Canadian Prime Minister Harper to Obama: I’ve got plenty of buyers for our oil

Hot Air  "Stephen Harper sent a none-too-subtle shot across the bow of  our American friends and allies Monday when he indicated he’s dead keen on selling Canadian oil to buyers in Asia. He didn’t put it in so many words, but  he was telling Washington this: “You don’t want our oil, no problem. We’ve got lots of markets across the Pacific where we don’t have to beg to get a sale.” "
More here:
Canada Warns Obama on Keystone XL  "The Obama administration has spent three years reviewing the Keystone XL pipeline, and the Canadian government is understandably frustrated that the decision has been kicked further down the road."

Unnecessary Keystone XL Pipeline Delay Obstructs Energy, Jobs  "The State Department has thoroughly studied potential environmental impacts of the Keystone pipeline, and found minimal risk to soil, water, air, and animal life. Still, environmentalists oppose construction of the pipeline in force. Congress should reject unrealistic claims and authorize construction of the pipeline." Heritage.

The Detroit News: The Chinese are close to winning yet another energy match against our great nation.  "First, they flooded our renewable energy sector with low-cost solar panels. Now, they are looking to buy up the vast deposits of Canadian oil sands thanks to our president's inability to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. The time has come for President Barack Obama to make pro-American decisions that will stimulate our economy and bring us one-step closer to real energy security."

Default position of the Obama administration: Racist!

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2011/12/21/94792

Thomas Sowell: Gingrich vs. Obama

RealClearPolitics  "But how much weight should we give to [Gingrich's baggage] when we are talking about the future of a nation?   (It wouldn't matter at all if Gingrich were a Democrat-even if he had been accused of rape or having sex in the Oval Office. TD)
"This is not just another election and Barack Obama is not just another president whose policies we may not like. With all of President Obama's broken promises, glib demagoguery and cynical political moves, one promise he has kept all too well. That was his boast on the eve of the 2008 election: "We are going to change the United States of America." "
Many Americans are already saying that they can hardly recognize the country they grew up in. We have already started down the path that has led Western European nations to the brink of financial disaster.  (Emphasis added. TD)
....
"Those who want to concentrate on the baggage in Newt Gingrich's past, rather than on the nation's future, should remember what Winston Churchill said: "If the past sits in judgment on the present, the future will be lost." If that means a second term for Barack Obama, then it means lost big time."

http://www.worldmag.com/editorialcartoons/

Obama's Collateral Damage

Comically Incorrect

Senators, Do Your Job and Get to Work

The Foundry  "On the front page of the White House’s website, a clock slowly ticks away, second by second, counting down to the day, hour, minute, and second that the nation’s payroll tax “holiday” expires and the American people get socked right where it counts — in the pocket book. And just next to that clock is a message laying the blame squarely on the House of Representatives. But today the real culprit in this debacle is the U.S. Senate which, right now, is home for the holidays already, celebrating with family while Washington sits in a stalemate." ....
"As you might not be surprised to learn, there is, of course, more to the story than the President lets on. Here’s what you need to know about the latest standstill in Washington that, unfortunately, follows much of the same order of business that America has witnessed for the past year."

Political Wire:  Why House Republicans Won't Win   "With the Wall Street Journal editorial page already calling on House Republicans to surrender in their fight over a payroll tax cut extension, First Read gives three reasons why the House GOP is unlikely to win this fight:"...

Republicans have also achieved the small miracle of letting Mr. Obama position himself as an election-year tax cutter, although he's spent most of his Presidency promoting tax increases and he would hit the economy with one of the largest tax increases ever in 2013. This should be impossible

The House Republicans want a full year tax holiday, Obama and Reid want only a two month extension, which is poor governing.  The Republicans- rightly -say that it will not promote hiring and the economy.
God bless the House Republicans; they are standing on principle, not politics. But the politics of it is what will kill them. To wit:

By blocking the payroll tax cut, the Republicans have given the president a chance to redeem his promise   "This is the moment he and his presidency promised to deliver. The fight over the payroll tax cut extension gives Obama a chance — perhaps one, final chance — to elevate the more pinched, listing and frequently uninspired policy agenda he prosecuted from the White House these past three years toward his lofty rhetoric of 2008."  Don't you hate it when a demagogue gets the upper hand?

http://townhall.com/political-cartoons/garyvarvel/2011/12/20/94751

Dept. of Irony: Obama White House lectures Iraqis on reaching out to political opponents

Investors.com  "The politicians in Baghdad have in their own way been working hard at this democracy business, especially hard now that most U.S. troops are gone. ....
"Iraq's leaders have no doubt been monitoring CNN International in recent days as the needless payroll tax extension fight in that exotic place called Washington was settled, fell apart and now both houses of Congress have packed up without any agreement.
""We have more important things to worry about now than politics," said Obama, who cares so much about working constructively with opponents that he didn't chat with the Senate GOP leader for nearly two years because he didn't need to and that would take leadership.
"Now, Obama is so interested in getting an extension deal done that he hasn't even bothered to try mediation with a bipartisan political summit because, frankly, dividing everybody everywhere is really the only hope his endangered reelection effort has of winning, given the country's awful economic and morale mess."