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TheDC Morning: Arianna Huffington says words about other people’s money

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1.) Debt ceiling, debt ceiling, blah blah blah — Obama complained, “I’ve been left at the altar.” Boehner said Obama was the one who walked away. It got pretty iffy on Friday night, you guys. But things always look better in the morning, right? Well… TheDC’s Amanda Carey reports: “President Obama held what looked like a tense meeting with Congressional leaders Saturday morning, just hours after negotiations with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner broke down Friday night. While details from the meeting have yet to emerge, the White House did release a statement saying Congressional leaders returned to Capitol Hill to discuss potential deals with lawmakers, and ‘conversations will continue throughout the day.’ In Saturday’s meeting, the President also restated his opposition to a deal that would only extend the debt limit for a short time, saying it would do nothing to prevent a downgrade in the country’s credit rating.” As of this morning, they’re still having meetings and trying to figure out how to pin the blame on each other and so on. Rest assured that no matter how many obstacles the Republicans throw in his path, Obama will do whatever it takes to raise your taxes.

2.) Oslo killer faces Norwegian justice
— And it’s… not so bad, really. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports: “The alleged mass murderer who killed nearly 100 people in Norway on Friday may be facing just 21 years in prison if convicted. Norway does not have the death penalty. Oslo police chief of staff Roger Andresen told the San Francisco Chronicle that the maximum prison term suspected killer Anders Behring Breivik could face is 21 years under Norwegian law. Two law professors at the University of Oslo confirmed Andresen’s assessment. ’21 years in prison is the maximum,’ Professor Per Ole Johansen told The Daily Caller… ‘[I]f the prisoner behaves, he or she will probably be released several years earlier,’ Professor Nils Christie told TheDC… Breivik, 32, is suspected of being behind attacks Friday that killed at least 94 people and injured many others.” So that’s about 82 days in prison per murder victim. Possibly less. Are they sure that isn’t too harsh? Meanwhile, Breivik’s background as a Christian right-winger is delighting leftists across the globe, some of whom are trying their best to pin this whole thing on Sarah Palin. And the LA Times reminds us who the real victims are.

3.) Wu ‘tang jam — Anthony Weiner can breathe a sigh of relief, because one of his fellow Democrats has grabbed the perv spotlight. TheDC’s Alec Jacobs reports: “You may remember Oregon Democratic Rep. David Wu best for the creepy photo he sent to staffers during his 2010 re-election campaign of himself wearing a tiger costume… Now Wu is in the news again, this time for an alleged sexual assault… The Oregonian reports that Wu’s office received a voicemail from a young woman accusing the seven-term congressman of an unwanted sexual encounter. One person who heard the message described the caller as ‘distraught’ and said she was breathing heavily… Sources say the woman is the daughter of one of the congressman’s friends from high school. Wu isn’t speaking to reporters. Instead, he released a one-sentence statement: ‘This is very serious, and I have absolutely no desire to bring unwanted publicity, attention, or stress to a young woman and her family.’” Too late. Nancy Pelosi is now calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation. Wu should tell them he was hacked or pranked or spammed, whatever it is. And then call one of them a jackass.

4.) Arianna Huffington says words about other people’s money — Yes, Arianna says the $787 stimulus package hasn’t worked. And you’ll never guess why! Go ahead, guess. Did you guess? Let’s see if you got it right. TheDC’s Jeff Poor reports: “During the online ‘Green Room’ segment of ABC’s ‘This Week’ on Sunday, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington proposed even more stimulus spending as an answer. But she also acknowledged to co-panelist Fox Business Network contributor Charles Gasparino that the original 2009 stimulus failed. ‘When you consider that infrastructure is crumbling and we have 20 percent of construction workers unemployed, surely there is something we can be doing,’ Huffington said. ‘So you’re saying the stimulus package failed?’ Gasparino replied. ‘The stimulus package failed because it was all over the map,’ she said. ‘It was not a targeted, clear jobs creation program.'” Well, of course. When you’re flushing loads and loads of taxpayer money down the toilet and it gets backed up, the solution is to pack even more cash down the thing. Just kidding, Arianna has never touched a plunger in her life.

5.) The Lizard attacks San Diego Comic-Con — Ever notice how many movies about American superheroes star actors from overseas? Batman is a Welsh guy. The new Superman and Spider-Man are both British. Wolverine, Thor, the Joker, and one of the various Hulks came from Australia. Etc., etc. Well, here’s what we get for giving these guys the jobs Americans won’t do. Alec Jacobs reports: “Rhys Ifans, who stars as the main villain in next summer’s Sony reboot of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man,’ was placed under citizen’s arrest at Comic-Con after he pushed a female security guard before taking the stage for a panel. TheWrap reports that Ifans had alcohol on his breath when a member of his entourage was refused entry to the convention because he lacked the right credentials. Ifans, annoyed with security, shoved a female guard out of his way and proceeded to his panel on the Comic-Con stage… ‘He was aggressive and belligerent,’ said Lt. Andra Brown of the San Diego Police Department. ‘He was berating everyone from the security staff to the United States of America … According to him, the U.S. sucks and he doesn’t want to come back.'” No problem. Do we really have a shortage of American actors who could play the Lizard? Do we really need yet another Brit with an unconvincing accent taking beer money out of our own thespians’ pockets? Yeah, America sucks, but our money spends just fine, doesn’t it?

6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Twitter feed — “What is journalism to you? A sacred institution? A simple business? A weapon in a political arsenal? All of the above.”

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