Open Thread: No More Plan B

CBS's Major Garrett: Obama 'May Need the Wisdom of Lincoln' For Gun Co

On Thursday's CBS This Morning, Major Garrett tried to shoehorn Steven Spielberg's screening of his recent film "Lincoln" for the Senate into his report on President Obama's Wednesday press conference on the fiscal cliff and gun control. Garrett hyped how the movie "celebrates presidential power and crafty legislative strategy," and that Obama "may need the wisdom of Lincoln for his latest…

Leno: 'When Congress Talks About Plan B, The Rest of Us End Up With Pl

Jay Leno said a really inconvenient truth about the fiscal cliff negotiations on NBC's Tonight Show Wednesday "John Boehner told Congress to prepare for plan B," Leno teased during his opening monologue. "You know what that means when Congress talks about plan B? The rest of us end up with plan F and U. Okay? That's the plan we get, F and U."

Lefty Media Tweeters Go After Reporters at Obama Presser For Not Obses

At his news conference on Wednesday, President Obama opened with a statement of over 1,100 words, all of it on gun violence, including his announcement that "I’ve asked the Vice President to lead an effort that includes members of my Cabinet and outside organizations to come up with a set of concrete proposals no later than January -- proposals that I then intend to push without delay." That…

He Didn't Mean to, But WashPost's Glenn Kessler Did Conservatives a Fa

Without even realizing it, the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler has done a great service for the conservative movement and the interests of taxpayers. For the first time, we have in one place—citable in a mainstream news source—definitive proof that President Reagan was tricked into agreeing to a phony spending cut/real tax hike deal. The minor detail that the fact checker draws the wrong…

NYT's Harwood: Obama Has Tax-Hiking 'Mandate,' Stubborn House GOP 'Out

On the front of Sunday's New York Times, reporters Jackie Calmes and Jonathan Weisman suggested President Obama has a "mandate" for tax hikes in the ongoing tactical battle in Congress over the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts in "Soured History Hampers Talks Between Obama and Boehner." Last year, Mr. Boehner had the edge as Mr. Obama faced a difficult re-election campaign and needed…

Matt Damon: 'I Need To Pay More Taxes

Why is it wealthy liberals don’t understand that if they want to pay more income taxes, they can each year on their 1040 form make an additional contribution to the federal government above and beyond what they owe? Consider the case of actor Matt Damon who on PBS’s Tavis Smiley Show Wednesday actually said, “I need to pay more taxes” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

New York Times' Weisman Hits 'Far Right' Conservatives in Congress for

New York Times reporter Jonathan Weisman threw around hostile labels in his Thursday piece on the ongoing tactical fight in Washington, pitting the "far right" against responsible "pragmatists" in the tactical battle over fiscal policy in "Boehner Tries to Contain Defections on Fiscal Unity." Speaker John A. Boehner moved Wednesday to maintain Republican unity on deficit reduction talks as…

PBS NewsHour Finally Interviews Norquist On Fiscal Cliff; Anchor Woodr

Finally, Grover Norquist was the featured guest on the PBS NewsHour’s segment on the fiscal cliff.  After previous editions of the program featured softball interviews with Paul Krugman and Max Richtman -- two members of the far left who oppose entitlement reform -- as well as moderate conservative Republican Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the NewsHour saw it fit to give time to the anti-tax…

CBS to DeMint: Why Can't the GOP Just Cave to Obama's Tax Hike Demand

Charlie Rose and Gayle King pressed outgoing Senator Jim DeMint on Thursday's CBS This Morning over congressional Republicans resistance to tax hikes. When DeMint stated that President Obama will "probably eventually get his tax increases one way or another", Rose replied, "So, if he will get them, why not get them now and compromise and avoid going off the fiscal cliff?" Open Obama booster…

NBC Poll Shows Pessimism About Obama 2nd Term, Lauer Spins it as Pessi

Following a report on Thursday's NBC Today in which political director Chuck Todd touted a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, co-host Matt Lauer tried to spin one finding: "...only 53% say they're optimistic about a second term for Obama and 47% say they are pessimistic. Is this really more pessimism about Washington in general?" Todd accepted the characterization: "It is. You know, you…

Coulter Column: How About We Tax Rich Liberals

Republicans have been forced into a Hobson's choice of either letting the Bush tax cuts expire for everyone or agreeing to a tax hike on the top 2 percent of income earners (not to be confused with "the rich," who have already made, inherited or married their money). If Republicans object to the Democrats' hitting job creators with a tax hike, three things will happen: Taxes will go up for…

Maddow Touts Comrade O'Donnell's Triumph While Airbrushing Gingrich's

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is rarely at a loss for words, unless what he says is edited by Rachel Maddow. On her cable show last night, Maddow swooned in response to MSNBC colleague and avowed "extreme left" socialist Lawrence O'Donnell's alleged success in an exchange with Gingrich on "Meet the Press" this past Sunday. (video clip after page break) 

NBC's Todd Heralds 'Less Confrontational' Obama Using 'Softer Tone' on

In a report for Tuesday's NBC Today, chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd touted President Obama supposedly being nicer to the GOP while in pursuit of a fiscal cliff deal: "Mr. Obama was noticeably less confrontational toward Republicans....The President's softer tone came just a day after he sat down with House Speaker John Boehner..." While Todd focused on Obama's "softer" side,…