1.) Bachmann gives Cain hell — They had another GOP debate last night, which means we’ve all got to talk about it. TheDC’s David Martosko reports: “The debate, hosted by Dartmouth College, included former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, Texas Governor Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Cain took the first question, offering his ‘9-9-9’ plan as a solution for America’s struggling economy. He would start as president, he said, with ‘scrapping’ the entire U.S. tax code. Perry began his evening promoting what he described as a hybrid of employment and energy programs, saying he would focus on ‘putting 1.2 million Americans to work in the energy industry. You don’t need Congress to do that.’ In a clear nod to greater oil and gas exploration, Perry said a movement toward ‘energy independence’ would provide crucial American jobs. Romney focused on what he called a lack of leadership under President Obama. ‘Obama has divided the nation and tried to blame it on other people,’ he said, while allowing for the importance of ‘find[ing] common ground from time to time’ with Democrats.” Keep in mind that according to the Democrats, “finding common ground” means “doing what we say and shutting up about it.” So they must be glad to hear Romney’s okay with that. Also, Michelle Bachmann said the 9-9-9 plan should be turned upside-down because “the devil is in the details.” Which might be her subtle way of saying Herman Cain is the Antichrist. So the left will spend today trying to decide which one to excoriate. They hate Bachmann passionately, but Cain is surging in the polls. Decisions, decisions!
2.) Holder ends press conference fast and furiously — What do you do when nobody’s buying your lies and evasions anymore? You hit the bricks. TheDC’s Matthew Boyle reports: “Although several members of Congress have now called on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign over Operation Fast and Furious, he appeared to dismiss the congressional investigation into the program as not ‘important’ when reporters asked about it on Tuesday. ‘We have sent thousands of pages of documents,’ Holder said in response to a question about whether he’ll be complying with new subpoenas expected to be heading his way this week. ‘We’ll look at the subpoenas. I’m sure we will undoubtedly comply with them. But what I want the American people to understand is that in complying with those subpoenas and dealing with that inquiry, that will not detract us from the important business we have to do here at the Justice Department, including matters like the one that we have announced today,’ Holder continued. When a reporter followed up and asked the Attorney General if he knew about the ‘controversial tactics’ employed in Fast and Furious, Holder refused to answer and walked off the stage.” Like the old saying goes: Do unto others… then split.
3.) Dem-controlled Senate kills this bill right now — Democrats control the White House and the Senate. So when the president spends a month saying, “Pass this bill right now,” it should breeze right through the Senate, right? Welllll…. Associated Press: “Senate Republicans voted Tuesday night to kill the jobs package President Barack Obama had spent weeks campaigning for across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy. The $447 billion plan died on a 50-49 tally that garnered a majority of the 100-member Senate but fell well short of the 60 votes needed to keep the bill alive. The tally had been 51-48, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid switched his vote to ‘nay’ so that he could force a future revote. The demise of Obama’s jobs package was expected, despite his campaign-style efforts to swing the public behind it.” The AP helpfully continues the narrative that it’s the dirty Republicans holding back Obama’s phony-baloney jobs bill, even though the Dems don’t like it either. Harry Reid actually changed the rules of the Senate to avoid a vote on it last week. But hey, if these guys want to make it an undisputed win for the GOP, why not? If they want it to look like Republicans can push Obama around at will, alrighty then. Obama 2012: Four More Years of Futility!
4.) Solyndra 2: Photoelectric Boogaloo — First the Obama administration flushed over half a billion tax dollars down a solar-powered toilet called Solyndra. Now they’re going for double or nothing. Matthew Boyle: “As failed solar panel manufacturer Solyndra rides through the investigative ringer in Congress, revelations of another politically-connected company that received what appears to be a less-than-virtuous $1.2 billion loan guarantee are surfacing. The company, SunPower, received its $1.2 billion loan guarantee in September, immediately before the program’s deadline. SunPower isn’t as financially sound as the public was led to believe when it secured a loan guarantee twice the size of Solyndra’s $535 million loan. Just this week — less than a month after taxpayers landed on the hook for SunPower’s $1.2 billion loan guarantee — company executives announced that they expect to lower their 2011 earnings projections… Mere weeks before finalizing the deal with the Department of Energy, SunPower announced it was opening a new facility in Mexicali, Mexico — instead of another one in the United States — in order to manufacture solar panels there too.” So they’re tossing even more tax money at yet another failing company, and to sweeten the deal, the company is taking even more jobs away from Americans. At least now we know the recipe for quick cash from the government: some plate glass, a few buckets of black paint, and a flurry of generous checks made out to whichever Democrats are running.
5.) Kanye West doesn’t care about bank people — Why do some Americans make more money than others? That’s the fundamental complaint of the Occupying crybabies. And who better to share in the public lamentation over this fundamental social injustice than Kanye West? TheDC’s Betsi Flores reports: “It seems as though ‘all of the lights’ of the Big Apple were not enough to keep rapper Kanye West and Russell Simmons away from the Occupy Wall Street protests Monday. Kanye joined his pal Simmons at the protests briefly, strutting through the crowded streets wearing a massive gold chained necklace, drawing lots of attention from the crowd. ‘I just walked @kanyewest thru the #occupywallstreet,’ Simmons tweeted. ‘I love how sweet and tolerant he was to the crowd.’ Simmons has been a part of the protests ‘kinda since the beginning,’ he told CBS news. ‘I come because I love their intention and their effort and their courage. I’m just a big supporter of what these young people are doing. I’m happy to pay more taxes though. I’m here to pay more taxes.'” (It’s unclear who’s stopping him. His tax attorneys?) In addition to Kanye’s big gold chain, he was wearing a $355 Givenchy shirt and $1,000 Balmain jeans. Hey, just because you’re protesting corporate greed and money-grubbing bankers doesn’t mean you have to look like a slob.
6.) Today’s words of wisdom from Alec Baldwin’s Truther, er, Twitter feed — “Christie endorsement of Mitt is big. Romney-Christie/ 2012, anyone?”
VIDEO: Hostile, foul-mouthed protesters stink up Hart Senate Office Building
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