OUT OF WORK

The Dems said no new budget deal that doesn't include an extension for unemployment insurance. Well, that's what they SAID

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/09/morning-plum-sequester-will-be-lifted-but-unemployed-likely-to-be-left-behind/ 

Heritage Action still threatens Republicans not to vote for it

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/heritage-action-bashes-ryan-murray-budget-framework

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261453/-Heritage-Action-tells-Republicans-to-nix-rumored-Murray-Ryan-budget-deal

And Rand Paul calls unemployment insurance a "disservice" to those out of work

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/09/rand_paul_extending_unemployment_insurance_a_%E2%80%9Cdisservice%E2%80%9D_to_workers/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_12/a_disservice048114.php

Paul Krugman calls it . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/09/opinion/krugman-the-punishment-cure.html?hp&rref=opinion&_r=0

Dick Cheney thinks we still care about his foreign policy "insights"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261330/-The-last-guy-anybody-should-be-listening-to-about-anything-weighs-in-on-Iran-deal-on-Foxaganda
The last guy anybody should be listening to about anything . . .

More: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cheneys-descent-incoherence 

Not EVERYBODY is eulogizing Nelson Mandela

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/09/right_wing_extremists_new_litmus_test_do_you_hate_mandela_enough/
The right’s new litmus test: “Do you hate Mandela enough?” 

More: http://www.salon.com/2013/12/09/10_worst_right_wing_statements_of_the_week_partner/

Good thing the GOPers have gone through gender sensitivity training, so they don't make gaffes like this

http://crooksandliars.com/david/gop-senate-candidate-mark-jacobs-women-need
GOP Senate Candidate Mark Jacobs: Women Need to Be Talked to on an 'Emotional Level'

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/pathetic-spin-the-war-women
A ‘pathetic’ spin on the war on women

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261387/-The-most-pathetic-effort-to-turn-the-table-on-the-War-on-Women-ever

More: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rush-limbaughs-guide-sexually-harass

John Cornyn (R-TX) has been one of the most reliably conservative Republicans in Congress -- but not conservative enough for the teabaggers

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/10/the-gop-civil-war-just-got-worse/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd
The GOP civil war just got worse

More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/09/tea-party-rep-steve-stockman-targets-john-cornyn.html 

Sarah Palin has an "amazing" new show . . . on a channel you never watch

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/sarah-palin-tv-show-amazing-america-sportsman-channel.html

Stupidest press question of 2013?

http://crooksandliars.com/2013/12/cnn-wins-stupidest-question-2013-prize

Bonus item: The Ted Cruz . . .  coloring book!

http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/ted-cruz-releases-new-childrens

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/09/ted-cruz-coloring-book-published.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Not much happening in DC right now -- and that's the plan

http://tinyurl.com/l6fyctx 
GOP Celebrates Effort to Blunt Obama's Executive Power

Obama court nominees on the way?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-judicial-nominees-poised-to-join-powerful-dc-circuit-court-of-appeals/2013/12/08/047dd476-604d-11e3-8beb-3f9a9942850f_story.html?wprss=rss_politics

Outside DC

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/05/state-conservative-groups-assault-education-health-tax
State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-rights-not-done-yet.html

Well, we finally see what gets the NSA's attention -- and it isn't the protests of civil libertarians and privacy groups

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/12/silicon-valley-takes-nsa
Silicon Valley Takes On the NSA

More: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/tech-giants-band-together-to-fight-surveillance.html

Three key Dem Senate seats in the South

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/12/09/three_senators_try_to_hold_off_gop_in_south.html

Theocracy watch (thanks to DR for the link)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/opinion/sunday/the-bible-as-bludgeon.html?_r=0

The Bible as Bludgeon

Fox World reaches out to Da Ladies

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/fox-news-writer-tells-female-host-quit-get 
Fox News Writer Tells Female Host to Quit, Get Married, Have Babies and 'Thank Men'

In case you missed the Sunday talk shows

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/08/sunday-show-roundup-jobless-benefits-in-focus/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/08/sunday_show_roundup_five_clips_you_missed/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

SUNDAY SAMPLER

A whole big cornucopia of "the kind of people they are" 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/south-carolina-sheriff-vows-not-to-lower-flag-for-mandela
South Carolina Sheriff Refuses To Lower Flag For Mandela 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/07/1260448/-Georgia-state-commissioner-compares-having-pre-existing-conditions-to-cheating-insurance-companies
Georgia state commissioner compares having pre-existing conditions to cheating insurance companies 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/house-conservatives-push-to-scuttle-budget-deal-risking-shutdown
Another Shutdown? Conservatives Push To Scuttle Budget Deal

Sarah! http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_12/history_palinized048099.php
“Thomas Jefferson and his thinking, I believe that much of it fundamentally came from this area, having spent his summers here, having spent influential years here, two miles away from Liberty University,” Palin said. “Man, there’s something in the water, perhaps, around here - again you are fortunate you get to taste it.”      

Palin said Jefferson would likely agree that secularists had set their sights on destroying the religious themes in Christmas celebrations.      

“He would recognize those who would want to try to ignore that Jesus is the reason for the season, those who would want to try to abort Christ from Christmas,” she said. “He would recognize that, for the most part, these are angry atheists armed with an attorney. They are not the majority of Americans.” [read on!

http://wonkette.com/535894/sarah-palin-dumbsplains-to-lamestream-media-that-a-plastic-jewish-family-is-the-reason-for-the-season
Yup, Thomas Jefferson, “having spent his summers here, having spent influential years here, two miles away from Liberty University,” (founded by Jerry Falwell in 1971, but pffft, details) would probably definitely agree with everything Sarah Palin says. You just can’t argue with an airtight fact like that. [read on]

Foreign policy corner

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/06/fears-mount-that-dems-will-undermine-white-house-on-iran/
Fears mount that Dems will undermine White House on Iran

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/08/time-to-get-tough-with-china.html
Time To Get Tough With China?

I would be very happy to see a "third way" movement in this country that would help reframe policy debates and get past the manichean, polarized dynamics that beset our current politics. But this Third Way ain't that third way

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260388/-Third-Way-s-congressional-enablers

More: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/12/06/democrats_blast_third_way.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1260744/-So-called-Democrats-at-Third-Way-share-consultants-with-the-Chamber-of-nbsp-Commerce

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1260623/-Cutting-Social-Security-is-not-centrist-and-neither-is-Third-Way

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1260700/-Social-Security-expansion-now-very-real-Thanks-Third-Way

The Sunday talk show line-ups

http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/sunday-morning-bobblehead-head
ABC's "This Week" - Mandela roundtable: former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Jendayi Frazer, former pollster for Nelson Mandela Stan Greenberg, Mandela biographer and former New York Times Johannesburg Bureau Chief Bill Keller, and Dr. Gay McDougall, former member of the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio. Roundtable: ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, author and Georgetown University professor Michael Eric Dyson, and political odd couple James Carville and Mary Matalin.

NBC's "Meet the Press" - Jesse Jackson; Charles Ogletree, a law professor at Harvard University.

CBS' "Face the Nation" - Former Secretary of State James Baker; Randall Robinson, who led the anti-apartheid group TransAfrica; poet Maya Angelou. Panel: Gwen Ifill, host of "PBS Newshour," Lorraine Miller, Interim President of the NAACP, Michele Norris, NPR Host and Special Correspondent, Richard Stengel, former Time magazine editor and author of "Mandela's Way," Gayle King Co-Host of "CBS This Morning"

MSNBC's "UP with Steve Kornacki" -- Ann Lewis, fmr. Senior Advisor to Hillary Clinton; Ana Marie Cox, The Guardian; Benjy Sarlin, MSNBC.com political reporter; Sahil Kapur, Talking Points Memo; Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, Network, a national Catholic social justice lobby; Fmr. Mayor Ray Flynn (Boston), fmr. U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See.

MSNBC's "Melissa Harris-Perry" -- Tara Dowdell, Democratic Strategist; Jean Grae, Hip-Hop Artist; Susan Del Percio, Republican Strategist and MSNBC Contributor; Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY); Tanner Colby, Author of “Some of My Best Friends Are Black”; Mychal Denzel Smith, Blogger at TheNation.com / Fellow at; Suzy Khimm, National Report at MSNBC; Marcyliena Morgan, Executive Director of the Hip-Hop Archive; Walter Kimbrough, President of Dillard University; Robert Gibbs, Former White House Press Secretary / MSNBC Contributor; Amber Rose Johnson, Junior at Tufts University / Spoken Word Artist; Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA).

MSNBC's "Disrupt with Karen Finney" -- David Sirota, Author; Eric Boehlert, Media Matters for America; Dana Milbank, Washington Post; Kiki Mclean, Democratic Strategist; Lee Fang, The Nation; Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post.

CNN's "State of the Union" - Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Economist Mark Zandi, Annie Lowrey of the New York Times and the American Enterprise Institute’s Kevin Hassett. Our panel DNC Communications Director Mo Elleithee, Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and USA Today’s Susan Page.

CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" -- A look at the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela. Former Fed chief Alan Greensspan. Former National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.

Bonus item: Sunday read - a fascinating interview with Glenn Greenwald

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57613838-38/saving-the-net-from-the-surveillance-state-glenn-greenwald-speaks-up-q-a/
"The Internet is being degraded from what its promise was, which was an instrument of freedom, into probably the most effective means of human control and oppression ever known -- because there never existed a technology before to allow people's every thought and word to be comprehensively chronicled in the way the surveillance state allows." [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

MONEY MATTERS

Unemployment drops to lowest level in five years

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/06/the-unemployment-rate-is-at-its-lowest-level-in-five-years/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd

More: http://www.salon.com/2013/12/06/unemployment_drops_to_five_year_low/

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/job-growth-picks-steam-unemployment-drops

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1259886/-Economy-adds-203-000-jobs-in-November-Official-unemployment-rate-falls-to-7-U6-falls-to-13-2

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/06/finally-an-unusually-awesome-jobs-report.html
An Unusually Awesome Jobs Report

Franchises hurt wages

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/06/why-franchises-are-the-biggest-obstacle-to-higher-wages/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd

Will there be a budget deal? What's in it?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/06/congress-is-trying-to-avoid-another-shutdown-heres-what-we-know-about-the-talks/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/very-serious-republicans-i-know-you-are.html 

The American Right and Mandela

http://tinyurl.com/kl6zbkk
How the right tried to ruin Nelson Mandela 

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/12/apartheids-useful-idiots/282114/

http://tinyurl.com/kwmzcyb

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-reminder-of-what-republicans-thought.html

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/mandela-and-conservative-racial-blindness.html

More: http://tinyurl.com/kjywzqx

http://prospect.org/article/conservatives-struggle-mandela-tributes
Republicans were wrong about South Africa's great liberator. Now they have to say something nice about him

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/republicans-who-lost-their-r-card-for-praising-mandela
Meet The Mandela RINOs: Republicans Who Lost Their R-Card For Praising Mandela

What Ted Cruz's fans think about Mandela

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/06/1260642/-Ted-Cruz-posts-Mandela-tribute-on-Facebook-His-fans-go-crazy

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/ted-cruz-really-steps-in-it-this-time.html

Mandela was no pacifist

http://news.firedoglake.com/2013/12/06/the-myths-and-realities-of-nelson-mandela/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_12/mandela_was_no_care_bear048084.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/06/anger-at-the-heart-of-nelson-mandela-s-violent-struggle.html

The New Generation of Republicans: kinda dumb

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rick-santorum-nelson-mandela-obamacare-apartheid

Rick Santorum said Thursday that Nelson Mandela had fought against "some great injustice" -- apartheid -- just as Republicans are fighting against the great injustice of Obamacare. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/06/rand-paul-my-wife-doesnt-want-me-to-run-for-president/
Rand Paul: My wife doesn’t want me to run for president

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/06/scott-brown-mixes-up-massachusetts-and-new-hampshire/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd
Scott Brown mixes up Massachusetts and New Hampshire

More: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/scott-brown-new-hampshire-massachusetts-100775.html?hp=r1

In Fox World

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/did-fox-news-settle-with-brian-lewis.html
Fox News Will Neither Confirm Nor Deny It Paid Off a Fired Exec to Keep Quiet 

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

NELSON MANDELA (1918-2013)

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mandela-dies-belongs-the-ages
Very few world leaders are able to rise to the level of genuine giants of history. There can be no doubt that Nelson Mandela, through his heroism, sacrifice, and leadership, earned his iconic status. . . . [read on]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/12/it-was-privilege-to-have-lived-when-he.html
It was a privilege to have lived when he lived . . . [read on]

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/17-inspiring-facts-about-nelson-mandela.html
17 Awesome and Inspiring Facts About Nelson Mandela

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/nelson-mandela-was-undeniably-great-but-he-doesn-t-need-a-halo.html
He will be forever linked with the abolition of Apartheid, but he was also a friend and defender of such villains as Gaddafi and Castro, and we need to accept his shortcomings to truly fathom his positive accomplishments . . .[read on]

Obama's comments: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/nelson-mandela-barack-obama-100749.html

Mandela's wisdom: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/05/10-of-the-most-interesting-things-nelson-mandela-ever-said/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/six-defining-moments-from-nelson-mandela-s-life-video.html
Six Defining Moments From Nelson Mandela’s Life (video)

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/nelson-mandela-s-most-inspiring-quotes.html
Nelson Mandela’s Most Inspiring Quotes

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-nelson-mandela-dead-20131205,0,6266118.story
"The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come," Mandela said in his acceptance speech on becoming South Africa's first black president in 1994.  

"We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation."

Dick Cheney and Mandela

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260478/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Dick-Cheney-wanted-Nelson-Mandela-to-stay-forever-in-prison
Dick Cheney wanted Nelson Mandela to stay forever in prison

Budget deal coming?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260420/-As-budget-deadline-gets-nearer-things-get-more-nbsp-complicated
As budget deadline gets nearer, things get more complicated

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/budget-negotiations_n_4393218.html 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/three-reasons-why-there-may-be-a-budget-deal.html
Three Reasons Why There May Be a Budget Deal, and One Reason Why There Won’t Be

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/05/dems-look-to-jam-gop-on-unemployment-insurance/
Dems look to jam GOP on unemployment insurance

Nice zinger

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/obama-republicans-must-be-embarrassed-with-having-done-so-little
Obama: Republicans Must Be Embarrassed For Having Done So Little

It's working

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/report-obamacare-enrollment-tuesday-dec-3
Report: HealthCare.gov Enrollment Continues To Accelerate

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260353/-Wanna-know-why-Republicans-fear-Obamacare
Wanna know why Republicans fear Obamacare?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/05/why-republicans-will-never-try-to-fix-obamacare-ever-in-one-video/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd
Why Republicans will never try to fix Obamacare – ever

Internal battles wrack the GOP

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-rep-broun-dings-kingston-i-don-t-want-to-fix-obamacare
GOP Rep. Broun Dings Kingston: 'I Don't Want To Fix Obamacare'

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/gop_rep_reality_is_that_some_americans_lives_have_gotten_better_because_of_obamacare/
GOP Rep.: “Reality” is that “some Americans’ lives have gotten better” because of Obamacare 

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/192131-republican-candidates-shift-their-messages-on-obama-healthcare-law
Republican candidates shift their messages on Obama healthcare law

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260171/-Republican-Senate-candidate-rips-Republican-Senate-committee-for-ripping-Democratic-senator
Republican Senate candidate rips Republican Senate committee for ripping Democratic senator

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/12/05/gop_lawmaker_seeks_to_stop_support_for_gay_candidates.html
GOP Lawmaker Seeks to Stop Support for Gay Candidates

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/gop_hits_pathetic_new_low_47_percent_thinking_creeps_even_deeper/
A GOP leader proves that sensitivity training won't stop the party's gaffes. Ideology, not civility, is the problem

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/the-gop-s-incredible-shrinking-big-tent.html
The GOP’s Incredible Shrinking Big Tent

Priceless. The GOP is worried about the gender gap. And this is how they propose to deal with it

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/gop-men-tutored-in-running-against-women-100701.html?hp=t1_3
The National Republican Congressional Committee wants to make sure there are no Todd Akin-style gaffes next year, so it’s meeting with top aides of sitting Republicans to teach them what to say — or not to say — on the trail . . . “Let me put it this way, some of these guys have a lot to learn,” said a Republican staffer who attended the session in Boehner’s office. . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/05/boehner-on-women-some-house-republicans-arent-as-sensitive-as-they-ought-to-be/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/republicans_are_trying_to_learn_how_to_talk_about_women_again/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260319/-Republicans-feel-a-need-to-train-their-men-to-talk-to-women 

Martin Bashir resigns from MSNBC after Palin comments

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/05/what_does_it_take_to_get_booted_from_cable_news/
What does it take to get booted from cable news? 
 

Bonus item: This is what I call looking at the Big Picture

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/12/05/lepage_says_climate_change_is_good_for_maine.html
LePage Says Climate Change is Good for Maine

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/05/1260389/-Maine-s-Republican-Gov-Paul-LePage-says-climate-change-may-help-Maine-Rep-Mike-Michaud-rolls-eyes

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

SOME MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

Obama talks about inequality

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/04/the-best-speech-obama-has-given-on-the-economy/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd
The best speech Obama has given on the economy

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/12/04/inequality-is-the-defining-issue-of-our-time/

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/income-inequality-riskier-you-think

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/12/president-obama-makes-his-pitch-fighting-income-inequality
Really Obama? That's All You've Got?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/05/the-truth-about-obama-era-inequality.html
The president calls income inequality the ‘defining issue of our time.’ So it seems fair to grade him on his success at addressing it. By any measure, he has failed spectacularly. 

Growing numbers get health care coverage

http://www.nytimes.com/news/affordable-care-act/2013/12/04/enrollment-numbers-rise-after-website-improves/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
About 29,000 people successfully navigated HealthCare.gov and selected an insurance plan on Sunday and Monday, more than the entire number of people who were able to enroll through the federal exchange during the month of October . . .

More: http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2013/12/04/most-uninsured-still-plan-to-get-coverage/
Most Uninsured Still Plan to Get Coverage

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/12/04/few-uninsured-young-people-say-theyll-sign-up-for-obamacare/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd
Few uninsured young people say they’ll sign up for Obamacare

Meanwhile: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/gop-healthcaregov-who-cares
Republicans aren't impressed with the Obama administration's claim that HealthCare.gov is now effectively fixed. That's not really the issue, they've started to say. No, the problem is canceled policies, lost doctors and higher premiums. Who cares if the website is working? 

That is a far cry from the early days of October when a dysfunctional website was "proof" that Obamacare "has been an unmitigated disaster" in the words of House Speaker John Boehner in an Oct. 4 statement.  

But that's no longer the preferred talking point. . . 

Are we getting used to this yet?

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/nsa-tracks-cell-phone-locations.html
The NSA Tracks Billions of Cell Phone Locations Every Day

The Republicans howl about the need to reduce entitlements. But that doesn't prevent them from repeatedly attacking Dems with the false claim that they're "cutting" Medicare

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/04/first-on-cnn-republicans-bring-back-medicare-attack/

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/04/1260067/-Bereft-of-real-ideas-GOP-resorts-to-same-old-Medicare-lie

ALEC's secret documents

http://my.firedoglake.com/stevehorn1022/2013/12/04/documents-alecs-looming-attacks-on-clean-energy-fracking-laws-greenhouse-gas-regulations/
“Over the coming year, [ALEC] will promote legislation with goals ranging from penalising individual homeowners and weakening state clean energy regulations, to blocking the Environmental Protection Agency, which is Barack Obama’s main channel for climate action,” explained The Guardian. “Details of ALEC’s strategy to block clean energy development at every stage, from the individual rooftop to the White House, are revealed as the group gathers for its policy summit in Washington this week.”  

The documents also reveal ALEC’s boasting of introducing myriad “model resolutions” nationwide in support of fast-tracking approval for the northern half of Transcanada’s Keystone XL pipeline, along with another “model bill” — the “Transfer of Public Lands Act” already introduced in Utah — set to expropriate federally-owned public lands to oil, gas and coal companies. . . [read on]

More: http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/will-alecs-prodigal-sons-return

Let's remember what climate change is really doing to us

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/04/what-surprises-could-climate-change-have-in-store-for-us/?wprss=rss_ezra-klein&clsrd
There are a few different ways that global warming could unfold in the decades ahead. The world might heat up steadily and predictably, giving humans and other species time to adjust. Or we could see large, abrupt changes that are extremely difficult to adapt to. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/23/singapore-sized-chunk-of-ice-breaks-away-from-antarctica-and-is-now-adrift/
A chunk of ice the size of the island nation of Singapore broke off of the continent of Antarctica late last month and is currently adrift at sea. . . .

Hard to believe someone in Scott Walker's campaign thought this was a good idea. Hey parents, don't go shopping, stay at home and buy your kids a REAL Christmas present by donating to my campaign instead! 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/03/wisconsin-governor-scott-walker-encourages-parents-to-donate-to-his-campaign-instead-of-buying-children-christmas-presents/

[NB: And, by the way, imagine the "war on Christmas" howls if a Democrat had tried something like this.] 

How Fox World became Fox World (fascinating) 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/how-fox-news-built-its-scream-machine-in-the-obama-era 

Bonus item: Tucker Carlson. Why?

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/colbert-defends-tucker-carlson-if-hes-so

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

THE REAL WAR ON CHRISTMAS

It's that time of year again: wreaths and shopping and holly and mistletoe and shopping and stringing popcorn chains and more shopping. So it must also be time for the annual whine that "liberals" are destroying Christmas by daring to point out that there are a lot of people from religions who celebrate other holidays this time of year. But this is a Christian nation, dammit! 

This is the real war on Christmas: using a celebratory time of year for partisan political bashing

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259856/-Are-you-a-Christmas-asshole-The-Republican-Party-has-got-you-covered

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/03/conservatives-love-merry-christmas-liberals-dont-care/?wprss=rss_politics&clsrd

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/oreilly-promises-hype-fake-war-christmas

No Grand Bargain, but maybe a little one

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259891/-Budget-contours-emerging-looks-like-a-small-bargain

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/03/budget-negotiations-shutdown_n_4379167.html

This is good news, right?

http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/nyt-obamacare-cost-billions-dollars
Obamacare Cost 'Billions' Less Than Originally Projected' 

ALEC is (finally) getting the scrutiny and criticism it deserves

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259866/-ALEC-crawls-from-under-rock-to-do-damage-control

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/explosive-alec-documents-reveal-budget-woes

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/03/alec_tries_to_claw_back_support_lost_after_trayvon_furore/

http://my.firedoglake.com/stevehorn1022/2013/12/03/leaked-documents-reveal-irs-concerns-funding-crisis-at-corporate-lobbying-group-alec/

John Boehner explains the least productive Congress ever: that damn Senate won't pass what we want!

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259917/-Boehner-tries-to-pass-the-buck-on-the-least-productive-congress-nbsp-ever

More productivity: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259839/-House-Republicans-focus-on-critical-work-in-last-days-of-session-Obamacare-nbsp-hearings
House Republicans focus on critical work in last days of session: Obamacare hearings!

There is one man preventing immigration reform from happening. One

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2013_12/immigration_reform_still_up_to048043.php

The House passes a gun control bill!

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/house-quietly-bans-plastic-guns

CNN is losing interest in the news, wants more reality shows

http://prospect.org/article/cnn-losing-interest-news

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/zucker-cnn-will-have-less-news-more-attitude.html

More faux journalism at CNN: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/chris-cuomo-interview-brother-andrew-cuomo.html
No, Chris Cuomo Should Not Have Interviewed His Brother, the Governor

In Fox World, Obama is "rewriting the Constitution," needs to be impeached

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/03/1259867/-Rep-Michele-Bachmann-says-Obama-is-rewriting-the-Constitution
 
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/fox-news-floats-impeachment-president 

Bonus item: Papa Cheney weighs in on the public feud between his daughters over gay marriage

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/12/cheney-surprised-gay-marriage-daughter.html

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2013/12/04/cheney_says_attack_has_been_dealt_with.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***