Like to laugh? Like to be informed? Then sign up for TheDC Morning email here.
1.) When you’ve lost Lindsey Graham, you’ve lost only Lindsey Graham — Is the GOP’s resistance to raising taxes softening? TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports:
“On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s ‘This Week’, Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told host George Stephanopoulos that he’d be willing to violate Americans for Tax Reform head Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge if it meant averting the looming fiscal cliff. ‘When you’re $16 trillion in debt, the only pledge we should be making to each other to avoid becoming Greece,’ Graham said. ‘Republicans should put revenue on the table. … Raising taxes will hurt job creation. So, I agree with Grover. We shouldn’t raise rates, but I think Grover is wrong when it comes to, ‘We can’t cap deductions and buy-down debt.’ What do you do with the money — you buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs. But I will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country, only if Democrats will do entitlement reform.”
When you’ve lost Lindsey Graham, well, you haven’t exactly lost the rank and file of the GOP’s senators and congressmen. But the senator from South Carolina does have a point. America will survive just fine with slightly higher taxes — even if it’s not economically advisable — but we are fiscally doomed without serious entitlement reform. The real questions are 1) what type of entitlement reform are we talking about, and 2) can the GOP be sure that the spending cuts and entitlement reform won’t be reversed down the road leaving us with only higher taxes.
2.) How about that Egypt! — Mohammed Morsi has finally decreed himself dictatorial powers. Who could have seen that coming? Well, your DC Morning facilitator for one. But not the New York Times or much of the foreign policy establishment, who were optimistic about Egypt post-Mubarak. Now the truly liberal forces in Egypt who were rolled over by the Muslim Brotherhood are hoping President Obama might condemn the power grab, TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:
“White House officials remained silent during the extended Thanksgiving weekend, as Egypt’s pro-democracy groups called on President Barack Obama to condemn Thursday’s power grab by their country’s Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi. Morsi decreed Nov. 22 that his pronouncements and edicts were beyond the reach of judicial review. The announcement was met by resistance from the nation’s top judges, who said they would fight Morsi’s unusual self-elevation to near-dictator status. ‘I am waiting to see, I hope soon, a very strong statement of condemnation by the U.S., by Europe and by everybody who really cares about human dignity,’ declared Mohamed ElBaradei, who is one of Egypt’s more visible non-Islamist politicians.”
Mohammed Morsi ought to write a book: “The Idiot’s Guide To Taking Down A Secular Dictatorship & Installing An Islamic Dictatorship In Less Than 36 Months.”
3.) The Bushies to go for the hat trick? — With the 2012 presidential race over, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is said to be seriously considering a run for the White House in 2016, reports TheDC’s Alex Pappas:
“Friends of Jeb Bush say the former Florida governor is starting to mull a run for president in 2016, according to the The New York Times. The newspaper says the Republican – whose father and brother were both president – is ‘weighing financial and family considerations.’ Those considerations include the length of time he’s spent in office, how the recession hurt his wealth and whether Republicans are ready to nominate another Bush.”
Also, the Bushes want to one-up the Adamses and the Roosevelts.
4.) Hamas, a resistance movement resisting the existence of Jews since 1987 — Much of the coverage of the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization controlling Gaza tried to paint the conflict as morally ambiguous. It’s not. Hamas is founded on a genocidal charter calling for the killing of Jews. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein opines:
“Hamas makes no attempt to avoid killing innocent civilians. In fact, killing innocent civilians is their modus operandi. That the terror organization lacks the capacity at the moment to kill as many Jews as it would like to does not make it any less vile or insidious. We should be thankful that Hamas isn’t better armed, not sad that Israel has better weaponry. If Hamas could eliminate all Israelis, it would. It’s only a resistance movement in the sense that it is resisting the existence of Jews on the planet.”
To quote the great Winston Churchill, albeit in a much different context, “I decline utterly to be impartial as between the fire brigade and the fire.”
5.) Tweet of Yesterday — Jose Canseco: It’s sad. Either u love me or hate me. No in between. Why do u haters hate? Life is to short. Going to get shorter
6.) Today in North Korean News — BREAKING: “Anniversary of Kim Jong Il’s Demise Marked in Bangladesh”
VIDEO: Two NFL cheerleaders shave heads in support of leukemia-stricken coach
