Peace Prize not Awarded to Empty Suit This Year
The Nobel Prize committee gave someone other than George Bush a kick in the leg this year by honoring dissident Liu Xiaobo with the Peace Prize. China kept him in prison, so the award was presented to an empty chair.
Melt Down
President Obama called Replublicans “hostage takers” and the left of his own party “sanctimonious”. Peggy Noonan thinks this shows he hates his own tax deal.
Obama’s announcement of his tax deal drove his own party bonkers. Bernie Sanders conducted a 9 hour Senate filibuster. Meanwhile someone in the House Democratic Caucus muttered “f… the president”.
Move to Center
The president had to fend off angry Democrats after Republicans said “yes” to an extension of the Bush tax cuts. Democrats didn’t come away empty handed. The deal included a 13 month extension of unemployment benefits, a payroll tax reduction and lower income tax credits. No need to fend off voters. According to Gallup two thirds are okay with the deal.
Newspaper Classifieds
Government workers have been instructed to be the only people on the planet ignorant of what’s in the classified documents released by WikiLeaks. You, however, are free to read the strange story here by Eric Lipton in Sunday’s NYT.
Lip Service
When Friday morning’s, poorer than expected, unemployment numbers were announced (up to 9.8%), my thoughts were with the president and his split lip. From there my mind meandered to the famous David Levine caricature of LBJ showing off his abdominal scar.
