A Break from Mandela and Back to Business

++The economy grew by 3.6% in the third quarter. That's higher than Commerce said last month--2.8%. Put an asterisk behind that as various economists argue it is unsustainable.

++Jobless claims were 298,000, the lowest in six years.

++The Jobs numbers for November are out this morning. The economy added 203,000 jobs and unemployment is now down to 7%. Steve Benen at RachelMaddow Blog reminds us that the job creation rate is the best since 2005 and second best since 1999. As this blog has argued, if you pass the Transportation Bill and other job creating measures offered by President Obama, we would be at 5-5.5% unemployment.

++Paul Krugman gets out of his funk and praises President Obama's economic speech as that of the guy we voted for in 2008.

++President Obama signed an executive order mandating that the government triple their use of renewable energy in seven years, bringing the percentage to 20%.

++Michael Tomasky wrote in the Daily Beast an article entitled "Why Obamacare could help the Democrats in 2014". He talks about his good experience with the website HealthCare.gov.

++Ezra Klein argues that Obamacare will not meet the 7 million the CBO projected by March. Instead, he argues that success has to be measured by the ratio of younger,healthier enrollees to older,sicker ones. Despite the polls showing millennials are tiring of President Obama, that ratio is holding up.

++Californiacovered--the real California website is seeing a surge of enrollees. Obamacaresignups.net is showing that Medicaid and private insurance combined is now over 2 million nationwide.

++The Commonwealth Fund has released a report that shows that those states who refused to expand Medicaid will lose billions and still have to paid additional billions for the Medicaid people in their states.  Texas will lose 9.2 billion, Florida 5 billion,Georgia 2.9 billion, Virginia 2.8 billion,and North Carolina 2.6 billion. Remember for the first three years, the Federal Government picks up the whole tab and in outgoing years 90%.

++We are seeing Medicaid increasing in South Carolina by a larger percent than was expected. Governor Haley has refused to expand Medicaid there.

++The net result of states refusing the Medicaid expansion is that over 5.5 million people eligible for Medicaid will remain uninsured,forcing hospitals in the South to curb their services or go out of business.

++A  new poll demonstrates how isolationist America has become. Today,52% of Americans believe we should mind our own business and not get involved overseas. 

++The RNC is readying their opposition to Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. Remember the RNC believed Ms. Clinton was going to be the candidate in 2008. They compiled a dossier of over 1,000 pages on her--which included her B.A. thesis on Saul Alinsky. That's why you have heard the Right target Barack Obama with a connection to Alinsky. They didn't have anyone to use their opposition research on. Now the RNC is training House members how to deal with women. Part of this is that Hillary Clinton would get 35% of the Republican Women. Reince Preibus hinted one angle of attack would be "BENGHAZI".

++Contrary to the predictions of "wave elections",The Post crunched the numbers and said the Democrats may lose 5 seats in the House in 2014. The Senate has been and still is up for grabs.

++One innovative progressive blogger tried to fathom how there is so much animosity from the Right on Obamacare. It's simple--3.8%. That's the number to keep in mind. Wealthier Americans, who depend on investment income, don't pay unemployment taxes or the social security taxes. But under Obamacare, they pay a 3.8% Medicare tax. If you are the Koch Brothers,that is a lot of bread. So investing millions in the campaign to stop Obamacare,is a great investment.

++The Post is being a little cheery about a budget deal,saying the GOP doesn't want to aggressively push their agenda this year. Nancy Pelosi is pushing back that unemployment benefits must be extended into next year. I will believe it when I see it.

++President Obama gave an hour interview with Chris Matthews before a younger crowd. It got rave reviews. Perhaps, it is because Obama was allowed to argument his case at length without interruptions.

++I may or may not do a post on the Right's reactions to Nelson Mandela's death. They will as vile as the rhetoric we hear daily about President Obama.