.


“I think it’s the most serious violation of the Espionage Act in our history, and the consequences globally that have occurred," he said.

Open and candid, it's no wonder Joe Lieberman ranks up there as one of our best politicians.

Megyn Kelly Spars With Anthony Weiner On Obama's Deal For Tax Cuts

Mediaite.com:

It seems you just can’t shake the cool from Fox’s Megyn Kelly. We know, because on America Live today, Rep. Anthony Weiner gave it his best shot.


In a eleven minute segment that started as a discussion of President Obama’s deal on tax cuts, a very testy Weiner criticized the president for “not fighting hard enough.”


But as the conversation drifted to the estate tax, Weiner seemed to have no patience for Kelly herself, interrupting, sighing, looking away, clapping his hands and clearly crossing the line into condescension:


KELLY: You mentioned the estate tax twice, so I do want to ask you about it. The argument from the other side is that it’s a morally corrupt tax. I don’t have a five million dollar estate–I’d like to some day–but if I work all my life and I pay my taxes on my income and then I die and I want to pass on what would be great if it were a five million dollar estate to my kids, why should I pay the government again? Why should there be a 35 or 45 or 55 percent tax on that again?


WEINER: You aren’t paying anything in that case because you’ll be dead.


KELLY: The estate is, and that’s less for my children.


WEINER: The only question is… look.


KELLY: No, you’re not… Answer my question. How is that fair?


WEINER: Megyn, Megyn… Megyn, you’re going to have to let me answer the question. We’re going to have a conversation that gets us anywhere.


KELLY: Go ahead.


WEINER: The only question here is not whether or not there should be a tax on that, the question is where the limit should be and how much should…


KELLY: No, I’ll ask the question and you’re not answering. Just tell me how it’s fair.


Weiner, who never did answer that question, opted to pause, look around the Capitol and clap his hands before returning to camera and asking, “Ready?”


You get the feeling Weiner might’ve walked off after the interview and kicked a garbage can. And yet through it all, Kelly kept cooler than most of us can even get on vacation. It’s a clip that’s definitely worth a look, from Fox:

Harry Reid, Senate Democrats Threaten to Block Obama Deal on Tax Cuts

Catering to the 20% who call themselves "liberals" and still hate George W. Bush, that's what they're doing:

Disappointed Democratic congressional leaders demanded changes in the White House's tax deal with Republicans on Tuesday despite a spirited argument by President Barack Obama that concessions were preferable to higher taxes for millions of Americans.

"I'm not here to play games with the American people or the health of the economy," Obama said of his day-old deal, which is designed to avert a scheduled Jan. 1 expiration of tax cuts at all income levels.

In a remarkable political role reversal, Republicans lined up to support the package, while lawmakers of the president's party said they were prepared to oppose it. Liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pledged to "do everything I can to defeat this," including a filibuster to prevent a final vote.

The deal includes an extension of expiring Bush-era tax cuts for all income levels — not just for lower and middle-income taxpayers, as Democrats wanted. It also contains a renewal of jobless benefits due to expire in a few weeks, and a one-year cut in Social Security taxes paid by workers.

Other elements would loosen the estate tax and provide breaks for businesses to spur hiring. Officials said that overall, the proposal could add $900 billion to the federal deficit over two years.

Democratic opposition focused chiefly on two parts of the deal that marked concessions to Republicans — the decision to let expiring tax cuts remain in effect for people in upper incomes, and a change in the estate tax that the GOP has long sought.

Pelosi called the estate tax provision "a bridge too far," and Reid also singled it out for criticism. It would allow $5 million per spouse to pass tax-free to heirs, and tax anything above that level at 35 percent.

The compromise is "something that's not done yet," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We're going to have to do some more work," he said after a closed door meeting with Vice President Joe Biden and members of the Democratic rank-and-file.

Across the Capitol, Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that said, "We will continue discussions with the president and our caucus in the days ahead."

At his hastily called news conference, Obama bristled at times, casting himself in the role of compromiser-in-chief with the best interests of the economy and public in mind.

"This isn't an abstract debate. This is real money, It will make a real difference in the lives of people who sent us here," Obama said.

Bristol Palin’s Success On "Dancing With The Stars" Sent Viewers Complaining To The FCC

Mediaite.com:

As you may have heard, Bristol Palin recently appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, and she did pretty well–defying the judges and rising to the final three. Ultimately, she and her partner finished in third place.


Well, the against-all-odds success of Sarah Palin’s kid apparently boiled the blood of some DWTS viewers, who weren’t satisfied simply moaning to friends, family and neighbors, nor even to picking up the phone and complaining to ABC. No. They went to the government.


Documents obtained by The Smoking Gun detail all kinds of angry complaints registered with the Federal Communications Commission, ranging from accusations that ABC was “encouraging and promoting teen pregnancy” to charges the dance show’s voting system was rigged:


One viewer from Pittsburgh alleged that the show’s voting system had been “fixed by extreme supporters of the Tea Party and Radical Right-Wing. I find that it has become a political platform for Sarah Palin to improve her image and ooze her political slime.” The aggrieved correspondent continued, “Bristol is not a star, what did she do, she had sex and got pregnant. Lets reward her…I made several call to ABC’s complaint line and I hope that their phone lines melt. It has become a political movement, with Tea Party websites instructing on how to vote for Bristol. Ridiculousness!”


Ridiculous, indeed.


Perhaps the complainant least likely to be an entertaining dinner guest is the viewer from Cerritos, California who objected to a hug between Palin and DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba:


Noting that “no other dancer was called over for a hug,” one viewer claimed that the clinch was a “signal for the GOP/Tea Party supporters of Sarah Palin to ‘stuff’ the vote for Bristol Palin, who on both dates had to be dragged over the dance floor.” The writer added, “My 96 year old Mother-in-Law can dance better than Ms. Palin…I want my Government to protect me the viewer from deceptive practices.”


Yeah, um… fear not. The government will get right on this. Not much else on the proverbial plate right now.

Yeah, because Palin Derangement Syndrome does not exist.

Kathy Griffin Gets Booed By U.S. Troops After Calling Bristol Palin Fat

Mediaite.com:

Comedian and self-proclaimed “D-lister” Kathy Griffin hosted VH1 Divas Salute the Troops which was taped for an audience of servicemen at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California, and aired last night. The ribald and unconventional comedian set the tone for the night when she joked about Bristol Palin and her supposed weight gain while competing with Dancing With The Stars. But the joke fell flat, as the military men and woman in attendance lustily booed the host for taking a shot at Sarah Palin’s daughter.


Ms. Griffin has used the Palin clan for her “comedy” material before. Last summer, while filling in for a vacationing Larry King, she had on as guest Sarah Palin grand-baby daddy Levi Johnston. This was a follow-up to Johnston’s attending the Teen Choice Awards as Griffin’s guest the night before. She later revealed that the “romantic” relationship between Johnston and herself was merely a publicity ploy (duh!)


Griffin may have been guilty of misjudging her audience on this particular joke, but she went with it, even challenging the audience to boo more (which allowed her to “own” the failed joke.)

After this latest smear at one of Sarah Palin's children wouldn't it be fair if some comedian came out and did a spot on how ugly Kathy Griffith is? I mean, it's just jokes, right?

Obama Announces Proposed Deal On Bush Tax Cuts, Jobless Benefits

Of course, this will be a relief to those still struggling in an anemic job market esp. with Xmas right around the corner. The extremes on both the Left and the Right won't be happy, but in this case, screw 'em:

President Barack Obama on Monday announced a deal with Republican leaders that would extend Bush-era tax cuts for two years and unemployment benefits for 13 months while also lowering the payroll tax by two percentage points for a year.


The compromise, worked out in negotiations involving the White House, the Treasury and congressional leaders from both parties, includes provisions that each side doesn't like, Obama said in a hastily arranged statement to reporters after discussing the proposed deal with Democratic leaders.


"It's not perfect," Obama said of the plan, which also would continue tax breaks for students and families contained in the 2009 stimulus bill and allow businesses to write off all investments they make next year. "We cannot play politics at a time when the American people are looking for us to solve problems."


As outlined by Obama and sources, the deal would add up to hundreds of billions of dollars in more federal spending or lower revenue in coming years at a time when the president, Republican leaders and a federal deficit commission appointed by the president all say that the growing federal debt must be brought under control.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 12/6/10

Senators Say Deal Likely On Extending Tax Cuts, Jobless Benefits

TSA Detains Young Mother Over Breast Milk

Obama Downplays WikiLeaks Fiasco

Newt Gingrich Says He's More Inclined Than Not To Run

Law Center Designates Conservative Pro-Family Organizations 'Hate Groups'

Ban On Homosexuals In Military Should Not Be Overturned In Wartime, Say 3 of 5 Service Chiefs

Andrew Sullivan: GOP 'Trying To Keep This Economy Bad'

After The Elections, Haitian Americans Watch And Worry

Bill Maher Calls Obama 'Wimpy, Wussy' On CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS

West, Scott Approach Black Caucus Differently

Political Correctness Kills: Study Shows How Terrorists Infiltrate U.S. Differently

Unusual Methods Helped ICE Break Deportation Record

Meet The Liberal Elite

WaPo Editor Says Valerie Plame Movie "Fair Game" Is 'Full Of Distortions' And 'Outright Inventions'

Hollywood shuffling in the name of continued Bush Derangement Syndrome by the Left. And by the way, the facts have long stated that there was no big conspiracy, Richard Armitage 'outed' Valerie Plame because he simply screwed up:

WE'RE NOT in the habit of writing movie reviews. But the recently released film "Fair Game" - which covers a poisonous Washington controversy during the war in Iraq - deserves some editorial page comment, if only because of what its promoters are saying about it. The protagonists portrayed in the movie, former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson IV and former spy Valerie Plame, claim that it tells the true story of their battle with the Bush administration over Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and Ms. Plame's exposure as a CIA agent. "It's accurate," Ms. Plame told The Post. Said Mr. Wilson: "For people who have short memories or don't read, this is the only way they will remember that period."


We certainly hope that is not the case. In fact, "Fair Game," based on books by Mr. Wilson and his wife, is full of distortions - not to mention outright inventions. To start with the most sensational: The movie portrays Ms. Plame as having cultivated a group of Iraqi scientists and arranged for them to leave the country, and it suggests that once her cover was blown, the operation was aborted and the scientists were abandoned. This is simply false. In reality, as The Post's Walter Pincus and Richard Leiby reported, Ms. Plame did not work directly on the program, and it was not shut down because of her identification.


The movie portrays Mr. Wilson as a whistle-blower who debunked a Bush administration claim that Iraq had tried to purchase uranium from the African country of Niger. In fact, an investigation by the Senate intelligence committee found that Mr. Wilson's reporting did not affect the intelligence community's view on the matter, and an official British investigation found that President George W. Bush's statement in a State of the Union address that Britain believed that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger was well-founded.


"Fair Game" also resells the couple's story that Ms. Plame's exposure was the result of a White House conspiracy. A lengthy and wasteful investigation by a special prosecutor found no such conspiracy - but it did confirm that the prime source of a newspaper column identifying Ms. Plame was a State Department official, not a White House political operative.


Hollywood has a habit of making movies about historical events without regard for the truth; "Fair Game" is just one more example. But the film's reception illustrates a more troubling trend of political debates in Washington in which established facts are willfully ignored. Mr. Wilson claimed that he had proved that Mr. Bush deliberately twisted the truth about Iraq, and he was eagerly embraced by those who insist the former president lied the country into a war. Though it was long ago established that Mr. Wilson himself was not telling the truth - not about his mission to Niger and not about his wife - the myth endures. We'll join the former president in hoping that future historians get it right.

George W. Bush's Book 'Decision Points' Still No. 1 After Three Weeks

No matter how much the Left continues to smear him, the former President's staying power just can't be beat:

In a battle between former President George W. Bush and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Bush comes out on top.


His memoir "Decision Points" has maintained its number one spot on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list for the third week in a row, leaving Palin's new book, "America by Heart" second on the list released this weekend.

Both politicos have toured the country promoting their books. Bush has appeared on nearly every major television channel and Palin is in the midst of a 16-stop national book tour.

Palin's publisher, Harper Collins would not release sales figures, but did say they have printed 1 million copies of her new book. The former 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee's first book, "Going Rogue" sold well over 2 million copies and was number one on the New York Times list for six consecutive weeks.

According Random House, Bush's publisher, almost 2.5 million copies of his book are currently in print. Sales of the book now total 1.5 million copies when hardcover, e-book, audio books, large print editions and export edition sales are included.

But there don't seem to be any hard feelings on Palin's part for her number two book status. She tweeted Thursday saying, "just heard America By Heart is #2 NYT bestseller list behind Pres.Bush's good book, so thanks for sharing inspiration."

Liberal Pol Robert Menendez Likens Working With GOP On Taxes To Negotiating With 'Terrorists'

You can't work with people who put ideolody ahead of solutions, you just can't, but if you're a liberal Democrat you just can't help to think this way

Sen. Robert Menendez said Friday that if the Democratic-controlled Senate agrees to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts it could be akin to acceding to terrorist demands. Republicans immediately blasted the New Jersey Democrat for his comparison.


Menendez asked at a news conference, "Does the majority not only have a responsibility to get something done but to get something done that makes sense for the country?"


"Do you allow yourself to be held hostage and get something done for the sake of getting something done, when in fact it might be perverse to the ultimate results? It's almost like the question of do you negotiate with terrorists?"


In a statement titled, "Menendez Compares GOP to Terrorists," the office of House Republican Whip Eric Cantor responded, " Um…No Senator, it is not. Not at all."