“Christmas Eve” on The Daily Caller

Kokomo, Ind. — An unknown man walked into a Kokomo home Christmas Eve, used the homeowner’s toilet and vomited twice inside. (more)

A recent article in USA Today (Many Skip Christmas’ Religious Aspect, December 20) reports that while nine out of 10 Americans celebrate Christmas, less than half attend church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and less than 30 percent read or tell the nativity story from Luke. (more)

Christmas is no reason to delay senate voting, at least according to Vice President Joe Biden. (more)

One sign of the strength of the 2010 Republican wave is in Arkansas, where the GOP is likely to flip the last Democratic stronghold in the South. (more)

Main Street may be about to get its own gigantic bailout. Rumors are running wild from Washington to Wall Street that the Obama administration is about to order government-controlled lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive a portion of the mortgage debt of millions of Americans who owe more than what their homes are worth. An estimated 15 million U.S. mortgages – one in five – are underwater with negative equity of some $800 billion. Recall that on Christmas Eve 2009, the Treasury Department waived a $400 billion limit on financial assistance to Fannie and Freddie, pledging unlimited help. The actual vehicle for the bailout could be the Bush-era Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a sister program to Obama’s loan modification effort. HARP was just extended through June 30, 2011. (more)

Addressing a joint session of Congress on health care, President Barack Obama reiterated his often-expressed aversion to the profit motive: (more)

Something you may want to ponder: On March 22, 2010, 219 members of the House of Representatives came together and said “yes, we do have the power to tell them what they can do with their lives” and jubilantly proceeded to sign away some of your constitutionally granted freedom. What should be upper-most in your mind now is not the legislation known as health care reform, but the legislators who passed it. It has not been lost on me that 60 Senators took away some of your freedom on Christmas Eve 2009 and 219 did so on a Sabbath day. My kinder thoughts will chalk this up to coincidence and move on. (more)

As I’m writing this, House Democratic leadership is feverishly trying to scrape together the last few votes to pass a massive government takeover of healthcare. It seems that every hour there is a new report about who is changing their vote from “yes” to “no” or “no” to “yes.” (more)

These are boom times for political lexicographers as the House of Representatives prepares for its historic vote to “reform” health care. (more)

There are 19 new tax hikes in the health care bill, which the Senate passed on Christmas Eve and Speaker Pelosi is trying to “deem” through the House on Sunday. Any one of these $500 billion in tax hikes could merit their own column—many have. There’s been a lot written on the “Cadillac plan excise tax,” the tax hikes associated with the individual and employer mandate, and even the tanning salon tax. (more)

President Obama wants a health care bill now.  And this time, he swears it will be corruption-free. (more)

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The Vatican said the pontiff had “a brief private meeting” with Susanna Maiolo where she “apologised for what happened”. (more)