Deal Struck on Tax Package/ Obama's address Monday

Wall Street Journal  "President Barack Obama reached agreement Monday with Republican leaders in Congress on a broad tax package that would extend the Bush-era income tax cuts for two years, reduce worker payroll taxes for one year and give more favorable treatment to business investments.

"Other elements of the deal include a temporary reinstatement of the estate tax at 35%—the level favored by most Republican lawmakers—as well as an extension of jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed."

Obama's capitulation   "His speech last night was very bitter ...even a bit petulant. Part of Obama's core philosophy is that people who earn the big bucks do so by exploiting others, and it is the role of government to straighten this out. Obama sees taxes as a way to enforce some idea of fairness where economic liberty produces results that aren't to his liking. Now there will be people out there who are earning and keeping more money than he thinks they should be allowed to keep. " Plus these comments:  (Neal Boortz)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tax Deal  "Moreover, the temporary nature of the package is disappointing. There will be very little economic boost from this deal. As mentioned above, people generally don’t increase output in response to short-term provisions. I worry that this will undermine the case for lower tax rates since observers may conclude that they don’t have much positive effect."

The Black Sphere on Facebook

A Qualified Victory on Taxes "It is possible that Republicans could have gotten an even better deal next year, since their numbers in Congress will increase in January. But that would have left them having to cut taxes retroactively and left households paying first higher and then lower taxes. Acting now reduces both uncertainty and volatility. Republicans can now spend the next two years advancing spending cuts and long-term tax reform." National Review

Mr. Lonely  "The trick to dealing with the left is to always remember the Chinese proverb: “he who rides on a tiger can never get off”."

Thomas Sowell: Rhetoric Rides Again "It also takes a lot of brass to talk about taxing "millionaires and billionaires" when most of the people whose taxes the liberals want to raise are neither. Why is so much deception necessary, if your case is good? "

Freeze Taxes, Freeze Spending, and Go Home  "”Make no mistake: Allowing taxes to go up on all Americans would have raised taxes by $3,000 for a typical American family. And that could cost our economy well over a million jobs.” It’s great that a leader of the progressive movement is willing to recognize the link between higher taxes and lost jobs."



http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/MichaelRamirez

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The Odd Couple

http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/GlennMcCoy

Pearl Harbor Day

A Day That Will Live In Infamy: 69 Years Ago and Today  "We have watched this scene play out before. Good intentions are met with false promises, words with secret arms buildups, and appeasement with attempts at annihilation. It happened in the years leading up to World War II and, without the help of the United States, the world could have fallen to totalitarianism. We must be diligent in making sure that President Obama doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the past – before we see yet another Day of Infamy."

Pearl Harbor attack news report  "Oh ... and by the way: After 69 years it's still the "Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor." After 9 years we can't bring ourselves to say the Islamic terrorist attack on America."  Neal Boortz.

Remember Pearl Harbor  "The nature of the attack, and subsequent Japanese attacks on the Philippines, Wake Island, and other strategic islands vital to the allied cause filled the US with a "terrible resolve" as the architect of the attack, Admiral Yamamoto said following the raid." 
Back then, America was capable of "terrible resolve". The Pelosis, academia and Hollywood have pretty much sucked that out of our national spirit.

Pearl Harbor Blog

BING is remembering Pearl Harbor, while Google is not.

Remembering Pearl Harbor: 69 Years  "... Always will be remembered the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
… With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God."
— from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s December 8, 1941 speech to Congress.

December 7 ....... "Today is the anniversary of the second worst attack on American soil in our nation's history. Unlike the 911 attacks and the Ground Zero mosque, the Japanese have not asked to build a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese have not announced their intent to break ground on December 7th for such a shrine; nor have they applied for taxpayer funds from a Pearl Harbor Fund for a Shinto Shrine at Pearl Harbor.
"The very idea would have been unthinkable. Not anymore."  Pamela Geller, at Atlas Shrugs

Pearl Harbor Raid, 7 December 1941; Damaged Ships after the Attack  "This page features views of damaged ships at Pearl Harbor in the days following 7 December 1941, and provides links to other images of this subject."

How Liberalism is Like a Disney Movie

Gregory Oatis in American Thinker  ..."8) Birds and animals and fish and trees can think and feel and talk.
7) Transportation can be effected with little or no fuel consumption, via vehicles such as broomsticks, magic carpets and pixie dust. Much like the cute little hybrids and electric cars liberals love."...

Churchill Saw It Coming

Heritage "We can readily recall Churchill’s foresight in foreign affairs—his warnings about appeasing Hitler and the rise of the Soviet Union—but we forget his warnings about America’s welfare state. Unlike the progressives in America and abroad, Churchill recognized that tyranny is still possible—even with a well-intentioned welfare state. Political change does not necessarily mean change for the better."

Krauthammer on Obama's Televised Tax Announcement: He Was Addressing Daily Kos, NYT and MoveOn

Newsbusters  "Well, I was struck by the tone and by the audience. This is ostensibly a speech to the American people. It was actually a speech addressed at Daily Kos, the New York Times, and MoveOn. This was a speech that was rather partisan. Interestingly, it's about the first agreement and supposedly the first step in a new era of comity in Washington, but it was quite partisan. He attacked the Republican ideas. "

Obama sells out the left: a Republican win on taxes "Translation: the White House sided with the Republicans. And it was Democratic gloomy faces all around. The president looked solemn as he announced the deal. Reid pointedly refused to endorse the deal; his spokesman issued a statement that Reid would have to consult with his fellow Democrats. One Senate adviser said that the party caucus meeting tomorrow should "be interesting." We'll have much more tomorrow."  Jennifer Rubin



http://townhall.com/cartoons/cartoonist/BrianFarrington



Hezbollah, Radical but Rational

STRATFOR "When we discuss threats along the U.S.-Mexico border with sources and customers, or when we write an analysis on topics such as violence and improvised explosive devices along the border, a certain topic inevitably pops up: Hezbollah. "

Obama in Afghanistan

Two Cheers for Obama’s Afghanistan Policy "The president deserves praise for the way he has defined the problem. The United States faces a syndicate of violent extremist groups — al-Qaeda among them — that is based in western Pakistan. This syndicate seeks to launch transnational terrorist attacks (al-Qaeda), to destabilize Afghanistan (Taliban, Haqqani group, and Hezbe Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar), and to challenge the Pakistani government (Pakistani Taliban). It is noteworthy that President Obama, unlike some of his advisers, did not contrive to portray an illusory distinction between al-Qaeda and the Taliban."

ForeignPolicy.com  "Obama and his retinue will also get a chance to see how the tenor of private conversations with foreign governments changes when confidentiality is no longer guaranteed. I wonder who gets to write the cable on this one."

NY Times: Obama Pays Visit to Afghanistan   "Mr. Obama’s visit came at a pivotal moment in the war on both sides. In Washington, the administration is completing a review of the surge and counterinsurgency strategy that the president approved a year ago, although officials played down its import." Credit should go to President Obama for many of his actions in Afghanistan. It appears he is moving away from the left in the areas where he grows wiser.

http://terrellaftermath.com/



Those Christian Zionists Are at It Again

Alana Goodman in Commentary: "The Carmel blaze destroyed more than 5 million trees, so this is a welcome effort. Israel is fortunate to have the support of the Christian Zionists, especially when some other groups — such as the New Israel Fund, an organization that purports to be “pro-Israel” — spend much of their funds and energy supporting those trying to get Tzipi Livni arrested in Europe."

Two forward leaps bring Iran weeks away from weapons-grade uranium

DEBKAfile  "Production of Iran's first batch of uranium yellowcake marked just one of Tehran's two nuclear leaps forward ahead of the resumption of its nuclear talks with the Six Powers in Geneva Monday, Dec. 6, after a 14-month interruption.

"The second breakthrough was not made public. debkafile's military and intelligence sources disclose that after a huge effort, Iran was able to sit down with those powers having piled up 23.5 kilos of 19.75 percent enriched uranium."

WikiLeaks and the Afghan War

STRATFOR "The Afghan war is about an insufficient American and allied force fighting a capable enemy on its home ground and a Pakistan positioning itself for the inevitable outcome. The WikiLeaks contain all the details."

More damaging revelations from Wikileaks   "Today's blow are revelations about facilities in other countries that we consider "vital" to our security. From BBC:"...Rick Moran in American Thinker,
as is the following:

Wikileaks threatens 'poison pill' doc dump if shut down "Assange has to be stopped, even at the risk of these other documents coming out. An example has to be made of him and that traitor Manning who has helped him. The anarchists have their boot on our throats and their drive to create chaos in a dangerous world must be nipped in the bud or the survival of civilization would be put at risk."

No Negotiation With WikiTerrorists "If there were any doubt that WikiLeaks is not about open government, but giving aid and comfort to enemies of the U.S., then the latest release of a State Department document listing facilities vital to U.S. security ends any doubt.
"The document is described by the BBC -- hardly a right-wing organization -- as a terrorist wish list:"...
Via Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion